Okay.

Ren8, I saw "alot" on this site today. It's pervasive. Perhaps I'm more tuned into it because I'm an English teacher.

Really? That's the upmost on your mind right now????? Get over it.

btw I have a pet peeve with straw men arguments. In the words of numbersjunkie, a drowning man vs. Michael Phelps, really?

Great thread. Spices things up here a little ☺️

I'm guessing that "We Built This City" is not your favorite tune.

I used to have these frustrations about Biblical scholarship when people would spout incorrectly translated Bible verses they didn't understand who didn't know how the Bible was actually constructed or hadn't bothered to learn how to read them in the original koine Greek when I had studied both from one of the world's foremost experts at the time. Their slack jawed smugness would annoy the crap out of me and I would long to rock their world with the truth about how clueless they were.

I eventually realized that the only person who this was affecting was me. It didn't really improve anything when I tried to enlighten people and I just felt more frustrated afterwards. I finally decided to let go of it and now consciously avoid being drawn into conversations about religion. The few people who find out that I used to be a serious Biblical scholar are usually shocked. I've found that as a result I've become a happier and less frustrated individual.

For me, the annoyance comes not from the random people who saying "we're building a house" when they really mean "we're waiting for a house to be built."

It's the fact that when I say I'm building a house, I get asinine comments like, "do you get to pick colours?" Or, "when do you take possession?" Or "ask your builder if you're allowed..." And then I have to go into the explanation of what "I'm building a house" means.

Granted, I'm still not using it in Me's approved context. I'm using it in the industry context of a "builder". Houses aren't built the same way anymore, so the old, literal meaning doesn't really apply to most situations. And I'm not a developer. The developer doesn't build individual houses, they turn acres of land into neighborhoods, and partner with builders who build the houses.

I guess I could say I am GC'ing a house. But I doubt I'd get any fewer blank stares. At work, a GC means a gift card.

Imma start a petition drive to de-list the Chrysler Building as a NYC & National Landmark, based on fraudulent attribution. Who's with me? Walter Chrysler was nothing more than a shiftless plutocrat. LOL
BTW, in historical attributions, the person or group responsible for being the motive force ($$$) behind the project usually gets the name credit. It greatly simplifies things. If a later owner is judged to have made significant changes or additions (withing the period of significance) their name is hyphenated onto the first. Then, the architect, if known, is given credit (unless a superstar like FLW/HHR;etc.). Then, if a technologically important structure, the engineer is credited alongside the architect. In the case of a historic bridge, the engineer gets the top billing under the Historical Name. But it's called the Brooklyn Bridge, not the John A. Roebling bridge.
The building contractor never gets top billing.
Casey

My BIL and SIL built a house and yes, I give them a ton of credit for doing what essentially was a full-time job getting a custom home to finish.

It was painstaking.

"you didn't build that"

"It's the fact that when I say I'm building a house, I get asinine comments like, "do you get to pick colours?"

Seriously? Asanine?

Chill out and stop judging people for understanding things you say colloquially.

You're tilting against windmills with this polemic.

Different people put things in different contexts at different times.

I was once at a party as someone's guest and I had never formally met the host before the party. He gave people who had never been there before a tour of the house, and at some point someone said

"I love your paintings"

I was taking painting courses at the time and thinking of getting an MFA, so I said

"These are your paintings? These are great."

And he said kind of peevishly "Of course these are my paintings, this is my house".

And I said "Oh I know this is your house and then I guess you bought the artwork, but when one says "My paintings" to me that means "I physically painted these--this is my artistic endeavor "--Sorry."

When I asked my artist friends they knew what I meant. When I asked other people they didn't really understand what I meant.

In context, I can usually tell what people mean by "I built this house" vs. a contractor saying "I built that house".

I think in most places "building" a house has a colloquial, not literal, meaning which generally translates to "I didn't find this house standing. Rather I chose how it would look ahead of time and financed various people to build it." The movie producer analogy someone made above is a pretty good one, I think. In fact, in the advertisements of custom home builders around here it says something to the effect of , "Why buy when you can build?" That homebuilder certainly doesn't mind his clients saying they are "building a house."

The common homeowner use of "build" that so annoys the OP is not colloquial or informal speech; its accepted formal usage (to build: to cause to be constructed) so there can be nothing wrong with using it that way. "Build" is a general use verb with very many quite different meanings and connotations beyond its literal denotation. A more accurate word to describe what a GC or builder does is "construct".

If a GC can claim the work of subs, employees, suppliers, agents and consultants as theirs, then owners can claim the work of the GC as theirs. It would be fair and accurate to say an owner builds a house and a GC constructs it. There can be no reasonable objection to the use that so annoys the OP except perhaps jealousy.

