Any Architects or Engineers? Questions on Home Building

[JLCitadel]

I'm trying to get some sort of general idea on how much it would cost for me to build my own home, but I don't have a very good idea on prices to locations or sq ft.

 

I'm not a particularly high end person , but I prefer above average. I was figuring around 750$ a sqft.

 

4 Bedroom 3 1/2 Bath

Finished Basement

Unfinished Attic (Storage)

Two Car Garage

Decent Porch with Patio Branch Off

Decent Garage

Living Room

Bonus Room (Above Garage)

Attached Kitchen/Dining Room

No Garden or shit like that.

 

All Hardwood Flooring

Bedrooms Carpet

Stainless Steel Fixtures & Appliances

Average Windows

Central Air & Heating

Fan in Each Room

 

So yeah that's all I could think of, any ideas?

 

My first major goal in life is to own a home that I built. First step is to conceptualize this home.

 

I'm 19, so this is a concept I will be working on, making more formal, adding to and changing until I'm mid 20's and I've found a place I'd like to do this when I can start.

 

I'd also be curious about where the best spot to save money would be, and where to avoid saving at.

[ionbasa]

I am a Engineering student and in 18. I work for my dad (civil Engineer) making plans. If your going to do it yourself buy*(or download ) Revit Architecture from AutoCAD. There are plenty of online tutorials. I have included a plan for my families own remodel and addition. It is basically an entire tear down of a home and the city marks all previous square footage of a home "grandfathered", meaning you don't pay taxes on the area of the home that was already there.

 

Regarding your choices, ditch the basement, it costs way too much, and increases your home insurance due to flood risks. Also by having a basement you loose the availability of having a concrete slab under your house. Although if you don't want a slab you could always raise your house and include a crawl space(we have this).

 

The attached kitchen/dining room is a good idea, it gives you the option of having a bar separating your kitchen and dining room.

 

Milgard makes decently priced windows, make sure you get double plane low-e, builders vinyl to save on money, the premium vinyl isn't worth the money, they just burr off the edges and clean up the joints a bit.

 

Decide between wood / metal studs, the wood is more economical. Buy 2x4s by the truckload/pallet and save some money. Spending a little extra on the more quality wood is better as they tend to not warp as quickly, use treated wood anywhere where the frame (base) comes in contact with the ground/concrete/or is potentially exposed to moisture.

 

Save your money on attic insulation and use 'blow in style' in the attic instead of batts, use batts in your exterior walls. For the exterior shy away from stucco, use styrophone and dryvit ®. Its easier, adds an extra layer of insulation, but the dryvit system may cost more. if comes down to: do you want to manually plaster your exterior with 1" cement, or spray it on with a hopper gun.

 

Also become friends with the city inspector (building department) and city engineer.

 

You will have to pull two permits, one from the building department for your home construction, and the second from the city engineering department if you want to pour a concrete driveway, this is because the city actually owns the approach, which is the part the transverses the sidewalk and touches the road(city property), they will most likely require a bond in case you f*ck up the approach, although in my city this wan't the case as the city engineer became friends with my dad. These people will also help save your butt in case you messed something up, use them as a valuable resource, they can help you understand the certain laws or help you get around them  .

 

As for appliances, its up to your personal choice/brand. Brushed aluminum and stainless steel will cost you extra just because it looks nicer.

 

Regarding HVAC, buy from a warehouse or distributor directly, get r41a refrigerant, it's safe for the environment. Most AC places won't sell you anything unless you get a license of some sort, use http://www.epatest.com/ for a open book type 1 license to get around this, they rarely check what you can buy based on your qualification, they usually use it to check if you are in the "trade".

 

750 Sqft isn't enough for what your asking, try ~1700 sqft, unless you think you can do a minimalist open floor plan. This is only livable space, aka not accounting for the garage.

 

Here is a link to a gallery of my plans from my parent's house: https://www.dropbox.com/sc/4fq4ndq2iqyhx7m/4DkJ0oaCcb

They are uncompressed JPEGs, at full raster quality, so be prepared on having windows photo viewer take forever to open them!

 

Regarding how much its going to cost, it is hard to give an accurate representation, factors such as geographic location, availability of supplies, and market stability make this hard to determine. But most of your money will probably be spent on: cement, wood, and copper pipes and wiring. Also regarding the roof, it requires a licenced engineer to  design an fabricate the trusses, there are many companies that do this, but it's going to cost an arm and a leg, there is no way around this as this isn't the typical "track" home approach.

