Time to downsize from our existing home to a smaller one level home. Read thru some old posts from 2019. Looking to see what was done right--what you would do now. The Texas build by StorminNormin, the Arizona build by Flesheatingvirus, the North Carolina build by ArmedProf.
Looking to build a 2,300 sq ft ranch. One level living. Full basement with a John Wick room.

I'll be watching this thread with great interest. The Lovely Girlfriend and I have started a list of what we want in the next house... this'll be a great place to get more ideas/plans.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGfourme:
One level living. Full basement with a John Wick room.

Heck yeah, man.

What state would this be in?

^^^^^

Oh, good! Eddie's here!

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
^^^^^

Oh, good! Eddie's here!

Haha!

Mine was finished in Feb 2020, right before COVID shut everything down. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Off the top of my head:

1. Get a good builder. Call their references and get DETAILS. SUPER IMPORTANT. If you can, visit some of their completed homes and talk to the residents.

2. See #1.

3. Do your homework on the planned property. Get a soil analysis by a competent engineer. Look out for rocks (Cha CHING $$$) and utility lines that will affect where you place the footprint. Go out there after a downpour to see how/where water collects. What utilities are available or must be added?

4. If you are designing from scratch, prepare accordingly. We spent years looking at, not only properties, but house plans. Then we had an actual designer modify our favorite to produce the final set of plans that was TO CODE. We then handed these plans right over to the builder.

5. DO NOT skimp on the design details/effort. The designer should provide you with detail electrical plans laying out the location of every switch/outlet. That's really the only thing I want to change about my current house. Some switches just need more duplicates, some need to be moved.

6. Get to know the construction crew/subcontractors. Be out on site regularly, but DON'T be a douche. You don't want them to dread your presence. I was on a first-name basis with the framer. Scrutinize the work, politely. Don't be afraid to ask questions or point out possible errors. This shit ain't cheap, so it had better be correct. We found several screw-ups that would have cost some serious time if they hadn't been caught by me early.

7. During building, GO CRAZY WITH PHOTOS. I'm talking max out an SD card. You want to know where everything is under the slab and inside the walls/ceilings.

8. Go NUTS with record keeping. I still have a nice notebook with every receipt, catalog, invoice, etc. This includes every bit of work, every selection for flooring, fixtures, electrical, plumbing, everything. It makes going back in the future to make a repair, replacement, whatever SO much easier.

9. Once you decide how big the garage is, make it bigger and add more outlets and lights. Consider adding 220V outlets if you weld or use machinery.

10. Look for "green" incentives. We got a state tax credit for doing a "green" certified build. It also made the house much more efficient from and electrical and insulation standpoint. It's about efficiency, not hippy politics!

I'll probably think of more later.

2,300 sqft is downsizing? I live in 1,600sqft and two rooms are storage.

Basements are rare/nonexistent in those states mentioned.

Why limit yourself to one room:





The foam is 2.5” on each side and the middle is 6.5” of poured concrete with horizontal and verticals rebar all over. Supposed to be good for 300mph.

There are options if you can’t have a basement:

My wife is the realtor for a builder in Massachusetts. One thing I know is a ranch is more expensive to build than a 2 story of the same square footage.

SMLsig—-CT
Looking for ur input.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
2,300 sqft is downsizing?

I had the same thought.

quote:

I live in 1,600sqft and two rooms are storage.

Same. I downsized from a 2450 square foot 4 bedroom to a 1750 square foot 3 bedroom, two of which are used as a storage/guest room and a storage/workshop/gym room.

I would do 1600 sq ft but I’m married to Imelda Marcos.

I would heed flesh's advice on 1 and 2.

I went through a recent build as a primary support for some family.

Do your due Diligence on the builder and every detail you can think of.

Do not rely on their word. I would seriously consider spending some $ on some kind build consultant to oversee the project and report it all back to you. If that cost you $7500 then it most likely will save you twice that or more when all said and done. Know your state laws in terms or knowing your rights and the builders rights in terms of resolving disputes. A consult should know all this and give you info so you know what and how things get worked out.

Have a start and finish date with consequences spelled out for non compliance. There is more but it is rare now days to have a builder do what needs to be done to satisfy a client.

Have an iron clad contract. Not a boiler plate one the contractors knows he can screw you over with.

I know we have home builders here. I am sure they are good and honest. So I am not saying they all aren't. But like every other industry. Many are not.

I’ve started looking at the same future. If I build I’m thinking this construction:

Everlog concrete log and post & beam

quote:

Originally posted by SIGfourme:
I would do 1600 sq ft but I’m married to Imelda Marcos.

Ah. So you say John Wick room but she says shoe closet.

Also just make sure you have plenty of height in your basement. If your using ductwork it always seems to get in the way.
If you are building with cinderblock, just make sure your mason uses brown sand its much better than yellow sand.
If you house requires steps to get in the house make sure the footings go all the way down. Its bad to put steps on loose soil.
Make sure the first floor is on before they backfill.

quote:

Originally posted by Paten:
Ah. So you say John Wick room but she says shoe closet.

