Anybody built a house recently?

[germantown rob]

Originally Posted by SvilleKid

There's a wisea$$ in every crowd!!!

Come to think of it, I guess I am old and experienced after all!!!

Best piece of advise I have not seen mentioned: Build you an all weather smoking area!! Put in enough electrical and plumbing for a wet bar, ice maker, drink frige, and frig-a-dor. Put a non-smoker alarm system in the area to keep pest and complainers at bay.

Best advice by far

[PadronMe]

Originally Posted by Kayak_Rat

If you need any help with the plan layouts shoot me a PM. I am no full fledged architect but I can draw up some basic stuff for you to play with.

I drew them myself already, but thanks for the offer.

[PadronMe]

Originally Posted by LeafHog

2) Busch lite empties aren't "just as good as rebar"

Are you kidding?

Originally Posted by LeafHog

3) Inspect the foundation excavation and be there for the pour(s).

Doing a lot of foundation work myself because that is by far the most important part of the house. I have seen and I know you have some busted up slabs because of poor prep for the foundation.

[LeafHog]

Originally Posted by PadronMe

Are you kidding? only sort of, unfortunately


Doing a lot of foundation work myself because that is by far the most important part of the house. I have seen and I know you have some busted up slabs because of poor prep for the foundation.

yup, and there are no good (and certainly NO cheap) fixes. How the concrete is poured and worked is just as important. Over-worked concrete will slake and crumble years after being poured.

The most common problems I see (being a structural guy) are when trades compromise the structural integrity of the frame when installing their components. I've seen hvac and plumbing contractors cut roof trusses literally in half in order to recess duct work, electrical contractors remove panels from a shear wall, glaziers cut out moment frames to hang windows, etc.

Be on your toes! Post pics of the progress!

[RGD]

Originally Posted by PadronMe

How exactly do schedule conflicts end up costing 30 - 50% more. And I know it will take twice as long to build but thats ok with me.

I’ve been in the trades over 25 years now – every time I think I have seen it all I get corrected. One recent example of a homeowner acting as a contractor –

I work for a company specializing in deep footing foundations – i.e. helical piers. We bid the job as per the plans, got accepted, etc. He gave us a rough schedule date – no problem. I have five crews running all year round – normal time to wait for us is two to four months. So he calls to give us a firm start date. This means that his footers should be dug (we can do that but he found a cheaper price elsewhere). I show up on the date at 7 am with a full crew – two trailers full of equipment, materials and excavator (used to install the piers).
Also showing up at the same time with full crews in tow is the mason and framers. The architect shows up still wiping the sleep from his eyes. I guess the two guys that were to do the excavation/footers arrived around 7:30.
Talk about some pissed off people – and the homeowner says that he wanted us all to get together – meet each other and decide on the best plan to start with. WTF????
We pretty much took turns reading him the riot act. We are not friends – this is business and somebody is paying for my wasted time and the costs of having a crew, equipment and materials on jobsite. He got charged 4K for that stupidity from us in addition to his regular contract. I’m sure the others charged him as well. In addition – since not even a speck of dirt had been turned – he had to wait another two weeks before my next crew finished their job.

I’m sure your not anyway near as stupid as this guy - but it is an example of what a lot of us run into – therefore most will charge a little more on jobs run by homeowners.

Your biggest killer will be the scheduling of the trades and materials – if not done correctly I can see 30% over runs easy. Next is to make sure of exactly what inspections are due when and they get called in correctly.

Good luck with it all –

Ron

[TU09]

Originally Posted by PadronMe

How exactly do schedule conflicts end up costing 30 - 50% more. And I know it will take twice as long to build but thats ok with me.

It's not just scheduling conflicts. Remember, if you are not building homes constantly, none of the trades are going to charge you the same rate as they do a real builder. You can't provide them with substantial repeat business so they have to make their part off you in one shot, you are also at the bottom of the scheduling priority. And waiting does cost money as you are paying interest on a construction loan at a significantly higher rate than one would with a mortgage, not to mention the frustration involved. Also, if you schedule someone and they show up but can't work because of scheduling issues, they expect compensation.

