Who Has Built A House?

@vbrad26 Looks great! I might have to pick your brain at some point.

We are a few years away from building but we already have a lot figured out - in terms of what we do / don't want -... So many pitfalls to try an avoid.
I used to be an electrician in my younger days, and it doesn't make me feel any more confident that we will be able to avoid going way over budget or getting screwed somewhere along the way.

We have been looking at Golden Eagle Log Cabin home-plans for a while now. We want to do a luxury log home in the 3-4k sqft range on a few acres somewhere in the north east.

One thing we haven't done is research a consultant that can tell us what to look out for and assist us in hiring a project manager.

The guy I hired to do the demo work, reconstruction and expansion of our home and build a new garage is a carpenter by profession. He, a helper, and his son did all the carpentry work and he acted as a PM for everything else.

It may be that paying for the PM is less expensive than doing it yourself in the long run. Here is why . . .

Our guy built many houses over the years and he formed relationships with plumbers, electricians, sheetrock people, insulation trades, roofers and siding contractors, flooring contractors, masons-tile men, painters etc.

These trades have established - and all want to continue to maintain - a good relationship with the builder/carpenter. Therefore, they do as they are told and at a fair price - or else. If they make the builder look bad, he'll choose someone else for the next job, so the builder PM guy has plenty of leverage.

If you hire your own trades, unless you can sell them on the idea that you are going to build and flip many homes, they are going to look at you as a "one-off," where they may only choose to accommodate you up to a point. Then, what happens when the electrician and the plumber get into each other's way? They put you in the middle. A real mess can ensue.

The PM carpenter guy can say: "You! Get the hell out of here! You are in the plumber's way today. I told you last week to come here next Tuesday!" And so the electrician leaves and comes back when he is given the go ahead.

I went along with all the tradesmen the carpenter/builder chose except for two; The Pool guy and the painter.

I had a choice of three painters given to me by the builder and I chose my own recommended by a good friend who didn't have good judgment as it turns out. The painter was an unmitigated walking disaster who later had a nervous breakdown; no joke. I had to hire one of the builder's guys to redo all the guy's inside paint work and it never did come out perfect. The painter used crap caulking outside that changed color. And while he was on the premises . . . he kept telling the builder: "I work for Joe and not you!"

The pool guy was very good. mature and experienced guy and I saved a lot of money working with him. A pool is a kind of "external" job and the main thing you'd want to do is coordinate electrical, plumbing and drainage needs and make sure he comes in near the end before the landscaping and after the prep work was done by the other trades. The pool guy also has to participate with the landscaper for the grading of the property prior to landscaping, fencing, etc.

I personally would never act as a PM although I feel that I have the skill to do so.

What I lack . . . which would cost me money and aggravation . . . is the depth of relationships with local tradesman to get the work done to the standards of an experienced quality builder and at a price the builder/PM knows is appropriate.

The builder/PM is more important than the architect in my view as there can be something of a rivalry between the builder and the architect. What you are going to end up with is something that the builder builds for you and probably not exactly what the architect envisioned.

One can hire the architect to supervise the builder, but that has to be done with caution!

For the most part, I got lucky.

Avoid if possible. It's nightmare upon nightmare, even with appropriate planning and permits. Also, double the budget of what you plan if not more. Would highly suggest doing an extensive remodel versus building from scratch.

Ah, didn't see the pictures. Flat lot, relatively average size house in modern terms, you're good. Try building on a slope along the coast of California....minimum of $1000 per sq ft to build and up to $2K depending on quality

My guy and I forgot to wire for doorbells.

When I asked about it too late, after the sheet-rock was up, comment from PM and electrician was: "Gee, people don't use wired doorbells any longer!" Bunch of BS, that is. I put in Eufy doorbell cameras, four at the new place including one on the garage side entry door and three at our primary residence, so seven in all. I was able to run some doorbell power wiring in a couple of locations, but I'd rather have avoided battery operated systems in the others. The Eufy systems use wireless video transmission to connect with a base storage unit accessible via WiFi.

Wire all thermostat locations for a four-wire system so that you have the option of using smart powered IoT thermostats.

Nearly all the lighting is controlled by a Lutronn Caseta system(s).

Drywall or sheet-rocking the garage is nice if you plan to spend time there. I ended up doing so as well. So far I have only had to cut one hole in it! 😉

I pre-wired for CAT-6 and coax everywhere inside the house though the coax will probably not be used. If you put in a Sonos wireless mesh entertainment system, you won't need to prewire for speakers, but that's personal choice, of course.

I also buried CAT-6 everywhere I thought I'd put in Reolink PoE cameras, so seven locations in all.

Cheers,

Joe