Yes, it's cheaper, especially as a secondary source for a dual fuel heat pump. And chefs like gas stovetop burners so it must be better than electric.
OT: Homebuilding Tips/Wishes
- Thread starter Uncle Ruckus
- Start date
Yes, it's cheaper, especially as a secondary source for a dual fuel heat pump. And chefs like gas stovetop burners so it must be better than electric.
four things
1. foam insulation
2. make your GC fix anything not done properly immediately. do not let them wait. otherwise everyone that comes after will have to come back and redo their part after the defect is corrected. your GC will likely do his best to ignore some issues and see if they get by you. doing things right the first time is key.
3. speed up the process by putting a clause in the contract that after specified period of time your contactor will owe you either a fixed dollar amount per month or your monthly interest note with the bank for every month they are beyond certain point (i.e. 8 months). if it's not on paper you can't enforce it. if they won't do this then i'd hire someone else. they don't care that it's costing you money for each month the house isn't finished.
4. get specifics on any allowances. i.e. my GC allowed $6800 to grade and sod our lot. it cost 14k. he wasn't even close. if you're unsure what it's supposed to cost get a quote from that specific subcontractor prior to starting so you know your actual cost. this is a terrible trend that never ends. they bid it out low, suck you in and then blame the excess cost on the subcontractor during the process. doing your homework up front will save you time and money later.
1. foam insulation
2. make your GC fix anything not done properly immediately. do not let them wait. otherwise everyone that comes after will have to come back and redo their part after the defect is corrected. your GC will likely do his best to ignore some issues and see if they get by you. doing things right the first time is key.
3. speed up the process by putting a clause in the contract that after specified period of time your contactor will owe you either a fixed dollar amount per month or your monthly interest note with the bank for every month they are beyond certain point (i.e. 8 months). if it's not on paper you can't enforce it. if they won't do this then i'd hire someone else. they don't care that it's costing you money for each month the house isn't finished.
4. get specifics on any allowances. i.e. my GC allowed $6800 to grade and sod our lot. it cost 14k. he wasn't even close. if you're unsure what it's supposed to cost get a quote from that specific subcontractor prior to starting so you know your actual cost. this is a terrible trend that never ends. they bid it out low, suck you in and then blame the excess cost on the subcontractor during the process. doing your homework up front will save you time and money later.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned. Doors! Do not let them do small doors.
Spend the money and put in French if you have the space for getting large items in the house, otherwise do a 38" main door (handicap accessable).
Make sure the hallway is wide enough and doors off it are large enough. Getting bigger furniture to a back bedroom down tight halls and 30 or 32" doors is a nightmare.
If you build an upstairs, make sure the stairwell is designed to be able to maneuver bigger items up and down.
Make sure if you do a gas range that you put the microwave under counter. Gas ranges need more clearance or the heat will kill a micro hood, so just put a regular hood in.
Last thing but most important. Never accept a kitchen design with the refrigerator in the corner or without a minimum 40" clearance all the way to it around islands. I have seen houses that were designed for a 30 cu ft refrigerator that never got it because it wouldn't fit between the counters and island. Builder will not fix that if you signed off on the plan without you paying all of it.
Spend the money and put in French if you have the space for getting large items in the house, otherwise do a 38" main door (handicap accessable).
Make sure the hallway is wide enough and doors off it are large enough. Getting bigger furniture to a back bedroom down tight halls and 30 or 32" doors is a nightmare.
If you build an upstairs, make sure the stairwell is designed to be able to maneuver bigger items up and down.
Make sure if you do a gas range that you put the microwave under counter. Gas ranges need more clearance or the heat will kill a micro hood, so just put a regular hood in.
Last thing but most important. Never accept a kitchen design with the refrigerator in the corner or without a minimum 40" clearance all the way to it around islands. I have seen houses that were designed for a 30 cu ft refrigerator that never got it because it wouldn't fit between the counters and island. Builder will not fix that if you signed off on the plan without you paying all of it.
Storm Shelter
Gas Range
Tankless Water Heater
When you think you have enough electrical outlets, add 1/3 more.