That's why he needs two!

quote:

Originally posted by onegeek:
Everlog concrete log and post & beam

Holy cow, that's cool!

We just finished a build on our retirement home on a lake in AL. The advice to spend the most time and energy on selecting builder is key. If you pick the right one, all the regular oversight and supervision of any crews goes WAY down. Still need occasional checks of things at key stages, but that's less.

Not regularly, but some builders are also architects or draftsmen. Ours was the latter, so there was nothing lost in translation between his plans as drawn and the builder. This was nice. We started with a drawing/floorplan that we got out of Southern Living or similar 5-8 years ago, and modified it to fit our needs, lot shape and budget.

Speaking of budget, when checking builders see what experience was on estimate vs. actual costs. Everyone expects to go over budget, but what you want is a builder who has spent enough time with you to understand the details and type of finishes you are going to want and to include amounts in your allowances to approximate that. It may look like more in estimate, but the overages will be less. We ended up over budget by about 5-6%, half of which was in cabinets. Our kitchen was important to us.

We went with 6" studs for more insulation. In our case for A/C, but same applies for heat in your case. For long term home pays off, we hope.

Consider generator/transfer switch setup even if you don't install the generator until later. We wanted all that done by the builder's electrician so there were no issues. Ended up springing for the generator at the same time, partly for the same reason.

The suggestion for 220V to garage also helpful if future holds more electric or hybrid cars. We don't PLAN to buy one in near future, but with our detached garage it was way cheaper to do now. Saying "never" for a home we hope to live in 20-30 years seemed foolish.

Decide up front if you really need to pull ethernet or not, or are ok living in a wifi world for TV, security, etc. My IT guy was apoplectic we didn't pull wiring all over the house, but it has and will work fine without.

Do figure out where you plan to have TVs and your central modem/router and pull cable there. In our case that is a pantry in center of house, this would have been impossible once build. We also had proprietary cable for Starlink pulled in walls from chimney to this spot.

If the advice about taking tons of pics during construction seems in any way silly, change that mindset. It's really not just about documenting the fun of the project but as described knowing almost exactly where all electrical, plumbing, headers, weird wall build-outs, etc. are. It's already come in handy for us. Once sheetrock is up you lose this once in a housetime chance.

You don't say when you plan to build, but as many have pointed out get on with sorting out plans and builder. Both will take time to do right, and many decent builders are months or years out on projects.

Also start picking out EVERYTHING now. No matter how hard you try you'll still miss something, and you may end up with slightly different actual items depending on who builder prefers sourcing through. However already knowing what you like/want accelerates things tremendously, our builder never was waiting on us for a decision, which is apparently a rare thing. I'm talking cabinet styles, hardware, faucets, toilets, tubs, trim, paint colors (in/out/trim/cabinets/etc), floor, outlet and switch style and color, window style and color, you get the picture. There is a metric ton of details in a house you are building instead of buying, and us having done this over two years leading up to build made an enormous difference in how easy it was to select when each item came into stage of project. Also gave plenty of time to resolve any differences in opinion without the pressure of having to decide right now. Helpful in making it pleasant overall.

You don't have to build a handicap ready home to have a home that can more easily be modified if one of you ends up in a wheelchair or disabled for a bit or permanently. Things like a shower design that could be converted to just a ledge and curtain wide enough, avoiding tight turns in and out, trying to minimize steps even on a one story, to house and to areas on property.

Our builder story - We had met with and researched probably 6-8 builders in our area when we met the fellow we ended up with. He was different in that he showed up with some relevant sample plans in size and general style for the area, walked through his whole process and approach, etc. When checking references we knew we were done when I spoke with an engineer (you know the type!) who said his only regret using Kimball was that he had wasted too much time going from Birmingham to site 2 hours away to check on details. Instead said he should have just waited for Kimball to call him with questions because otherwise every single thing was done precisely as intended and to plan, and the times where it might make sense to tweak that slightly he got a call. THAT is a dream builder, and he was.

Our total build time from slab pour to completion was 8 months for two story, 2700 sq.ft. plus detached garage. People in our area tell me that is a miracle, or they accuse me of lying.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Mine was finished in Feb 2020, right before COVID shut everything down. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Off the top of my head:

1. Get a good builder. Call their references and get DETAILS. SUPER IMPORTANT. If you can, visit some of their completed homes and talk to the residents.

AGREED DO YOUR DUE DILLEGENCE.
2. See #1.

3. Do your homework on the planned property. Get a soil analysis by a competent engineer. Look out for rocks (Cha CHING $$$) and utility lines that will affect where you place the footprint. Go out there after a downpour to see how/where water collects. What utilities are available or must be added?

