Building a new house- What would you have done differently?

[Neilk]

Hello,

Wife is dreaming of building a new house.

The thought of that sounds daunting or nightmarish. I would rather buy a house that looks like it fits most of my criteria rather than getting an architect, designing the house, dealing with project bloat (read $$$), and then living with disappointment of what we overlooked.

That said, if we were to embark on that project, any advice? If you have BTDT, any things you would have done differently? Any tips on staying on budget?

I have seen the following threads
327670-what-most-cost-effective-way-build-house
579014-anyone-ever-build-your-own-house

I already foresee it becoming way more money than I want to spend, but I thought this could be fun thread nonetheless. To make matters worse, we would be looking to build in an established neighborhood, not a new community.

Thanks,
Neil

[911SauCy]

A few months back I read an article on msn-money, entitled, "5 Worst Ways to Spend your Money."

Guess what #1 was?

[look 171]

I don't build houses, but do extensive remodels and also own a cabinet shop. Have a wish list and scale back from there and be realistic. Most people spend a lot of money on the structure and build really big, but run out of money by the finish details. The finish details are the things you see and feel.

[id10t]

Our house was built (or rather, paid to be built) by a guy that worked for the local power co, and he hated the thought of paying his own salary in his utility bill. So we have

2x6 exterior walls - with insulation in them
all interior walls are also insulated
concrete slab is about 50% thicker than what code dictates today (much less 30 years ago)

Even with our AC on the fritz, our highest power bill in a summer was just over $200. When there are accidents up on our corner, we don't hear it - our neighbors another 100 yards back hear it. When we had a couple of hurricanes blow through, we didn't even notice 'em in the middle of the night.

So... over build on exterior walls, over insulate everywhere.

The one thing I would do different if I had to rebuild my house would be more cables everywhere - network (cat5), coax (for cable/satellite tv), phone, and power outlets. A few extra circuits, with a better layout as to which outlets are on which circuits.

[javadog]

Houses that have what I want in them don't exist. In my case, the wife demanded I buy a particular house she liked, then I got to spend 10 years (and at least three times the cost of the house) on changing everything to what we wanted. I'm still screwing with it. SO, maybe building a new one isn't the worst thing you could do.

Use a good architect.
Spend some time understanding where all the money goes, in a new house build.
Consider a design that doesn't require half the budget to be blown on gingerbread.
Make a really detailed list of your needs and your lifestyle. Spend weeks to compile this.
Find a good lot that doesn't have problems.
Build a quality house, not a huge one.
Find a builder with commercial construction experience. Around here, nost residential builders are idiots. Not true of all residential builders, but most.
Get all your ducks in a row, so when construction starts, it proceeds without delay.

JR

[gr8fl4porsche]

The best way to stay on budget for any construction project is to make all the decisions prior to the start of the project and build it 'once'.

Changes get expensive. Design every little detail and put it in the plans and specs. Most residential drawings lack details. It will be up to you to completely design the house down to the color of the switch plates on the wall, the architect will usually just give you a floor plan.

Given the exact same finished product, a project built without any change orders will be less expensive than the alternative.

[stomachmonkey]

Widest garage doors you can get especially on the single doors.
Don't skimp on size of driveway
Pasta spout at the stove
Insulate interior walls
Power, networking, coax in every room and at least two walls of every room
Dedicated HVAC zone for master bedroom
His and hers separate bathrooms
I have 30 foot ceilings in two areas of my house, what I would not give for lighting that can be accessed from the attic / back side to make changing bulbs easier

[85eurocarrera]

Invest in good windows. Marvin, Pella etc.

[look 171]

Get the kitchen and baths budget under control before building starts. That can get upwards of 100k.

[john70t]

You are in TX, so cooling would be a top priority.
Having a large roof overhang(without heavy tiles) and a light colored roof would dictate exterior design and colors.
Concrete is a good heat sink. There is a constant 60deg about 4ft below the surface to be utilized.
Berm, or semi-berm style keeps the place cool for free.
Embed big pipes for plenty of conduit.
Window design can keep summer glare to a minimum.

Flooding might also be a concern.
Having all the water on one side of the house with dual+ sump pumps to prevent water catastrophes and reduce install costs.
Put heating runs on the other side to avoid mixing the two.
Better yet, have radiant tubes installed even if you don't use them

A smaller front yard equals a larger back yard.

[GH85Carrera]

Build a bigger garage!

We did not build our house but the folks that did build it had great taste. It is a custom house and has features that are nice for resale but are just unused by us almost all the time. We have a big Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom that I have never once used in the almost . The closet is silly big but my wife loves it. All of the women that get a house tour love it.

The only feature of the house I love is the oversize 3 car garage, with a bathroom in the garage. The bathroom is fitted with the same fixtures as the rest of the house and tied to the central heat & air. I can open the huge doors of my El Camino wide open and still have room to walk past without hitting the other cars. The workshop part just needs to be bigger!

One of the features that is handy is there are electrical outlets in the soffits every 15 to 20 feet all the way around the house. We have a switch on the wall right above the headboard of the bed in the bedrooms. Just reach up and hit the switch to kill the lights.

We plan to live there until we are wheeled out to the assisted living center many years from now.

