What are some things we can do to get started?

Started by Thoughts-from-Jules, July 16, 2011, 07:49:57 PM

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Thoughts-from-Jules

Ok DH and I are anxious to feel like we are started on this journey of building our own home.  Are there things we can do now aside from budgeting, price checking?  We thought we could certainly keep checking places like Craigslist and be on the lookout for deeply discounted items like windows, interior doors, flooring, decking, lumber, tyvek, cabinet doors, tools, scaffolding etc.  We thought we could take this time while we were agressively saving to also be on the look out for deals that would help reduce the costs overall as well.  Has anyone else done this?  We have a shop to store it in and keep it dry and safe.  We have the cash to purchase things.

The reason why this interests me is that I (being the impatient one) would really appreciate having something to keep me busy so I feel like I am contributing something and that we are making progress (even though we are waiting and saving more for a while).  I can be finding deals on Craigslist and going after it (I love to negotiate and get a deal).  We'd try to set rules like a goal savings of 50% off retail.

We figured if we could find 25% of the materials for our home for 50% off that would be a huge deal.  I also thought it might be fun to document the search, even if it takes a year....if it helps me to be patient so we can save more overall that it will work to our advantage too.  I'd have more time to learn, prepare, stockpile supplies etc. 

If we were doing a remodel that would never work since there are so many restictions like door opening sizes etc, when we are building our own house we can set the door sizes, window sizes etc.  Feedback?  Any unique sources for materials aside rfom Craigs list?

Is there anything else we can do to get started?
Julie~        "The Future Comes One Day at a time."

MartyM

Sounds like you are headed in the right direction.

Don't forget about friends and family.  Some of my best scores have been from friends or a friend of a friend.    You just never know who might have a pile of lumber or what ever that they are tired of looking at. The more people you talk to about your plans the better your odds.


Turkeyhunter

i have bought serveral things for my cabin build off Craigslist(stove, dishwasher, shower unit etc) ----good deals for sure. Also at  "Restore" i have found awesome deals there.

bayview

   Saving 50% on 25% of your items would be a savings of approximately 12.5% off of your total material cost.   While this savings could be substantial, does it offset the cost of fuel, vehicle expense, storage and your time?   A large portion of home construction is the property, water/septic, labor, etc.   What would your total savings be?

  Do you have to conform to local codes when building your home?   If so . . .    Make sure the discounted items that you purchase will pass code.

  You may want to purchase your materials as your would use them in your construction.   In other words, purchase framing materials, roofing goods, etc before items you would use in later construction.   Such as cabinets, floor coverings, toilets, sinks, etc. . .

  You mention you are getting impatient.   Can you start your construction earlier and build your home in stages.   Maybe get the home "dried in" and the do the plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc. in different stages as you gather your materials.  

  Do you have the skills for you project?   Is there a Habitat for Humanity program in you area?  You would gather construction skills while "networking" with like minded people.

  What is your experience in new construction?   Have you done this before or is this your first time around?   Will you be doing most of the work yourself?   Will you be acting as a general contractor?   And hiring sub-contractors to do most of the work.  

  Please be well funded when starting your home.   A job loss, etc will stop a project dead in its tracks.    

  During construction many things can/will go wrong.   Be patient and follow though . . .

  Good luck with your new home!

/.
    . . . said the focus was safety, not filling town coffers with permit money . . .

rick91351

There is a ReStore in LaGrande over behind Albertsons and Windys, #1 China Buffet.  Near the Super Eight, and the Sandman Hotel.   It is in a sort of a domed building with a conventional building attached.
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.


