Do-it-yourself house building...God help us

[retired_young]

Welp...Last Monday began the official ground breaking for our home. A little background:

My wife and I decided to build our own home...not acting as general contractor but to physically build our own home nail by nail, board by board, pipe by pipe.

Our plan is to do what we can ourselves with the exception of excavation and foundation (concrete- continuous wall) and electrical - although we will rough wire the house and just have the electrician connect power to the box. So I guess there will be somewhat of a GC role, but we intend to keep that to a minimum.

We are using Shelter-Kit out of Tilton, NH for the shell. He specializes in pre-cutting the home and supplying all that is needed for a complete shell. His niche is to design his homes for the novice/amature do-it-yourself-builder.

I won't bog down the post with details on Shelter-Kit, the website provides plenty of info.

First Week:
The excavation went fine...until we hit ledge. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] Then a one day dig turned into three days - moving the stakes 3ft N, 2ft S, 8 inchE, and 24ft W until we found a good spot (we chose not to blast the ledge). The house will sit much higher now than originally planned, but we have some creative finishing work in mind to camouflage the exterior concrete basement walls.

And now comes the rain. Due to an incessant deluge of wet stuff over the past 5 days our "reservation" on the concrete dude's calendar has gotten pushed back. And with the report for more wet weather in the future who knows when the pour will actually occur. No surprise - delays are part of the process.

I've babbled enough. I'll keep a running journal of the entire process. Especially once we start assembling the Shelter-Kit home. For those interested, we are using the Barn-House style, 24 X 40ft w/ an 18inch Knee wall. The basement will be a full finished basement with a 16ft walkout opening.

Hope ya'll find this interesting. We are totally enjoying the experience...good and bad. That's what makes the most entertaining stories dontchathink? [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

RY

[s1120]

Keep the posts coming. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Look at it this way, if there is any problems, you know who to talk to, and know that they will call you back. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] I have to say, if I ever go through this house building thing, I will do as you are, and do it myself.[see the REAL long house thred down a bit, and you will know what I have been going through]

[jtd]

Best of luck to you and your wife. I remember when I was ten or eleven watching my neighbor across our street building his house by himself. His wife worked during the day and helped him nights and weekends. Took about 14 to 18 months I think. Came out nice but it's definitely a job for younger folks. I'm currently having a house and workshop built by a contractor and it's been real slow. House is complex but even so it's been trying. I'll build a lot of the cabinets and all of the trim work. I'll keep looking for your posts with pictures.

[Clint]

RY,

Definitely keep us posted throughout your project. Everybody loves a good house building story. Even better if there are pictures.

Clint.

[Handyman]

I wish you luck and patients [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

It took me 16 mos to build a 3 bdrm/2 bth I designed by myself. If I can be of any assistance, holler.. I'll be more than glad to offer any advice [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[Gatorboy]

Looking forward to watching your progress. In the meantime, do you have a floorplan you've designed that you can share with us?

[retired_young]

<font color="blue">see the REAL long house thred down a bit, </font color>

Paul, I've been reading...actually studying your thread for some time now. If its any consulation your experience has more than psychologically prepared us for the challenge that lies ahead.

We'll be sure to start to include pictures.

And there is one more detail I guess I had better fess up to now. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img] ..Our target date is to be in the house by August 25th, 2003!

Now, before the enslaught of "he's out of his mind!" or ""OK, now let's step back into reality", let me explain. Our plan is to be in a livable structure by August (heat, water, bath, and workable kitchen). The details and the amenities will be the labor or our lives during the Fall and Winter months.

It's an aggressive goal, but one that is achievable by my calculations. We've put the project into the hands of God and will surely be in deep prayer every morning, noon, and night.

And I am extremely comforted knowing I can turn to you guys (and I am sure I will often) to share my victories, frustrations, and surprises - as there are sure to be many.

Thanks

RY

[Pat]

Hey, RetiredYoung, You'll be a LOT older before this project is finished, no matter how soon you move in. Sure hope the tension doesn't cause you and the missus any problems. It is surprising how many divorces result from house building.

We celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary after a long hard day in the heat working on the house and haven't any major difficulties yet.

I am NOT acting as GC for our house. I have a good partnership arrangement so far with my GC. I have been hands-on in almost everything so far exccept when three trades were all working at the same time and I couldn't cycle fast enough.

My real job, besides write the checks, is chief logistician (I procure all materials for the structure) but I have driven dump truck a few days, Bobcatted, rock drilled, jack hammered, box bladed and FELed. I have been accepted by most of the workmen simultaneously as a co-worker and consulting engineer and architect.

This is only the second house that I have designed that went into construction so my shills as architect are less than optimal.

We too went with a walkout basement (37x34, 9 ft ceilings) and we too have 16 ft of windows and doors, on the south side. I was some interested in kits, prefab, etc but we I finally ended up doing a clean sheet of paper design from scratch. The basement has 12 inch thick walls. The great room above has 2x6 stick walls. The garage/shop is open span engineered steel trusses. The master suite is ICF. HVAC is 3 ground sourced heat pumps. part of house is scorched air and part is radiant (hydronic). Living, dining, kitchen, and office are in-floor hydronic. Basement guest room and bath are radiant hydronic ceilings as is the master bedroom. Master bath is in-floor hydronic. I was tempted but left out a goatskin yurt wing and a Teepee.

Our eclectic mix of building structures scared away quite a few GC before I found one that I really feel good about.

Best of luck to you in your endeavor.

Pat

[bigbukhntr]

don't really want to discourage you, but i just GC'ed my own home, and I had crews working on it 6 days a week...and you are trying to have your home almost 3/4 finished, with HVAC, electric, water , drywall, plumbing/bath fixtures, painted, appliances, insulatation, cabinets and such .....all this completed with just your wife and you doing most of the work?...and in just over 90 days??...yep, you are gonna need some type of devine help!

Again, I am not trying to be the bearer of bad news, but I am trying to make you set a more realistic goal for yourselves!

Also, are you regulated by any type of regulations as far as permits go?...most towns near us will not let you move into a home without a certificate of occupancy, which will not be issued until the house is completed. If you are out in the country and not tied to any city/town juridictions, that would make it much easier for you guys, but still, I am not sure if you realize the task you have ahead of you!

Good luck and keep us informed of the developements, and I sure hope I am wrong about your abilities and goals, but you have set the bar pretty high for yourselves!!

[Gatorboy]

I could be wrong -- am I usually am, but I believe if you have on your original plans that say the upstairs will be unfinished, then you can get a C.O. if everything else checks out ok.

I just finished part of my basement myself, and let me tell you, that took alot of time, I cannot imagine how long it would take to build and finish off an entire house.

I am very anxious to see pictures of your progress.