Building a home

[sticks]

How do people do it?  I'm talking about building a home ... high costs everywhere you go and it does not seem like it's gonna get any better!

We have a logging/sawmill/firewood operation with our own private timber stand.  Problem is, if you are working in the forest ... when do you have time to build?  Can't afford a contractor.  Also, if you are not in the forest, you are not earning money -- therefore, can't build if there is no money.  We have the floor plans and want to build using 6"X8" Timber Construction and can mill the materials ... it seems like it's either time or money - and both --  and building the home part is becoming stagnant!

I know there are others who have struggled with this -- you can produce the materials, but when do you get the time to build it?  The wife works and contributes greatly to keeping things afloat.   Looking for suggestions, ideas, etc.   Again, the problem we have is not being able to afford a contractor - and even if we could, you never know the quality of workmanship!

Would like to take can't out of my vocabulary .... Help!  Interested in dialogue with someone who has been there, done that!

Look forward to hearing from you!
sticks

[etat]

Around here we pretty much all work too.  Yet I did build my own house from foundation to roof top and everything in between.  It took a little better than two years and I thought for a while wasn't ever gonna get through with it.  We worked on rainy days, evenings, often I'd be out there practically all night and then work the next day.  Would I do it if I had it to do over, yes cause that's the only way we felt we could afford this house.  Would I do it again just to be doing it?  Nope, once was enough.  I reckon that this is the one that I want to live out the rest of my days in.  There's lots of pictures of it in my photo gallery.  Also, I got more than a ton of help from the folks right here in giving me advice now and again that I will always appreciate.  I will add I didn't cut and dry my own lumber, if I had of I don't know how in the world I would have ever finished it.  Unless I could have figured out some what to get more than 24 hours in a day that is.  Oh, and for twenty years I dreamed of and planned for this house, and one morning just got up and laid out the foundation and started.  Never really quit after that until we got er done.  Nothing in the whole house was contracted out. 

[hillbilly]

            The house that we currently live in we didnt build 100% by our selfs and I'm pretty sure that I didnt have any large sums of cash laying around to get started with either.So If you have land you may have to look for some sort of mortgage,it doesnt cost as much to get started as you would think comparing it to buying newtrucks or sawmill equipment.I worked 5 days a week 10 hours a day at my real job and the weekend from daylight till dark building this home onnce I got the footings all poured my dad would come over and help with the framing I did hire one guy to help him on days that I had to work else where it took about 6 monthes to biuld our home that we have now .Building a home isnt impossible it is a little exspesivebut you can get through it ,one thing about building your own home is that you dont have any time for any thing else including work if you hire someone it does cost a little more moneybut you cant shut down to work so you mihgt be better of to have someone to frame it up and get it under roof for you so that you could  work on it when ever you ad the time ,or if your carpeter skills are efficient enough to pay yuorself out of your huose fund then you wouldnt worry about shuting down for acouple of weeks to frame it up and get it under roof yourself.Just a couple of thoughts dont know if I helped you any.
              We didnt cut any of the lumber in this home either we bought pretty much all of it I would agree w/ckate on that if we would have waited on drying the studs and such it would have taken a little longer and I didnt have a mill then either so now I leaning to the partial timber frame.
           good luck
hillbilly

[sticks]

Thanks CK & hillbilly!

Your thoughts and encouragement are appreciated!  I'll take in your suggestions!

Sticks

[Modat22]

Invite the building inspector over for dinner, take him fishing, and send him a gift certificate to the liquire barn. It will make you life easier latter on.

[beenthere]

Invite the building inspector over for dinner, take him fishing, and send him a gift certificate to the liquire barn. It will make you life easier latter on.

But get the building inspector in a whole lotta trouble dat he won't want. 

I did it, and kept a job. Don't know now how I found the time or energy but I also had friends that I had helped and who helped me a great deal. Nights and weekends mostly when the work was done. But don't build beyond your own limits. Know when a bank loan and hiring some work done will help you do things you cannot do efficiently.
Not an easy or simple task, but keep your dreams and work to make them happen.