Squirl

Buying materials ahead of time is always a risk if you change the design.  Also, watch out when buying windows.  If you have building inspectors and energy code enforcement you may need the stickers still on them to prove they are up to energy standards.  That is what is forcing me to buy new windows.  I tried to do the same thing for the past two years.  I will share a little of what I learned. Certain things I could not find much of a discount.  Some of those were lumber, plywood, drywall, or concrete.  Or the discount wasn't less than the cost to drive, pick it up and store it.  So saving $30-$40 in savings on an entire load would cost more in gas.   The problem with a lot of these items is that they are bulky and cheap, so even a large percentage discount doesn't add up. Things that I found with great savings on are appliances and fixtures.  I find people change bathrooms and kitchens just to get a new look or style.  The old fixtures (sinks, tubs, toilets) are usually perfectly fine and sometimes free.  I would use caution with hot water heaters, they rot over time and you never know where they are in their life cycle.  I would also use caution with insulation. You never know about used insulation.  I sometimes found good deals on rigid insulation.  I found great deals on other appliances.  I got direct vent heaters for $175 and a stove for $30.  Good luck.

MushCreek

I've been looking for bargains, but since my build is 600 miles away, I have to remember the cost and hassle of transportation. Once I get the barn built on my property, I'll be more aggressive about picking up deals. I did buy my siding, oddly enough. Lowe's was clearing out a pallet of Nichiha fiber cement siding, and I would up getting it for 1/4 of the usual price! It's the right stuff, the right amount, and I saved about $1500.

The one big gamble is what will happen to prices in the next few years. Depending upon who's dire economic predictions you believe, we could see serious inflation soon. Or not. I don't know about you, but if the price of materials doubled between now and when I planned to build, I'd be priced out of it altogether. But if you buy a whole house worth of materials now, and go to the trouble and expense of moving it and storing it, and prices hold steady, or even go down, you've wasted time and money. I was once going to buy some electrical wire to save, since prices were skyrocketing at the time. The same wire is cheaper today than when I would have bought it.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.

OkieJohn2

Have you settled on a design yet?  If so, you might want to build a model of it,  You could go 1/2" to 1' or 1" to 1' scale and get an idea of how your new home will work for you.  Some people have even built a very detailed model, using balsa wood for every piece of lumber, that would keep you busy. 
Also, most lumber yards and building centers have "graveyards" of all sorts of special order items like windows and doors and scratch and dent items at sometimes very good prices.
The problem with foolproof devices is that they fail to take into account the ingenuity of fools

Thoughts-from-Jules

Oh we got some great ideas and things to think about THANK YOU!  I like the building the model idea too, something we can do with the kids to help give them the vision of what we are doing too.  We homeschool the kids and we are planning to make this a family affair.

It was asked what skills we have for building our own house.  Well, we don't have much experience hands on with building NEW construction but we have completely remodeled our current home to bottom inside and out.  We've rewired, put in new plumbing, sheetrocked,  replaced flooring, set the new cabinets in whole house, moved both loadbearing and non-loadbearing walls with no problems, insulated, new windows, doors, pocket doors, regraded the lawn, landscaped, custom tiled bathrooms, etc.  So the only thing we didn't do here at this house was build the basic structure.  We've built sheds, rebuilt old shops, etc.  My husband has worked in the construction field for 20 years (earthwork, backhoes, excavators, etc putting in utilities, foundations, septic etc) so for that stage we are good to go (it will be simply materials and equipment rental (or work out a deal with his employer to borrow equipment for a weekend).  Not to mention spending so much time around construction sites you pick up tips and processes for things.  We are hoping this turns out to be a big advantage.   Our kids 13,10,7,5 are all hard workers and used to working as a family so they are going to be efficient little helpers too.  They did this house remodel with us and they can hammer nails better than most people we know, which they think is really cool. 

Having said that, we don't presume to think we know what all it will take to do this project, we know that at every turn there will probably be several things we didn't forsee or know right away how to handle.  With DH's work connections of people in the trade to ask for advice and our hunger for knowledge I think we will find a place to learn all we need to know to get it done.  Especially if we have the crew here to bounce ideas off of!  :)

We feel like we've been studying up for this our entire lives and we are so excited this might be on the road to happening in the next year or so.  I have some reservations about buying certain supplies for our build, depending on codes etc.  We will try to be careful in what we are buying as well as calculating fuel costs.  We were just discussing a trip to Salem, OR area and since we have to go anyway we discussed checking Craigslist and Restores in the area for good deals just in case we find something and can haul it home without extra costs associated.  We also like to go on 2 day trips without the kids to keep the marriage healthy, so maybe sometimes we can plan our getaway's around supply location and find some neat areas we've never been before.  I can se it being an adventure all the way around really!

