Homebuilding question(s)

I would get the surround/rear speakers wired if its not too expensive. It will be much easier than trying to hide the wires yourself later. However i would aviod buying the speakers from bestbuy. They really dont sell any speaker lines that are worthwhile and are kind of expensive (you can spend a lot there for poor speakers)

 

Only do major upgrades to the kitchen and bathrooms (if u choose to do them at all). These are the areas in which you will get your money back in a resale. Bedrooms/living rooms/ studies etc can easily be changed to suit the needs of another buyer whereas bathrooms and kitchens are huge expenses to change.

What ever upgrades that you decide to make, make sure you decide on them before oyu sign the contracts because builders rape you with a 25% or so surcharge on any upgrades after the fact.

IMO, a pool doesn't necessarily add a ton of value for resale. If you have looked at enough resales, you'll notice that most pools need to be resurfaced shortly after you buy the home.

Get your carpet allowance and pick and choose your own if the builder will let you. This way you can search around for bargains and maybe get a better quality carpet/pad then you can get at the place where the builder is planning on buying it.

 

Don't forget the christmas light outlets on the soffits at the corners of the house. Have them wired so that you can flip the switch from the garage.

Cable wired to the garage to watch big games.

Plywood the attic.

Insulate the garage.

 

This is always a danger when building a house and I spend quite a bit of time working with clients about containing costs. There is a natural inclination to start looking to fill your dream house up with all sorts of ammenities but at the same time you need to consider your own budget and the house as a wise reasonable investment. The construction business is also rife with costs overruns and its almost to be expected that during construction things will arise that will make your building your house more expensive. So I would suggest to consider carefully the upfront costs of any features you're adding vs. what you've budgetted, margins for cost overruns, longterm savings (from installing energy efficient elements and durable finishes) and finally how critical are those elements to your satisfaction with your house. If you can prioritize these things you'll find the design and construction process will go much smoother and can limit change orders by knowing exactly what you want and what you can do without.

Unlike many designers I believe that keeping costs down should be as important a factor in design as aesthetics and the biggest thing that raises costs is having to make changes in the middle of the process to either add things or get rid of things.

 

Do you mean posts and beam construction here?

I'm a fan of posts and beam construction for environmental reasons but in general standard stud wall framing is just as good. Also because posts and beam construction isn't as common its harder to find contractors who can do a good job on that and also most standardized building material is for stud framing. In other words to build a post and beam house the whole structure would be a custom job.

For costs and time savings I recommend sticking with standard stud framing and also using pre-made roof trusses and floor trusses (composite joists) instead of basic 2"x floor joists. These are stronger and squeak less than 2" x joists.

One area that I've never dealt with in residential construction but might be something you want to look at is metal framing which might last longer and be better in the hot humid weather of south Texas plus better able to withstand the occasional big storm that might blow through. If someone out there knows more about metal framing for residential construction I would love to hear about it.

 

One more thing,

Make sure you hire a Home Inspector 4-5 days before your final walk through.

On some new construction, I have found more problems than a 20 year old home.

 

"Pier and Beam" is a foundation term. The house frame is set on a network of drilled concrete "piers" that elevate it off the ground. The piers are drilled to stable soil, and reinforced with steel. A stem wall is poured around the perimeter. A network of strong wooden framing supports the house structure on top of these piers. The house structure can flex and move slightly under stress. A floor deck is required for the first floor.

Typically, in Houston, homes are built on a monumental slab of reinforced concrete poured over a few drilled piers. The house sits at the level of the graded soil. There is no space under the house, and it is rigid, subject to cracks or breaks. No floor deck is required for the first floor if flooring is laid on the concrete surface.

Post and Beam is a good strong structural method, but stud wall or balloon predominate. Metal studs can be used, but most homeowners want to nail to studs in their homes, so wood is preferable. One thing that's handy in some rooms where cabinets, shelving or other items will be hung on the wall is to sheath the wall with plywood before sheetrocking it. Then you can drive a nail anywhere.

Trusses are great. There are a variety of manufactured beams, sometimes called "perlams", that are useful for custom order spans, as well. That's part of the design/engineering budget, of course. It costs a little more to use trusses, but you save on labor cost to frame and cost to run pipe and wire through them, later.

Metal framing is generally not cost effective for residential, unless large spans are involved. Wood framing is competitive and pretty cheap. The cost of metal has gone up faster than wood lately, too.

 

Here are some notes from our house.

BIGGEST OVERSIGHTS softer word for mistakes

We paid like an extra 3 grand for tile countertops. In hindsight I would have gone the extra 1.5 for granite. Aside from it looking great, it is much more functional for preparing food and more durable. It may seem like a lot extra (say up tp 4 or 5 grand)--but this is one of the upgrades that will probably retain most of its value.

About half of our floors are in tile, that was OK, but the tile and grout was too light so it shows wear quickley.

Might have got the builder to add some room color.

We would have added an extra big window viewing the pool/desert/mountain. I didn't even think of this, one of my neighbors did and got it done.

MIXED DECISION

Could have got the pool/spa maybe 35% cheaper not going through the builder/pool contractor, though wrapping it in the loan was nice.

A lot of others things can probably be done cheaper (e.g., upgraded floors, painting), but you need the cash (versus wrapping in the loan to pay over time at a low rate), time and/or contracter connections. It is tougher to do these things inside than outside where you can take more time, not worry about dust, and, which may be important to you, actual live comfortably in your house while the work is being done.