[Engineer]

We are currently in the middle of our house "project".  I had big hopes of the house being a DIY job, have since found out that a good portion of it has not been DIY but we have been able to hire good contractors to help out.  I have got my hands dirty on nearly every aspect of building the house so far, the major things we have done ourselves with a little help have been concrete and foundation work, framing the floor deck, radiant heat system, sawing beams and timbers for the frame, septic system (so far).  I have done a little bit of the excavating, timber framing, raising the frame, interior framing, electrical and plumbing.   We are to the point now where the frame is up, SIP panels are on, doors and windows are onsite but not in yet, roof is on, and some of the interior framing and electrical is done.  I plan on contracting for the remainder of the shell of the house (siding, exterior trim, windows), the electrical rough-in, and the potable and drain plumbing.  I am going to do all the interior finish work (flooring, trim, drywall, paint, cabinets, tile, doors, etc.) because we will be low on $$, long on time (winter) and have the heat on. 

I don't recommend a DIY house unless you have a lot of skill, a LOT of free time, and the ability to do the job.  I have a full time business and as a sole proprietor, I have only been working on the house one or two nights a week, sometimes none at all, and at least one full day every weekend.  I'm hoping that I can force myself to slow down business-wise to be able to spend more time on the house this winter, I like building but don't have the time for picking away at it. 

Also, I have a mill, and was planning on cutting everything for the house.  What happened was that I didn't have time to run the mill either, we cut the timbers for the frame, a decent amount of boards for trim and flooring, but nothing else, no dimension lumber at all.   The dimension lumber was what I was really hoping to get out of the mill.   I have had to buy all my 2x lumber.   What I do have, however, is all my kitchen cabinet and countertop (butcherblock) material, door and window trim, stair treads, flooring and other "finish" materials.   A "typical" housebuilder would pay dearly for some of the things I'm putting in the house.    Ash stair treads, cherry trim on all the first floor, silver maple floors, denim pine floors on the second floor, cherry and butternut cabinets (can't find those in the store), beech countertops, and the front door made from slabs of white oak off the property.    It's not a large quantity, but it's not common to find in most houses either.

My dad and brother have been very supportive and helpful, I have had friends stop by and lend a hand on weekends,  my wife comes up and brings food and takes pictures,  my boys move lumber and clean up and I am slowly teaching them to do some of the simpler jobs (they are 13 and 11).   Family and friends mean a lot, it is hard to do it solo, I wouldn't even try if that was my case.  Also, we started with a modest amount of money and a fairly solid budget, but the hurricanes and war and generally inflated prices for lumber and materials and gas prices meant that we had to get the bank involved.  Fortunately our bank, small town and friendly, allowed us to take out a mortgage/contsruction note on a partially completed house.   

My wife and I are in our mid-30's, we have 4 kids, we intend to raise them there and stay there well into our retirement years.  I can't find a better place to be so we are building our dream home.  Sometimes it has been a nightmare but all good in the end.

[Deadwood]

Buddy, I know exactly how you feel.

I was 19 years old, getting married, had a family sawmill and 400 acres, but no time or money to do much of anything. I talked a long time with my Uncle, a contractor at the time. We discussed homes (too expensive) then we discussed a garage with a living space above it (still too expensive) and finally agreed that building a single story 2 car garage and living out of that would be a start at least.

I'm not saying it was great living, but we made due in a 24 square garage for quite some time. Later we added on, and now I live in a 24 by 40 home. I use the term home because after spending 11 years fixing it up here and there, this place is too nice to be turned into a garage now. It's no mansion, nor will it ever be, but my point is, that meager start was just that, a start.

Here are a few suggestions on home building, though I'm not sure I am any kind of expert. I just get by because that's what I've always done.

• Size your home to use 4x8 sheets of building material effeciently 8-16-24-32 etc
• Build your home retangular...jut outs, curves and awkward angles cost more money and take more time to build
• Start in the spring...don't waste energy on moving snow or wasting time trying to keep warm while building
• Barter...that guy that has a backhoe might need lumber for a shed and you just happen to have a sawmill
• Don't over think your home...the hardest part of a project is actually starting it
• Don't fall for the "you better do it now because it will be a lot harder after the house is finished" trap...because while it might be harder, will it really be that hard? Only you can decide money now, versus extra work later.
• Realize function beats out perfection. I just ripped out some cabinets I built 10 years ago. No big deal. They served me well for that long, now that I have more time and money, I will have better cabinets.
• Forget the contractor...build it yourself! A contractor looks at a house with profit margins in mind. As I type this, I see every nail, screw and board I pieced together to make a nice home. That my friend is priceless

Good luck, and don't be afraid to e-mail me if you want to talk privately. I KNOW you have the skills, now you just need encouragment. I hope I have given you the latter.

