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Buying land, building a house; Who's done it? We're thinking about it ...
Topic Started: Apr 1 2010, 06:55 AM (464 Views)
Onelanerode
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http://www.globalhouseplans.com/2015-square-feet-3-bedroom-2.5-bathroom-Contemporary-house-plans-0-garage-%2817575%29

That's the floorplan we like best so far. I want to modify it some by pulling the kitchen forward into the dining area and adding an entrance between the kitchen and utility room, turning the utility room more into a mud room. I'm not big into entertaining and don't have time to cook much, so we don't need a huge dining area.

I'd also like to make a screen porch off the left side of the house, so you can enter it from the utility room/kitchen area (and the outside), which will probably mean pulling the deck out some and making it wider. If the greenhouse stays, the entrance will be off the screen porch, not the master bath.

I'm pushing for a slate floor, mainly because my parents have one in their house and it's been wonderful for 30 years, impervious to kids, pets, stains, scratches, etc., pretty and durable. Plus you can clean it with just about anything and it's fine. We had pretty, shiny prefinished hardwoods when we moved into this house, and two dogs and a cat later, they are nicely distressed and not so shiny, so I'm not sure I'd go that route again. Laminate (Pergo) is another option.

The area we're looking for land has lots of nontraditional/contemporary/odd homes, so I'm not worried about building something like this there. Finding land that's not in a subdivision is proving difficult though.

Thing is, DH and I are not "handy" people, though I am convinced there isn't much I can't learn to do if I put my mind to it and apply myself. I'm already interested in learning how to tile. I'm anticipating that we will have to become amateur contractors, plumbers, roofers, etc. if we do this, just so we understand what the pros are doing and why and we don't get taken advantage of or miss big mistakes being made during construction that will pose problems later.

But really ... how hard is this? What mistakes did you make? What did you do that you wish you hadn't, and what didn't you do that you wish you had?

I'm not at all opposed to buying a home instead of building, but DH would really like to settle somewhere for a while, and if I'm going to do that, I want to really like the house and not feel like there's lots of wasted space and inefficient/impractical use of space.

Thanks. :)
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Buryinghill1
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If you are going to live in this house for the rest of your lives, I would build an "accessible" house. One level; no steps (or minimal steps); master bath designed for easy adaptation (grab rails); install raised toilets now (same money, you will love the extra 4", looks the same as a low one); levers for door handles, water faucets; and step-in shower with hand sprayer. I have grab bars in my shower now (!) and love them!
Your design is fabulous 'cuz your main living space is on the first floor already. Such a gorgeous house!!

A screened porch is a wonderful idea. Down here in the south we can LIVE on a porch almost all year!

BH2 can give some great advice. She tore down an existing house, and built on the same footprint. Very creative, beautiful house!
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Onelanerode
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Thanks BH1 :) I'm not sure we'll be in here for the rest of our lives, but DH definitely wants 10+ years.

I'm trying to figure out how much low-maintenance, highly durable stuff we can work into the construction NOW, like the slate floors (instead of carpet that will need replacing), composite decking (instead of wood, which requires more maintenance and doesn't last as long), etc.

And yes, I love my screen porch. LOVE IT. We're looking for land in central North Carolina, slightly west of the Triangle.

One of the things that's important to us is having an open floor plan ... which is why we had kind of liked the loft idea, using the loft for DH's office space. So then he'd have a separate work area but still be connected to the rest of the house moreso than more traditional plans.

And I selfishly want a mudroom that connects to the screen porch so that when I bring wet, muddy-pawed dogs in the house, I can take them straight into the mudroom, grab a dog towel from a cubby, dry 8 paws, and toss the dirty towel straight into the "dirty animal things" bin. This would eliminate both the muddy pawprints everywhere issue and the dirty dog towels in random places issue. This would make me happy!
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FlashGordon
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OLR we have the same taste, I LOVE that house and floorplan. The screened in porch sounds awesome as does the slate floor.

We too have been looking into building but like you guys, have had a hard time finding land that is not in a subdivision. We've resigned ourselves to the fact we may have to buy something pre-existing right now, and work on building 5-6 years down the line...

