4 ms·

I encourage everyone to go attempt to build a house for themselves. It takes away the armchair quarterbacking once you add up the Home Depot receipts.

gedy 4y ago
I did this actually, and the pluses were: - Dollar cost was 1/4 to 1/3 what a builder estimated. (Labor savings) - I saw continuous progress with no surprise delays. - It was easier and cheaper to do custom solutions or adjustments as unforseen issues came up. - Was fun and I learned a lot. Minuses: - Material costs were higher than if contractors bought due to retail purchasing. - It took over a year, versus 5-6 month estimate from builders. - Was a lot of personal time and learning.
- MiddleEndian 4y ago
  >It took over a year, versus 5-6 month estimate from builders. Depending on how they actually worked in practice, it may have taken them a year too.
iamthepieman 4y ago
I have the trade skills to do this. Worked as a cabinet builder in my early career and started a short lived construction business with my brother in my 20s. But if I take my total compensation for the year it would take me to build, the cost of the subcontracting I wouldn't do myself (plumbing and electrical) and the materials cost it would probably be about the same as getting it built by someone else. There's also the very subjective tradeoff between opportunity cost of taking time off from my career vs the benefits of doing more manual labor and learning a lot building a house.
PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
The Stud Pack channel on YT is now essentially a father-son general contracting duo who recently relocated to Houston from somewhere in Louisiana, and are building a new house (and demolishing an old one). They have excellent general contractor skills, but no experience in whole house construction. It has already been an interesting ride (as of now, they have dealt with soil conditions and dug grade beam trenches for the garage foundation), and there's still 98% of it left to play out over time.

gedy 4y ago

I did this actually, and the pluses were: - Dollar cost was 1/4 to 1/3 what a builder estimated. (Labor savings) - I saw continuous progress with no surprise delays. - It was easier and cheaper to do custom solutions or adjustments as unforseen issues came up. - Was fun and I learned a lot. Minuses: - Material costs were higher than if contractors bought due to retail purchasing. - It took over a year, versus 5-6 month estimate from builders. - Was a lot of personal time and learning.

MiddleEndian 4y ago
>It took over a year, versus 5-6 month estimate from builders. Depending on how they actually worked in practice, it may have taken them a year too.

iamthepieman 4y ago

I have the trade skills to do this. Worked as a cabinet builder in my early career and started a short lived construction business with my brother in my 20s. But if I take my total compensation for the year it would take me to build, the cost of the subcontracting I wouldn't do myself (plumbing and electrical) and the materials cost it would probably be about the same as getting it built by someone else. There's also the very subjective tradeoff between opportunity cost of taking time off from my career vs the benefits of doing more manual labor and learning a lot building a house.

PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago

The Stud Pack channel on YT is now essentially a father-son general contracting duo who recently relocated to Houston from somewhere in Louisiana, and are building a new house (and demolishing an old one). They have excellent general contractor skills, but no experience in whole house construction. It has already been an interesting ride (as of now, they have dealt with soil conditions and dug grade beam trenches for the garage foundation), and there's still 98% of it left to play out over time.