Building your own house?

Question

I live in central Indiana, Bloomington. My father has given me some land to build on. I am a real do-it-yourself kind of person. Anyone have any suggestions? I like to save money doing it myself than pay someone else to do it. I am trying to get an idea on what I want to build. Is it easier to build one story vs two? What about energy costs? I don't want a big house, something small and simple, two bedrooms. I have lucked out, and have city water and sewer and electricty already run through the area (my dad has a house on the land too). What type of foundation should I look into? I prefer a slab, but would that work in my area? Sorry about all the questions, does anyone know anything to help?

Answer 1

If you have any kind of interest in DIY energy-efficient construction, take a look at the following website:

http://www.thenaturalhome.com/

Even if it only gives you some ideas, it's still a worthy resource. As far as your foundation goes, you'll have to research your local building codes to determine frost depths and bearing requirements (snow loads, etc.) I recommend consulting an architect for your project, but even if you do the design yourself, you should (at the very least) hire a draftsman to do construction documents and have a structural engineer look over your plans. Don't overlook all the bureaucratic details either (permits, inspections, etc.)

Answer 2

A slab will work anywhere that the ground is flat and solid. As for constructing the house. A one-story vs. two isn't much different. Given the same living space, a one-story will have longer walls to put up, a two-story will have taller walls to put up. On either, you'll need to put on a roof.

There are home kits available at Menards and most likely Home Depot as well. You get a complete house in a box and build it yourself or have a contractor do it.

Energy costs increase proportionately to the size of the house, so the only way to stay on top of it is by making sure you have good solid (and insulated) materials. If installed properly, the house should be easy to maintain. You may want to have a lot of windows facing south if you can for solar gain in the winter.

Answer 3

First of all congratulation and at the same time you have my sincere sympaty.
I have built my own house twenty years ago and it was the most exiting and frustrating experience in my life.I got the basic ratios from a book on Buckminster Fuller and built a geodesic dome,it is very comfortable economical to heat and cool,and the acustics are superb.
Most building material stores have plans books,and the stores can give you a bid on the list of material that you'll need.
Some stores have seminars on how to do things,but most of the work is simple if you takle it with an open mind
,learn from mistakes and dont'rush.
The first thing you should accept is that you will not be able to build the house the way a contractor does.He is able to have four or five trades working on the house and the better contractor will have everyone coordinated to minimize construction time.
The only way to keep your sanity is to start a phase of work and continue on it till it is finish.
One of the most useful source of information is the building inspector,he'll tell you which way things are to be done in order to pass inspection,for example he'll tell you how deep the frost line is in your area and that determine how deep the foundations need to be.
Dont'get dicouraged if you screw up something,the hardest thing in these projects is to look at some work that you spent time labor and money and realize that you have to tear it up and start again.
Good luck.......you are going to need it.

Answer 4

There's alot more to building a house, than just building a house. Have you checked with the planning commission yet about if the property needs to be divided into two parcels to have two single-family dwelings on it? How far away from the city utilities are you? It's out of your pocket to connect them to the new house. What type of terrain does your land have where you are going to build? I live in Indiana also, up by Indy, and have been a builder here for 26 years. Done alot of work in Bloomington. You do need to have some sort of a floor plan first , you are right. There are alot of things to consider when designing a house also. I'm not trying to talk you out of it or discourage you. Just want you to know what you are getting into. Permits are usually good for one year from the time of issue. I've seen alot of people try and do this and still not be done with it after that time. Get some books and magazines. Fnd a plan, get some material cost bids from the lumber yards and then find out if you still want to build it yourself or not. You could easily still have $80K in cost doing it yourself. It is possible to build it cheaper, of course. Are you going to have the time to build it yourself? In a timely manner? I built my own house and find it hard to work on it after a long day of working elsewhere. Alot to consider when doing this. You are very fortunate by having the land already. Just do your homework first. It'll take some time to plan it right. Good Luck.

Answer 5

I've looked into this several times since my wife and I want to build our dream house on as much land as I can get my hands on to farm. What I've come up with for simplest and easiest to build is this: Keep the house square or rectangle with no bumpouts. This makes it easy for siding, foundation, roof lines, etc. Use a gable or hip roof. Hip roof will be harder to frame but will allow less siding on the ends. The only hard part of framing it is figuring the angles and rafter lengths. Keep your pitch around 5 or 6/12 all the way around. With a bit of math you can figure the rafter lengths. The angles are just a 45. Or you can go more expensive and buy trusses. Keep your bath/s and kitchen and laundry within close proximity for ease of plumbing. If you have a hill you can build a burm house into it. This will let you pour concrete walls atleast on 3 sides and you can use a slab floor. The concrete walls and floor will be much cheaper than building a concrete foudation/basement, then floor joists/trusses, then your stud walls and siding.

Answer 6

First off, you have to find out from the building commission what is allowed for your property. They can tell you what your foundation needs to be, how deep your water lines need to be, and everything that you need to know. Second, if you haven't decided on what style you want on your own, find an architect. Look at some of their designs, or go to some other company that builds houses and just get information. Sometimes they will give you pamphlets that have designs to look at.
I built houses for years, and one thing I do know that is important in this state is, if you are going with an electric water heater, you have to have an emergency power cut off right at the unit. That and it has to be up off the floor now.

A slab is fine for most, but I would suggest cynder blocks for a crawl space because of your water pipes. You definitely don't want them coming across your attic access. That is where your wiring is going to be coming across too.

And one story is more effective of heating. Just make sure you have plenty of insolation in the attic so the heat doesn't go to the roof.

Answer 7

You have raised some good questions. One story vs. two is really up to you. However, if you build a two-story, you can save on the footer and slab cost by going up instead of out. Keep it simple and you will do fine. Good luck.

Answer 8

You know the saying, "Marry in haste, repent in leisure"? It's even more true with building your own home. Changes are always easier on paper than they are once you've started building. That's not to say you can't make changes, but remember that it's easier on paper. A basement is the one thing I wished I'd built when I did my house. I don't think you'll ever regret having one. Good luck and enjoy the process.

Answer 9

Get the books for the subjects you are interested in and read up on them. this space is to small to cover all your questions

Answer 10

ANSWERING FOR POINT SRRY