 

If you have any specific questions or need help with anything let me know. I'd be more than happy to help you. Just reply or send me a PM. Also in case you need any design ideas check out: http://www.houzz.com/

 

As a final through make wiring and plumping easy on yourself, if you are starting fresh, structured wiring is defiantly in my opinion worth it. Wire everything with Ethernet, ditch POTS, buy a nice IP phone, set up asterisk on an decent PC, and use a magic jack account to get cheap phone service. This is also the time to consider things such as using PEX for piping in long runs for water, and flexible gas lines such as: http://www.gastite.com/ to get through the tough places, although I still recommend copper pipe for water and iron for natural gas. Also get a decent electrical meter that is standardized, anything from GE should be fine, would shy away from Square D as they cut corners in their residential electrical panels. If possible have all utilities ran underground including electrical/tv/fiber. My power company did this for $200 not including the underground conduit. The charge was mainly for replacing the old aluminum Above Ground  wires with new ones, and a small fee for them drafting up the plans and having it cleared with the local utilities and city.

[JLCitadel]

-snip-

 

Well that was quite an extremely informative post. I'll need to get some sleep before I can give a cognitive full response, just one thing I meant was, 750$ per square foot. Not a 750sqft house. I was thinking more around 1500-2000 Square Feet. I'm hoping to do it by a river or lake, I've always lived near a body of water, but I'm not quite the fan of the ocean. As for the comment on the basement, thank you for that, I wasn't quite sure if it was worth it.

 

In way of inground pools do you have any information? I'd like it to be around 25 meters in length 12.5 meters wide, reaching 3.5 meters in depth at the deepest.

 

I'll expand upon this in the morning too tired atm.

 

Also I've used CAD plenty, I was in a engineering course for 3 years in highschool. I'm a little slow when using it, but I know my way around it fairly decent, and I've constructed floor plans before

[ionbasa]

Well that was quite an extremely informative post. I'll need to get some sleep before I can give a cognitive full response, just one thing I meant was, 750$ per square foot. Not a 750sqft house. I was thinking more around 1500-2000 Square Feet. I'm hoping to do it by a river or lake, I've always lived near a body of water, but I'm not quite the fan of the ocean. As for the comment on the basement, thank you for that, I wasn't quite sure if it was worth it.

 

In way of inground pools do you have any information? I'd like it to be around 25 meters in length, reaching 10ft in depth at the deepest.

 

Fiberglass pools are generally easier to maintain and clean. But 25m is a ~80ft. Most lap pools are only 40ft long. unless your throwing pool parties every night, that size is both impractical and expensive. Also finding the size you wan't will be near imposible as it would have to be custom molded. 

 

You can also go for a cement pool, but it will require more work to setup and pour, labor will be expensive, but possibly cheaper than the fiberglass depending on the size. The nice thing about pouring a cement pool is that you can make it any shape and size as it's all done custom from the start. 

 

Pricing can be mixed again depending on if your buying local or buying from a nation wide supplier. Ask around to get an idea.

 

Also check this: http://home.howstuffworks.com/swimming-pool.htm

 

If you have questions about things like pumps, valves, or automation systems let me know and I will do my best to help you out.

[ionbasa]

Just realized I didn't answer your question of price per sqft. If you are "DIYing" the entire house expect anywhere from $200-350 a sqft. The $700 / sq ft. is the on the high side for having an actual contractor/company do everything w/o price negotiations.

 

After discussing this with my dad the highest factor of $/sqft is the finishing, which includes things such as: flooring, counter-tops, cabinets, and things such as faucets, baths, and toilets, along with the various paint options for both interior and exterior. My dad also wanted to mention the having vinyl or wood siding may seem as an easy way for finishing the outside of the house, but will cost you more in the long run when needing to be repaired/maintained or entirely replaced from being exposed to the elements.

 

Also you should consider an instant water heater rather than a boiler to save on utility bills and save on space. Also if possible get a HVAC system that is meant to mount horizontally, that way you can install it and all the duct work in the attic, saving on the required closet space in the home or garage.

 

If you would like to see photos from our house during construction please let me know, I can show you what it is like.

[piplupgao]

Depending

I'm trying to get some sort of general idea on how much it would cost for me to build my own home, but I don't have a very good idea on prices to locations or sq ft.

 

I'm not a particularly high end person , but I prefer above average. I was figuring around 750$ a sqft.

 

4 Bedroom 3 1/2 Bath

Finished Basement

Unfinished Attic (Storage)

Two Car Garage

Decent Porch with Patio Branch Off

Decent Garage

Living Room

Bonus Room (Above Garage)

Attached Kitchen/Dining Room

No Garden or shit like that.

 

All Hardwood Flooring

Bedrooms Carpet

Stainless Steel Fixtures & Appliances

Average Windows

Central Air & Heating

Fan in Each Room

 

So yeah that's all I could think of, any ideas?

 

My first major goal in life is to own a home that I built. First step is to conceptualize this home.

 

I'm 19, so this is a concept I will be working on, making more formal, adding to and changing until I'm mid 20's and I've found a place I'd like to do this when I can start.

