Hello,
This is my first entry and it’s a loaded question…
My husband & I are building our 1st home in Wisconsin and although we’ve found a great builder, I’m still very overwhelmed by all the details involved. I’ve done a lot of reading and research & our builder has different vendors for us to check out to make the final decision of who to go with. Carpentry & cabinets, flooring & counters are on the top of my list. Any suggestions on the best wood and stone to use?
I’m also hoping someone can give me feedback on building a high quality home & the areas to focus in on spending the most and the least on.
Thanks for any feedback you can provide!
Have a great week!
Keis
Edited 11/11/2005 10:09 pm ET by keis
Replies
Hindsight is great so will share with you what I have learned. Obtain a 3 ring binder, prepare indexes for each of the areas you need to work with (whether it be vendor, pricing, quality, etc.) At some point, one must decide between Window A or B & where are those notes you made as to price, warranty, etc. Doors with Manufacturer, product # & price may vary greatly from one vendor to another & increase as time goes on.
I used only a spiral bound notebook & when I could not quickly locate, I picked up another. Now with house under construction & prices having increased since we began pricing earlier this year, I have 3 notebooks with the needed info in one of them. Not very convenient to have to flip thru all those books & pages!
Carpentry & cabinets, flooring & counters are on the top of my list. All varies according to region you are in.
Any suggestions on the best wood and stone to use? Buy the best you can afford.
p.s. Once construction is completed, I never want to enter a Big Box store again. Great place to shop to learn what is available but not necessarily what one is seeking. Lighting has been my major problem!
Hi!
We had our home built 10 years ago. I also worked for Toll Brothers, a home builder. I did everything from sales to custom upgrades on the houses. My best advice is to you is to visit has many model homes that are for sale, take a ton of pictures. Make notations on what really "grabs" you and proceed foward.
Also visit as many showrooms for plumbing, lighting ect. Again, take alot of pictures.
Good Luck!
call my son sid larhette in sudbury on july road. tell his his mom sent you this message. he is very smart is building his house in maine and worked for many builders before he wrecked hois shoulder.
his number is 978 4437095
Don't waste money in rooms no one sees, like bedrooms and bathrooms. For those rooms only comfort matters.
Laminate counters will save you a lot in the kitchen, and there are some very nice high end laminates nowadays. You could also use different materials for different purposes, like stone beside the stove, but laminate in an island.
Marble stains easily and is attacked by acids. Granite is a more durable choice.
Don't make the house too big. It costs more to build, more to heat and cool, more to upkeep, more to tax.
In hallways, Berber carpet wears better than cut pile.
Stairs could have stained wooden treads with painted stringers and risers to save money.
A pantry can reduce the amount of kitchen cabinets you need.
Don't waste money on a whirlpool. American Standard's own research shows the average jetted tub gets used only 7 times.
Don't forget to budget for landscaping. Many people run out of money then skimp on landscaping.
Get a hold of Sarah Susanka book "the not so big house". It is a good conceptual source.
Ralph
Best wood and stone for what? Wood floors? Trim?
You might want to try posting your question at Breaktime where builders and GC's hang out. They can be kind of rough around the edges and will probably say something like your question is asking an awful lot, but they will get you started.
Hi,
Granite is always a great choice for kitchen counters...extremely durable, hot and cold resistent. Marble is nice for bath counters, but don´t get a porous variety...the dealer should be able to tell you about the porosity of various stones.
As for where to spend your money to get a quality home...kitchens and baths; they´re what sell homes.
For wood, a question first...do you have termite problems in your area. If so, ask for types of wood that are resistent or have been treated.
Buena suerte, Mexbuilder
spend extra on the " hidden " stuff- doors, windows, heavier subfloor/roof sheathing, additional outlets, plumbing fixtures; all the things that would be difficult to upgrade later.
You can upgrade counters, trim, lighting fixtures, etc. later, as time/money permits.
as far as what wood and stone- it all depend on the style YOU want. Don't let some designer talk you into something you won't be happy with long term just to save a few bucks now.