[Don P]

There is very little we didn't do on our house ourselves, that is a good feeling. Of course carpenters houses are never done  :.
I work for alot of people like Engineer. Owner-builders that need someone to do some part of the job. Often we take a house from the top of a foundation to a tarpapered, dried in, shell. At that point a house is out of the weather and there is still about half the work to go. It is generally the part where sweat equity pays the most dividends too.

As for myself on projects around here, I hire in subs when I realize that my speed, inexperience or lack of finesse will either eliminate any savings or will lower quality beyond a tolerable level. I can excavate a foundation with the old tractor, but I could die of old age, or it could  ;D. Oftentimes I am better off making money doing what I do, and paying someone to do a job that I am not as good or as equipped to do. I worked slow enough on our house, and did it out of pocket,  that I'm not sure I saved anything over taking out a morgage because of inflation in material costs. There are several ways to look at the problem, and how to best go about it. We all seem to get it done somehow, Good luck.

[srjones]

Wow...are we related?  Okay, so I'm in my my my mid thirty's with 4 kids and building my house.  I don't have the money or desire to go into deep debt nor would I trust any contractor that I could afford.  I'm doing the work myself from materials on my own property. 

Deadwood gave some pretty good advice about keeping things simple.  A few other things that have helped me so far:

1.  Tools.  Get to know the rental yards.  While it's good to have freinds and relative with tools (big and small) you need, sometimes you just need to rent it in order to get it done.  Also, if you know you're going to use a tool for long time, buy it if you can afford it.

2.  Location:  Being close (living close) to your building site helps.   Have a safe place for the kids to play when you're working.  Keeping a fifthweel or RV on the site is nice place to get out of the weather and/or camp.

3.  Financing:  Self financing is best.  If you must borrow money and you own your land, you can borrow against the land.  Realize that if you're doing it yourself it's going to be hard to get a contruction loan.  One strategy might be to build the house enough to to the point of getting a certificate of occupancy and then getting a real mortage and leveraging all the sweat equitfy

4. Learning how to do stuff:  Read, learn and ask, but not necesarily in theat order.  Without the internet I don't think I'd be able to do this.

5.  Having the time to get it done.  Hmmm...I haven't figured this one out yet.  If you figure it out, please let me know  :D  :D  :D   What I have learned is to take advantage of the weather when you can, stay healthy and don't get too disappointed when the schedule slips...because it will. 

Good luck and keep asking questions.

-srj

[Kelvin]

Two big things i've learned as we are nearing the end of our timber framed home.  Keep it as small as possible, and as simple as possible (thats only one) and two: work on your home full time with a construction loan and pay yourself enough to llive on from the loan. 

My brother has raised 3 kids in a 1200 sq ft ranch with one bath!  My grandparents and parents didn't get hoooked up with elec and water till after WWII.  Most people 40 years ago had one bath, and kids shared bedrooms!  No master suites, rec rooms, bonus rooms, vaulted ceilings. 

Get a construction loan against the land, figuring prices that would include what you would charge as a contractor to do it.  Borrow as much as you need to live off, but only as much as you need to live off, from the bank as you go, and work on the house full time.  You will never make as much money as you will building your own home.  You will essentially be making $30-$40/hr if you have any ability. 

Keep it simple.  a nice ranch house with 3 small bedrooms, okay one bigger for yourself, and one bath on a partial basement, or whatever is common in your location should be done in about 3 months full time work by yourself with part time helpers.  You can't find anything easier.  As soon as you want "special" stuff you are sinking yourself.  A cheap home that you will one day own is more than most people can dream of, why want a super big one at that?  Effeciency is in the smallness and good planning.  You can add on when and if you care to with cash. 

Saw all your own lumber and have it graded by a big mill's grader if required by your locale.  Keep these two things in mind  Small, and finance your house and pay yourself to work for 3 months!  I've done this building and rebuilding a number of different homes.  Its the way to go.  I can't imagine spending all my evenings working after work, and holidays for 2 years.  They say this type of thing causes divorces, and thats just the way to do it.  Overextend yourself, work yourself to death, and POW! 
MY two cents worth for whats worked for me.  (Oh, by the way, my own house got too big, now i'm in my 13th month, with 3 more left, and the money is tighttttt!!!!!)  Good luck!
KP

[Max sawdust]

Keep it as small as possible, and as simple as possible (KP

Sticks,
I have a wife and two kids and live in a 900sqft home.  It is my opinion that a small house that is yours is much better than a big one that the bank will own forever ;D
Keep it small and simple

max