If you've been following along for a while, you may have noticed that we've build our own home, 6 times now... Our current farmhouse being our 6th, and last. I hope by sharing this process it'll help you learn how to build your own home too!
I hope this inspires you to go ahead with your dreams, and build your own home. It's a step-by-step process that can take a whole year if you're doing a lot of the work yourself. But, it's so worth it economically, and is so satisfying!
If you have any more questions or concerns, please leave them in the comments below! I always answer questions;)
Our strategy was to contribute significant labor to each home, increasing its value. By selling these homes, we aimed to reinvest the profits into the purchase of our next property... Eventually building our home for cash;)
We did this 6 times, each time rolling all the profits into the next home. Each home we sold had a smaller and smaller mortgage, till we built our 6th house free and clear. Woohoo!
Mortgage Loans
How would a bank loan us money to build our own homes without being professional contractors? Good question! Before we began this journey, we have bought and sold 2 prebuilt homes, and had a nest egg... So our first DIY built house we needed under 100k to finish.
Our local credit union has been great to work with. They have a building department, and the manager of that department has built her own home too... So she was familiar with the process, and totally understood our situation. The local credit union took the unfinished house as collateral for the loan, and lent us the money needed to finish at a very reasonable interest rate!
Finding Land
We always looked for the best deals on land, because I've learned that you make your money when you buy! So, buy low and sell high;)
Building in the county, instead of the city limits also saves us money on taxes and some permitting fees. County building rules are much easier to deal with than cities, plus you get to drill your own well and not have to pay a water bill. You also get to put in a septic and not have to pay city sewer bills... Win, win in my book! It does cost a bit more up front to put in a well and a septic, but not having those bills each month makes it SO worth it!
Our fist lot was only $40k for 1.5 acres. Our second lot was even less at $19k for 1 acre, but it was all hill, and we built on top! Our third lot was only $35k for 1.5 acres, but it was an odd triangle shape, and we made it work great. Our 4th lot was a house we helped our parents build in town, and was only 40k at the time, which was a great deal.
The land for our 5th house was listed at 75k for several years, but never sold... So I went and knocked on the owners door and offered them 40k. They countered me, right then and there, at 50k and it was a deal! This lot was much closer to town in a great location. And our final 10 acre farm was offered to us by a friend at a fair price, and we couldn't refuse!
Drawing House Plans
The first 2 homes we built were from plans I found online. But after talking to framers and other contractors, I learned a few money savings tricks to build more square footage for less money!
These tips are:
1 - Bonus trusses! (Framers don't charge as much for the square footage in bonus trusses, and you have to buy trusses anyways!
2 - Basements! We build homes on a crawl space in Idaho anyways, because of high and low temperatures which make the ground expand and contract... Crawl spaces are about 3-4 feet deep, if you can you may as well go another 4-5 more feet down to get a basement!
3 - Building plans that work with materials.... Most sheeting for homes are 4x8 feet. The most economical 2x4's are 8 feet long. When you draw or buy plans that use these same measurements, you have less material waist, and save money! I buy graph paper to draw my home plans using each square for 2 feet by 2 feet. Then I take my final drawings to a draftsman for a professional draw up. If you are worried about engineering, the truss companies engineer the trusses, and draftsmen know what size floor joists are needed to span certain lengths. )If your home doesn't have the right size floor joists, etc., it wont pass inspections, and can be unsafe;)
By our 3rd home build I had dreamt up the plans, and drawn them (keeping material measurements in mind) on graph paper. I took these plans to a general contractor who drew them up himself per county requirements. (I paid him $500 to draw those plans, which saved us money already.) Later I used a local draftsman to draw the plans I've dreamt up and give them.
Buying Building Materials
For the first 3 homes we built We hired the same contractor to do the foundation, framing, roofing and siding. We purchased the materials ourselves... Contactors are more than happy to buy materials for you, but they mark up the price 10-15% as their fee. If your building materials cost 100k, you pay an extra 10k-15k just for your builder to buy them for you;)
It may seem intimidating to buy building materials when you don't know a whole bunch about reading house plans, or framing. BUT you really don't need to know a whole lot about building materials when you start... Building supply stores, and reps, can answer almost all your questions! So can your draftsman, county inspectors, and good subcontractors will too!
