Your thoughts on my future?

Question

I have been saving some money for a while now and I've been highly considering taking two years out of my life, purchasing some property and building myself my own house before I go on to starting a career. I would be able to live morgage free and live comfortably. I do have some building experience but have never built a house. I guess what i'm trying to ask is, is it really that hard to do and what are your thoughts on it?

Guess I should of thrown some other things in there too. For one, I have 2 years left in the military and I will most definitely have my degree by then. So education doesn't concern me too much. I'll be 26 years old and I've already started to stake out buildable land. I have never constructed a house. I'm looking to build a log cabin, not a kit home though. I heard they are not that hard to build. They have classes for them too. Also, I do know people in the trade business. My Uncle is a master plumber and he knows plenty of people.

Thank you for eveybodies insight. I will probably most definitely be doing it.

Answer 1

Gads, what a great Q,,,and a noble idea.

I have suggestions, having been in the business a long time.

Not knowing where you are, or the budget,,,which is none of my business anyway,,, I suggest "modest" but expandable,,,and that can equate to your life as well as a dwelling.

Ideally the more involved code issues can be sub'd out, such as a slab/foundation, truss building, plumbing and electrical stuff.

You might even consider having a shell constructed, to a design you choose, and doing the "finish" work yourself.

"Hard" is relative, and often subjective. No one who buil;ds a house began with all the knowledge it takes, but "learned" sometimes through trial and error, or just focus on studying structural issues, etc.

I suggest this, especially because I believe in the ease of it and long term reliability, and low maintenance of it,,, Do Block construction, and possibly steel studs and trusses/rafters for a roof.

I just took a link from another question a couple days ago, and have scanned the site, which seems pretty clear and reasonable. If you have no true desaign plan in mind yet, you might get ideas from this. Certainly there has to be hundreds of sites on the WWW that can offer more detail than you can find here,,, But none may offer the encouragement.

Every Journey, can be as fulfilling, as Any destination.

Rev. Steven

Answer 2

Do you have ANY experience in construction? Do you know other contractors? How will you go about doing the electrical and the plumbing? Are you familiar with structural engineering?

In other words, yes you can, in theory anyway, build your own house. But people who work in the building trades are schooled in the industry. They also know how to make a building to "code". Which has to do with legalities, if you don't already know.

If you have support of other people in the trades, then yes, go for it...if not, I certainly would not invest my money and time into something that requires so much knowledge to achieve. We are after all, living far beyond a time when we could simply build a shelter out of logs and mud. Good luck. Peace.

Answer 3

I have a decent amount of experience when it comes to building houses. I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity all through college. In fact, I was the president of my campus chapter. If you have someone who can act as foreman and provide direction, then it's not impossible to build a simple, sturdy house on your own. You will need help from friends and family, as there are some things that a single individual cannot do. The wrapping that goes around the house, for instance, requires three people. It seems like a relatively simple job, but you need one person to hold the ladder, one to manage the staple gun, and another to hold the paper in place. You'll probably also need to hire contractors for things like electric and plumbing.

My uncle, an electrician, built his old house on his own. It turned out very nice. His biggest problem was the paperwork and inspections. Before you buy the land, be sure to dig into information on property laws, permits, and zoning for that city, county, and state.

Answer 4

Sounds dangerous- would you do all the construction yourself including wiring and plumbing and the whole shebang? You will definitely have to look up the laws where you live regarding safety requirements for buildings. It sounds like it would be a great thing to do, but I am worried you will build an unsound structure if you don't really know what you are doing.

Answer 5

Do it. But wait a little longer. Get a job first, find some friends who can help(maybe from the new job), and limit expenses, to replace the money it costs to make the house.

I think it's awesome.

Answer 6

Go and see a surveyor first and get a insite into the biz, it will always be 2 times what you expect to fork out sometimes more.

Answer 7

I've always wanted to build my own house. Is it hard to do? Well, I think some basic contrstruction courses would be required. While you're at it, get your contractor's license.

Answer 8

Go for it. Make sure you get a decent piece of land, with utilities accessible. Lots of good ideas for houses on the net. I looked up a ton of 'em, from yurts to geodesic domes. But my place wasn't really adequate for what I wanted to do, so I sold it.

Go for it, dude.

Answer 9

Good luck with your future plans. I hope you can build your house within 2 years.

Answer 10

for the money, education has the highest return for your money...

if you can hack it, go to school and get a GOOD education that will let you earn a good living...

If you know where you want to live fine.. but your career options may change radically in future years.. or your career desires.

The US Government gives veterans a LOT of money to go to school each year (the total is a LOT, not for each one) and they get more money in taxes because of it.. and they continue to invest in education ...

you should too, because it is a very good investment in our country and in your life.