What's the Best Kind of House to Build ?

[bmwpowere36m3]

If your trying to reduce costs... then building new is NOT the answer. As homes get tighter and more advanced, I feel it takes a LOT more care to insure it built correctly. Which in turn means a lot of details and very-skilled builders ($$$).

Older, less-efficient homes, were over-built and capable of getting wet and surviving. New materials and techniques of construction may perform better, but are less tolerant to moisture.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: skyactiv
My wife and I had a custom ranch home built on 5 acres last year. As silly as this might sound, one of the best things I did was having first floor laundry with the capability of two washers, 2 dryers, a dehumidifier and a clothes line in the laundry/mud room that leads to the garage.
If you decide on having a basement, get a deep one. It makes it much nicer to have a tall ceiling.

That does sound a bit silly unless you have 6+ kids? I have to ask why 2 washers and dryers?

For a inexpensive low maintenance house I wouldn't double up on the major appliances anyways(although 2 dishwashers does have its appeal). A neighbor put in a 1 story rectangle house, ~1500 sqft, and did a steel roof and siding and it looks very nice. They used contemporary colours, and have porch out front. Horizontal vinyl siding rarely looks good IMO and I'd avoid saving money with that.

 

[LoneRanger]

yep, whatever we do a vinyl sided I'd like to avoid. Newer vinyl sided houses it's like there's nothing substantial between you and the outdoors, I mean seriously you have a 5/8" drywall board, a sheet of plastic vapor barrier, some fiberglass insulation batting, poly hard foam sheathing, house wrap, and vinyl siding that's what, 3/32" thick? I'd prefer brick veneer instead of vinyl siding.

I'm getting info on log homes now. We like the more contemporary styled log houses using D logs so the interior side is flat.

space wise, maybe 1700 sq ft living space. Single level if possible.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: skyactiv
My wife and I had a custom ranch home built on 5 acres last year. As silly as this might sound, one of the best things I did was having first floor laundry with the capability of two washers, 2 dryers, a dehumidifier and a clothes line in the laundry/mud room that leads to the garage.
If you decide on having a basement, get a deep one. It makes it much nicer to have a tall ceiling.


I was thinking about a custom built house.

How did you find a builder that did quality work and not subcontract jobs to terrible contractors ?

 

[gman2304]

Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
Look at what the permits are going to cost you. Its pretty hard to beat the price of a nice house already built!
X 2! Not to mention having to deal with different contractors, cost overruns, delays, tempting "options", inspectors etc.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: andyd
There are 300yr old wooden houses in my area. How long is will some of the newer technologies last?


Seriously, so what? The average tenure of Americans in a house before they move is 10 years. At some point you sell and move on.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
My wife and I had a custom ranch home built on 5 acres last year. As silly as this might sound, one of the best things I did was having first floor laundry with the capability of two washers, 2 dryers, a dehumidifier and a clothes line in the laundry/mud room that leads to the garage.
If you decide on having a basement, get a deep one. It makes it much nicer to have a tall ceiling.

That does sound a bit silly unless you have 6+ kids? I have to ask why 2 washers and dryers?

For a inexpensive low maintenance house I wouldn't double up on the major appliances anyways(although 2 dishwashers does have its appeal). A neighbor put in a 1 story rectangle house, ~1500 sqft, and did a steel roof and siding and it looks very nice. They used contemporary colours, and have porch out front. Horizontal vinyl siding rarely looks good IMO and I'd avoid saving money with that.



I've actually seen very few homes with 2 dishwashers. A friend of mine does have that set up and claims it's a new trend although he's had them for over 10 years. He says what he does is put dirty dishes in one and when it's full, runs a cycle and then the dirty one becomes the clean one and vice versa. He built his own home so I guess it wasn't really that expensive to have 2 of them, you save money on not having a cabinet which is offset a little by the cost of the dishwasher.

 

[pandus13]

I think Skyaktiv is referring to clothes washer and dryer.
He is also a diesel mechanic, so the second washer may be feasible.Also for "outdoors-y" stuff.

Your option with 2 dishwashers may make sense with 2 kitchens (extra basement/game-room kitchen)

 

[nickaluch]

My house was built in 1953 and built with pride. Good luck with any new build.

 

[Jooksing]

That's funny but the three little pigs will disagree. Lol. Nothing is shown in the video that the houses are actually made of straw bales.

 

[NormanBuntz]

Masonry if you can swing it. The design and floorplan is your personal choice.

 

[Donald]

The newest building technology are 8" of foam between two pieces of plywood. Called SIPS.