MOST OF THE TIME HIRING AN ENGINEER IS A WASTE OF MONEY UNLESS THEY ARE GOING TO DO A SUBSTRATA ANALYSIS (i. e. BORINGS). IF THIS IS IN A SUBDIVISION LOOK AT THE HOUSES IMMEDIATELY AROUND YOUR LOT AND SEE WHAT KIND OF FOUNDATION THEY HABE TO GIVE YOU A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT YOU MAY BE IN FOR.

4. If you are designing from scratch, prepare accordingly. We spent years looking at, not only properties, but house plans. Then we had an actual designer modify our favorite to produce the final set of plans that was TO CODE. We then handed these plans right over to the builder.
THAT IS ONE WAY TO DO IT BUT DEPENDING ON THE BUILDER HE MAY HAVE SOME STOCK PLANS THAT HE COULD EASILY MODIFY AND SAVE YOU THOUSANDS IN THE PROCESS.

5. DO NOT skimp on the design details/effort. The designer should provide you with detail electrical plans laying out the location of every switch/outlet. That's really the only thing I want to change about my current house. Some switches just need more duplicates, some need to be moved.

THIS IS A PET PEVE OF MINE. A “DESIGNER” IS NOT AN ELECTRICIAN NOR DO THEY KNOW WHAT YOU MAY WANT AND/OR NEED.THEY ARE NOT UP TO SPEED WITH CURRENT CODE. IT IS BETTER TO LET THE BUILDERS ELECTRICIAN GIVE YOU AN ESTIMATE AND USE THAT AS AN ALLOWANCE GOING FORWARD. WHEN THE HOUSE IS FRAMED UP HAVE A WALK THROUGH WITH THE BUILDER AND ELECTRICIAN MARKING UP WHERE AND WHAT YOU WANT. THIS MEETING SHOULD TAKE 3-4 HOURS IF DONE RIGHT. BE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD IDEA OF WHERE AND WHAT TYPE OF FURNITURE GOES WHERE. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE ABLE TO ENTER A ROOM AND TURN ON THE LIGHTS AND BE ABLE TO WALK OUT OF THAT ROOM BY ANY OTHER EGRESS AVAILABLE AND TURN OFF THE LIGHTS.

6. Get to know the construction crew/subcontractors. Be out on site regularly, but DON'T be a douche. You don't want them to dread your presence. I was on a first-name basis with the framer. Scrutinize the work, politely. Don't be afraid to ask questions or point out possible errors. This shit ain't cheap, so it had better be correct. We found several screw-ups that would have cost some serious time if they hadn't been caught by me early.

THIS IS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE UNDERSTOOD BEFORE SIGNING THE CONTRACT. THE BUILDER MOST LIKELY WONT WANT YOU CRITIQUING THEIR SUBS WORK DIRECTLY. PRIMARILY BECAUSE THEY ARE THE EXPERTS AND YOU ARE NOT. IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ASK THE GC. I WOULD USUALLY HAVE WEEKLY MEETINGS WITH MY CLIENTS WHO WERE LOCAL BUT MOST WERE NOT.

7. During building, GO CRAZY WITH PHOTOS. I'm talking max out an SD card. You want to know where everything is under the slab and inside the walls/ceilings.

AGREED. BACK IN THE OLD DAYS WE WOILD SEND WEEKLY UPDATED PHOTOS AND JUST PRIOR TO DRYWALL DO A SHORT VIDEO OF EACH ROOM FOR THEIR (and our) RECORDS. NOW MOST BUILDERS WILL MOUNT A SECURITY CAMERA ON THE JOBSITE AND GIVE THEIR CLIENT ACCESS TO IT SO YOU CAN SEE WHATS GOING ON 24/7 AND DECIDE IF YOU SHOULD GO OVER TO THE JOBSITE.

8. Go NUTS with record keeping. I still have a nice notebook with every receipt, catalog, invoice, etc. This includes every bit of work, every selection for flooring, fixtures, electrical, plumbing, everything. It makes going back in the future to make a repair, replacement, whatever SO much easier.

SOP

9. Once you decide how big the garage is, make it bigger and add more outlets and lights. Consider adding 220V outlets if you weld or use machinery.

ALWAYS A GOOD CHOICE IF ITS IN YOUR BUDGET

10. Look for "green" incentives. We got a state tax credit for doing a "green" certified build. It also made the house much more efficient from and electrical and insulation standpoint. It's about efficiency, not hippy politics!

THIS! OUR FIRM WAS A PLATINUM CERTIFIED BUILDER AND WON MANY AWARDS INCLUDING BEST HOME DESIGN BUILD IN 2015. IF YOU CAN FIND A BUILDER WHO IS EXPERIENCED WITH THE VARIOUS NUANCES YOU WILL HAVE A MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE AND QUIET HOME. PLUS YOUR UTILITY BILLS SHOULD BE HALF OF WHAT OTHER STANDARD HOMES ARE AND THIS WILL MAKE THE FINANCIAL PAYBACK JUST TAKE A FEW YEARS.

I'll probably think of more later.

SEE MY RESPONSES IN CAPS.