New House Tips please

[TresCrows]

"and the #1 thing I did right? FIRE THE BUILDER!!!"

Yep, same here. He has been warned that should he ever show his face he will be shot--I am serious. He thinks I owe him money--fine, I told him to sue me and of course he never did. I spent the money he claimed I owed him redoing most everyhting the way it should have been done. DO NOT TRUST any builder or worker. If they even look at you funny or complain that you are to particular or that "quality is hard to come by nowadays" remind them that money is even harder to come by nowadays and SEND them PACKING.
I will never again hire a house built--I will build my next house with my own hands. This is not my final home and in the end it turned out nice.
I have a three car garage, make one of the stall double long with a door on both ends to the backyard area. When you build the house go ahead and figure in a shop/garage at least 26X26. Plan circuitry to handle at least one 50 AMP for a welder and maybe another for a large air compressor.
Did I mention--if the builder give you any excuse to do so--FIRE HIM first and ask questions later.
Hire Mexican builders and workers--they still have a work ethic and are not lazy. Expect people to make a fair profit/wage.
Insist that the builder use a level, square and water level--if he does not--FIRE him on the spot and all his subs.
Never--ever--pay anyone till the work is complete and to your satisfaction. There is at least one sub who cursed me out on my property when I asked him to redo something the way I asked him to do it the first time and I even offered to pay for new materials--I am a scrawny character but I put my foot way up his rear and he is still running--wear good boots so that it hurts real good when you use them on their fat, beer gut, flabby red neck rearends. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Oh--good luck /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif J

 

[BrettW]

You Kansas guys are tough. Thanks, keep those ideas coming. I'm going back to the bank with this print out and asking for more cash to do it right. brett w

 

[hockeyhead]

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT!!! build a house with it's attatch garage 90 degrees to the house or "L" shaped on open ground. You want to talk about snow drifts, and the catch-all for anything the wind decides to blow around. I did not build it but I bought it and have been building wind-breaks ever since. good luck with your new home /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[rlk]

Brettw, here is a link from a year or so ago that contains a lot of good tips. New Home Tips

Bob

 

[crown]

Something I did that has not yet been mentioned, if you are using propane heat run a hook-up out to where you will eventually BBQ it makes things real nice and no more worring about running out of gas or messing with tanks.
Good luck it is a grueling process but can be fun so much so that I am considering building again on a new parcel in the spring. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[_RaT_]

Brett, I'm in much the same boat. I have not even got a set of plans. Thats hard for me to do because the endless options compound every decison.

I am going to do several extra things extra for myself

Install a 240V 30amp outlet on either side of the house. Just in case I want to purchase a Landa ( or other ) pressure washer that is electric I have a 13 HP pressure washer now, but after using a 6 HP Landa, I'm convinced for the home it's the best way to go.

Generator subpanel: this may not be important for some. You will know quickly if you need one. I would provide a circuit design this way in terms of importance.

#1 Any cold storage for perishables. That means a refrigerator and or freezer.
#2 Well pump if your on one. This generallly requires a 240V generator with a minimum of 3500 watts.
#3 Lights for the kitchen and bathrooms. After that, it's up to you.
#4 Microwave and if needed, a gas stove igniter, not necessary, but nice and you can tie it the microwave circuit during costruction.
After that, consider the TV and computers if you feel the need. Everything else is icing on the cake. Minuimum generator for all this would be a 5000 watt brushless like Dewalt or 6000 watt brush generator like Honda.

I run Cat 5 when I do electrical work. It's standard anymore. It's silly not too. Wireless will in all likelyhood displace much of this or the newer Cat 6 or even Cat 7. I plan to conduit many of those runs anyway so new wire could update the house quickly.

Don't forget about any sprinkler wiring if you do that. Consider running a 1" conduit from one side of the house to the other. Amazing how many times you wished you would have done that. Run it out to a lawn area on either end.

Have the electrician run 20 amp circuits in the garage.

Oh I have more, I'll have to make a list, perhaps even email you some of my findings. Rat...

 

[TresCrows]

"You Kansas guys are tough."

No, I am not from Kansas. You see, Bonny and Clyde made mince meat of these charaters, down in Louisiana we just shot the c&%p out of them. If you want to take on us Cajuns make it in the cold and snow, otherwise, good
luck /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif.

