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Build Your Own Home
Building Your Own Home is a Major Undertaking
So Get Prepared
By: Mark J. Donovan
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I have been involved with building
homes and home additions since I was a teenager, which I hate to say was many
years ago. I started out helping my father build home additions onto a couple of
our old homes, and then eventually helping him building several of his own new
homes. Needless to say, when I got out of college and bought my first home, I
chose to buy an unfinished home. Not only was it a chance to save a few dollars,
but it also gave me the chance to build my own home, or at least finish it.
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As time went on I bought another
unfinished home and repeated the process again. Later on, I bought a tear down
home and acted as my own general contractor in the building of my own custom
home. I’ve also built several other home additions since then.
Planning to Build
Your Own Home
To build your own home, the most
important piece of advice I can offer to anyone contemplating such a large
endeavor is to be prepared before actually starting construction.
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Preparation for building your own
home means doing a lot of investigative homework on learning how to manage and
plan a major home construction project. The success or failure of building your
own home will ultimately rest on your attention to details and proper planning.
Planning to build your own home also requires working with an architect to
generate blueprints. Planning also requires meeting with your local building
inspector for blueprint reviews and approval, and for pulling building permits. |
Also, if you plan to actually frame
and construct your own home I would advise you to seriously think twice about
this unless you have personal home construction experience. Contrary to what
many people think about home builders and construction workers, there is a high
amount of skill required in building a home. In addition, it involves a great
deal of strength and stamina. Literally building your own home requires a
combination of skill and brawn. Also, working outdoors in hot or cold weather
can take a tremendous toll on the human body. So think twice about actually
framing your own home, unless you have personal experience and fully understand
what you are signing up for.
Hiring
Subcontractors When Building Your Own Home
Regardless if you plan to actually
frame and build your own home, you will still need to hire and schedule various
subcontractors for doing such tasks as electrical, plumbing, insulation, HVAC,
drywall, painting, cabinetry installation, etc. Even if you possess the specific
skills to do electrical and plumbing work, many local governments will only let
licensed contractors in their respective fields actually perform the work.
Finding the right subcontractors can be a real challenge.
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It is important to put your various
project tasks out for bid and to thoroughly review and understand each bid
before accepting any.
Detailed “Build
Your Own Home” Planning Schedules
When developing your home building
plans include a detailed schedule that you can manage daily. Preferably use a
software based tool so that you can easily make changes and to track
dependencies. This way when one phase of building your own home slips, you can
see how it impacts the other phases of the project. This type of information can
help you fine tune the scheduling of your contractors and know when to give them
a heads up that they are on deck to perform their work.
Costing out Building Your Own Home
In addition to developing a thorough
schedule, also generate a detailed cost break out for each phase of the home
construction project. Make sure there are subtotals for each section, e.g.
foundation, framing, doors & windows, electrical, plumbing, etc. Also break out
labor and material costs separately for each section. Make sure that every
material used is listed, described, and costed out down to the screw level.
Leave no item out of your cost breakdown sheet if you really want to understand
what your total costs are and how to properly manage them during the building of
your own home.
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How to Finance
Building your Own Home
If financing is required, the
generation of the blueprints, schedules and cost breakdown spreadsheets will
play a pivotal role in acquiring the necessary construction funds. Every bank
requires this level of detail before providing a construction loan.
To summarize, to build your own home takes a massive amount of preparation,
planning and energy and therefore should not be considered lightly. If you are a
person who pays attention to details, has the ability to work with independent
construction workers, and has the physical strength and passion to take on such
an adventure, then go for it. Otherwise, contact a general contractor and let
him manage the building of your home.
Want to Build Your Own Home, see HomeAdditionPlus.com's
Home
Addition Bid Sheets.
Our
Home
Addition Bid Sheets
provide you with the knowledge and information on how to plan a home building
project, and what to look for when hiring contractors. They also include
detailed cost breakdown tables and spreadsheets for estimating your own new home
construction building costs.
How to Finance your Home Building Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Related Information on How to Build Your Own Home
Design Software for Developing your own Home
Building Plans from Amazon.com
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