My brother in law is looking at having a house built for he, his wife, and his three young kids. They are well planted in the community (Buffalo, NY), and he wants this to be the house they will live in for many, many years.
His father is a very cautious type, and his good friend who built a house had nothing but bad experience. I want to portray the other side of the story, about how everything can got right.
Here is what I know: Many things can go wrong. Scheduling is the biggest problem, getting subs in and done, then there is quality, then there is cost control, then there is overall life disruption.
Here is my question: What can he do to make his homebuilding experience be great?
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
Replies
Here is my question: What can he do to make his homebuilding experience be great?
Specify Piffin screws!
Ask around for the names of good builders. Lumber yard managers are one good source. Get four or five names and then make appointments to speak with them. Ask to see their better homes and to speak with several of their homeowners.
That's a good start.
Where they are building, they basicly choose the lot they want - the builder owns the lot. Very few lots open with builder choice.
If he has little choice in builders, how can he maximize a poorly delt hand? How does he make his house be the one subs WANT to work on, vs. it just be one more on a 2 page list?Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
Where they are building, they basicly choose the lot they want - the builder owns the lot. Very few lots open with builder choice.
You said Buffalo, NY, right? There's no shortage of land available, to the east and south. There's no reason not to buy a parcel in the country and subdivide it along an existing road.
And there's no reason to buy a lot from someone who can dictate the price of everything, not when your aim is to build a custom home. If I were you, I wouldn't waste my time, advising someone who did something as stupid as that.
Let me clarify on their location:
They are in the Amherst/Williamsville/Getzville area, all the grandparents are there, as is his practice. He gets sweaty over a 15 minute commute! He is solidy stuck in the Northern suburbs of the Buffalo area.
If he were willing to drive, you are right he could absolutely dictate the terms and conditions of his homebuilding experience... well, have some more control over the opening variables at least.
I'd love to have him look at ICF, or SIPS, or other new building methods, but I don't know if that would be a waste of time if the builders he has available can only stick build.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
Got to be honest with you, under those conditions I'd tell him to buy an existing home. Or at least take a long look at what's on the market. He might also consider buying a tear down, just to get a nice lot in the right neighborhood without the builder attached.
That's happening more and more where lots are expensive and hard to find. The area where I'm currently staying has been undergoing that kind of building, rather than major renovations. It's relatively inexpensive to tear down an old house. Older wealthy neigborhoods are often a better place to build a new custom home, than in a modern development. The fit is better and the value is higher.
Do what Hudson valley recomended. Hire a builder then they don't have to worry about scheduling squat.
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Whale Oil Beef Hooked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPONTneuaF4
dont show up till the house is finish, pay in cash
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Haga su trabajo de fricken
you forgot to mention.... pay in cash... UPFRONT
Sounds like a great way to ensure alot of bodies will be entombed in the slab!Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
Hold 10% tetention on all payments. Payable upon completion of the puch list and U&O certificate. Pay the money for a good home inspection.
Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Hudson Valley hit it on the nose.
Have him talk to everyone he knows for recommendations. He cannot spend too much time on this.
Once he has narrowed the field he needs to find someone he can trust. A lot of this is a gut feeling but confirm it by talking to past customers. Ask them about the money end of their projects. Was the final price in line with the initial discussions? Were the change orders generally reasonable? Was there a lot of quibbling about small details?
Be prepared to wait for the right builder. The best builders are booked for a year or more though openings can sometimes appear when projects fall through or are delayed.
Most important, building a house should be fun. If doesn't seem like fun to you, maybe buying an existing house is the best thing for you.
Having worked with a contractor (who turned out to be scum) and his lead carpenter (who was excellent), I have some suggestions. In my case it was an addition to an existing house.
1. Try to understand HOW a house is built before you start. This board is excellent for this, and others are available. The books from Taunton and others are useful. Even the Reader's Digest books on home building are good for their illustrations. They make an excellent primer, but NEVER use them for making decisions.