This is my opinion onbuilding a new home. Stay away from the custom stuff unless you save money. Ikea makes great kitchen cabinets build around them. As for counter top I like soap stone and hope to use it some day. Build it the way you always wanted it to look like. Saving money now will cost you later. And have fun doing it.
Spend the money on entry flooring, to make an impression on visitors. Exotic woods, too.
To get the money for this, have the house wired to Electrical Code mimimums. Bare bones. Be aware that the National Electrical Code (and its local or state derivatives) are comprised of requirements intended to keep people from being electrocuted, the house from burning down.
This means that you'll be paying an electrician big bucks down the road to add outlets and switches where they're needed. And it means that you'll eventually pay another electrician real big bucks to upgrade the main breaker panel, because you need another circuit or two, and there's no more space in the bare-bones original one. I like this; I'm an electrician.
Having a house electrical system that meets the NEC means that the wiring will be safe, not that it'll meet your needs in terms of adequacy or convenience.
So as Shep said, have extra outlets put in, extra switches (three and even four way), extra circuits, phone and LAN cable and jacks at every location that might imaginably need them.
Cliff
As a crossover from the builder's forum 'breaktime', I'll say that the more you can decide on now - and budget for - the better. That may be a little obvious. But not only factor in what your best choices will cost, but those that might be a good backup should things cost more than you reckon (and they will).
Keep a portfolio as others say to do, and keep a running budget too. My experience in all the trades shows that there is little money left to do things like painting and finishing.
Don't fall into the trophy kitchen or bathroom trap. A kitchen functions well enough without stainless steel everything, and take care with choosing something like granite that'll be out-dated in 5 years. I'm in the process of purchasing a house only ten years old but, oh, those solid oak cabinets look so-o-o passe.
Building a house can be very traumatic, I must warn you. There'll be decisions that you will have no control over, there'll be heartsearching, there also has been known to be break-ups of marriage, too. Leave your builder to make the best construction decisions - that's his forte - but if he's close to you he will be asking many little details of you that he'll not be able to make, and you'll both be not a little frustrated with the "perhaps" and "maybes" that will occur.
And bear in mind the old axiom "spend where you must, save where you can"
This is the time say "good luck"...'cos you'll need it!
All the best...
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
Thank you :)
as a crossover from breaktime and a gc. my first question has to be, are you married?. I generally get hired to build two houses on the same lot-the one she wants and the one he can afford. strart a set of files covering every room in the house. encourage pictures cut from magazines,photos of other houses,etc. note any ideas you have or questions you want answered. argue,agree, agree to disagree trade off thar 500$ light fixture in the bath for the granite in the foyer[light fixtures are easy to change a few years down the road, floors aren't. the more decisions you can make and the more the gc knows about everything involving the project, the better his #'s will be and the smoother the job will go for all. he needs to know how you plan to decorate. have paint chips-close color is good onough for now. when considering a builder, get references from him[or her]. try to talk with a reffered couple separately. you'd be surprised how different their experiences can be. good luck, jim
Don't forget to plan your TV connections - cable or satellite or both just in case you might opt for the other later. Just learned & not before it was too late in our building process that cable folks wrap cable around exterior of your home if not already installed. Do not know about satellite wiring yet.
Do place lighting near the top of your list. Being in Wisconsin, I know energy efficiency (as is most everywhere) may very well be a consideration. But then there are so many choices & am still trying to learn more about many of them.
Should you be in your 20's to 30's & plan to live in the home for many years, do plan for more lighting than you need at this time. Eyesight tends to grow dimmer over the years. Easier to add lighting now for when we need later.
Fans - we will be using one in most rooms. Do check out the wattage of each. Upon reviewing a catalog p/u @ Lowe's, I found there to be great variations from one fan to another. Big difference is 60 watt vs. 240+ wattage and this is something one can not always detect easily by looking up at a fan in a lighting showroom. Use books prior to purchasing to ensure you will have what you expect.