 

I'd also be curious about where the best spot to save money would be, and where to avoid saving at.

How large do you want the plot of land where I live a 1 acre plot of land (minimum plot size for my town) by a lake will be around 1-2 million but if you want to live in the middle of nowhere that same plot will only be 200,000 maybe less

[JLCitadel]

Depending How large do you want the plot of land where I live a 1 acre plot of land (minimum plot size for my town) by a lake will be around 1-2 million but if you want to live in the middle of nowhere that same plot will only be 200,000 maybe less

 

Well 1 acre is a big ass plot of land. I'd assume I'd probably only use half an acre. & It would be on the river/lake.

[ionbasa]

Well 1 acre is a big ass plot of land. I'd assume I'd probably only use half an acre. & It would be on the river/lake.

Yet you want a pool that is 25m in length?

[piplupgao]

Well 1 acre is a big ass plot of land. I'd assume I'd probably only use half an acre. & It would be on the river/lake.

Where I live it's the minimal (technically my house is illegal it only has a plot size of .99 acres

Where are you planning to build the house (the more specific the better)

[JLCitadel]

Yet you want a pool that is 25m in length?

I agree it sounds ridiculous but yes haha it's actually quite common where I live and it's a different experience.

 

Where I live it's the minimal (technically my house is illegal it only has a plot size of .99 acres

Where are you planning to build the house (the more specific the better)

an acre is 4046 square meters...

 

44k square feet is a lot of land

[piplupgao]

I agree it sounds ridiculous but yes haha it's actually quite common where I live and it's a different experience.

 

an acre is 4046 square meters...

 

44k square feet is a lot of land

Not really (but where i live average is like 3 acres)

And where are you planning to build your house?

[JLCitadel]

Not really (but where i live average is like 3 acres)

And where are you planning to build your house?

 

I'm not quite sure yet, I want to visit different areas. I've got a few 'types' of areas in mind and some specific locations and some general ones.

 

I'm interested in exploring areas in;

switerzland

upstate newyork/newengland (north east united states)

in the south of the usa on the water or river near the country side in a suberbia type area

in cali near redwoods

north west usa near washington/oregon

 

I need to do more research on areas locations benefits and such

 

I'd also have to finish learning german and french fluiently if i considered switerzland. I'll be making a trip there this summer so we'll see.

[ionbasa]

Don't choose SoCal (where I live) the average here is ~1/2 acre, unless you live in cities like: Redlands, Big Bear, Arrowhead.

[piplupgao]

I'm not quite sure yet, I want to visit different areas. I've got a few 'types' of areas in mind and some specific locations and some general ones.

 

I'm interested in exploring areas in;

switerzland

upstate newyork/newengland (north east united states)

in the south of the usa on the water or river near the country side in a suberbia type area

in cali near redwoods

north west usa near washington/oregon

 

I need to do more research on areas locations benefits and such

 

I'd also have to finish learning german and french fluiently if i considered switerzland. I'll be making a trip there this summer so we'll see.

If you want to live near a city >20mi .5 acres of land will be anywhere form 100,000 (random place in a small town) to 500,000 (good view, by the beach etc) and living by a lake/river will make it increase anywhere from none (basically an eyesore) to 5x (private lake)

My personal recommendation is to buy a large plot of wilderness/ farm not too far from a city. You'll be buying more land than you'll ever need 10+ acres but it will probably be cheaper than buying a smaller plot in a suburban area

[ionbasa]

Also I know this may seem silly, but did your earlier estimation of $750/sq ft. include the price of land?

[JLCitadel]

If you want to live near a city >20mi .5 acres of land will be anywhere form 100,000 (random place in a small town) to 500,000 (good view, by the beach etc) and living by a lake/river will make it increase anywhere from none (basically an eyesore) to 5x (private lake)

My personal recommendation is to buy a large plot of wilderness/ farm not too far from a city. You'll be buying more land than you'll ever need 10+ acres but it will probably be cheaper than buying a smaller plot in a suburban area

I meant more like.. country side suburban. you know? like not miles and miles away not massive land.. but not identical homes 10 ft from each other. Just classic neighborhoods.

 

Don't choose SoCal (where I live) the average here is ~1/2 acre, unless you live in cities like: Redlands, Big Bear, Arrowhead.

How much for half an acre?

[JLCitadel]

Also I know this may seem silly, but did your earlier estimation of $750/sq ft. include the price of land?

 

No it didnt, but thank you for asking  I intend to buy a plot of land at a completely separate expense cost. You can't really put the two together

[piplupgao]

I meant more like.. country side suburban. you know? like not miles and miles away not massive land.. but not identical homes 10 ft from each other. Just classic neighborhoods.

 

How much for half an acre?

