Building a new house

[ndbwhunter]

The wife and I just signed our building contract. We've got the plan finalized (for now), and made a few of the no brainer upgrades that can't be done later on (2x6" all around, 9ft vaulted ceilings, and a larger garage).

Question is, for those of you that have built, what would you do differently? Are there any other changes that you would recommend making in the beginning?

We're not going to go crazy on the unnecessary upgrades like flooring, cabinets/counters, trim, or fixtures.

 

[deleted]

Where are you building at? This might add some cost to your build but I would highly recommend at least looking at these. http://www.compositepanelsystems.com/gallery/

We have put two of them in the ground so far in the Fargo area and one south of Grand Forks.

PM me if you are interested or have questions and I can have someone give you a call.

 

[DerHornen]

There are a few minor things you could look at since they're easiest to do up front. Two that I did were adding a supply line through the wall for a future underground sprinkler system and adding/changing locations of outdoor power outlets and water spigots.

It's pretty handy to have power outlets rigged into the soffits with a timer in the garage to control Christmas lights.

 

[ndbwhunter]

There are a few minor things you could look at since they're easiest to do up front. Two that I did were adding a supply line through the wall for a future underground sprinkler system and adding/changing locations of outdoor power outlets and water spigots.

It's pretty handy to have power outlets rigged into the soffits with a timer in the garage to control Christmas lights.

I'm still debating whether or not I'm going to do sprinklers. The house will be north of Mandan, and with the higher price of rural water I'm not sure I can justify having the "perfect" lawn. I'm definitely going to add more spigots to the house. I hate having 100ft+ on a hose real.

 

[Jigaman]

make the garage as big as possible. floor drains and hot/cold water spigot. Wider overhead doors make backing the boat in alot easier.

I wish I would have put a laundry wash tub in my garage.

 

[Retired Educator]

What's an unnecessary upgrade. There is a huge difference between cheap cabinets and good cabinets. Not so much between good and top of the line. Windows are windows that you can look through until you have to pay the heating bill and replace them in a few years. Upgrades for at least good windows is well worth the extra cost. I made the mistake of building a house where I settled for things that were less costly and never liked them. Encourage you to not make that mistake. If you are going to live there forever consider putting in what you like and can realistically afford. If you are going to live there for awhile and then resale consider what will make that house more attractive and marketable.

One more thing - hot and cold outdoor spigots.

In my opinion Kitchens are expensive but very important. Bathrooms are better with a little forethought and planning. Rooms that are closer to square, (but not square) are easier to decorate. Long and narrow rooms are not easy to define a good use unless you need an archery range. You can make bedrooms super nice but the reality is they are only used for 2 purposes when you are young and mostly 1 purpose as you reach my age and rarely are shown to guests. A family room is used a lot. If you are a member of this forum I will assume you need a room for Stuff and working on Stuff. Possibly a hobby or craft room for the bride. Neither of which needs to be expensive, just an area which can be upgraded as needed.

One upgrade I saw on a house for outdoorsman that have a dog in the house I thought was very nice was a dog room. Not big but had some cabinets and shelving for dog supplies, a doggie bed and best of all, a dog shower. All with an outside entrance. When the dog was dirty and muddy (if you have a hunting dog they will be dirty and muddy) bring him in, shower him and allow him/her to sleep in comfort until dry and nice. Great idea and except for an area of about 8X10, maybe at most $1000 of material. The dog shower was a shower base with about a 4 ft. wall and a shower head on a hose. Simple and efficient. Painted concrete floor for easy cleanup. That might be an unnecessary upgrade but a very good idea.

Most importantly, life will be much easier if you leave most of the decisions to your bride. There are only a few areas of the house that really need the opinion of a man. Make your life simpler and let her decide things that don't really matter to you.

 

[Jigaman]

I wish I would have went with steel siding rather than vinyl.

 

[Bfishn]

Make sure you also put in bigger garage doors! If going with the usual double door get an 18' rather than the standard 16'. Also on the third stall put in a 10' door. Most boats are 100-102" wide on trailer these days. A 9' foot door with trim doesn't give much if any clearance. Get hot/cold water and drain plumbed into garage right away for a wash tub. Also get Nat Gas plumbed in for a heater.

 

[BDub]

Exterior outlets on 4 corners. Steel or concrete siding. Vinyl is affordable but many drawbacks.

 

[dust in the wind]

I went as big as I could with the garage (almost 1400 sq ft) - 4 -10x8 garage doors. Garage is 48' wide and had them rough in the garage heat as well (included gas line, wiring and venting).