We have 3 local building supply businesses in our area: Home Depo, Ontario Building Supply, and Franklyn Building Supply. I took my house plans, made 10 copies of them. Then I made an appointment with a building rep at each of these building supply stores. I gave them all a copy of our plans so they can measure out the walls, windows, stairs, doors, trim, drywall, insulation, roof trusses and sheeting... And they each give you a detailed report of needed materials, and their costs!
After getting all the building material bids back, I go line by line (and page by page) through each of these. I make sure they are all bidding the same materials... (for example if you are using hardy siding, make sure they are all bidding the same siding, trim, doors, windows, floor joists and sheeting, etc. So you know you are comparing apples to apples.)
I have negotiated for lower prices by showing them their competitors prices on certain items. But for the most part, I just make sure that the lowest bid does in fact include all the materials that the other bids include, then I'll go with the best deal. I will say that some building supply companies are easier to work with than others, but they're prices can be very different!
You can buy your trim, doors and windows through your building supply company or through a specialized trim and window supplier... I have used Gem State Doors out of Nampa Idaho for a few homes, but they are a bit higher in price than Home Depo... The advantage is they come out, measure everything, and deliver your supplies as you are ready for them.
You will also need to get cabinet bids. You can get these from your building supply provider, or from Home Depo or Lows. You will meet with a kitchen and bath designer to design your kitchen and bathroom cabinets and order them. The picture above is my kitchen design done by the Home Depo. Make sure to get these ordered as soon as possible, because they can take a while to get built and delivered.
Hiring Out Subcontractors
Acting as our own general contractor, we don't have the skills to do a lot of things including: excavating, well drilling, septic placement and hook ups, plumbing, electrical and HVAC. And the framing, siding, drywall and roofing are such big jobs we just hire them out so that they get done well and fast.
To find and hire these contractors, I talk to everyone I can in the building industry... Including the building supply store reps!
Once you find one good honest contractor, he will be able to refer you to several more good honest contractors. For example, our last framing contractor was ready to go, but I didn't have the concrete guy picked out yet to pour our foundation... So I asked my framing contractor! He gave me his friends info who was a good concrete contractor, and I used him.
We hire contractors for:
- Drafting Home Plans
- Excavation
- Well Drilling and Pump Installation
- Concrete - for the foundation, garage slabs and porches.
- Framers
- Siding
- Insulation: We are a professional insulator... It costs the same as buying insulation and doing it your self.
- Roofing
- Electrical - Including a temporary electric for building.
- Plumbing
- HVAC - Heating and cooling.
- Drywall, hang, tape and texture.
- *Optional - Painters. We painted our first several homes ourselves, but hiring a painter makes such a wonderful difference! They do an awesome job, and it saves you SOOOO much work!
- Counters, if you want granite or quarts counters.
- Carpet. This is not included with the other material bids.
After drywall is done and painted, we are done hiring out work, and we do the rest of the house. Darin, my husband, my kids and I do the cabinets, trim, doors, and flooring.
As far landscaping goes.... We did it all ourselves for the first 4 homes. You don't need to do it at the same time as building your home in the county. So we took our time and did it as we had the funds. By the 5th house we hired out the fence, sprinklers, some landscaping and metal edging for garden beds;)
Building Site Prep
To get your land ready to build on, you will need to do a few things: Get a temporary power pole set up and hooked up to electracy. You can do this with your electric contractor and the power company.
You will need to put in a rough road or driveway. Your excavator can help you do this.
You will need to get water to the build site. Several contractors will need water to do their jobs. So we always drill our well and put a temporary pump on it for contractors to use.
You will also need to rent a porta potty so that contractors can use the bathroom while they're working. In Idaho this is a law, and just common courtesy to your contractors... Treat them well, and they will treat you well!
That's it for site prep! On to Excavation, then concrete, and framing!
Building Inspections
Your city, or county, will have a building permit that you purchase before you start. It costs a couple thousand dollars but pays for inspectors to inspect each step of the way... They make sure your house is being built to safety code.
City or County inspectors will be called at the end of each contractors job, and they will give you a pass or fail... If you fail an inspection the contractor you hired will fix any problems with their work... So remember not to pay subcontractors till their work passes the inspection;) When it passes inspection, you a pass to move on to the next step!
My contractors always called the building inspector when they were done to get an inspection. I don't pay my contractors till their work passes inspection;) That's an important tip, if you pay contractors before passing inspection it may be hard to get them back very quick to fix anything;)
Building Process Step-By-Step
- The first thing we do is get professional drawn house plans.
- Get building material bids, and contractor bids! Make sure you have finances all set before you move on.
