Is it possible to build a house from the ground up?

[beergut]

I'd guess you'd save a lot of money if you are willing to do all the work yourself and have the knowledge. 


Woman and family build house from ground up using YouTube tutorials

It makes for a terrific story, no doubt, and is obviously being marketed to sell her book which is currently a bestseller on Amazon right now.

My question is, who drew up the designs? Who did the plumbing? Electrical? Gas? 

Don't inspectors have to improve a lot of things?

Maybe this is all covered in her book, but I think she's leaving some things out for the sake of the story.

[swamp]

It is possible, and people do it a lot around here.

I hired a contractor. Ain't no one got time for that.

ETA: We drew up our own plans on a CAD program we bought at Walmart. My cousin is a PE, so he drew up the blueprints and stamped them.

The contractor is not an electrician or plumber, but he does his own work.

The Code Enforcement officer OK'd the constructsion.

You do not need licensed plumber/electrician around here to put in the utilities.

[MJ2.0]

oped, mroped, care to weigh in?

[Cookies Galore]

Houses don't grow from house trees, so it is literally possible to build a house from the ground up. I think it's the only way to build a house. Has anyone seen one built from the sky down?

[swamp]

Jan 30, 2017 11:43:59 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Houses don't grow from house trees, so it is literally possible to build a house from the ground up. I think it's the only way to build a house. Has anyone seen one built from the sky down?

Yes. Modulars that are placed on a slab with a crane.

[Deleted]

My ex put an addition on his house that was basically building from the ground up.  The house went from 800 square feet to 3200 and he did pretty much everything himself.  He did hire the cement guys to come in and pour the basement and hired a guy to tape and mud the sheetrock, but everything else, including all the electrical, and plumbing he did himself.   In MN you don't have to be licensed to to any work on your own residence, but he lived within the city limits so everything still needed to be inspected and meet code.  It took him 7 years, but he pretty much paid for everything as he went. 

[MJ2.0]

Jan 30, 2017 11:46:15 GMT -5 swamp said:

Jan 30, 2017 11:43:59 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Houses don't grow from house trees, so it is literally possible to build a house from the ground up. I think it's the only way to build a house. Has anyone seen one built from the sky down?

Yes. Modulars that are placed on a slab with a crane.

but the cranes are on the ground....

[beergut]

Jan 30, 2017 11:46:33 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

My ex put an addition on his house that was basically building from the ground up.  The house went from 800 square feet to 3200 and he did pretty much everything himself.  He did hire the cement guys to come in and pour the basement and hired a guy to tape and mud the sheetrock, but everything else, including all the electrical, and plumbing he did himself.   In MN you don't have to be licensed to to any work on your own residence, but he lived within the city limits so everything still needed to be inspected and meet code.  It took him 7 years, but he pretty much paid for everything as he went. 

So he built an 'addition' that quadrupled the size of his residence? Impressive.

[beergut]

Jan 30, 2017 11:55:39 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

Jan 30, 2017 11:46:15 GMT -5 swamp said:

Yes. Modulars that are placed on a slab with a crane.

but the cranes are on the ground....

DroneHomes, wave of the future?

[Deleted]

Yes but I personally wouldn't recommend it. mroped Will need to speak for himself.

We did hire 'workers' to help us. We also contracted for placing roof trusses, drywall and initial coat of paint.

[ohmomto2boys]

When ex-DH and I built a house, we were the General Contractor and subbed out everything we couldn't do.  Sure, it took a year to complete a 3,100 sq.ft. house, but the $ we saved by not having a GC and doing as much of the work we could do ourselves was a huge savings.  We only paid $150,000 and sold it 2 years later for $270,000 because of divorce.    

[mroped]

It is very much possible to build it yourself. But that depends on the state/county/township regulation.
Where we are at, in Central Pa, it is preferable to have an architect to put it on paper and stamp the drawings even when you design it yourself like we did.
It makes it much easier to be approved by the Code people. There are load bearing to be calculated, dimensions to be checked, compliances with fire codes, etc which otherwise the Code Enforcement officials would have to do the research for. An architect takes care of all that so it makes it easier for them.
Typical wait for the approval of drawings is 10-15 work days. I got mine next day since the Code guys know me.

There are very stringent inspections on every step of the process. Again it counts immensely IF the Code people trust or know you.
The Power company won't hook up unless you have all electric panels installed by a certified electrician and inspected by a third party.
The wiring and the likes can be done by anyone but they still get inspected to details.

Our house was the first of this kind/building tech in the two counties that are under the jurisdiction of the local Building Code Officers.
They were taking turns on inspecting so they could all see the process and prepare for the future buildings of same kind. All I can say is that they were absolutely awesome during the process

[justme]

My dad built our house. Used help to alter plans (if it was once computers were out he'd use that, used it for the addition I believe), to put the trusses up, and brick facade. I think he did just about everything else himself.