My clients often say they had far more to do with the design of their house than they actually did but it doesn't offend me; I encourage it. A good design and construction process is collaborative and I take it as a compliment if an owner feels they were closely involved. But I draw the line when a design-build contractor takes out a full page magazine ad of a house as if he, and not I, had not designed it.

Pal, I own several paintings. I bought them; they are mine. A wonderful artist painted them for me. If she was in my house, I think it would be appropriate for a guest to say "I love your paintings" to either her or me. I certainly would not take credit for painting them - whether she was there or not.

I'm trying to think of a more appropriate comment, in your context, to show appreciation for artwork hanging on the walls in a person's home, and I'm coming up short. "I love the paintings on your walls" seems awkward. I guess "These paintings are beautiful" would work, but doesn't quite mean the same thing.

I think complimenting the artwork in someone's home IS complimenting the artist. And I think most people (who don't hang around with a lot of artists) assume that the homeowner is not the artist.

Enough about that. Did anyone else snort milk out their nose when reading Me's sentence "We gotta do what we can to save the english language!"?

A work of art can have an owner and an author and is automatically copyrighted by the author until it is transferred by sale. If someone owns more than two or more impressive painting it would be a "collection" and the owner of an extensive collection would be a "patron". But a collector/patron can also be a painter. This is not a good parallel to house construction unless the paintings were commissioned by the current owner and/or created for him/her as a "work for hire" and even then that would be a stretch.

"We gotta do what we can to save the english language!" is doubly ironic. It appears to be a lack of appreciation of the English language that has created the pet peeve.

A pitcher who paints the corners of the strike zone is called a "Rembrandt". Should that offend art historians or painters?

If you were concerned about clarifying between the owner of the paintings and the artist, I would probably say "I love your taste in art."

If it's a custom build, with the homeowner actually contributing to the build in some way other than agreeing to buy it when it's done, then I don't have an issue with someone saying they built it. But the vast majority of the time I hear it in real life, the person's input is limited to picking the model, choosing one of the builders lots, and selecting from one of the 5 pre determined colour packages. And even that's not guaranteed, because the builder often changes something after the buyer selects, and the builder says, "if you don't like it, go away and I'll sell this house to someone else." In that case, the home owner has done nothing to "cause it to be built". The house was getting built, they just signed up to be the one to buy it. But it's generally accepted for them to say they built it.

And my annoyance is not jealousy. My annoyance is that the term has been stolen, and there's nothing left to indicate my own situation.

I agree with the OP completely...I mean people are going around calling Ansel Adams an artist, it is not like he made the mountain or anything. He just snapped a picture and BAM, suddenly he is an artist. Do you believe they actually display his stuff in "art" galleries?

And don't even get me started on these so called sculptors...I mean Borglum had 400 people who helped him on Mt. Rushmore and all he did was design the thing so it would not fall down...like that makes you a sculptor.

/sarcasm off.

I am not sure art is a great parallel, since odds are you are not standing behind the artist saying move that brush stroke 2 inches to the left. My house, my vision, my decisions, and my money, so my build.

Because "We're financing our build" is stupid. Most people ask if you did it yourself or who you used. Should we give a list of all the subs, too?

This pet peeve is specious and petty although I guess most pet peeves are and therefore best suffered in silence. The construction of a building is a serious collaborative and mutually dependent endeavor. It takes a lot of people and a lot of money to build a house - a team - and since the process begins and ends with the owners, our primary goal should be to make them happy. What words they use is not important. We wouldn't be doing much if owners didn't call us so why be so stingy with words? My clients are my best friends which may be sad but its true.

If you built your house with your own hands (all or mostly) I can understand being quite proud of that accomplishment. We hope to do most of the work ourselves when we build our house (ideally with help from friends and family). This will be a source of pride, tempered by the knowledge that we are lucky to be able-bodied enough and have the skills to do so. Maybe less pride if it doesn't turn out well :).

Perhaps the best way to communicate that is to say "We/I built this house ourselves/myself."

It is reasonable for people to say they built a house even if they provided only money not labor because that is much simpler to say and it is the route most people take. Therefor it would be reasonable for most people to assume that is what is meant because few people are capable of building a house (providing all or most of labor). By saying you built it yourself you can communicate that you did so by the less conventional route, providing your own labor.

"I love your paintings"

I was taking painting courses at the time and thinking of getting an MFA, so I said

"These are your paintings? These are great."

And he said kind of peevishly "Of course these are my paintings, this is my house".

And I said "Oh I know this is your house and then I guess you bought the artwork, but when one says "My paintings" to me that means "I physically painted these--this is my artistic endeavor "--Sorry."