Most welders and large compressors need 220 and 50 amps. Consider these new lifetime metal roof systems. Think about the new poured concrete building systems as well. As far as I am concerned, the more brick the better--does not need repainting constantly. Avoid sliding doors and install French type swinging doors. Consider a heated floor in your garage/workshop. Can you build in your home theator system? Do you ever do darkroom work? Running water and a sink in the garage is nice with hot water as well for cleanup. If you have dogs/critters install a mixer unit, I have seen them a Home Depot, so you can have warm water outside to bath the critters when it is cool. Use the new style rounded mud mouldings for your sheet rock instead of the sharp corners you have nice flowing corners, don't split your head open in the dark when you are stumbling around half awake either.
In my opinion, if you can find REAL carpenters then hand built trusses and joists are better than the prefab stuff. If you are building over a basement use either the concrete floor systems or a "silent" joist system.
I am not anti-Pergo and other laminate floor coverings but real stone or scribed and dyed concrete will be my next house floor and no stupid basement. I prefer a slab. If I need a storm room I will harden the master closet. Oh, howabout provisions for a gun/valuable safe built in.
One thing, if you buy an already built house you don't have to know about all the screwups but they are still there. You can have fun building--just keep a close eye on the contractor, expect him to make a fair profit and expect and demand quality work in return. J

 

[InlineDieselFan]

Three Crows,

I agree Brick and concrete are awsome! Just truy to get insurance on one near volcanoes and in earthquakes country.

This thread has been good as we are about to give up on finding a house and build one. well act as the general contractor.

steve

 

[Junkman]

Can't comment too much on the new things that have been added to houses in the past 10 - 15 years, but 23 years ago when I built my house, I put in a 10 foot foundation. After all the utilities and ductwork was done, there is still room to put in a drop ceiling and not feel like it is on top of your head. I also made a provision for a full bathroom in the cellar, but never got around to installing it. If it is a 2 story house, try to locate a place on the second floor for the laundry. No need to carry dirty clothes down and clean clothes up. Also consider putting a sub panel on each floor and have that floors wiring go to that panel. No need to go down the cellar to reset a circuit breaker for the second floor bedroom. Build a bigger garage than you need and if you have the head room, go with bigger doors.... both height and width... 8x8 or 9x9. While the ground is dug up, install 2" PVC pipe to any area that you think you might want to run electric to in the future. Put everything in PVC if it is in the ground. Makes it easier to replace in the future. Let in bracing in all the walls, eliminate future cracks in the plaster. 23 years and no cracks... I framed with 2x6 24" OC, but if I were to do it again, I would go 16" OC. Keep every receipt. I have Andersen windows and am always fighting with them for replacements because the tri pane glass keeps failing. They guarantee them for 20 years and they have been failing for every year of the 23 that we have live here. About 70% have been replace and now they say that the warranty is over this year. I took 3 years to finish construction, so I will have to do battle even more in the future. Keep every receipt to prove the purchase date. Don't take delivery of anything until you need it... that way, the warranty will not be running while it is in the garage waiting to be installed. Have the water tested before you move in and install any water treatment equipment while you are building..... What ever you are planning on spending, you will be over budget by 30 - 50 % for sure... Just expect it. Make sure that you are involved in every decision made by the builder and know the quality of the materials before they are delivered and installed. Saw a $500,000 house last week that had garage doors on it that weren't of the quality of the lowest priced door at one of the big box stores. Stamped metal without any insulation. Pick your lock hardware and have it keyed alike. Consider upgrade locks with security features such as core keys... Probably think of more tomorrow, but am tired now.....

 

[OkeeDon]

<font color="blue"> ...know the quality of the materials before they are delivered and installed. Saw a $500,000 house last week that had garage doors on it that weren't of the quality of the lowest priced door... </font>

Boy, I second that! Back when we were building custom outdoor kitchens in expensive houses, we shuddered at some of the materials and practices. Many of the houses had expensive surface materials (marble floors, for instance) built on frames that would be sloppy in a tract house. All show and no substance.

And, since I mentioned an outdoor kitchen, someone else mentioned plumbing the gas to the patio - be sure to plumb hot and cold water to the patio and install a drain pipe. Also, electrical outlets in the same general area, one low and at least one high (over 36"). Sooner or later you'll decide you want a nice built-in grill with a sink and fridge. You won't be able to add the drain later.

The result of seeing all the shoddy work was what convinced me to be my own contractor. I can get the quality I want by spending the GC's profit on the quality.

 

[chim]

We did many of the things that were mentioned here. For curtain blocking at windows we used horizontal 12" rips of plywood to at least 16" beyond the sides of the openings. On the 3-wide door (one hinged with one on each side) the blocking goes out two stud spaces for drapes.

2" PVC to the attic got used before we nicked the first wall.

Halls and stairs are 4' wide Makes life easier.

We boxed out a space in the wall of the second floor hall so the wall-mopunted phone would be back past flush with the wall.

Used attic trusses and a real stair to the attic over the main house. That gives us a 12' X 30' floor for accumulating things we shoud trash.