2. Get a set of blueprints from the builder/architect (although the crew will probably leave theirs on the site).
3. Look over each day's work after the crew leaves. Here is the hard part: you have to decide what is important and what is not serious. Again, good book "larnin" will really help. In my case I noticed that the rough opening for two windows in the room was reversed--it took a couple of minutes with the crew to show them the error. They groaned at themselves and corrected the error.
4. Be prepared each morning to talk with the crew about things. Every morning I was asked questions about how certain things should be done. I made decisions AND LIVED WITH THEM. I also asked questions, respectfull of their superior knowledge, and listened to the answers.
5. Get out of the crew's way for the rest of the day. (If you are going to watch, do it from a distance of 10 feet or more. And don't talk unless it is clear that they are not busy.)
(Oh yes--cookies and other goodies are always appreciated. A good source of cold water is also nice. And, I have some good electrical background, so I absolutely had to fix their extension cords.)
Edited 8/20/2007 10:11 am by JohnD1
Good tips, thanks!
I was wondering if bribes - I mean treats like that - might help you keep subs on site?Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
JohnD1 makes some really good points. I'd add and reinforece the following:
Know when to pick your battles.
My brother got all bent out of shape about the quality of wood used for some of the jack studs. He thought some knots looked ugly and a better piece could have been chosen. He didn't want to listen when I pointed out it was going to be covered with drywall. If he was concerned about warping, some screws would have fixed the issue.
Make up your mind ahead of time.
Nothing is worse or more expensive than not having your mind made up. Go through model after model, design after design until you know what you want and it's captured in the plans. Design on the fly is a great way to be the homeowner from hell.
Respect the skills of the tradesmen.
Nothing better than all that book-learning to replace years of on-the-job experience....
Plan for the unexpected.
While you don't know what's going to go wrong, you can budget the time and money to weather the 'storm'. Time and money allow you to....
Keep your cool and remain objective about the process.
Losing your head and getting angry are great ways to ruin the experience. Things *will* go wrong. The real question is how well you handle the problem and move on.
Glen
Good tips, thanks!
The mental game is very important, and knowing what to hold onto and what to bury under drywall is a really good point.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
Here is my question: What can he do to make his homebuilding experience be great?
If your BIL is still in his 20's and his wife is willing and able, I would suggest DIY everything! Think of all the tools you get to buy.
It is like both husband and wife working 2 jobs for 2 years, but very financially, knowledge, and working together rewarding.
My 7 Yo son at the time hand nailed 1/2 of the 2nd floor subfloor down by himself over the course of 3 weekends - he even enjoyed it and was raring to do more. Had a 5 YO and 7 YO at the time.
We do have one classic pix of the 2 boys in a corner of the framed but not enclosed house huddled next to a heater playing with their toys in February looking NOT at all happy, but they sure were happy to get their big rooms all to themselves.
DW would not even think of doing it again in her 60's, think you gotta be young and full of energy to do the 4 job schedule for 2 years.
Edit PS: My brother did similar, but did contract out the concrete and excavation work. His only bad experience was with the scheduling aspect of waiting on others at the start of the project to get the concrete done. He did it in his mid 30's but only had one kid and did have a full time employee helping.
Edited 8/20/2007 10:52 am ET by junkhound
He's a neurologist in his 30's. While capable, he knows when to hire something out. His kids are more likely to chase eachother around with the nailguns :)Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
I am still finishing up my house, and I've been the GC and subbed a lot of it out. So I've been straddling the fence on the job the whole time. I imagine I've got a couple contractors who were happy to get out of there. But maybe I can offer some advice in hindsight:
There's a couple issues with my house that could have turned out better, or different, that proper planning could have caught and fixed. I tell my wife, "Honey we'll take care of that with the next house". She says she'll kill me first before she'll let me build another house. I think that if I start now (I'm 37) I'll have the next one ready for retirement move-in.
One thing that has really helped on my house was to hire a third party inspector. For a fee, he does three inspections, and is there to answer questions when they show up.
For example, my plans called for rafters on 16" centers. The framers didn't see the note on the plans and started putting them up on 24" centers which appears to be the standard around here. I called up the inspector I hired and asked him what he would do if it was his house? The answer was 16" centers and because the answer came from a state licensed inspector, I had no qualms about making them stick to the 16" specified on the plans.