It was suggested to build a storage shed on the property as we build instead of a cargo trailer to store tools in etc.  DH still wants to do the cargo trailer, for one we can use it to haul supplies (right now we dont have a pickup, we have a suburban) and two it would be nice to have the tools mobile sometimes too.  If we are on the road I like having the load secure (not blowing around, or easily stolen on an open trailer, or wet in the rain!)  We are hunting for a deal on that.  Plus we love to go camping and it would be a great place to haul camping supplies.

Thanks for all the great feeback and ideas.  We just finished picking 180lbs of blueberries over the past two days, so now it is time to make some jam and freeze the berries for winter snacks.
Julie~        "The Future Comes One Day at a time."


OkieJohn2

Don't forget the other resources here, In the forums section the tools for building thrread has some great ideas. At the countryplans main page, the link to books has a great selection of books.
The problem with foolproof devices is that they fail to take into account the ingenuity of fools

Thoughts-from-Jules

I have three of the books listed from the site in my Amazon checkout right now.  As soon as I go to make my homeschool order I am ordering them too!  Looking forward to that.

As far as tools go?  Here is what we have so far:
Swanson Speed Square (Love this tool!)
(2) 20oz Hammers
Dewalt 12vt cordless drill and impact drill (these puppies are amazing and lightweight!  Loooove them!)
Backup older Makita Cordless drill
Craftsman Table Saw
Mitre Saw (that the handle for the adjustable table slide for angles is broken (works for a cut off saw) but this needs replaced with a sliding arm mitre saw (Royobi for $200 is what we have picked out if we can't find one used)
Skill saw (two one for  fiber cement with carbide blade, and one for wood with normal blade)
Scroll Saw
Drill Press
Grinding wheel
Drill bits, holes saws (although we might want a more expensive set that will last through a build)
Honda Generator
Small air compressor (need a larger one to run framing nailer)
Square
Sheetrock T square
Drywalling tools
Concrete thand tools (trowels etc)
Basic mechanics tools
pipe wrenches
Clamps
Chisels
Gloves (need more)
tool belt (need another one)
knee pads (need a couple more sets)
tools for tiling projects
Levels (need another one)
router (need more bits)
Utility knive with 50 blades
Shop Vac
Hndyman jack, bottlejacks
Come along
Chainsaw
6ft ladder
Extension ladder (need a taller one for 2 story build though)

The ability to borrow (DH works for a contractor and my Dad owns an excavation company so either way we are covered):
Laser level and or GSP (expensive accurate kind)
Excavator
skidsteer
dozer
backhoe
Dump truck
scaffolding (hopefully)
Other misc construction related equipment supplies

Possible free items (Dad owns a rock pit)
Drain rock for septic and or landscapping
Gravel for driveways and foundation area
Large boulders with holes for water features :)
Top soil

Hopefully that gives you an idea of where we are at for supplies/tools..  We want to work on finishing out our tool library and of course the actual materials for a build as well.



Julie~        "The Future Comes One Day at a time."

Turkeyhunter


Squirl


Thoughts-from-Jules

What a useful tool suggestion!  DH has smashed many a thumb tryign to start a nail!  He will much appreciate this addition to the tool belt.  Thank you so much for this suggestion.  Any more great tools?

I thought a Swanson Speed Square was a silly thing until I USED it.  I do as much woodworking as DH, I built a bed for our bedroom last fall and I used it constantly for marking, making sure things were looking square and it was small enough it was always handy!

The bed in process....

DH using the speed square while setting the bed up in our bedroom.



The kids testing out the bed.

Julie~        "The Future Comes One Day at a time."