I am a full time colored pencil artist. I am in galleries and I teach. If someone had said that while I was there, I wouldn't have been offended at all. Frankly, I'm thrilled when people buy ORIGINAL art and hang it on their walls instead of $10 Chinese knockoffs or Home Goods reproductions. He paid for the original so physically it is his. However just to be clear, he doesn't own the copyright to the image. That stays with the artist.

Well said Renovator. I know in my case I designed my home once I knew the parameters of my lot. I didn't take an online plan and modify it. I got onto my computer and drew out exactly what I was thinking in terms of what I wanted in a home.

In fact I had what I wanted drawn out but decided not to give it to the draftsman at first because I wanted to see if the draftsman could come up with something better. His build wasn't even in the same stratosphere. I had spent 2 hours explaining what we wanted and it was as if he didn't listen at all.

For example I specifically said I didn't want a dining room. He gave us a dining room. I said I didn't want a lanai. He gave us a lanai. I said I didn't want a walk in pantry. He gave us a walk in pantry. I said I wanted the great room opening to the pool. He put the unwanted dining room opening to the pool and the great room in the front of the house. I could go on.

So for the second go round, I gave him MY plans and since then we've been refining from my plans. Originally on my plans I had the stairway off on the corner. It was myself who realized if I put it more in the middle of the house, the rest of the house would lay out better. Not the draftsman and not the builder.

For the past several weeks, I've been running around with their designer showing her exactly what I want and like and sending MY drawings of how I want things completed.

So when our home is finished, I may very well say that we built the house. In my mind that will mean a collaboration between myself, DH, my builder, the designer and anyone else who had input or physically did the actual building. Sorry but I think in this day and age it's silly to get so caught up in semantics.

Somehow, when I say I built my house 'myself', I feel like I am bragging or something. Everyone I know knows that I am building my own house, myself, so it never comes up. Still, it would be good to have a polite way to differentiate. I see the term 'owner-builder' a lot, and yet in most cases, that means that the owner acted as the GC, not that they actually built it themselves. A DIY builder, on the other hand, implies that the person did in fact built it themselves. At what point can one say, "I built this"? Even a BMW 'built' in South Carolina consists of parts and sub-assemblies sourced from all over the world. It's actually only assembled in South Carolina.

Mushcreek don't ever feel as if you're bragging. That is quite an accomplishment and I know I've eagerly followed your build.

I think I've heard that the Inuit have hundreds of different words to describe different types of snow. They probably think that it's ridiculous that we only have one word (or maybe it's a few if you include slush, ice, and maybe there's a couple of others) and then have to add a bunch of adjectives to describe what we actually mean.
In the same way, "building a house" can mean many different things. Then you have to use more adjectives and description to describe what you actually mean. When using a general term, people will make certain assumptions based on who's saying it and what people generally mean when they use a term.
The term "building a house" is not so important to our society that we need different words to convey the different meanings without using more of a description. That's what conversations are for.

This reminds me of the featured inspiration project photos on Garden Web: like the gorgeous pool with charming cabana, set on pastoral acreage. I'm sure it better be beautiful when the client authorizes $250,000 (give or take a hundred thousand) for pool, patio, cabana, and furnishings set on a $multi-million estate with impeccably manicured grounds. It takes ideas to conceive the work, hands to perform the work, and money to pay for it all. Perhaps my husband should get credit for building all our home improvements. He never gets involved in creating or planning, makes none of the selections, orders nothing, contacts no one, moves nothing, swings no hammer, or uses any tool at all but one: the pen he uses to sign the checks.

I get where you're coming from as we built our house with our own 2 hands. (DIY) Sure, we hired some contractors but the physical building of the house was all us. (We didn't even rent a crane/boom to put up the roof trusses. They were lifted by hand)

I've never thought of it as a pet peeve though. People like you or I definitely have a lot more on our plates. I'm not sure about you but my house was built mainly on weekends with my husband taking days off here and there to get stuff done. My Dad is an electrician and did all the work for our house also on weekends and evenings. We have put a lot of our personal time into the house and it is literally a 24/7 job when you are your own GC.

That said, while others may not have physically swung a hammer, it's still a stressful process regardless. We took this on because my family has done it twice before (Dad built our first family home and built my sister's house 7 years ago) and we knew what we were doing. I would think there are a lot of people out there who definitely shouldn't take on a self-build when they don't know what the heck they're doing. It's all about your abilities.

But, a build is a build and nit-picking terms doesn't really get any of us anywhere. I'm proud of what we've done for sure but I think getting annoyed by people saying they "built" when really they had a builder, is a bit too snooty for my liking. I guess I'm just a little more humble.

I might say "we are building this house" -- but the "we" is plural (I live alone) and includes the GC and all his varied crew. My design (modified a bit by the draftswoman and some other input), his and their work, I'll be painting and doing interior trim. Well, and spending the moolah, which counts, too.