If you can, splurge on a large range with dual ovens and a grill or griddle on the top. In my last house I had a Viking 48" range and I miss that thing every single day. Since I no longer work there I can't come close to affordnig one without the employee discount.
Gas Range
Tankless Water Heater
When you think you have enough electrical outlets, add 1/3 more.
If you can, splurge on a large range with dual ovens and a grill or griddle on the top. In my last house I had a Viking 48" range and I miss that thing every single day. Since I no longer work there I can't come close to affordnig one without the employee discount.
I'd hire Glenn Quagmire as a consultant. Although he makes his living as an airline pilot, his house has the best built in features I've ever seen.
1. If you’ve never built before get a prenuptial agreement with the wife. Building a home has destroyed many marriages
2. Make sure there’s a penalty for the contractor not finishing the job in a specified amount of time. Insist that they’re penalized monetarily each day that the project goes over. Contractors, used car dealers, politicians are the same.
3. If you’re willing to oversee your own project I’d highly recommend. It doesn’t take a genius to build a home with sub contractors.
I realize these aren’t things for your home but I promise they’re helpful recommendations. Building a home will involve a certain amount of stress and frustration.
2. Make sure there’s a penalty for the contractor not finishing the job in a specified amount of time. Insist that they’re penalized monetarily each day that the project goes over. Contractors, used car dealers, politicians are the same.
3. If you’re willing to oversee your own project I’d highly recommend. It doesn’t take a genius to build a home with sub contractors.
I realize these aren’t things for your home but I promise they’re helpful recommendations. Building a home will involve a certain amount of stress and frustration.
I'm not sure how it works on their end. What I found is the builder was going to charge us the same per sq.ft. if we built on their lot or bought our own lot. I figured this would cost us as much as an extra $60K.
We paid for the plans and found a lot owned by a builder. This was also easier for us because we paid earnest money to the builder and didn't have to get a construction loan. It's basically turnkey.
Thanks for posting this. I haven’t watched all of it yet, but the beginning is very good. It frustrates me when people try to use gimmicks to “improve” something. A glass house with an multi stage compressor on the HVAC system is “green” because it is LEED certified, while a tight, insulated house with an older style HVAC system is not “green”. Although the glass house requires a lot more energy to cool, it’s certified better for the environment, riiiiight. I’ll step off the soapbox now.
We bought a new house last year. Looked at probably a dozen, and every one was two story with all the normal bedrooms upstairs - except for the one we bought. It’s 4 bedroom with 3 downstairs, and we use the upstairs as a room for just me & the boys. I can literally count on one hand how many times my wife has gone up those stairs. She doesn’t even know what the room looks like now. She’s short and has problems with her hip - so it’s a pain for her to go up & down stairs. I also think about future scenarios where one of our parents may need to come stay / live with us. Hope that never happens, but if it does it will be much more convenient having extra bedrooms downstairs.
We plan to live here at least 12-15 years (while kids are at home) and I’m convinced that’s the single best feature of this house. Having everything we need on a single story, but still having that room me or the kids can go hide away in.
Got to go green. Only use renewable energy sources, wind and solar. Use 100% recycled or recyclable material. Doing this may reduce your house size by 75-80% to satisfy the green crowd but then you’ll love being the owner of a tiny house! Doing all that you’ll probably spend about the same $.
BEFORE THE FRAMERS LEAVE.. have them screw down plywood walkways throughout all attic spaces including a walkway over every bedroom, kitchen, den, etc..
Do it on the cheap if you like... just use OSB... but maintain access to all your attic areas.
Don't think you're going to get around to it yourself at some point during electrical or plumbing rough-in. There will be romex and pex all over the place it'll be too late.
Do it on the cheap if you like... just use OSB... but maintain access to all your attic areas.
Don't think you're going to get around to it yourself at some point during electrical or plumbing rough-in. There will be romex and pex all over the place it'll be too late.
I will take your place on the soapbox. LEED is the single most ridiculous standard ever created. The Rainforest Alliance created the standard and will only recognize FSC (another standard created by the rainforest alliance) certified products as being eco friendly.
