Have you built a house before?

[mrssqueegy]

And if so, do you have advice, things to do/not to do? We're in the process of drawing plans right now and are hoping to start building in the next couple of months.

[Deleted]

No advice, but good luck!

[yorkielove83]

Me personally, no, but my dad owned a construction business and I grew up remodeling homes with him.

The easiest way to start is to pick a floor plan you like and modify it to fit your needs. Make sure you like your contractor and expect to pay 10-15% more than your original quote (stuff always happens that's out of anyone's control).

[footsie]

I wish I could give you good advice! DH and I have been building our house now for a couple years, but we wanted to save money from hiring a contractor and DH and FIL have literally been building it by themselves, except for things they honestly can't, such as the central air system and such. I'll have to see if DH has any advice when he comes home. We definitely saved money doing it this way, and now owe less on our house than it's worse, which is great, but it's taking forever and a little bit smaller than our family could use. (We have a three bedroom house, and our fifth baby on the way!) So I guess the only advice I can think of is make sure you have enough room for the family size you have or plan on having!

[appleoatmeal]

We didn't build our house, but thought it might be useful to hear what I love about my house and what I wish was different lots of floorplans have kitchens right off the garage - I love only having to climb 4 steps with a truckload of groceries (car seat, wiggly toddler, etc) to get into the house, and right into the space where 90% of my shopping goods end up. That being said, I would love a small mud room space between that door and the kitchen to drop off shoes, coats, etc. if you're planning an open floorplan on the main living area, don't forget to think about closet space in that main living area. We have little, and I wish I had more. Also, our living room does not have windows to our driveway, which drives me nuts when we're expecting company that I can't see them coming. Finally, we have TONS of counter space (an island and a large "peninsula" in addition to a good amount of other space. Especially if you will be hosting gatherings, it is so nice to have tons of room to work and serve food in the kitchen. Good luck, awesome that you're able to build your own place!

[helloerrbody]

We just recently moved into the house we "built" - but it was through a builder and we just upgraded/changed minor things - the floorplan, etc. was already set. Try to have fun through the process. Some things are worth spending more on if you know it will significantly increase your enjoyment in the home. Good luck!

[mrssqueegy]

Thanks for all the replies ladies! We are doing a custom floor plan, DH did most of the plans and the design firm did the drawings. We're meeting with our builder to get our quote on Monday. I'm so nervous for the price. Ugh.

[footsie]

Sept 14, 2015 21:52:23 GMT -5 mrssqueegy said:

Thanks for all the replies ladies! We are doing a custom floor plan, DH did most of the plans and the design firm did the drawings. We're meeting with our builder to get our quote on Monday. I'm so nervous for the price. Ugh.

Good luck!!

[k3am]

We haven't built from scratch (it's just not a "thing" here), but we've done plenty of renos, so my advice is mostly about pricing and finishes:

1. Unless you have a good reason not to, get multiple quotes from multiple contractors/builders. Our kitchen was quoted by 8 contractors (I was on maternity leave and had plenty of time), and we got quotes anywhere from $16k-$85k. We ended up going with the contractor who was mid tier priced, timely and responsive, and included design services in the mix (ie: someone to shop with us and help us pick out finishes and tell us what did/didn't go great together). The bid process was really telling - we'd actually had 9 guys come out and one didn't even get us our bid until a month and a half later - AFTER we'd already started work. One guy included things in our quotes for things that we didn't need to do (but he swore we did in order to meet code) and was also the highest quote, and one didn't really listen to any of our requests.

2. Put in more storage than you think you need. You always need more storage. Always. Between our house and everything we've looked at in terms of moving, storage is always lacking. Always. I've never looked at a house and thought "wow, this is the perfect amount of storage." And we're not hoarders by any means.

3. Think about your days, both day-to-day and where you're entertaining. Where do you spend most of your time? What's your habit when you come in? When you're getting ready? If you're like most folks, you probably enter your house from your garage most of the time, so make sure you have somewhere to plop any extra items and are headed first towards your kitchen so your groceries aren't a mess. When you entertain, you'll end up in the kitchen areas more often than not, so that's where I'd try to get the most bang.

4. We learned this trick from the designer (kitchen/bath) when you're almost done and shopping for surfaces, pick out your cupboards first. You can carry the sample with you, then pick out your tiles/backsplash and get a sample of those. Then go for countertops, with floors coming last. Your cupboards are going to have the most visual impact, followed by the tiles. Your countertops are typically going to be something that blends the two together, but not your focal piece. Floors tend to have the most flexibility with and best ability to match to other things. If you can get the colors of all these things to flow, picking out paint colors will be SO.MUCH.EASIER. Last on the list is hardware since they tend to be pretty neutral.

I'm jealous.. building a house sounds so fun!