Extra 2 feet extension on the garage. Would give us more room and probably would be an addition that adds value, though we don't particularly need it. 3rd car addition if you don't have it in the base model and if it is an option is nice since noone has basements anymore (this probably also adds value close to what it costs to do).

Soft water loop (nice where we are)

GOOD DECISIONS

Passed on build in entertainment center. It would have locked us in on a specific size of TV and room placement, feel good about this.

We passed on a fireplace (like 4 grand). Excellent decision (we live in Arizona) I would think would apply to Texas. Most people really would not use it much, plus you can always get a Chineya or torches for outside parties if you really have an inch for some fire.

We got an outdoor BBQ natural gas stub (like $250). Sorry Hank Hill, much better than propane. We use it a ton, excellent decision.

We passed on a builder-landscaper proposal. Found others to do rock, plants and gravel work for about half their estimate.

Upgraded wiring. We used Cat 5e or Cat6 and RG6 wiring, I think, and have it set up on a hub system. We don't fully use it, but it gives us flexibility. Not that expensive to do if you get it done a month or two before the house is to be completed.

That is all I can think of right now.

 

Thanks for the info Pasox2. I think I know what you're talking about but hadn't heard it referred to that way. That type of construction must be used for areas with poor soil which is probably the case with Houston. Nearly all of my work has been done in upper Midwest where freezing is the problem so we generally build basements out of reinforced CMU since we have to get the footings down 4' anyway.

When I was growing up in Houston I lived in a house on a slab on grade. It did settle and we had to get a foundation repair to come in and pump clay under it to prop it up.

Thanks for the info too about metal framing. Like I said I've never used it residentially but that makes a lot of sense about wanting to nail hangers into the studs.

 

For your uses, this might be good, but when you go to sell the house, it will be a negative to not have a fireplace or built-ins.

 

It is over-engineered and cost prohibitive on most residential construction.

 

Most people like having the master on the back of the house for privacy and street noise reasons.

It really doesn't matter, however.

 

I don't like it - what Supermac said. My wife opens the windows every morning. I come out of the shower and get dressed with my clothes laid out on the bed. I don't want to look down at kids on the way to school. The backyard is fine.

My two-year old's bedroom is up front. No problem.

 

I really doubt a fireplace or built in would make a break a sale, though it is possible we could have gotten most of the money back. In fact in Arizona, and I'd expect in Texas, a lot of people close off their fireplaces and render them useless.

In getting extras most people have a finite amount. For instance is choosing bewteen a fireplace and say granite countertops or hard floors (hardwood or nice tile) in really warm climates, I think this is a nobrainer to pass on the fireplace. Personally, if I were buying a house I'd be more inclided to include the costs of upgrade floors or kitchens in my bid than a fireplace a would not use. If live in the Northeast or Midwest or in the mountains maybe a different story.

 

Yep...anyone who remembers my post a few months ago about getting bit will know what a pain in the ass it is having this happen.

 

I like my geek fireplace.

Since this is a builder deal - you could possibly look at getting the cheapest crap counter tops you can from him (or no tops) and then hiring your own guy to do it later. Just make sure you get a sheet of 3/4 plywood over the cabinets before the top goes down. That will make it level and you'll be able to change the top without ripping out the cabinets. That's a bit of a hassle, but worth it if you are decent at contracting. There's a lot of guys doing granite, and builders mark it up too much.

Something that's pretty neat is two sinks. One is one big basin (work area), the other split (soaks). You can find it in stainless reasonably cheap from Elkay. That way, you can sidle up to the wife while she's at the sink and both can work. Another neat thing is two dishwashers. One on each side of the sinks. Sears Regional Outlet clearance at Ebay is your friend. You can get scratch and dent stuff at good prices in nice finishes. Kitchenaid is very popular now, and Kenmore is always good. Set up a work triangle with the appliances. You can have the long sinks and diswashers cabinet run. You don't need so many bottom cabinets if appliances are there, and you can replace some top cabinets with display shelving, if you like. Opposite you might have a stainless fridge or gas range with vent hood. The best fridge out there (also at Sears) is the 3 - door model, with two doors to the fridge part and a lower freezer drawer. Scratch and dent clearance. Get your own kitchen island at IKEA. You can get nice stuff cheap and stain it to match the cabinet.

The mark-up for custom cabinetry is also horrendous. Builders love to sell cabinets and trim. You can buy really nice Thomasville pre-fab cabinets at Home Depot or Lowe's. Cherry is big right now, or other dark finish. Trim out the pre-fabs with moudings and you look good. Trim mark up is also big. Installing crown and chair mouldings later isn't so hard. You need two ladders, two men, a nail gun and paint. Big whup. You can even buy the corners pre-assembled. You can buy laminated white shelving board at the big box store and set up your closets after Mr. Build leaves, too. This assumes you have some cash left lying around and some time to get this stuff done.


There's a little bit more. I built my house last year, so, I learned a little bit. Sorry if too wordy.

 

The advantage with the builder is you can wrap costs into the loan. If you have the cash at hand less of an issue (pool, major patio, landscaping, etc.).

My bias is pass more on the outdoors things (patio, landscaping, pool--big if though, assuming equipment can get through once the house is built) because you can take more time to shop around for rates, generally do more yourself at your own pace, and not disrupt living in the home.

Major indoor work IMO brings a lot more pressure and could make the house less livable longer. Need more time and skill.