A decade ago, they had a huge preference for bamboo flooring over reclaimed flooring. Bamboo that is illegally harvested in China, depleting water tables, killing Panda habitats, glued together with urea formaldehyde, and shipped across the ocean on Chinese diesel so full of sulfur and other carcinogens that it was estimated to cause the premature deaths of hundreds of thousands of people annually. That was green. The 80 year old floors ripped out of a teardown and put back in a new build, well the Rainforest Alliance could not make any money off of that.
In 2010 it was beginning to look like LEED would take over everything so I became a LEED certified Green Associate. It was so stupid. In our estimation at the time it would more than triple the cost of a home to get lead certified gold. The greatest thing that ever happened was that **** not getting standardized in residential construction. It's still around in commercial.
I have actually met Joseph Lstiburek at IBS. He is the Godfather of building science. He is really sharp, but a lot of his teachings focus on northern climates wear humidity is higher inside the house than out because of heating. In the south, we need to build a little differently since our humidity is outside most of the time. One of my old customers is probably the biggest voice in the country on building science these days. He is a custom builder in Austin and started a YouTube channel a decade ago. He now has 500k+ subscribers. And maybe a thousand videos. All really well made and informative.
If you are building a house in the south, Matt Risinger is a must watch. The Build show on YouTube is where you can find his videos.
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Features I liked in the house we built in 2004 (and sold in March):
We had two pretty big master closets, one was 8" poured concrete walls/ceiling/floor and a steel door. That closet also had a separate telephone landline (same number as rest of the house). Safe room, tornado room, panic room, whatever you want to call it. Had a 300 pound fire-proof safe built into a cabinet in that closet too. When there were tornado warnings or the siren went off we'd pack up the kids into the closet with blankets and pillows for them to lay on.
Had a jetted tub we rarely used, but a pretty big marble shower with one of those Kohler shower units with 6 different shower heads plus a handheld. I LOVED that shower.
Had a small closet in the master bath for full-size stacked washer and dryer. Really liked the convenience of that. The regular laundry room was across the house and we rarely used it.
3-car garage with wider than normal spaces. I asked for that specifically so each driver could open their doors all the way.
Heated and cooled garage. It was nice, especially since we had one of the two storage rooms made as a dog room with a dog door in the wall to the outside of the house. Ramp from the fenced in area to the dog door.
Heated floors in the bathrooms. Liked those. Also in the kitchen but didn't use that much.
Fully floored walkable attic on the same level as the second story (so regular doors and no steps or ladder going into the attic). Loved that, except that I would put a lot of stuff there and after 15 years I accumulated so much junk in it that I had to rent a dumpster to throw almost all of it away before moving.
Combo locks on a couple doors, one to the garage and one to the side. Convenient.
Make sure you can control the lighting in the main tv rooms.
Regrets:
Had each room wired with a cable bundle with ethernet, coax, phone line. All coming together in a big mess of wires in a closet under the stairs. Nothing labeled. Don't do that. Doubt people do that now anyway with everything wireless.
Big house but not more rooms than usual, just big rooms. Waste of space, and not easy to furnish and decorate well. My new house is smaller and more cozy. Will cost less to A/C and my furniture fits it better. Occasionally I see nice houses on zillow that have huge kitchens and huge bathrooms and huge living rooms and glad I don't have that now.
We had two pretty big master closets, one was 8" poured concrete walls/ceiling/floor and a steel door. That closet also had a separate telephone landline (same number as rest of the house). Safe room, tornado room, panic room, whatever you want to call it. Had a 300 pound fire-proof safe built into a cabinet in that closet too. When there were tornado warnings or the siren went off we'd pack up the kids into the closet with blankets and pillows for them to lay on.
Had a jetted tub we rarely used, but a pretty big marble shower with one of those Kohler shower units with 6 different shower heads plus a handheld. I LOVED that shower.
Had a small closet in the master bath for full-size stacked washer and dryer. Really liked the convenience of that. The regular laundry room was across the house and we rarely used it.
