We're doing it, but not sure we could have made it this far without a dear friend as a consultant who has done it many times. So nice to have someone to bounce things off of as they come up. He was also a huge help in the practical things such as budget and choosing a cost-effective blueprint. It's really too early for me to say if we're successful--haha, we only have a basement so far!

Research....research....and more research.....Do you work full time? If so, is it flexable as in able to take off an hour here and there? At the very least to have time at work to make numerous calls? Do you have the time it takes to do it? It's not rocket science if you do the research. First thing you need to do is find out what GC's prices are from subs and NOT consumer in your area......BIG difference!!! You will have to go around where houses are being built and talk to as many subs as you can. Observe their work while you're there. Don't know where you are in the country but I could give you that info if you're anywhere near Charlotte.

I do stay home with my 3 boys, my youngest is the only not in school for 8 hours, but he does go to preschool for 4 hours a day. We are in AL! Those of you who are doing it yourself, did you bid out the job? As for pricing, for example, just call the demolition company and have them come price the job? What if I call the subs that the GC's who bid our job called? Are they more likely not to give me good pricing or higher pricing?

I started typing, alot.....hit a wrong button and poof! All gone...

Basically yes, I did it.

Will type more again if you want it. :-)

Geesh, so mad, can't believe I did that...

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Home Page

Did it too. One of the best decisions I've made.

Research and Knowledge. I believe you need to know how to do everything that's going to be done to build your house. You won't do any of it, but if you don't know how it's done, you can't verify or qualify a contractor's work.

Example - if you don't understand the structure of framing and how it works to keep the house standing, then how do you know if the framer you're looking to hire is doing a good job on the site you're watching him work on?

Stubborn but fair. As the GC, you are responsible for the vision of the project as a whole. Your subs will know their piece and how to do their trade, they won't know how that fits into the final product of the house.

Example - My plumber was just going to put one DWV pipe in a corner of my basement and run everything to there. Knowing that I needed to keep the ceiling of the basement high, I had him put another DWV on the other side of the house. That way, we didn't lose ceiling height with long horizontal DWV pipes below the ceiling. Same issues with the HVAC folks.

You will find some contractors don't deal with Owner Builders. Some won't give you as good a price as a GC (caveat: most custom builders don't do enough volume to get discounts on lumber, concrete and such. they get discounts from floor and tile installers and some electrician and plumbers for repeated business). You also might find that they'll walk away from your job for a time to get a job done for a repeat business customer. You must handle that with care as a one and done customer. If you were in their shoes, you'd do the same thing. Let them know you understand, that you want a realistic time frame on when they can get back to your job, and if that isn't good for you, tell them that it isn't. No raising of voices, no emotion. Even when they don't act professional, you need to. Admittedly, it wasn't easy when I was sandwiched between a delinquent sub and my pregnant wife, but I think professionalism served me well.

Cut Bait... Be willing, at any time, to fire a sub. This means that you never get ahead on paying them. Always pay them quickly when the job is done, but never early. If one needs money for supplies for your job, ask for the estimate from the supply house, and use that for the pre-payment... and require that the material be on the job site from day 1. If it's coming in installments, pay only installments that will be there. If a guy is 50% done, and you need to let him go, offer 60% of contract for him to end the contract and let you find someone else. Expect to lose some money anytime you have to switch subs, if you don't incent him to walk away happy, he'll probably make your life miserable.

When things aren't done right, focus on the fix, not blame. Communication errors happen, you'll most likely pay for these. If a contract called for a 16 SEER Heatpump, and the guy installs a 13 SEER Condensor, you can force his hand in a professional manner. If you talked about something and didn't get it in writing... well we know how that works.

That's probably it for now... let me know if you want anymore wisdom from an OB'er.

Ok, like I said have some knowledge but not like a GC, are there any books or websites that I should make myself familiar with? We do have a friend who is a GC that is going to help us, but I don't want to have to call him on every question, like I said it is a favor!

I forgot to add, is it mandatory to have inspections in your area? If not, you will need to hire an structural engineer. Even it you do have inspections there, you might want to hire an engineer after framing. It doesn't cost that much and it's peace of mind.

Yes, we have to have inspections and apparently our inspectors don't like working with the homeowner, so they are pretty tough. Good idea on the enigneer.

Gopintos, I don't want you to rewrite everything unless you want to, however, I would like to know what you think.

good post bdpeck!

especially this:
When things aren't done right, focus on the fix, not blame.

OP go back a few posts/pages and count the posts
blaming the architect/designer/contractor/tradespeople for mistakes.
seems to me a LOT of time, effort and emotion is wasted
on blame instead of fixing the problem.
its not for everyone. just because you have the time and want does not mean that you are capible.
(although perhaps you are)

best of luck

energy rater la, you are very correct in your statement about blame. The difference between being your own GC and hiring one is that as your own GC you have no one to blame but yourself if it is ordered wrong, signed off on wrong or just plain wrong. You are also correct in that because you have the time you may not be capable, the unfortunate part about your statement is that I don't know what I don't know and I won't know if I am capable until I have already started the process. So with that, anyone of you that is a GC and wants to email me you rnumber feel free!!!