High performance energy efficiency.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: nickaluch
My house was built in 1953 and built with pride. Good luck with any new build.


A lot of people tend to feel that older homes were built better. But as a Realtor, what I've noticed is that it depends on the neighborhood and the money spent at the time. Just like cars, there were certain homes where money was spent and others where it wasn't. Like there are good cars of a certain era and also bad ones, just because the Yugo was made in the 80's doesn't mean that all 80's cars were bad.

 

[pandus13]

Op/LoneRanger,

I'm not sure where you are in the Midwest, so I'm coming more like some smaller suggestions:
-what are your average temps? highs? lows? regular winds?
-dig 2 ground rooms: 1 tornado shelter, 1 passive cooler/disaster provisions
-make sure you have enough height in your crawl space.
-water dispersion is a priority. maybe build on a mound/higher ground?
-insulate and double insulate. also make sure you have enough air coming in
-prepare for the once every 10 years disaster: freezes, floods, etc
-make it easy for you. It is your home after all
-cabinet/prep tables height
-plan electric where you need it

-add your needed non-standard features: bathroom floor drain, garage floor drain, 8" exhaust for that indoor grill .... you get the point.

Think about your current house: what you don't like...

Visit some log-house manufacturers/showrooms.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: nickaluch
My house was built in 1953 and built with pride. Good luck with any new build.


A lot of people tend to feel that older homes were built better. But as a Realtor, what I've noticed is that it depends on the neighborhood and the money spent at the time. Just like cars, there were certain homes where money was spent and others where it wasn't. Like there are good cars of a certain era and also bad ones, just because the Yugo was made in the 80's doesn't mean that all 80's cars were bad.

Beside your point, Time does not forget bad/no maintenance.

Plenty of brick house in Chicago's Southside sinking/cracking/falling apart because of bad/poor maintenance.

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Fiancee and I kicking around building instead of buying existing. Kicking around only, probably too co$tly. Are there any super-innovative new home building technologies or methods that are alternative methods today, to bring costs down from the usual stick built house? Looked at Post-Frame type, not crazy about it. Fully pre-cut log homes kits are cool but pricey (?...), then there's the ICF concrete form types, and probably other types I don't know about. I don't know a lot about home building, so at a disadvantage and could be an easy mark for a slick marketeer. What's the down low on best most cost effective way to build these days?

Live in tornado country, don't need basement but would want to at least have a fraidy hole put into garage or whatever (small underground shelter usually 5'x 8' maybe 8' deep). Fraidy holes can usually be cut into the garage slab, have metal door over top.


Do you have a budget for land and building?

I know if I ever have to do it over again a few things I would do are:
(1)Spray foam with walltite eco.
(2)Tape, seal and insulate all forced air ducts
(3) I would have a full basement with 9ft high walls. Under the basement floor I would put down 2 inch ridgid styrofoam boards to keep the basement floor warm. Basement would be finished and sprayed with walltite eco as well.
(4) R60 for attic insulation with ridge vents and metal roof.
(5) Full brick exterior.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: nickaluch
My house was built in 1953 and built with pride. Good luck with any new build.


I've owned houses built in the 1890s, 1920s, 1960s, 1980s, and soon 2018. Unfortunately none of the previous houses were maintained with pride through the years and we rehabilitated every one. Plenty of off-level and out of square areas in every one. Would have loved to own a quality older home that was well maintained like you must have.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: nickaluch
My house was built in 1953 and built with pride. Good luck with any new build.


A lot of people tend to feel that older homes were built better. But as a Realtor, what I've noticed is that it depends on the neighborhood and the money spent at the time. Just like cars, there were certain homes where money was spent and others where it wasn't. Like there are good cars of a certain era and also bad ones, just because the Yugo was made in the 80's doesn't mean that all 80's cars were bad.

Beside your point, Time does not forget bad/no maintenance.

Plenty of brick house in Chicago's Southside sinking/cracking/falling apart because of bad/poor maintenance.


Right, maintenance is always a part of it, most homes lived in are in better shape than rental ones. But sometimes you see good rental ones.

 

[E365]

Originally Posted By: Donald
The newest building technology are 8" of foam between two pieces of plywood. Called SIPS.

High performance energy efficiency.


+1 They come precisely cut from the factory too. Quick installation and less exposure to rain during installation. A coworker has one and his flooring guy said his house had the straightest walls he had ever seen. They even bore holes at the factory for the wiring.

 

[eyeofthetiger]

You can get a 800 sq ft single wide for about $15-20K, and drop it on top of an old missile silo.