3-car garage with wider than normal spaces. I asked for that specifically so each driver could open their doors all the way.
Heated and cooled garage. It was nice, especially since we had one of the two storage rooms made as a dog room with a dog door in the wall to the outside of the house. Ramp from the fenced in area to the dog door.
Heated floors in the bathrooms. Liked those. Also in the kitchen but didn't use that much.
Fully floored walkable attic on the same level as the second story (so regular doors and no steps or ladder going into the attic). Loved that, except that I would put a lot of stuff there and after 15 years I accumulated so much junk in it that I had to rent a dumpster to throw almost all of it away before moving.
Combo locks on a couple doors, one to the garage and one to the side. Convenient.
Make sure you can control the lighting in the main tv rooms.
Regrets:
Had each room wired with a cable bundle with ethernet, coax, phone line. All coming together in a big mess of wires in a closet under the stairs. Nothing labeled. Don't do that. Doubt people do that now anyway with everything wireless.
Big house but not more rooms than usual, just big rooms. Waste of space, and not easy to furnish and decorate well. My new house is smaller and more cozy. Will cost less to A/C and my furniture fits it better. Occasionally I see nice houses on zillow that have huge kitchens and huge bathrooms and huge living rooms and glad I don't have that now.
Electric heating is typically expensive. It's because in most parts of the country, you burning a good bit of natural gas to get your electricity, so you are adding an extra step where you burn natural gas to create electricity, which involves a pretty good loss of energy, and then you transmit it to your house and use the electricity to create heat, which also has a good bit of waste. Natural gas directly to heat cuts out some of those losses.
That said, if you are in the south where your heat pump rarely has to use the auxiliary heating (which is basically the equivalent of strip heating, and very inefficient), then going gas isn't a huge deal because you are also picking up an extra meter charge to have gas. If you are paying a minimum bill for natural gas (which you probably will be in the summer, depending on how you use hot water and a gas cook top, you are basically paying for the gas infrastructure to sit there, which will eat into some of your savings. Hope that makes sense.
I would still get gas if it's an option. The instant hot water heaters are nice. A gas range is nice. And you can stub in a feed for a gas grill. But if none of that sounds like a big deal to you and it would be more expensive to add the gas in, don't feel like you're making a dumb decision to forego it if you don't need it for heat.
Lots of good info here. I won't repeat it other than to say you have to change your perspective if you plan to grow old in the house your are building. Look at what older people need and at least allow for the contingency later.
A few minor additions:
We added a pantry/back kitchen off the main kitchen area. One problem with open plan living areas is you can't hide your food prep mess. We do most prep in the back kitchen and then we can close that off when guests arrive.
Many people are putting microwaves low in the kitchen island. That isn't convenient and the microwaves with top mounted controls are more expensive. We put a cheaper eye level microwave in the back kitchen.
Counter depth refrigerators are more expensive and hold less than than full depth units. Look at your plan and see if you can offset the wall behind the refrigerator by 6-8". You can have the clean look of counter depth and not lose kitchen floor space and still use a cheaper full depth unit.
I bought a scratch and dent oven/range at the Sears Outlet store and had my builder wire it up in the garage. Stuff that will stink up the house we cook in the garage. Also handy when you have big family gatherings and you need to warm up multiple casseroles at the same time.
A few minor additions:
We added a pantry/back kitchen off the main kitchen area. One problem with open plan living areas is you can't hide your food prep mess. We do most prep in the back kitchen and then we can close that off when guests arrive.
Many people are putting microwaves low in the kitchen island. That isn't convenient and the microwaves with top mounted controls are more expensive. We put a cheaper eye level microwave in the back kitchen.
Counter depth refrigerators are more expensive and hold less than than full depth units. Look at your plan and see if you can offset the wall behind the refrigerator by 6-8". You can have the clean look of counter depth and not lose kitchen floor space and still use a cheaper full depth unit.
I bought a scratch and dent oven/range at the Sears Outlet store and had my builder wire it up in the garage. Stuff that will stink up the house we cook in the garage. Also handy when you have big family gatherings and you need to warm up multiple casseroles at the same time.