Since you have a friend that is a GC that is going to help you. You need to sit down with s/he and discuss the sequence how a house is built. That would be a good start. Then plug all this info into a spreadsheet. Some things like roughin elec and plumbing will overlap. S/he could also tell you what the GC pricing is in your area. I can give you an estimate from here.....it should be less in your area but it might be a good start. Consumer pricing is allllot more than GC pricing. And it's a good thing the inspectors are going to be tough with an O/B...they look even more carefully.

Read EVERYTHING on linked site. I am in no way affiliated or associated with it -- it's just that I've found it to be one of the most understandable sites on the basic information of home building. My only complaint would be that they underestimate the time and knowledge required to be effective, so read, learn, and expect everything to take more time -lots more time, than you expect. That said, There is nothing that gives a person more satisfaction than to have built their home, theirself!

Here is a link that might be useful: before you build.

First off if you are married or in a relationship, AGREE that you both are committed til it is done and agree to support each other throughout the building process. It is hard on a marriage not to mention alot of work.
You can do this if you are committed to learning, listening and sticking to your guns, All the posts above are right on the money when it comes to building your own home.
Get AT least three bids for each of the trades, in writing.

refer to this site everyday. someone here has the answer.
good luck!

Hey MBWALDROP, what part of AL are you in? I built my last house in AL and had terrific subs. The builder didn't go very well, but the subs I loved and would recommend any & all of them. I also got my lighting and tile for half the price!!!!

We are about to get started on another house here in Australia, and I have decided to do it owner/builder. I don't have any contacts here, but plan on getting those together over the next month.

I am a bit of a control freak, I know what I want and where I want it and the only way for me to get this done is to handle everything myself. Luckily here in Australia you do not need a builders license as long as it is your own house.

Gosh, Australia, I am sure that it is beautiful. How do you like Australia? How does it compare to living in the south? I know that they're great people from there.

Thank you for responding! We are in Birmingham and I would love any and all information that you are willing to share.

I am very particular as well and have really enjoyed getting into the process. My husband would say "control freak" because it is more appropriate than describing me as particular, however since I have never built before particular is more fitting since I am aware that what is drawn on the plans doesn't always build out as you had imagined. If I just left it up to my husband and three little boys I could only imagine what it would look like. For an example, it has not occured to my three little boys who ask everyday when the bulldozer is coming to knock down our house we live in and I keep reminding them that we must move out first or that the dump trucks will take us to the dump as well as the house. :-)

One of the GC's that bid on the house originally is from Australia. He is the salt of the earth. He also is the only GC who gave me his list of subs and told me to call any or all of them to help me build my house. An amazing GC who is by far one of the nicest!!!

We are mid build and my DH is the GC. My brother is a GC in another state and he has been great to help out over the phone, came after the framing & roof to inspect and was impressed with the job. Fortunately DH is able to be out there a lot during the day. He gets at least 3 bids on the jobs and uses only subs he can verify quality of work at previous jobs. It is time consuming for DH, but we will have saved a lot of money. It has taken longer also, as when we were going with a builder we would've been in the house in 6 months, now it will most likely be 12-14 months. We did have some friends who did the same and they were in their house in 7 months, so I guess it's just how fast you want to get it done. Good Luck!

Well, you just made you life easy!!! I was in Birmingham for 11 years. I had the VERY best foundation guy, framer, plumber, LOVED my electricians and the concrete & driveway pourer!!!! I had all the interior doors custom made and also all the cabinetry. My cabinet guy was the best, wonderful man! The framer had such a good rep that when we were having problems with the builder and inspections, the head of Building Dept. for City of Hoover passed us on some stuff that got sheetrocked by accident, simply because of the reputation of our framer.

Miss Birmingham, well, parts of it. We love the "cosmopolitan' feel to Melbourne, especially all the Arts & Sports. People here are very nice, home prices will make you choke, but sometimes even miss the 280 traffic, miss the green rolling hills and the kids miss Chick Fil A! lol

What part of B'ham are you building? We will be back home sometime after September to get our stuff out of storage and move it all here. Well, everything but anything electronic.

Yes, Chick Fil A and Milos are comfort food for sure. If I could figure out a way to ship it to you all I would. I know that when we have been in China or HongKong you never realize how much you take food for granite.

On (My Page) you can email me, I will be much fast at getting back to that. Now that I am in the packing and getting out of the house, getting on the garden web seems like a task. I think that once we are out it will be much better.

Sorry I haven't been on for a while. My middle child has been really sick for 7 months, and docs finally figured out what was wrong with her. Also, my oldest decided to break her elbow and the middle ones 13th birthday party is Saturday, whew....I'm tired!!! Anyways, early next week I will email you my contractor list, with numbers.

We miss Birmingham, but will be back in a couple months to pack everything up and ship over.