Canned Lighting - ensure those used are IC approved. Some are even more efficient (though they may cost more up front) than others. Where one needs lighting for hall, etc, some box stores offer Builders packs providing IC (for insulated areas) at a lesser cost than purchasing individually.
Stairs - need switch @ both top & bottom of stairs. Plan to decorate railing @ XMAS? Plan for an outlet at top of stairs so one does not have to run an extension cord across the walkway to turn on those twinklers. (Learned that one the hard way in current home).
Having just completed this task, once the inside walls are up, walk around your rooms & use Magic Marker on the 2x4s or 2x6s to identify to the electrician specifically where you wish to have a single switch turn on both lights at bedside, family room, fans, bath, outdoors, etc. Dimmers - with what switches might you wish to have these operational? Any particulars which require their own circuit? Where do you wish or code requires you to have fire alarms & CO (for gas) installed? Do you wish to have a dedicated circuit for PC, other electronics? Need for motion activated lighting on exterior of home? Alarm system? Garage lighting needed in which corners? The more you identify to the electrician, the better job he will do for you.
DO HOPE SOME OF THESE THOUGHTS PROVIDE HELP TO YOU! And if any electricians think these things are always done; well, sometimes a first time home owner does not always grasp the magnitude of a question when asked by the builder or electrician. So if ever asked a question, simply ask why do you ask?
p.s. Last of all, do not forget the doorbell - front door, garage, rear door?
you make some excellent points, whats drawn on the plans often does not account for real world traffic patterns, changed door swings etc. as part of developing a finished project i would not encourage a homeowner to write on the studs, he needs to consolidatee his thoughts and do that walk-thru wirh the electrician. let him write on the walls in a code his crew are used to.[if the homeowner can be there at the same time it cuts down on the changes] also a good gut-check for the homeowner,decisions made then can have repercussions which echo down thru the years, every time he flips that switch he'll think, if only i'd--- good luck jim
Well, I suppose we were a bit unique in that a family member was our electrician & worked our house on weekends while we were there. With that now behind us, I would choose to write on the floor which would serve 2 purposes - (1) electrician (2) sheetrockers (to ensure they did not cover an outlet/switch).
It did help to write on studs prior to walk-thru with electrician as there were times he would have an idea for improvement over what my original thoughts were as to light placement, etc. My writing was in Black; his notes were in Red meaning Final so his crew were very much aware how to do.
As to notes for sheetrockers - just mark whether is outlet or switch; at least this would help locate whether low or high on the wall. Do hope these are not needed!
glad your wiring is over I always go thru the house w/a shop-vac sfter everything but the insulation is in the walls.get some roack-pruf [boric acid crystyals-not toxic] and sprinkle it on every horizontal surface in the walls. paying special attn to areas like baths laundry and kitchen. the little beasties don't eat the stuff,just walk thru it ,and the stiff gets in their joints and cuts them apart. no poison,strictly a mechanical process. 20 years in use and have never had a client have bugs[I ask}. i like to mark every stud location on the floor w/spray paint-also use contrasting spot beside painted stripe to denote boxes. i use two dots to denote a non standard box ht. after sheetrock is hung pick up the pieces but leave the dust on the floor- helps keep the dropped mud from stickins to the subfloor after rock is finished[set a bright light against every wall in the corner shining up across the wall] do this with the drywall contractor in tow, after he finishes swearing, ask him if he wants to mark the walls or should you do it? generally they want leave one or two people to the final, final touch-up, thats good they generally leave their best people to make it look good. when done go around and get the mud out of all the boxes- it's gotta come out and you don't want the electrician doing it during set-out. sweep, scrape up all the mod etc. the person running the scraper needs equipped with a hammer and 8d coated nails. if he catches a nail head w/ the scraper he tightens it up right then.sweep again.after scraping, go over the entire subfloor with a heavy[20 to 22 oz hammer, just banging on it, you'll be able to find any loose spots by how the dust dances on the floor. it also gets the dust to jump out of those little gaps that exisist between sheets. you're trying to create a dust free enviroment right? pay close stttention tounder the sheetrock and inside corners[a painters 5 in 1 helps here. good luck jim
Prior to the exterior walls being solid in place, I swept up the saw dust into piles; then proceeded to scoom up via dust pan/shovel. Needless to say there was still a residue here & there. The leaf blower did a great job in blowing out the remaining dust; followed by the shop vac for the particles still in the cracks/crevices.