So I can't offer much advice, but lots of jingles! Hope you guys locate the perfect spot and are able to build your dream home!!
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buryinghill2
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I can't give too much advice. I was limited to my existing foundation, and my house is super tiny. It's basically one room downstairs and one upstairs. My house was built on a super tight budget, I bought a lot of my stuff from salvage yards and Ebay.
I don't know how it will work for me long term, my full bath and bedroom are upstairs.

You will hear over and over to plan on twice the estimated price, and twice the estimated time line. That wasn't the case with me, but I was WAY over original budget. The dreaded change forms got me, just like they get everyone. The change forms are where the contractor really makes his money.

For me it was all about location, location, location. I bought the original house that I tore down with intentions to someday add on to it. Ended up tearing it down and completely rebuilding. Long story.

I want to learn to tile as well. I'm going to go to a free class at Home Depot.

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Onelanerode
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BH2, I've seen that same class at Home Depot and am considering doing that ... we've talked about adding a tile backsplash in our current kitchen, and I think it would dress it up really nicely for when we put it on the market in a year or so. :)
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buryinghill2
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Onelanerode
Apr 1 2010, 08:16 AM
BH2, I've seen that same class at Home Depot and am considering doing that ... we've talked about adding a tile backsplash in our current kitchen, and I think it would dress it up really nicely for when we put it on the market in a year or so. :)
That's one of the reasons that I want to take it. I'm tired of trying to keep the paint behind my counters clean.
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MyGiantPony
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Pay the extra and build a SIPS house. The energy savings will pay for themselves in just a few years.

Where are you located? If you aren't too far from PA, you should talk to my friend Terry - she and her husband are builders and do amazing work. (Plus Seth will be working for them soon!)
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Barn Girl
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Been there, done that! I also work for a builder and DH is a contractor too.

My advice, if you really have no clue, do NOT act as your own General Contractor. It'd be way too easy to miss things/ mess up things/ get screwed by people. If you pick out the land and house plan you should be able to hire a GC to build it for you. That way there are no surprises in costs/timeframes etc. You could still do some things on your own such as tile, etc.

We built our current house as our own GC but we are knowledgeable and we STILL made a few mistakes. It isn't an easy process!
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Sparky Boy
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Barn Girl
Apr 1 2010, 09:17 AM
Been there, done that! I also work for a builder and DH is a contractor too.

My advice, if you really have no clue, do NOT act as your own General Contractor. It'd be way too easy to miss things/ mess up things/ get screwed by people. If you pick out the land and house plan you should be able to hire a GC to build it for you. That way there are no surprises in costs/timeframes etc. You could still do some things on your own such as tile, etc.

We built our current house as our own GC but we are knowledgeable and we STILL made a few mistakes. It isn't an easy process!
Sorry but I have to agree with BarnGirl. We bought land and my husband played GC. I will tell you it's a full-time job. He really had to baby-sit the contractors. We learned a lot and I would do it again, I guess time has numbed the pain ;) Fortunately he's got a lot of friends in the various trades so we had some help there. If you are going in blindly, I would would not recommend it. Find a reputable builder and have them build it for you.
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Onelanerode
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LOL! We're not planning to be our own GC. We don't know enough about it. I wasn't trying to imply that I was going to learn how to do everything myself ... just that I have a feeling that I will end up feeling like an amateur plumber, roofer, etc., because I will want to know enough about what's going on that I can catch issues before it's too late, and I expect even with a GC overseeing everything, DH and I will still be keeping a close eye on all stages of the process. (Kind of like how you sometimes feel you have to be your own vet, farrier, trainer, etc. with your horse ...) I understand that there's a big difference in terms of skills required to tile one's backsplash and skills required to frame one's house. The former I think I'm capable of. The latter I'm not going to attempt, although I do want to understand how on paper, if that makes sense.

So finding a good builder will be key here.

MyGiantPony, I'm looking at the SIPs panels now. They're very intriguing!

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3Bays
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Been there, just did this!

My advice echoes otheres...

#1: Be prepared to make this a definite heavy part of your life until it's completed. The amount of details, delays, re-do's, etc, will make it something you have as another "leg" of your life until it's completed.

#2: Measure twice, cut once: be sure you get as much info/pricing/bids as you can...don't rush into anything and only sign on the dotted line when you feel you've clearly understood things and feel good about the product, person or idea or plan or supplier.