- Buy the land.
- Fill out paperwork as the owner to get a building permit from our county or city. We have to get a perk test (dirt test for a septic tank) by our excavator for our building permits.
- Site Prep (see above)
- Excavation - then inspection.
- Concrete forms - then inspection, before concrete foundation pouring. They can also pour concrete for the porches or garage at the same time. Some prefer to come back later and do those things. But you need to pour your garage floor before framing! Then the concrete will need to be inspected before you move on.
- Building Materials should be delivered to the build site for the framers to use.
- Now comes the fun part... Framing! This is so fun because now you can watch your house go up! My last framers built our house in 6 days... They had about 20 guys all working and they were amazing. Plus no floor creeks... They were so good!
- Roofing & Siding - Framers will get everything ready for the roofers and siders to come cover up the houses bones. It's important to be on the roofers and siders schedules RIGHT after framers are done so your houses wood doesn't get rained on or wet. The weather really takes a toll on raw wood, so get it covered up by the roofer and siders ASAP.
- Rough Electrical, Plumbing and HVAC. These contractors are all licensed trades that each need to call in for their own inspection after they finish. States have specialized inspectors for these trades to make sure they are safe. These contractors will work around each other or you can schedule them around each other. Make sure they all pass inspections before you pay them for their "rough-in" work. The "finish" part of their jobs is done after paint and drywall, (or cabinets for sinks).
- Insulation! Your insulators will need to get into the house and start their job after the utilities are finished. They do a seal up job before main insulation. This seal job will need to be inspected before they can do the main insulation. It has to do with fire safety. After all the insulation is done (except attic insulation, if you are using traditional insulation (spray foam is different). Blow-in attic insulation is done after drywall is complete, because it sits on top of the ceiling drywall.
- Drywall!!! This is such a fun part of building, when you can see the rooms in your house take shape! We always hire out drywall because it's such an overwhelmingly big job! Drywallers will hang, tape and texture your drywall.
- Hang doors and install trim! We instal trim around windows and doors, and in carpeted areas. If you're putting in wood or tile floors, you will wait to install those baseboards till after those floors are in. But, have the baseboards laid out on a tarp for the painters to paint;)
- Paint! This is another fun part... Hopefully by now you have chosen your paint colors! If you can afford it, I highly recommend hiring out to a professional painter!! They will do all the caulking (which is a HUGE and tedious job) and do a beautiful job painting your home. But we have painted several of our own homes, it does save a chunk of money and isn't rocket science;)
- Cabinets! Time to place your kitchen, bath and laundry room cabinets! My husband did finish carpentry when he was 23 for a year, and so he learned how to do this... BUT it's not hard. You will set your cabinets and level them, making sure they are in the right spot before attaching them to the walls and floor with screws.
- Counter Tops - We hire this out to the local granite/courts shop. They come measure your counters and make sure that the counters they cut fit perfectly, and they do the installation too!
- Finish well pump, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. At this point your electrician will come back to install all the finishes like light switches, and lights. Your plumbers will come back now to install the faucets, sinks and water heaters, etc. Your HVAC will come now to place vent covers, and make sure everything is working right. They'll all need to get inspected before you pay them the finish fee, which was part of your original bid.
- Electric hook up. - Now you can have the electric company and permanently hook your house up to electricity (it was a temporary power pole while building.)
- Flooring: We like to install wood floors and tile in all the wet areas of our homes. We do all our floors except carpets in bedrooms, then have LOWS come and install carpet (usually in the bedrooms). After floors are finished you may have a bit of touch up painting to do.
- Cleaning. Your home will be so dirty by this point from construction dust. Most people like to hire this out to a professional. It's a lot of work but we do it ourselves.
- Final inspection for your occupancy permit!
- Move in, and Enjoy!
Safety First:
Throughout the building process, prioritize safety by strictly adhering to local building codes and regulations. Wear appropriate safety gear, such as hard hats, safety glasses, and gloves. Ensure that all electrical and plumbing work is done by licensed professionals and meets local codes. Proper ventilation is crucial to maintain air quality and prevent the buildup of harmful gases.
Environmental Considerations:
While building your dream home, consider the environmental impact of your choices. Opt for sustainable building materials, such as recycled wood or energy-efficient appliances. Minimize waste by properly disposing of construction debris and recycling materials whenever possible. By making eco-conscious decisions, you can reduce your carbon footprint and contribute to a greener future.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!