6 ms·

I am at the tail end of a 4 year journey of building my own house. It started with 3.5 years of research. Because of the pandemic and wildfires impacting lumber

I am at the tail end of a 4 year journey of building my own house. It started with 3.5 years of research. Because of the pandemic and wildfires impacting lumber prices, this might be the worst time in a hundred years to build anything that’s made of wood.

mistrial9 6y ago
for the US Market, how does price inflation, local govt collusion and rent-seeking by boomers fit in, in your opinion?
- stevehawk 6y ago
  The problem with the US market isn't really any of that.. it's the extreme shortage of raw materials due to construction booms throughout the world, but particularly in the US because money is "free" (low interest rates). Lumber is at least twice the price it was a year ago, if not more. Cement is up (so concrete is up). Rumor is that China just cut off fiberglass shipments to the US so now a lot of other tangential goods are going to go up (showers, bath tubs, hot tubs, insulation, etc). Great time to be a builder, bad time to need a building.
  - lifty 6y ago
    OP did mention price inflation as one of the factors.
- mistrial9 6y ago
  https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/EO-N-06-19.pdf https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/EO-N-06-19...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
lastofthemojito 6y ago
Is it bad enough to consider alternative materials? Concrete? Metal? Or are those solely for high-fashion, super-high-costs houses one would see on Grand Designs?
m463 6y ago
I wonder if this will kickstart other technologies. For example, with PG&E electricity in CA costing up to 40¢/kwh solar becomes practical. I don't know what other technologies, maybe modular/prefab or 3d-printed concrete or ...?
- bluGill 6y ago
  Most of those don't save anything and you often have to make poor comproises as well. Conventional houses already come with most parts cut to size. I've never seen someone bring a sawmill to a construction site to make 2x4s for example. There is some interesting work being done in ICF, which is better than 3d concrete. Prefab houses are limited to what goes on a truck (meaning weird walls), and often done to mobile home quality.
_benj 6y ago
I love the 4 years with 3.5 of research! Apart from the terrible timing with cost of materials and such, do you think it'd still be easier to build and to buy? Looking at the article it seems like on of the issues for the housing crisis is lack of development.
- 101001001001 6y ago
  Build or buy? It has no answer. There are too many different factors. Are you hiring a general contractor, subbing out or truly building yourself? Does your city/county process permits and variances in a timely manner? Do they charge you tons of money for those services? Do they make you carry out extensive environmental surveys and impact reports? Are you paying in cash or borrowing? Do you want every detail to be perfect? Do you want high performance thermal envelopes and low air leakage? Do you want to have special certifications like passive house? How long are you willing to dedicate to the process of completing the project? There is no correct way to build. There are many different methods, standards and philosophies and none of it is backed up with very much evidence because of the culture of the building trade and how old it is. Your own personal judgement and research will determine how everything is done down to the type and placement of fasteners. The only way for you to understand if it’s worth it is for you to learn everything about it, put it in the context of your situation and have your own opinion. What I will say is that almost every house in the United States is built poorly. The common standard practices are very backwards and prone to failure. I would never buy an expensive house unless most of the value was in the land.
  - harambae 5y ago
    >What I will say is that almost every house in the United States is built poorly I would love more details on why this is (certainly I'd expect poor build quality in certain housing boom areas in Florida, but not everywhere). Also I've always thought reinforced concrete was the way to go, over wood, if I lived anywhere near hurricanes. I also thought this might mitigate against high wood prices recently. Apparently it doesn't though - still need molds made of wood to hold the concrete in place while it dries and those are generally thrown away after.

mistrial9 6y ago

for the US Market, how does price inflation, local govt collusion and rent-seeking by boomers fit in, in your opinion?

stevehawk 6y ago
The problem with the US market isn't really any of that.. it's the extreme shortage of raw materials due to construction booms throughout the world, but particularly in the US because money is "free" (low interest rates). Lumber is at least twice the price it was a year ago, if not more. Cement is up (so concrete is up). Rumor is that China just cut off fiberglass shipments to the US so now a lot of other tangential goods are going to go up (showers, bath tubs, hot tubs, insulation, etc). Great time to be a builder, bad time to need a building.
- lifty 6y ago
  OP did mention price inflation as one of the factors.
mistrial9 6y ago
https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/EO-N-06-19.pdf https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/EO-N-06-19...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

lastofthemojito 6y ago

Is it bad enough to consider alternative materials? Concrete? Metal? Or are those solely for high-fashion, super-high-costs houses one would see on Grand Designs?

m463 6y ago

I wonder if this will kickstart other technologies. For example, with PG&E electricity in CA costing up to 40¢/kwh solar becomes practical. I don't know what other technologies, maybe modular/prefab or 3d-printed concrete or ...?

bluGill 6y ago
Most of those don't save anything and you often have to make poor comproises as well. Conventional houses already come with most parts cut to size. I've never seen someone bring a sawmill to a construction site to make 2x4s for example. There is some interesting work being done in ICF, which is better than 3d concrete. Prefab houses are limited to what goes on a truck (meaning weird walls), and often done to mobile home quality.

_benj 6y ago

I love the 4 years with 3.5 of research! Apart from the terrible timing with cost of materials and such, do you think it'd still be easier to build and to buy? Looking at the article it seems like on of the issues for the housing crisis is lack of development.

101001001001 6y ago
Build or buy? It has no answer. There are too many different factors. Are you hiring a general contractor, subbing out or truly building yourself? Does your city/county process permits and variances in a timely manner? Do they charge you tons of money for those services? Do they make you carry out extensive environmental surveys and impact reports? Are you paying in cash or borrowing? Do you want every detail to be perfect? Do you want high performance thermal envelopes and low air leakage? Do you want to have special certifications like passive house? How long are you willing to dedicate to the process of completing the project? There is no correct way to build. There are many different methods, standards and philosophies and none of it is backed up with very much evidence because of the culture of the building trade and how old it is. Your own personal judgement and research will determine how everything is done down to the type and placement of fasteners. The only way for you to understand if it’s worth it is for you to learn everything about it, put it in the context of your situation and have your own opinion. What I will say is that almost every house in the United States is built poorly. The common standard practices are very backwards and prone to failure. I would never buy an expensive house unless most of the value was in the land.
- harambae 5y ago
  >What I will say is that almost every house in the United States is built poorly I would love more details on why this is (certainly I'd expect poor build quality in certain housing boom areas in Florida, but not everywhere). Also I've always thought reinforced concrete was the way to go, over wood, if I lived anywhere near hurricanes. I also thought this might mitigate against high wood prices recently. Apparently it doesn't though - still need molds made of wood to hold the concrete in place while it dries and those are generally thrown away after.