Building a home

honeychile · #1 01-22-2009, 11:14 PM

FWIW, I've known quite a few contractors through my family, and none of them will touch Ryan homes. Haven't heard the same about Heartland. Spend a lot of time with non-Ryan/Heartland/whomever housing plans and see what you and your husband like & don't like. Some people like Great Rooms, others like the separate living room/dining room - things like that. Styles, wood shades, wood floors vs. standard floors, kitchen styles (even what type of faucet!), window styles, number of bedrooms/bathrooms/powder rooms, even landscaping - the more you know prior to making the leap, the better.

There are a lot of online sites with this type of information are sometimes overwhelming. Southern Living has a large number of house plans, plus how to go about planning. My brother & sil used their own plans, but Southern Living's information - it's good stuff.

ETA: Like everyone else says, you can never have too many cable connections or electricial outlets, and a sister of mine who sells real estate won't even touch a house without an upstairs or at least a kitchen area washer/dryer.

AOIIalum · #2 01-22-2009, 11:52 PM

Picking up on what Summer said about outlets: remember the basement/attic/garage when it comes to outlet planning. We bought a new home but didn't build it ourselves. The first thing we did after moving in was contact an electrician to add more outlets to the basement and garage. Trust me, you won't regret adding as many outlets as you can in both areas!

AGDee · #3 01-23-2009, 12:02 AM

If it were me, I'd not only put cable outlets and phone outlets in every room and possibly on more than one wall in each room, I'd also put networking cables. I know everybody has wireless now, but it's really not as secure as hardwired is and it's also not as stable. If I have a stationery computer or game system, I want it hardwired. Laptops are great for wireless though!

KSUViolet06 · #4 01-23-2009, 12:09 AM

Make sure you have enough bathrooms. No seriously.

My parents have a master bath, a full bath upstairs, and a half on the ground floor.

When all 3 kids were living at home, we were all jockeying for the one full bath in the morning (my parents were usually using their master bath).

Munchkin03 · #5 01-23-2009, 12:13 AM

I'm not directly involved in buildings, just construction observation from the client's side. Obviously, I deal more with condos and co-ops than free-standing houses, but I've seen so many people who buy $2M apartments that become serious money traps because they were developed by fly-by-night building companies:

Have an independent inspector go through the building. The builder will want to provide their "own," but pick someone you're comfortable with.

Make sure that the roof is watertight. Make sure that the contractor is willing to have a 20-year No Dollar Limit warranty on the roof.

Make sure that the windows, doors, and skylights are properly caulked, are installed properly, and have 5 to 10-year warranties and acceptable Energy Star ratings.

How are the walls? Gypsum board is what's common, but a bad leak (see above) can require an entire re-plastering of the affected room.

Have your own architect and engineer review the plans. The builders work for themselves, but the architect/engineer work for you. You'll want the house to keep you cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and dry year-round.

Good luck!

KSigkid · #6 01-23-2009, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Have an independent inspector go through the building. The builder will want to provide their "own," but pick someone you're comfortable with.

Make sure that the roof is watertight. Make sure that the contractor is willing to have a 20-year No Dollar Limit warranty on the roof.

Make sure that the windows, doors, and skylights are properly caulked, are installed properly, and have 5 to 10-year warranties and acceptable Energy Star ratings.

Can't believe I forgot these three - all of these are EXTREMELY important. Some builders get pushy about their own home inspectors ("I've worked with this guy before, he's the best, yadda yadda.") but at the end of the day, it's your house, and you'll have to live with the consequences if there's a problem.

The roof is a BIG deal, as it costs an arm and a leg to make any renovations. Along those lines, if you have chimneys, make sure that the masonry work is solid, because you don't want any leaks or to have brick falling off.

One more thing to think about - if you need heating, give a lot of thought to whether you want electric heating or gas heating (a lot of times a cost decision), and (if you have a furnace/oil tank) what type you'd want installed. If you're living in a cold area, it could mean the difference between a comfortable winter, and hours spent on the phone with the repair people.