[alinal]

My dad has built several houses "by himself" from the ground up.

It wasn't his career, but he learned from helping others when he was young and needed work, and from his dad. This was pre-internet, so he didn't have the help of YouTube.

He created the plans and had them approved. Did electrical, plumbing, etc. He got help when he needed (I know on his last house he hired out roofing because he just didn't want to do it!), and all required inspections to make it all legal.

[geenamercile]

I know a guy who bought the land, then built a mill and finally built his house.  I do think it is the house that will never be done... but it is amazing over all.  

[busymom]

If you'd like to save money building a house, I know someone who hired a contractor to put up the house, & get all of the stuff done that needed to be to "code", then the finishing work was done by the new owners. You know, painting, trim work, etc.

It's hard enough making decisions on a house when you're working with a builder. I wouldn't want to do the whole thing by myself. JMHO.

[gooddecisions]

Check out the movie Still Mine. It is based on a true story about an 87 year old man who built a house from the ground up. He did everything himself, including mill work. Warning, it a real tear jerker and he ran into a lot of licensing and inspection issues, even though his work was higher quality than codes required.

[olderburgher]

Yes My brother and his wife built their own house with the exception of having the concrete foundation and basement

 poured and having the electric  and plumbing installed by licensed pros as required locally.

[brdsl]

It would depend on the structure and area of the country.  In the middle of nowhere, you can save a ton.  In the city...not so much. 

I would think that her story would have people helping, as many of the tasks require multiple people.

You can draw up the designs, or get them for a couple hundred bucks online.  Depending on the structure.

The electrical, plumbing and gas depend on the location and design of the house.

In certain areas, yes, in others, no.  Rural - no.


You can easily get a book on how to do each step and do it.  The house will probably be a rectangle, with a crawl space, plumbing and gas on one side of the house, bedrooms on the other. 

Honestly, if you can build a shed...a simple house isn't that far off.

[beergut]

Jan 30, 2017 15:43:27 GMT -5 alwaysbeoptimizing said:

Jan 30, 2017 11:20:42 GMT -5 beergut said:

I'd guess you'd save a lot of money if you are willing to do all the work yourself and have the knowledge. 


Woman and family build house from ground up using YouTube tutorials

It makes for a terrific story, no doubt, and is obviously being marketed to sell her book which is currently a bestseller on Amazon right now.

My question is, who drew up the designs? Who did the plumbing? Electrical? Gas? 

Don't inspectors have to improve a lot of things?

Maybe this is all covered in her book, but I think she's leaving some things out for the sake of the story.

yes, you can do it. most of my family have built all or most of their own homes, including most of the trade work (although sometimes we'll hire trades to save time, especially sheetrock guys).

Inspection depends on jurisdiction.  In many places, you can't go build a house for your firend without being licensed, but you can build/work on YOUR OWN house without a license.  you need permits/inspections of course, and your work should meet the same standards.

it's a shitton of work though, but yeah, depending on the area your are in, you might get bent over a lot less than hiring.

You can also choose to just buy some subs but not others.

I try to make the call on each project/trade to decide if i'm going to do it, or hire it.  i'd much prefer to hire it, but sometimes I can't afford to hire it, or I feel like i'm being ripped off, so i learn and do it myself.

you can read/study to do a lot.  Note, i'm not undervaluing the trades.  to be a journeyman or master means that you can show up and use "all" the techniques/materials to get something done.  For a homeowner, I can pick one and do it.

For example.  for plumbing...  a plumber has to know all piping materials and techniques, all different kinds of water heaters/etc, backflow preventers, drainage pumps, etc, etc.  A much broader knowledge than a homeowner who says "my project uses ABS DWV pipes and PEX supply piping, and i have no pumps and a standard gas water tank".

Same with HVAC.  I couldn't show up and "fix/install" any one of a million things a random house/customer might have.  but in designing my own system, I can pick to just stick with one set of technologies and techiniques and learn that well enough to do it in a safe and high quality way.

One of my best friends is a journeyman plumber who works as a police officer. His father is a master plumber. His parents put him through college, with him working for his dad to earn money. It always frustrates my friend that just because he has a college degree, people automatically respect him, but look down on his father because he is 'just a plumber'. He pointed out to me once that the exam to become a master plumber is just as difficult, if not more difficult, than anything he had to do in college. 

[Tiny]

It's not about 'education levels' - it's a 'class thing'.... "white collar" versus "blue collar"  cause you know working in an office (a cube farm) being a wage slave is soooo much better than having a skills/tools that don't go out of style every 2 years AND is useful pretty much anywhere you go in America.     <--- that's sarcasm because I'm chained to my desk.