I think you might like Corona CA it's about 30min out of LA assuming there's no traffic (in LA lol nope) it's a developing town so you can probably still get some land pretty cheap and since the place has huge potential (I know people who bought like 3 houses there just to sell later on) your house will be worth a lot more when you sell it. There are probably a lot more places like this just be on the look out

[ionbasa]

I meant more like.. country side suburban. you know? like not miles and miles away not massive land.. but not identical homes 10 ft from each other. Just classic neighborhoods.

 

How much for half an acre?

 

Redlands: 10 acres for anywhere for 2-5 million

Big Bear: 6 acres for ~1/2 million

Arrowhead: 1 acre ~ 400k

These are just from snooping around the MLS listings, my mom is a realtor, so she has access to the prices in the local area.

No it didnt, but thank you for asking  I intend to buy a plot of land at a completely separate expense cost. You can't really put the two together

Ok, not sure if you read my previous comment about 750/sq ft being on the high side, unless you are having a company build it for you.

[JLCitadel]

Redlands: 10 acres for anywhere for 2-5 million

Big Bear: 6 acres for ~1/2 million

Arrowhead: 1 acre ~ 400k

These are just from snooping around the MLS listings, my mom is a realtor, so she has access to the prices in the local area.

Ok, not sure if you read my previous comment about 750/sq ft being on the high side, unless you are having a company build it for you.

Ah yes my mothers a realtor as well though she gets very irritating so I don't talk to her about this stuff often. She just rants about stupid people and foreclosures. & no I hadn't and I'd prefer to avoid vynl.. it's terribly ugly. I'm glad I was over estimating the price, that's rather nice. I don't have much personal skill when it comes to construction on that level & I'm not really familiar with people who are so if i develope friendships with contractors I'm sure i could do more of a DIY. If not I could have someone do prefab and devilieve it to avoid any weather problems.

 

Thats an interesting amount you listed for those 3 areas.. because the redlands and arrowhead have same price ratio (some what) as oppsoed to big bear which is half as expensive. Interestingnames also. indian names i assume.

 

I think you might like Corona CA it's about 30min out of LA assuming there's no traffic (in LA lol nope) it's a developing town so you can probably still get some land pretty cheap and since the place has huge potential (I know people who bought like 3 houses there just to sell later on) your house will be worth a lot more when you sell it. There are probably a lot more places like this just be on the look out

I won't be doing this for many years to come, so it's not of immidiate concern thank you though

[piplupgao]

Ah yes my mothers a realtor as well though she gets very irritating so I don't talk to her about this stuff often. She just rants about stupid people and foreclosures. & no I hadn't and I'd prefer to avoid vynl.. it's terribly ugly. I'm glad I was over estimating the price, that's rather nice. I don't have much personal skill when it comes to construction on that level & I'm not really familiar with people who are so if i develope friendships with contractors I'm sure i could do more of a DIY. If not I could have someone do prefab and devilieve it to avoid any weather problems.

 

Thats an interesting amount you listed for those 3 areas.. because the redlands and arrowhead have same price ratio (some what) as oppsoed to big bear which is half as expensive. Interestingnames also. indian names i assume.

 

I won't be doing this for many years to come, so it's not of immidiate concern thank you though

I still recommend Corona you get to see a town grow around you which is always cool

[ionbasa]

Ah yes my mothers a realtor as well though she gets very irritating so I don't talk to her about this stuff often. She just rants about stupid people and foreclosures. & no I hadn't and I'd prefer to avoid vynl.. it's terribly ugly. I'm glad I was over estimating the price, that's rather nice. I don't have much personal skill when it comes to construction on that level & I'm not really familiar with people who are so if i develope friendships with contractors I'm sure i could do more of a DIY. If not I could have someone do prefab and devilieve it to avoid any weather problems.

 

Thats an interesting amount you listed for those 3 areas.. because the redlands and arrowhead have same price ratio (some what) as oppsoed to big bear which is half as expensive. Interestingnames also. indian names i assume.

 

I won't be doing this for many years to come, so it's not of immidiate concern thank you though

Yes most of the So Cal area is named from native american or Hispanic names.

Also if you want to see photos of what construction looks like I can send you some tomorrow, as we are currently doing that to our house.

[ionbasa]

I still recommend Corona you get to see a town grow around you which is always cool

Or it could turn into the next San Bernardino! 

[JLCitadel]

I still recommend Corona you get to see a town grow around you which is always cool

I'll check it out and if I like the area I'll note the location down.

 

Yes most of the So Cal area is named from native american or Hispanic names.

Also if you want to see photos of what construction looks like I can send you some tomorrow, as we are currently doing that to our house.

Construction in general? well either way I'd be glad to take a look

[JLCitadel]

Or it could turn into the next San Bernardino! 

 

I assume this is a horrible place ?