You ever hear the saying, "Now you are cooking with gas!". There's a reason. Way better in every aspect than electric:
1) Costs less (<-least important)
2) Heats up faster. (<-nice to have)
3) Temperature control on the stove top. (<-most important)
Heating aspect, cheaper than electric and doesn't remove as much humidity.
Grilling: never have to worry about if you have gas in the bottle if it is just plumbed into the natural gas connection in the wall. perfect if you still prefer to grill many things but are so busy that you can't always use real fire
36" interior doorways. Lots of folks go 30 or 32. 36 is easier to get furniture in and out as well as a wheelchair if ever needed.
Walk in closets, or at least 6-8' wide with easy access.
Gas supply stubbed on patio. Changing those smaller grill bottles can be inconvient.
Have a port for generator on back patio as well. No HOA to deal with and it's less noisy and toxic than one running in garage.
If planning upstairs storage, plan a lift. Adapted a seadoo hoist in garage for storage above attic. When not in use, it's raised and trimmed to match garage ceiling. Haven't carried anything up stairs in years. At Christmas, you never have to take the tree down. Just set on lift and store it assembled.
Walk in closets, or at least 6-8' wide with easy access.
Gas supply stubbed on patio. Changing those smaller grill bottles can be inconvient.
Have a port for generator on back patio as well. No HOA to deal with and it's less noisy and toxic than one running in garage.
If planning upstairs storage, plan a lift. Adapted a seadoo hoist in garage for storage above attic. When not in use, it's raised and trimmed to match garage ceiling. Haven't carried anything up stairs in years. At Christmas, you never have to take the tree down. Just set on lift and store it assembled.
If a builder owns the lot, they will typically only sell it to you with an agreement that they build your house.
Currently renovating a house in Nashville, so right there with you. Won’t be too much of an echo chamber, but foam insulation wasn’t too bad. PM me and I’ll share cost estimates / size of my house.
The two things I’d really recommend:
1) think thru now where you want “in-wall” items to be. Things like plumbing and electrical are cheap and easy to adjust as stud walls, harder to address when sheetrocked. Example: I put in a pot filler above stove for <$100 now. Would be super expensive later.
Same for electrical. I was maniacal about where there should be outlets. (Example: I put outlets in the upper corner of front porch... lets me easily do Christmas lights in the winter). Walk thru with Contractor and/or electrician to think thru things. And add more on any outdoor / patio spaces!
2) if you want quality build, stay on top of your contractor. I go by daily and keep meticulous lists of what needs to be fixed. When I email my contractor (so I have records in writing) I date each email and break down by area what needs to be done, changes, adjustments, adds, etc. it helps me make sure things get done correctly, and helps my contractor stay on top of his game too. (Examples: I caught that they only ran 120v electric for oven, not 240, and forgot to put main shower head, just the accessory / wand head). He’s been great, but it helps my sanity to make sure nothing goes wrong that I could’ve helped go right.
Good luck!
The two things I’d really recommend:
1) think thru now where you want “in-wall” items to be. Things like plumbing and electrical are cheap and easy to adjust as stud walls, harder to address when sheetrocked. Example: I put in a pot filler above stove for <$100 now. Would be super expensive later.
Same for electrical. I was maniacal about where there should be outlets. (Example: I put outlets in the upper corner of front porch... lets me easily do Christmas lights in the winter). Walk thru with Contractor and/or electrician to think thru things. And add more on any outdoor / patio spaces!
2) if you want quality build, stay on top of your contractor. I go by daily and keep meticulous lists of what needs to be fixed. When I email my contractor (so I have records in writing) I date each email and break down by area what needs to be done, changes, adjustments, adds, etc. it helps me make sure things get done correctly, and helps my contractor stay on top of his game too. (Examples: I caught that they only ran 120v electric for oven, not 240, and forgot to put main shower head, just the accessory / wand head). He’s been great, but it helps my sanity to make sure nothing goes wrong that I could’ve helped go right.
Good luck!
build a 30 foot steel wall with razor wire....figure the rest of that **** out later after the smoke clears.
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