[TheHaitian]

When I lived in Oneonta, NY... the majority of the people I worked with build their own houses either by themselves or with the help of family and/or friends....

Or some lived in houses that their parents or grandparents built

Basically I guess in rural America it is not unheard of or surprising.

[Sam_2.0]

Is there anyone who built a house from start to finish that would ever repeat the process? I've known several friends and family members that have gone through finding a lot to completing the house and every last one of them says they would NEVER do it again.

[mroped]

Don't tell the missus but I'd love to do it again!
Ill maybe do it for my kids!

[wvugurl26]

Feb 1, 2017 16:50:23 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

Is there anyone who built a house from start to finish that would ever repeat the process? I've known several friends and family members that have gone through finding a lot to completing the house and every last one of them says they would NEVER do it again.

My grandpa built several. I'm sure he would have done it again. He supervised gutting my dad's prior house to the studs until he got too sick. My brother's best friend's dad built houses. He had a 3 year wait list when cancer took him out of the business.

We won't tell oped that her husband wants to build another house. Let her recover from the trauma first.

[beergut]

Feb 1, 2017 11:41:33 GMT -5 alwaysbeoptimizing said:

Jan 31, 2017 17:56:38 GMT -5 Tiny said:

It's not about 'education levels' - it's a 'class thing'.... "white collar" versus "blue collar"  cause you know working in an office (a cube farm) being a wage slave is soooo much better than having a skills/tools that don't go out of style every 2 years AND is useful pretty much anywhere you go in America.     <--- that's sarcasm because I'm chained to my desk.

yes, but, more than office workers, tradespeople need to be really smart about saving some money and investing while young because you don't want to be hauling hot water tanks into attics every day when you're 60.

It's a shame that we've gotten so "knowledge economy" that there aren't young people entering the trades.

In my hometown, lots of unemployment, crime, etc, but do the kids there pursue apprenticeships?  No, because they'd have to move to the big city where there's lots of work, or work for a low wage (say $12/hr) as an apprentice for two years.

the thing is, they end up working for around that same money at crap jobs anyway, but not learning anything.  If I were in my old hometown and 20 years old and DIDN'T want to do an office job.  I'd find a way to apprentice as a plumber or electrician, even if that meant crashing in someone's basement in Seattle for two years, become a journeyman, then go work for someone for another 5, become a master and start my own firm and hire an apprentice or two to help.

In journey phase i'm scraping by on 10-12 bucks an hour, but only for two years.
in the Journeyman phase, i'm making say 50-70k/yr (decent, but not great)
then when i set up my own, it's crazytown.  Guys up here AVERAGE 53 years old and are quoting stupid high prices because people are so desperate for trades.

Example, neighbor needs a natural gas line run from his meter, outside his house 10-20' for a natural gas generator.  Quoted $5,000

this is why, even though i make a boatload of money, I end up having to DIY so much stuff.  That's under a 1 day job for one guy, and maybe a couple of hundred in materials and $125 for the permit.

So start a business and do that job for $1,500, do it 4X per week (spend Friday quoting people, M-Th working on installs).
Take out $400 for materials and permits
leaving you with $1,100
take out $150 for the "loaded cost" of your apprentice for the day
leaving you $950
the 950 pays you and your fixed costs (insurance, marketing, licensing, etc)

do that 220/year and you "gross" 220K.  Figure you spend $30k on overhead (insurance, truck, gas, blah, blah)
you've now got a taxable of 180
take out SS, Medicare = 150K
now pay income tax
take home $105K/year after taxes and expenses for 220 6 hour days

I'm not minimizing it, I think that's fair for someone going out there and getting stuff done.

The same guy charging $5K per day is what puts me off.  I don't blame him though, I'd do the same until there was enough competition.

Run the same numbers at $5k/day
5k
-400
-150
= 4,500/day gross

*200 days - $990,000
- overhead of $40k
950000
- tax
~600k take home

obviously that's optimistic, but my point is that the real number is somewhere between taking home 100k and 600k/year after taxes and expenses, in my local market.  So why are 20 year olds coming to blows outside of every tradesman's shop over who gets to be the next apprentice?

Well said.

I have buddy who has three sons, he's trying to get all three of them (they're 15) interesting in the trades. I just forwarded your post to him. 

[brdsl]

Feb 1, 2017 22:03:04 GMT -5 alwaysbeoptimizing said:

Feb 1, 2017 20:55:33 GMT -5 beergut said:

Well said.