#3: Know that you must double your essential original estimated budget. If you think the entire project will cost $50k, then know it'll be closer to $100k by the time it's all over with. Make a real budget plan and track your expenses and meet together (you and the DH) several times a month together alone and review where things are at time-wise and money-wise so YOU TWO stay on the same page.

#4: It's the little stuff that will drive you nuts...and may cost enough extra to cause that bigger budget! DO keep an eye on the details. It adds up.

#5: Be sure you are following all the local applicable building codes and laws...believe me, if you have to "re-do" something or are denied further permits (or whatever) you'll wish you had been double-checking the County and State permits. EVEN with a GC you need to ask questions and stay on that aspect...a good GC SHOULD have all that covered, but essentially it's your own responsibility to be careful there.

#6: Remember that once the house is built and all the changes to the property are done you will likely still have additional things you may want or need for INSIDE the house...factor those in as well!

#7: If you do this, I would think you should try to stay AT LEAST the 10 yrs your DH is picturing...it's not worth going through all of this and then leaving in three years...it's huge to buy land and then build upon it and you'll want to fully enjoy it and really get your money out of it all before you move on.

Lastly: do this because you LOVE where you will be living...that you love the location and the land/house combination you are creating itself is important! It's very hard work and all that, but if you truly love what you have created there's not much in the world like being IN what you have created! I don't regret what we did one bit, but it wasn't easy...yet WORTH every hassle and every penny! Oh...and take pix as you go along! We did, right from the raw desert land up to now...and it's lots of fun seeing all the changes you'd do over time...make a scrapbook! :cheer:
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BABYGREENTB
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This is a super interesting thread...DH and I are also thinking pretty seriously about buying some land and waiting for 3 years or so, then building our dream house. I'm way more excited about this than I have been about anything else we have looked at house/neighborhood wise. It does mean that we will have to live 5 -10 miles further out in the country than we had originally planned, but I really think it will be wonderful!
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SnackPack
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Onelanerode
Apr 1 2010, 10:23 AM

MyGiantPony, I'm looking at the SIPs panels now. They're very intriguing!

We had a whole "shantytown"* built a few doors down from me with EPS. They wouldn't be SIPS, because the EPS wasn't sandwiched between wood, but it was definitely EPS and funky looking. It was interesting to watch this costruction go up. Seems like a great option for energy savings.







* I call it a shanty town because they put 9 units on the plot that held 3 before. :o They are like little unattached row houses...almost looks like a Disneyland "town".
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bellaluna
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I have never built but I can weigh in from a couple different perspectives, my parents have built two houses in the last decade (one retirement home and one investment property), and I work in permitting construction.

My parents used a good quality tile through the kitchen, family room, bathroom, and hallway and it has held up beautifully for ten years. They also put in granite counters and those literally look brand new still, they also have the benefit of tolerating hot pans etc. Take a look at energy star appliances and efficient utilities (heating etc), these really pay off in the long term. The advice to build it as a permanent home is a good one. My Mom is a PT and she made sure that they could live all on one floor, laundry, master bed and bath are all on the main floor. The doors are sized for a wheelchair, the bath can accommodate handicap facilities. Their retirement house has a wrap around porch with part of it that has removable screens, we all love that part of it. It's a very similar style to what you're looking at- an open/modern design for a lakehouse with mudroom and utility/laundry room off the garage, an open loft with bedrooms and an office off the loft and a two story living room with windows.

My parents are currently finishing their walk out basement and put in bamboo floors. I haven't seen them yet but they said that they are beautiful. There are also a lot of cool new products that are made out of recycled materials, such as glass tiles for a back splash etc.

My dad tiled a sun room in our old house and has done some tiling in their new house and it has come out beautifully.

My parents are somewhat handy but don't know anything about plumbing, electrical etc. They hired very competent people, checked references, etc, and haven't had a problem. My Aunt did the same thing when she was building.

Let me know if you have any questions about permitting. The one piece of advice I can give you that crosses state lines is if you're looking at any land or a house, regardless of whether you want to build a new house or buy and add-on etc, go into the Town Hall and go to every department and look at any files they may have, ask questions about any limitations the property might have, find out all of the potential permits that may be needed, who you would get them from, what you can expect from the process and the cost etc etc. If you're lucky you'll get competent helpful people who can help you accurately determine what the potential of each property is.
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