One thing we didn't do was use a manifold system for plumbing. That's something we'll do if we build again. It would allow me, for example, to turn off the cold side of the faucet on my sink in the master bedroom without losing water antywhere else. Everything is home-run to the bank of valves in the basement..........................chim

 

[cbh]

Just a thought, but if you will be in your home a long time, perhaps a lifetime, then a single floor design is probably easier on the body. Just think of how many times you'll be climbing those stairs!

 

[heehaw]

i thought anderson windows had a life time warranty??
heehaw

 

[Junkman]

So did I until I ran into the problem and they said ..... read the warranty.... It is a limited warranty on all of their products. 20 years on glass and 10 years on the rest of the window. I think that the reason that I have had so much trouble getting replacements is that ALL of the Andersen tri pane windows have a much higher failure rate that any of their other products. I was told, that there was a class action suit in one of the state, I think Wisconsin, and that they settled it by making the glass a lifetime replacement item for the tri pane windows. I have never been able to get any information on this other than the reported rumor. If anyone here knows of this settlement, or any other, please let me know. Thanks Junkman /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[AndyM]

I second that! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Take lots of pictures!

We bought our digital camera right when we started building our house. Take pictures of EVERYTHING!!!

We probably have about 2000 pictures of our "adventure", taken at every angle of every step along the way.

You never know when something will come back to haunt you later or if you will have to sue the builder for something later on. When you see something wrong and the builder tells you they will fix it, don't take their word for it, take pictures, as you might need them for proof later on.

The first first thing our builder did was put in a driveway to get to the house. They ripped out my brand new culvert along the ditch at the road and put their own in...

...The next nine months continued on about the same way.

Also, aquire more patience than you have now. It gets really frustrating when the builder tells you the breakdown of everything they're going to do on the house that week, and then you don't see anyone for 2 weeks!

Now that it's all over, we generally have a nice house. There's some things that didn't turn out as nice as promised or expected, but it's done and I'm never building a house or moving again. The next move I make will be to the cemetery!

Rule number two-- get EVERYTHING in writing. The builder we picked used a 22 page contract, spelling everything out specifically. They still didn't follow things in it and had to go back and chage things after I pointed them out to them (see culvert story above). We looked at one builder that had their contract on the front and back of ONE piece of paper-- we kept moving to the next builder. After all, it is the single largest amount of money you're ever going to pay for something during your lifetime. Get all the details spelled out specifically...

Oh yeah, one more thing! When the CFO says she wants a 2 story house because it "looks" nicer, overrule her, because it get real old climbing those stairs every day! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[_RaT_]

Your comment bout the 2 story and the part about getting old real fast is the way I feel. There are many other problems associated with two stories as well. Some 2 stories look better, most tend to take on a look of a tract house for me anymore as that is all the tract houses are. I would like to really keep ours at one level and have 9 to 10 foot ceilings. Here in California it makes all the sense in the world to go with large overhangs. When I was back in Maine building a home for a family memeber, we had very little. For sun and weather protection, it's a great way to go. As TresCrows mentioned, some of the new flooring ideas are great. Stained concrete and real stone or tile over woods and laminates. Not that woods or laminate are bad, but the maintainance is so little on the very durable concrete, stone and tile. Some things are very geographic specific. Here in Northern California, it makes a lot of sense to use evaporative cooling to do the bulk of the summer cooling. A fraction of the price and there are some sophisticated systems today. There are evaporative pads that are 12" thick. In humid climates, they are not going to work. An idea I liked was a home that had a semi commercial stove with a faucet designed to fill big pots right at the stove. It was well setup. I will be looking into going with PEX for all the hot and cold water plumbing.

 

[Inspector507]

We didn't build this house, but bought it with the long term in mind. One floor plan and a room that could be used for a first floor laundry later on. That way when we get to old or feeble /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif, we'll just more or less shut off the basement. May have to go down to service the softner and iron filter, but thats what sons will be for /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Jerry

 

[Pigeon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> I will be looking into going with PEX for all the hot and cold water plumbing. </font> )</font>

I think the PEX piping is well worth investigating. It has been in use in my area (NE Oklahoma) for approx 10 years. I am a plumbing contractor, and have not seen any problems associated with it. I personally took a wait-and-see approach to it, partly because of the problems (NIGHTMARES) associated w/ polybutelene piping. I,ve been using Pex for about 2 years and am sold on it for residential applications.

I reccomend if building on concrete slab to install PVC conduit underslab to pull PEX through. If you were to ever have a leak, you would be able to repair it much easier.

 

[BrettW]

What is PEX piping, never heard of it. thanks, brett w

 

[CTyler]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Have you decided what your internet access is going to be? )</font>

Hi, I think we are going with Huntel's DSL service and see how that works out. I'm current ly in NW Omaha aprox 132 & Fort and using Cox . The new house on P33 just a 1 1/2 outside of Blair. Its' actually Washington County however its' within Blair City jurisdiction.