Tips for Building
Ok, let's be honest, building a house is similar to having a baby. You dream about your child to come, and you are over the moon when they are born but the labor can be a nightmare! Building is like labor. At least it was for us. We broke ground our house in January of 2022. Things were still reeling from COVID, and the supply chain was dismal. From what I hear things are better. Yay for you, but I learned a lot through the process. I hope these tips can guide you through some challenges your “home labor” might have in store for you.
First, let’s talk about building in the country. If you are blessed to have the opportunity to live on some land here are some things to consider. When we began the dream of buying and building on land we wanted raw land. We found some that was gorgeous. My husband who grew up ranching and building fence and driving tractors was all in to start from scratch, but I happened to find a piece of land with a cute, old farmhouse on it that piqued my interest. I drove out and saw it and its charm won me over. My husband agreed that the little house would allow us to begin our country journey sooner and get my son into school in our small town as a kindergartener. My husband is also an engineer (need I say more), so out came the spreadsheet. This is an engineer’s form of a pros and cons list. Once we totaled all the money we would save on fences, water, electricity, existing ponds and barns there was no question that the land with the existing house was the way to go. I have mentioned in another post that it was 6 years before we started building our dream house but what we did by buying land with certain things already established saved us so much. Turns out the farmhouse we renovated until we could build our dream home is now where my parents live, and it is such a blessing. That is just something to consider as you begin your search. Land with preexisting utilities, ponds, fences, etc. is sooo helpful. Along those lines a tale of caution. The land next to us was bought by a developer who sectioned it off into smaller lots. Pretty soon we saw signs that we would have new neighbors, however things got rocky. Turns out there was not enough water to service their houses. To get that problem fixed it also became apparent that the road the developer had put in was not up to code! It makes it hard to fix things when trucks can’t use your road. Long story short. Years later they are finally able to get started on their homes.
Other things to be aware of as you look for land are things like zoning and permit requirements, if you will need a septic system or if you are connected to a municipal system, and if you are in a flood plan. One of the things that might hold you up if you build in the country is that you must have an address to start your build. To have an address you must be on a working road, and you must have a driveway. You might possibly also need a culvert for said driving way. You will also need a land survey and possibly building permits depending on where you live. I would plan to talk with your local authorities to see what you need before you get started. This process seemed to take forever.
So, assuming you have done all the fun planning. You knew what you wanted and what you needed and what style you were going for. You met with an architect, and you have a vetted builder, here are some things to be prepared for.
Timeline- IT WILL TAKE LONGER THAN YOU EXPECT! So many things can hold up a build. Things we ran into were weather, supply chain, holidays, sickness, family emergencies, and the list goes on and on. Just be ready. Consider this your warning.
Cost- It will cost more than you expect. Everything is so expensive. Be prepared to compromise. Splurge the must haves and go for something cheaper where you can. We gave up on some built-ins we wanted. We found less expensive countertops. We did not stamp the concrete on our patio. We found less expensive wood for some accents. We did LVP flooring instead of real wood. We got a vanity from a builder surplus store. Most of our fixtures are from places like Home Depot and Lowes. Our draw pulls are from Amazon. You can have a beautiful home and save money.
Communication- Communication? What communication? Try to find a builder who has a specific plan to communicate with you. This a huge problem in the building arena. Sometimes it is not the builder’s fault when the contractors and trades men don’t communicate with them, but it is still so frustrating. Be prepared for people not to show up when they say they will. Things happen and these people have other homes or projects that have delays and then the domino effect begins. The hope, though, is that will be communicated with you. It is easier to accept the problems and delays when you know what, when, and why. Also, if you go to the job site and something has gone wrong or you have a question you need to be able to reach them. There needs to be a schedule that you are aware of, you need to know ahead of time what is needed from you. You do not want to be scrambling to find a toilet, sink, light fixture, whatever the night before it needs to go in the house.
Just do it- Like Nike says, “Just do it!” If you can afford it and you think you want it, do it now. Most people who say they will add a feature after the house is built don’t. Somethings it is too late once the house is built. The one thing I regret not doing is a pot filler. Because of plumbing that ship has sailed.
Consider Lead time- Ask your builder if there is anything that needs extra lead time. These items can change. Sometimes it is appliances, sometimes it is electrical equip or even lumber. When we built it was windows. They were so far behind we ordered them almost as soon as we broke ground and they still ended up holding up our build for months. Literally, nothing happened for months. It just sat there. Ask and plan!
Check In- We were lucky enough to live on the property, so we checked progress every day. I drove my builder crazy. Probably a better balance is once a week. Times you MUST check in would be after framing, pre-dry wall, and pre-closing. After framing, bring your plans and make sure everything is in the right spot. Also, this is a good time to make sure you are happy with where electrical outlets will go. Make sure you have lighting fixtures picked before the electric wiring goes in. This is important for placement. For example, do you want your bathroom vanity lights above the mirror or are you doing sconces. Another example is pendant lighting in the kitchen. Do have one big fixture or four pendants. At the pre-dry wall check you will confirm the electrical and plumbing is where you want it. At the pre-closing walk-through you will make sure everything is in working order and make sure there is nothing to be fixed. I am blessed that my husband is great with plans and how they should translate to real life. He caught multiple things including pluming issues as early as pouring the foundation.
Inspections- Along with checking in you must get inspections along the way. If you are not married to an engineer, then you will need an expert to confirm that everything has been installed correctly. This is for your safety. The inspections you should think about are foundation, plumbing, electrical, roof, chimney, and final inspection.
Document- Document everything. Keep all your drawings, bid documents, cost plans, change orders, schedules, work orders, etc. If you can, have conversations with your builder over email so there is a written record. Again, my husband came through with his spreadsheets where he kept track of every cost.
Note about wood- Finally, something I was surprised about was how hard designing with wood could be. We have a lot of wood accents in our home, and I was so naïve to the cost and the tones of different priced species of woods. I love the way everything turned out, and it might even be better than what I had planned, but I was not happy at the time. When I realized that using the same wood we used for our island other places in the home was going to be out of our price range I was very disappointed. When we looked at less expensive types of wood staining them to match was impossible. If you plan on using lots of wood make sure you plan this out before the final stages so you can find something you are happy with. In the end we found that dark stains can make almost anything blend well. Another note here. You can use many different tones of wood, but they need to stay in the same color family. The main wood color family groups are gray, yellow, red, or brown undertones.
I could never cover everything you need to know when building a custom home, but I hope these notes I have shared will at least help you along your way.