I own a half interest in a construction company back home (long story) and have grown up in the industry. If any of our customers ever wanted to hire our subs to do various jobs after the completion of the house without actually contracting the company, we would have to twist the subs arms just to get them to do it and then they would charge huge premiums for their work. This seems to hold true for people acting as their own generals as well. Additionally, most homeowners/ amatuer builders forget to factor in the value of their own time, just because you are saving the cost of a general contractor does not mean you are not paying for supervision. One has to keep in mind that an individual would otherwise be working or enjoying leisure time and a definite dollar value can be assigned to both. The "keep the costs down a lot" statement, having known people outside the industry who try it, tends to prove false.

Also, as far as changes to the plans are concerned, it really depends on the builder as to whether it is costly to make changes. For the most part, we price add-ons at cost. For example, roughing in a basement or adding tile to a kitchen floor, if not in the contract, would be billed at cost, while the addition of a garage or finishing of the basement would include our margin.

Last, reread svileekids post, there is some excellent info in it. Good luck!

[PadronMe]

Originally Posted by TU09

Remember, if you are not building homes constantly, none of the trades are going to charge you the same rate as they do a real builder. You can't provide them with substantial repeat business so they have to make their part off you in one shot, you are also at the bottom of the scheduling priority.

I figured my estimate based on what the potential subs quoted me.

[Franksmith]

Originally Posted by TU09

It's not just scheduling conflicts. Remember, if you are not building homes constantly, none of the trades are going to charge you the same rate as they do a real builder. You can't provide them with substantial repeat business so they have to make their part off you in one shot, you are also at the bottom of the scheduling priority. And waiting does cost money as you are paying interest on a construction loan at a significantly higher rate than one would with a mortgage, not to mention the frustration involved. Also, if you schedule someone and they show up but can't work because of scheduling issues, they expect compensation.

I own a half interest in a construction company back home (long story) and have grown up in the industry. If any of our customers ever wanted to hire our subs to do various jobs after the completion of the house without actually contracting the company, we would have to twist the subs arms just to get them to do it and then they would charge huge premiums for their work. This seems to hold true for people acting as their own generals as well. Additionally, most homeowners/ amatuer builders forget to factor in the value of their own time, just because you are saving the cost of a general contractor does not mean you are not paying for supervision. One has to keep in mind that an individual would otherwise be working or enjoying leisure time and a definite dollar value can be assigned to both. The "keep the costs down a lot" statement, having known people outside the industry who try it, tends to prove false.

Also, as far as changes to the plans are concerned, it really depends on the builder as to whether it is costly to make changes. For the most part, we price add-ons at cost. For example, roughing in a basement or adding tile to a kitchen floor, if not in the contract, would be billed at cost, while the addition of a garage or finishing of the basement would include our margin.

Last, reread svileekids post, there is some excellent info in it. Good luck!

Another EXCELLENT post!!!!!!!!

Good dose of reality to consider there and all true... My step son co-owns a General Contractor company and I have helped them find some of their subs... what my sons company (or me ) get charged for from the subs is a whole other ball game compared to a home owner... the general has specific insurance for construction, a working relationship; including trust and often friendship, repeat business, and more knowledge about the job at hand including methods, materials and scheduling.

Another great point was the time spent... just because you are saving money by not hiring a General... doesn't mean you will save money on the bottom line. I stopped working on my own cars (son of a car mechanic and his assistant as a kid during scab jobs, later doing most jobs myself) many years ago and it was really hard because I HATE giving an auto mechanic what they charge when I know how to do the work AND have all of the tools (usually) But as I matured in Business and had less and less time.... for anything... I finally sat down and calculated my businesses yearly income into an hourly rate, calculated how much that number would drop because of my absence (working on a car) and realized it was costing me more to work on the car than to hire someone.

The old saying "time is money" is still as true as the day it was first coined.... not trying to talk you out of anything but just something to consider. Remember that if you hire a General contractor you will still be the boss... as much as the amount of time you stay involved. Just food for thought.

[sgresso]

Also if you are considering a security system you might want to look at having you house prewired for the future. I know from working with some builders that they will over charge and not do a proper job so find a reputable Company that does quality work.

I work for ADT and we usually go in a fix a lot of stuff that was supposed to be wired and never was.

One of my clients had a house that was "wired"
what the contractor did was run 3 foot of wire and let it hang in the wall.
When our tecks gout out there to start pulling wire the wires came out of the wall. The bad thing is they charged him 2K for a prewire.
the new system we designed was a fracton of that.

So make sure to get references on security and that they are going to be around as long as you are.

if you ever have any q's give me a pm and I will answer questions even though I can't sell ya anything in your area.