[Mo_Gearhead]

When starting with a clean sheet of paper (new home to be built), one of the simplest but yet overlooked items can be lighting and the ease of access to control it.

Examples: Knowing we enter through the garage more than the front door, we put four-way switches on certain interior lights. Coming home late? Walk in, press the switch by garage/mudroom entry- we get two lights that illuminate the upstairs hallway. Going up to bed, one of the switches outside the bedroom shuts them off. Same switched lights at the other end of the house, outside the guest bedrooms.

Hear something outside at night? I put exterior flood lights next to the windows in the upstairs master bedroom. Not only can they be controlled from downstairs, I can flood the front and rear entrances by switches just a few feet from our bed.

The key being - think how you move through your home. Position lights and switches accordingly to save having to go back and turn off lights and then be in the dark till you reach the next switch.

Put the master bedroom on the OPPOSITE end of your kids/guest bedrooms. All parties like the relative seclusion that gives.

[Evans, Marv]

Everything said here is absolutely great advice. I built our house as the owner/builder after I retired. I worked in construction when I was a young guy & had some idea about how things should go, but not completely of course. When I was working, I worked with contracts, budgets, scheduling, hiring, etc. which helped out in the building process. We knew what style we wanted (Southwestern - we like it plus it offered lots of advantages for living in a high fire danger area like no overhangs from the roof, stucco exterior, etc.) We started with making a floor plan and a list of things we wanted included with the house. I didn't use an architect but a draftsman who had done lots of additions & houses. I was in on every detail of the plans & design and onsite every day of construction. That was an advantage since the subs & workers could ask me about things in real time without wasting time. I got most of my sub contractors, except for a few referrals from those subs. I used local workers & companies, so lots of them knew each other and had coordinated on jobs before. I also learned the importance of getting a minimum or 3 estimates. Most of the time I got 3 to 5. I ended up spending a lot of money (for me) but saved a huge amount in the process. To answer your question, since we did a lot of planning & used as much forethought as we could & listened to suggestions & ideas from others, there aren't many things at all I would have done differently or wish I'd done & didn't do. I would think there are lots of guys here who you could ask questions of before & during the process including me.

[Instrument 41]

The last 10% of building a house, is where the majority of your money goes. Kitchen and bathrooms, floors, fixtures for lighting, plumbing and doors. But, if I had to do it over again, this may go against the grain, but i would have some separation between the den and the kitchen as opposed to the "Open floor plan". Why, when someone is cooking it can be hard to hear the TV. Lots of noise in a kitchen. It sucks when 2 or 3 women are cooking, and jaw jacking, and we are trying to watch a game.

[wdfifteen]

Show up at the work site every day. You don't have to be there all the time or even say anything, but keep an eye on what's going on and let them know it.
I give +1000 to two things said here:
1. Make sure there is plenty of extra conduit in the walls etc for future needs
2. Think how you move through your home. Position lights and switches accordingly

[JavaBrewer]

I started a similar thread interested-building-my-own-home last year. Lots of good advice and reality checks.

We ended up buying an existing home and do a major remodel. Things to not skip (if building new)

- wider than normal hallways. Make the home feel so much more spacious
- good lighting
- lots of electrical outlets
- central vac
- a 1/2 bath near main living space
- 2x6 exterior walls and lots of insulation
- single level if at all possible (lack of noise and great to retire in)
- indoor/outdoor living concept

[look 171]

Lighting will make a huge difference in the outcome of a home. Talk to your architect or lighting designer about placement and do not allow the architect to "just put up some lights". Most will just satisfy code or have you work it out with your builder. This is especially true for recess lighting. Slightly dark areas are welcome in some places and allow light to bounce off the wall or accentuate an art object to create a certain mood.

[look 171]

Oh about the outdoor kitchens. Some are pretty serious and lots of money. Its the latest and the greatest in custom homes. We build a few of those in the past couple of years in older established neighborhoods

[john70t]

Originally Posted by JavaBrewer

- wider than normal hallways. Make the home feel so much more spacious

Yah. Nothing more fun than discovering that new couch or desk won't make it around a corner.
Use 36" instead of 30" doors.

[turbo6bar]

There is a lot of great advice here. Here are mine, which do overlap with other comments:

1) Focus on quality space, as opposed to square footage.
2) Conduit in selected walls, so you can upgrade network, audio, communications as technology evolves.
2) Don't overlook insulation. Thick walls cost very little to implement, but energy savings can be immense. If your HVAC system will be in the attic, consider an unvented attic space.
3) As others have said, wider pathways and doorways. You may need the girth for a wheelchair at some point in the future.
4) Consider serviceability in the future. That second story looks great, but gutters are a pain to maintain, and painting becomes a real chore.
5) Hot water recirculation pump is easy to add during construction. You can trigger the pump on a 30 second to 2 minute timer via low voltage wiring to the bathrooms and kitchen.
6) Oversized garage to easily hold a full size vehicle plus toys and tools. Supplement with a real shop separate to the home.

To stay on budget, stick with your plan and don't underestimate the cost to finish the home. If the concrete guys do a lousy job on the slab, the tile guy will want more bucks to get your floors flat. Don't let poor management in the front stages lead to cost overruns later.