Appreciate the tip for bugs & sheetrock finish! Do not know what is a "painters 5 in 1"?
A painter's "five in one" is a tool consisting of a opener for the cans of paint, a blade with a half moon cut out to scrape the paint off of rollers to clean them, a putty knife, and two other functions that I can't remember at the moment! It's fairly compact, slightly bigger than a putty knife. Edit--Where the half-moon is cut out comes to a point that is useful for getting stuff out of crevices and I think that's what the poster had in mind.
Edited 12/15/2005 12:37 pm ET by Danno
just go to the paint store and ask for a 5 in 1- if they have difgfering qualities, buy the best, you'll wonder how you lived this long without one..I am a 30 plus year builder with a woodshopand i know where mine is. don't know about the leaf blower, i'm trying to get the dust out st any stage, not spread it around. the hardest job you will encounter in building this house is turning it from a jobsite into a home. subcontractors love a jobsite- they sit leaned against the wall throwing their lunch trash on the floor. after sheetrock that needs to stop. let the subcontracters see that you are serious about keeping the house clean that means they need to see you or someone you have to hire to clean up after [I thought of several nasty expletives here] any way, let them know, and their bosses, that you will not accept that [expletive] in your house. I always tell my clients, I'm building the house, you'rr going to turn it into a home. jim
If you wouldn't mind, could you avoid posting in tiny type. Some of us are over 40, and I could not read your post without going downstairs to get my glasses.
sorry,just got me a new pair of 2.5's and guess i was on a roll--
At what type of store do you purchase the "roach-pruf [boric acid crystyals-not toxic]? Just wondering if this is product carried only via licensed pest folks?
I get roach-pruf at the local Ace Hardware store. Stuffs not toxic, pest control people won't have it. actually, some might. comes in a quart plastic bottle [yellow] that has a spout on it. i think i've seen it at an older lumber yard in this area also. jim
Found Roach Pruf - powder form only at Ace Hardware. Job completed just prior to sheetrock starting today. Truly appreciate this tip!
p.s. I did contact our Exterminating Company. They had never heard of such? Logical reason for their not having product may be that if it works, that would limit their need for monthly/annual maintenance service calls in the future. While never had a roach/bug problem previously, this application will hopefully ensure problem never arises! THANKS!
you got that right! i've always thought pest control companys would serve the people better if they got paid by the bug. (I mean, I don't have bugs, they must be doing a good job, right?] Always had a problem with negative proof, You see the shysters on TV all the time trying to sell a product to fix some problem you don't have[but you might, and the consequences could be horrible for you or your children], building a house is the same thing. hell of a learning curve. the only protection you have is tucked between your ears, the only stupid question is the one you didn' ask. of more than one person. remember, there are peopkle out there who would rather see a job well done than a huge paycheck at the end. glad you found the roach-pruf, Ace has been really helpful in that if I want something and can't find it, they'll usually find a way to get it. jim
hello.
several of us are in this about-to-build-for-the-first-time stage (i've introduced at least a couple of them to IS and this forum). being at different stages, you'd be doing all of us a HUGE favor if you posted regularly --- both questions (where you and all of us would learn from the answers) and experiences/advice/issues that could help us as we begin our own home building. thanks.
Congratulations on deciding to build your own home, I hav ebeen in the home building industry for over 20 years. More specifically, I frame houses, but more recently have been working towards the accreditation as a Certified Home Inspector. If you have any questions, I'd be more that happy to answer them.