House Building - Save money

[dmccarty]

If you and/or the wife are thinking about putting in a fancy Jacuzzi style jetted tub, really think about it. We put one in when we added a master bath to our home and so far the grandkids have been the main users. They use it to "swim" in for a bath, while DW and I have used it maybe five times in ten years. It was not cheap.

This is true. We did not spend a lot of money on our tub but it was not cheap either. It is a garden type tub with jets. The kids have used it far more than we have but their use as declined as well.

I am about to use the tub to hold a big plastic container filled with water to help keep my fermenting beer at the temperature. :thumbsup:

Later,
Dan

 

[tommu56]

We looked at modular homes and in the end the price did not justify the comprises we would have to make with a floor plan. At the time the widest module you could get on the road in NC was 14 feet. So you pretty much were stuck with one room dimension being 13 feet. Later the state allowed 16 foot wide modules on SOME roads.

The bottom line was the the module home "builders" we checked into did not have prices that much better than stick built. In fact one builder was more than stick built.

Later,
Dan

Don't they do double wides down there?
Delivery was 8 weeks you just cant do that time frame with a stick built
a guy at work just got a 28X65' came in 2 half's they slide both halfs on to the foundation with a track loader.

tom

 

[dmccarty]

Don't they do double wides down there?
Delivery was 8 weeks you just cant do that time frame with a stick built
a guy at work just got a 28X65' came in 2 half's they slide both halfs on to the foundation with a track loader.

tom

Single, double and triple wides.

A 28' wide house would have been brought in with two sections, each being 14' feet wide. You can get real creative with the sections but you still will end up with rooms like the bedrooms being 13' feet or so wide in one dimension. The extra 2 feet in a 16' wide module really helps. If you can get them.

Later,
Dan

 

[forgeblast]

If you and/or the wife are thinking about putting in a fancy Jacuzzi style jetted tub, really think about it.

HAHA I can agree to that. The previous owner put one in the master bed room.......Needless to say its a hole that gets filled with dirty clothes. It takes forever to fill and cools off quickly. I want to rip it out, but not sure what ill do with all the space left over.

 

[JRobyn]

I'm sensitive to this issue as one who is halfway through building a second home! I hired a contractor to build/dry in the shell and am doing some of the remaining work myself and using local subs for the rest. I did the electrical rough in (except for meter-to-panel feeds) and the supply plumbing. I intended to do the DWV plumbing, but a local sub I paid to review my design/layout gave me such a good price, I had him do the work. I figure the elec/plumb work I did saved maybe as much as $25, but then it took me a long time working only on weekends while I have interest-only construction financing!

Local subs have also given us pricing that is not much more than it would cost me to do it myself for insulation (combo of sprayed cellulose and fiberglass), sheetrock hanging, sheetrock finishing, and wet area/tiling.

Recesed lighting fixtures are very cost-effective, as are the surface mount fixtures from the big-box stores. As others have said, WINDOWS (and exterior doors) can be a big-ticket item, but you really don't want to scrimp on them. We also spent a lot on good-quality and high efficiency HVAC. Roofing can be a big variable - she really wanted all metal roof but we compromised with composite roof over the main structure and tin just over the porches. I wish I had known beforehand that the nifty curved stairs in the "Grand Entry" would be such a HUGE cost; try to avoid such fancy "architectural" features if possible. We've scrounged hard for deals on hardwood flooring, mouldings, T&G ceiling boards, plumbing fixtures, etc., and I figure we've spend about 50% of typical for each of these. Still have to find deals on cabinets!

- Jay

 

[boggen]

windows and doors. all the large material outlets (menards, lowes, homedepot) have sales throughout the years on various windows. if you can hold off and buy them on sale you can easily save 1/2 the price. also if you buy what is in stock and on hand. you can save another 1/2 in the price. vs paying for custom sized windows and doors.

windows though, i will pay for "double hung" makes life much easier to clean, but also much easier to adjust were you want cold and hot air coming in from the windows.

=========
insulation is a big one for me. it can really make a difference and pay for itself. it may take a couple more years to pay off cost of a higher R value of insulation. but well worth it long term.

wall insulation needs a lower R value than ceilings. ceilings = most R value or rather most insulation than anything else.

if you have a larger house, and don't use entire house but a few rooms. close the doors and vents and like to them. i might suggest putting some cheap insulation in, indoor walls. if you do this. it can help reduce more heat loss. for example my house. i can shut doors to a couple bed rooms and closets and saving on energy bill (heating and cooling) but i have to be careful or i will get (wind current, i should say a small rotating draft current) inside some of the rooms which can actually result in more heat loss vs just leaving the doors and vents open.

if i had a choice for heating, i would most likely go for radiant heating. were you have loops of pipe in the floor. a boiler is a little more costlier than an, all in one unit for heat and a/c, but the zoning of different rooms and cheap thermostat in each room can make things better long haul.

===========
if your building the house. get bids for each and every step of the project, digging foundations, pouring concrete footers and block work. etc...

===========
if you have a shed that you can store materials in. and slowly buy stuff as they come on sale through a year or two, you can save a good amount of cash. example buying during spring and fall seasons. for certain items. like right now would be a very bad time to buy A/C due to most folks are buying them left and right for there homes and/or replacing them.

===========
you can live with sub flooring (plywood floor) for a little bit of time till you find cheap carpet or wood panel flooring. for rooms.

============
my favorite store is Menard. at very min they have a sale for Paint both interior and exterior paints. and after rebates is either free or 1 or 2 bucks per 5 gallons of paint. right now i have 50 gallons of paint i bought from rebates at Menard that cost like 20 bucks after rebates. enough for entire house inside.

=============
i have seen a few shed houses. or rather make that metal pole barns turned into houses. some folks hate them, while others love them.

=============
i would caution use of foam forms for poured concrete. the plastic hangers that hold the walls together. can leave "leaks" for water to run through and into the house / basement. and can be a costly little item to repair. if you do not deal with them during inital pouring of concrete.