www.buildingscience.com

You may want to tour this site. You cannot build the same home up north as you would in the south. Likewise, the houses up north won't work down south. This site is run by a mad scientist engineer that I have personally met. If there are any of his seminars in your area- go, they are great. Also, check with this builders suppliers before you let him go to work. If he has bad credit or no credit- you don't want him.

 

Very good point. Along with his credit I think you can check and see if his bond has been leined. Do the same for his house, although I'd expect he incorporated and thus seperated his personal property from his business. Still, this one is pretty easy to do.

 

That for the post. I tell you is hard to keep up with everything.
My builder makes a set fee. He does not handle any money. I pay the sub contractors myself. He does'nt make any more or less money if he cuts corners or not. I hope!

He has 4 to 6 houses going at one time.
No basement
Conventional framing
It about 200sf bigger than we had planed. Room to grow.
I am getting a 3rd car garage with a 8'x 22' storage room. That's separate from the 2 car garage. And it's all mine!!! No wife stuff
My best friend is doing the wiring. He'll do it right.
Plumbing... Don't have a clue. But I know this is where extre money pays off in the long run.
Again thanks for the post. I need all the help I can get.

 

When I build my own house one think I want to do is a circular room that is accoustically sound, with recessed speakers in the walls. The tv I actuall designed a cool set up. The one wall would have a large recess be hind it for a high defination rear projector. The recession would then be filled with a stretched reflective canvas material that would give the illusion of a plain wall when not in use but would be equalivent to a large hdtv. I would also buy some comfortable theater seating, and have this as my movie room, just mine wont have the gum stuck to the floor that you always step in....

 

I think a good foundation starts with a good insulated slab followed by insulated concrete forms. It makes a very nice leak and draft free basement. I think 5,000 psi is the min. I would go on the concrete.

When I was part of Habitat For Humanity in the New England area many of our houses were built with insulated concrete forms.

 

Check around for better materials, sometimes it's the little things things that will add up and add quality to your home. Right now the prices of building materials is such that a good 5/8" plywood roof deck isn't that much more than using the 7/16 OSB that everyone else uses, that stuff isn't $6 a sheet anymore... more like $16. I have pictures of a Dodge Ram 1500 sitting on top of a mock up of a Truss roof structure we built at a trade show, trusses on a 4/12 pitch, 24" O.C. decked with 5/8" plywood... and the truck is parked on one side of the roof.... don't try that with 7/16 OSB. If you have a second story, basement, or crawl-space you may want to look at the new silent floor systems. Just be sure to specify you want more than just a code approved floor... they can be just as bad as 2X10's if you over-span them. My house is 2X10's over a crawl and I have a few squeaks and pop's that I can't seem to get rid of. I-Joists or trusses are also great for above floors too becuase they allow you to recess your mechanicals instead of having to have fur-down chases everywhere to conceal them.

Above all do as they said earlier... walk the site daily, ask questions... and speak up if you don't like something.

 

I may have missed it in an earlier post but make sure the builder and sub-contracters have comp insurance in case of injuries. I would also insist on paying all the bills for material myself. Some contractors like to quote a price that will include material and labor. I had to pay for shingles twice when I built my house.

 

have a soil analysis done to see if the soil is suitable for supporting the structure. i'm not talking about compaction, that will come later.