I also had them run a gas line for the deck for future use and I had them insulate the garage ceiling. I did the garage wall insulation myself.

I ran cat 6 everywhere. I can do the work myself as far as terminating/testing/etc... so it was only material cost for me.

I also upgraded the thermostat over the basic one they would have installed.

Make sure to get everything in writing - nothing verbal. No surprises then.

Go to the build site OFTEN!!!! I was up there almost every day and caught a few things that got missed/overlooked/done wrong and got things corrected right away. None of it was major though - just little things along the way.

 

[3Roosters]

The BIGGEST mistake you can make is buying too much house for your wallet. A lot of times it is better to say to heck with keeping up with the Jones! I could think of nothing worse than being pissed off at your home mortgage amount each month when you send in your payment because now you can't afford much more than Ramon noodles for the next 20- 30 yrs.

 

[dust in the wind]

The BIGGEST mistake you can make is buying too much house for your wallet. A lot of times it is better to say to heck with keeping up with the Jones! I could think of nothing worse than being pissed off at your home mortgage amount each month when you send in your payment because now you can't afford much more than Ramon noodles for the next 20- 30 yrs.

Very true! We had a budget and stuck to it. We could have done a much bigger/expensive house but we didn't want that high of a payment.

 

[Kurtr]

Icf walls in basement. In reality if i was build a new house it would be icf all the way to the roof line. I just did my basement and everything else my self 2 years ago and had a house moved on. It was a year of hell i fished 1 time and hunted a few times. The next time i move will be in a pine box or i have won the lottery and can pay some one to do all the work on my new ranch in Idaho

 

[dust in the wind]

Also, if the builder will let you handle some things yourself, you can save some money that way and put it towards different flooring/cabinets/etc...

We did that with a couple of things and came out pretty good on it. Of course, we (her cousin and I) had one rough week (10 days exactly) - I spent 70 hrs at the house doing some of the work on top of working 40 hours at work but we got what we were wanting and for about the same price as letting the builder use the basic material and letting them do the work.

 

[Bfishn]

The BIGGEST mistake you can make is buying too much house for your wallet. A lot of times it is better to say to heck with keeping up with the Jones! I could think of nothing worse than being pissed off at your home mortgage amount each month when you send in your payment because now you can't afford much more than Ramon noodles for the next 20- 30 yrs.

To expand on this a little. Its worth considering looking into a what you can afford with a 15-20 year mortgage rather than a 30. Everyone just automatically goes thirty because that is the norm. Its amazing how much you can save in interest. Mortgages are front loaded so in a 30 year you are basically paying all interest in the beginning. In a 15 year you start off right away paying mostly principle.

 

[Allen]

Personally, I'd probably slap any builder who doesn't include ceiling fan/lights in the original electrical plans. And I'd probably fire the electrical contractor who goes nuts on the switched outlets. Nothing worse than plugging something in and having to then walk over to a set of light switches to turn it on.

Lastly, I might shoot anyone thinking of putting a wood foundation under a house I wanted to live in long-term.

 

[fishfearme]

i wished i would have put a ceiling fan or two in the garage. save on heating bills and dries the floor quicker in the winter time. Run a conduit from the attic down to the basement in case you need to run wire later. if you can afford it, put a covered porch over your deck. water valve on deck for washing off. outlets in closets especially mud rooms and pantry, attic light, conduits under driveway (in case you need to run a sprinkler line or electric cable).

 

[fly2cast]

Make sure you have plenty of outlets in the garage. I can't believe how many newer houses in our neighborhood (including mine) have only a couple of outlets in the garage. Also put in vents in your closet if possible. Keeps them fresher.

 

[Jigaman]

i wished i would have put a ceiling fan or two in the garage. save on heating bills and dries the floor quicker in the winter time. Run a conduit from the attic down to the basement in case you need to run wire later. if you can afford it, put a covered porch over your deck. water valve on deck for washing off. outlets in closets especially mud rooms and pantry, attic light, conduits under driveway (in case you need to run a sprinkler line or electric cable).

+1 on the ceiling fans in the garage. I just added these last year, 5 years after we built. I cant say I noticed a huge difference in heating costs since it was such a mild winter but it sure does dry everything out quickly. Would have probably been half the price if I would have had them installed when we built.

 

[JUSTWINGNIT]

if you don't mind me asking...who did you go with for this? I am in need of a new house. just gotta get someone out for some estimates. also, how long does it normally take to build from digging basement to move in? I would do all electrical and HVAC myself.