Thoughts-from-Jules

Here is something the kids and I had fun building....

A chicken coop.:) 

Boy did we have fun with building that, we got to get creative and the kids loved helping.
Julie~        "The Future Comes One Day at a time."

Thoughts-from-Jules

We found our first potential find!  Insulation!  R-30 15" unfaced, R-19 faced 15", and a little R-13 (we don't need R-13 as we will have 2x6 exterior walls but we can use it in our future shop or shed or something?)  $450 takes all and it figures to be $.18 sq foot.  What do you think of that deal?

Potential problem is we only have a 20x30 shop, we can store some of it in the rafters of the shop but man that stuff is bulky! lol  Would you go for it?  Insulation seems to be something we would need no matter what house plan we went with right?
Julie~        "The Future Comes One Day at a time."

Turkeyhunter

i would pass on insulation, because storing it until ready to use, that is something you dont want to handle 2 ot 3 times. And don't let the mice get in it in storage. ???

Squirl

I am very wary of insulation.  I wouldn't buy used.  You never know what is in it (mold, chemicals, bugs, rodents, animal waste, etc.)  If it is new, maybe.  Also I don't know the breakdown of savings.  R-30 costs around .45 a square foot R-13 around .10.  Add in the round trip cost of gas and potential that it is not as described or in good condition.  Then decide if it adds up.

dug

I would only consider it if it was new and still wrapped. It would be a pretty good deal if that were the case.

Thoughts-from-Jules

Dh wants to go ahead and buy it.  It is still new in plastic packaging, has been stored in a camp trailer so not been weathered, and we are going to store it in our attic where there aren't any mice and it won't be in our way.  As far as fuel, it is right on DH's way to and from work!  Just 15 mins from our house.  Whoo Hoo.  We are about to embark on our very first material purchase for our new home. 

DH pointed out that if for whatever reason we end up not needing it we can always sell it for what we paid for it.:)  Oh and it is 29 rolls of R-19 (1400 sq ft) and 25 rolls of R-25 (700+ sq ft) only about 5 rolls of R-13 (which DH says we can use in lots of places elsewhere).  So having it average out to 18 cents a square foot is good.:)  We will see when DH gets there if all is at it seems.:)  This will cover about half of what we need for insulation in our new home! ;D
Julie~        "The Future Comes One Day at a time."


walkabout

I second building a scale model. It is fun, plus if you try to follow the way you intend to build the actual cabin (including bracing etc) you will get to practice the skills needed to build your actual cabin. While my the design of my model was not what our county ultimitely approved, it was pretty close:


The other thing is to read, read, and re-read all the books you can on building. It has prooved invaluable for me as it has made my current project go so quickly.
Books I have read many times:
Ultimate Guide to House Framing (http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-House-Framing-English/dp/1580114431/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311182762&sr=8-1)
Do-It-Yourself Housebuilding: The Complete Handbook http://www.amazon.com/Do---Yourself-Housebuilding-Complete-Handbook/dp/0806904240/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1311182892&sr=8-10
Roofing with Asphalt Shingles (For Pros by Pros) http://www.amazon.com/Roofing-Asphalt-Shingles-Pros/dp/1561585319/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311182984&sr=1-1

As to buying supplies ahead of time, I did not. I ended up working with a building local supply store (non-big box) and had them deliver all the supplies to my site as I needed them. While I probably am paying more than a big box store, they have helped me tremendously with the county/inspection people and have given some great advice along the way.

Good luck.

Turkeyhunter

get a framing air gun, 3 boxes 16's, pancake air compressor............and get at it [cool]

Thoughts-from-Jules

We got it!  Our first materials purchase 1/2 the insulation we will need for our new home.  Right now, it is all stacked in the shop (it was raining when DH was trying to unload it).  It is all new in packages and looks perfect. 

I just got back from a few days at the family cabin and it was perfect.  The kids love swimming in the hot springs pool and I love the laid back pace up there.:) 
Julie~        "The Future Comes One Day at a time."