I have buddy who has three sons, he's trying to get all three of them (they're 15) interesting in the trades. I just forwarded your post to him. 

yes, obviously the market you're in matters, as well as someone's ability to run a business, stay out of debt, take good care of customers/etc, but it's possible.

The area matters the most.  In the midwest, it would be tough.

There are quite a few skilled guys, not much construction. 

[gooddecisions]

Feb 1, 2017 11:41:33 GMT -5 alwaysbeoptimizing said:

Jan 31, 2017 17:56:38 GMT -5 Tiny said:

It's not about 'education levels' - it's a 'class thing'.... "white collar" versus "blue collar"  cause you know working in an office (a cube farm) being a wage slave is soooo much better than having a skills/tools that don't go out of style every 2 years AND is useful pretty much anywhere you go in America.     <--- that's sarcasm because I'm chained to my desk.

yes, but, more than office workers, tradespeople need to be really smart about saving some money and investing while young because you don't want to be hauling hot water tanks into attics every day when you're 60.

It's a shame that we've gotten so "knowledge economy" that there aren't young people entering the trades.

In my hometown, lots of unemployment, crime, etc, but do the kids there pursue apprenticeships?  No, because they'd have to move to the big city where there's lots of work, or work for a low wage (say $12/hr) as an apprentice for two years.

the thing is, they end up working for around that same money at crap jobs anyway, but not learning anything.  If I were in my old hometown and 20 years old and DIDN'T want to do an office job.  I'd find a way to apprentice as a plumber or electrician, even if that meant crashing in someone's basement in Seattle for two years, become a journeyman, then go work for someone for another 5, become a master and start my own firm and hire an apprentice or two to help.

In journey phase i'm scraping by on 10-12 bucks an hour, but only for two years.
in the Journeyman phase, i'm making say 50-70k/yr (decent, but not great)
then when i set up my own, it's crazytown.  Guys up here AVERAGE 53 years old and are quoting stupid high prices because people are so desperate for trades.

Example, neighbor needs a natural gas line run from his meter, outside his house 10-20' for a natural gas generator.  Quoted $5,000

this is why, even though i make a boatload of money, I end up having to DIY so much stuff.  That's under a 1 day job for one guy, and maybe a couple of hundred in materials and $125 for the permit.

So start a business and do that job for $1,500, do it 4X per week (spend Friday quoting people, M-Th working on installs).
Take out $400 for materials and permits
leaving you with $1,100
take out $150 for the "loaded cost" of your apprentice for the day
leaving you $950
the 950 pays you and your fixed costs (insurance, marketing, licensing, etc)

do that 220/year and you "gross" 220K.  Figure you spend $30k on overhead (insurance, truck, gas, blah, blah)
you've now got a taxable of 180
take out SS, Medicare = 150K
now pay income tax
take home $105K/year after taxes and expenses for 220 6 hour days

I'm not minimizing it, I think that's fair for someone going out there and getting stuff done.

The same guy charging $5K per day is what puts me off.  I don't blame him though, I'd do the same until there was enough competition.

Run the same numbers at $5k/day
5k
-400
-150
= 4,500/day gross

*200 days - $990,000
- overhead of $40k
950000
- tax
~600k take home

obviously that's optimistic, but my point is that the real number is somewhere between taking home 100k and 600k/year after taxes and expenses, in my local market.  So why are 20 year olds coming to blows outside of every tradesman's shop over who gets to be the next apprentice?

My friend does this and pulls  in a couple of buddies when the job is too big for him. I don't have the nerve to ask him what he makes, though he probably would tell me. He did tell me once that he spends $30k/year just on gas for his truck, so you may be underestimating expenses. He also can go a whole month without a gig. His wife's income is steady and I am sure that makes all the difference in the world. You make a lot of great points.

[beergut]

Jan 31, 2017 17:56:38 GMT -5 Tiny said:

It's not about 'education levels' - it's a 'class thing'.... "white collar" versus "blue collar"  cause you know working in an office (a cube farm) being a wage slave is soooo much better than having a skills/tools that don't go out of style every 2 years AND is useful pretty much anywhere you go in America.     <--- that's sarcasm because I'm chained to my desk.

 This is true. 

While my friend was waiting to start the academy, he was working as a plumber with his dad to make extra money. His now-wife was his GF at the time. She was a teacher, taught Spanish at a local high school. When he would go to school functions with his GF, and teachers would ask what he did, he'd say, "I'm a plumber." She always had to interject that he had been accepted to the police academy and would be doing that soon, like being a plumber was something to be ashamed of. It used to drive him nuts!! 

But it is definitely a class thing. Teaching is seen as white collar, so it is somehow 'better' than being a plumber. The irony to me, of course, is that it isn't like being a police officer is considered white collar work.