Since this is still going, I had another thought about the artwork analogy.

I have no issue with someone calling the house that they own (or even just live in and rent) "my house". And the sweater I am wearing that I did not knit is *my* sweater. But I don't think anyone would ever say they painted a piece that they actually just paid for. Even if they commissioned it, they never say they painted it. Then why is it acceptable to say you built a house when you essentially just commissioned it?

Because "building" has multiple meanings. "Painting" doesn't.

Actually, I guess it does. If you are painting a house, it could either mean that you are applying paint to the house to change the colour or it could mean that you are creating a piece of artwork where the subject matter is a house.

English is a complex language that needs additional context to make a meaning clear.

"Does anyone else get frustrated when folks say "Oh, I built my
house", or "Yeah, we custom built this place". "We built last year".

When these people just HIRED a crew to design and build the whole
house? Maybe they installed a couple baseboards or ran the speaker
wires? Hung a bathroom door or a light fixture?"

Sounds like someone with a chip on their shoulder. Obsessing over petty stuff is a waste of energy.

My "builder" didn't build my house. Laborers and sub contractors did. Oh, he did repair a pipe one time.

It's shorthand.

Who built this nation? No one person did it.

It doesn't bother me, but it sure impresses me when they literally do build their own home. I built my own chicken coop once . . . well, I didn't live there but my chickens did. I guess you could call them 'my' chickens, I did pay for them and they did live in my coop, but we went over that. I ate their eggs. I knew that they were their eggs because I didn't lay them, although I did pay for their food . . .

Even though for two decades I was a licensed builder, my dear late mother would always snort with derision if I presumed to label myself as such. "Did you hammer it together, put on the shingles? You're no builder."

I have a new favorite quote:

'A person who works with his hands is a laborer.

A person who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.

A person who works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist.'

As someone who has worked with his hands (and head and heart) his whole life, I finally feel good about my 'wasted' life (ask my mother...).

If one of the people who bought a painting of mine said, I had this painted, I wouldn't mind (as long as they paid me!) Again its semantics. I'm a colored pencil artist. This reminds me constantly of the arguments we have on the colored pencil forums. My work has 100% coverage so when looking at it, you'd be hard pressed to say what medium it is. Because the paper is completely covered with no paper showing, I call my work colored pencil paintings. Others take umbrage at that because they say since I'm using a pencil, I should only call it a drawing. Again, semantics.

Perhaps it isn't technically correct to say "We built," but it's been in popular usage long enough that I think the meaning is clear. It doesn't sound pretentious or untrue to me. This discussion reminds me of when my son was a young teenager and started correcting me every single time I even slightly misstated something. Really not a big deal, IMHO. I will say that I have said that "we built a house," on occasion, but then would correct myself and say we had one built if I was speaking with someone who doesn't know us well and might think we actually constructed it ourselves.

I don't know that I get offended but I know what I mean when I say I built a house and I'm remodeling this one. In the first I designed it, borrowed a backhoe, graded the land, dug the foundation, built the foundation with some help, payed someone to pour the slab for the garage and the small part that was on a slab, framed it with some help, did all the electrical and all the plumbing, did all the exterior with some help, etc. I did hire somebody to do the roofing because part of it was 2-story and heights terrify me. I bought semi-custom cabinets. I paid somebody to dry-wall parts that weren't real wood, and paid somebody to lay the part that was wall-to-wall carpet. I did the hardwood flooring myself, installed all the doors and windows, etc. I paid somebody to install the garage doors. I bought pre made doors.

35 years later, I'm remodeling this one myself. EVERYTHING because the subs are way to much and/or incompetent. Everything, Including building the cabinets and much of the furniture. I'll have to pay somebody to do the roof because I'll be 70 by the time I get to that and it might just be too much work. I know I can find a competent drywall guy but finding a competent roofer worries me.

I have lots of respect for someone that can design something that really works. I have lots of respect for somebody that can build something nice. Very little for somebody that pays for something to be built.

paid someone to pour the slab, not payed someone.

just a poke gregbradley.

who is it on here who doesn't like to hear someone

refer to their project as a build?

can't remember...

carry on.

Your are right! Once correct, once incorrect. The high school I attended is $53,700 per year today. I should request a refund!

Frankly if you truly built it yourself like mushcreek and gregbradley, I'm very impressed.

If you built it yourself or paid someone to build it, I'm still interested in seeing it, and in either case, I don't care about the semantics. Even if all you did was pick the wall color and paid the bill, you still had a hand in building it.

cpartist,

I can see from your earlier post that you understand how difficult it can be having a house built. Giving the draftsman direct instruction on items you wanted and did not want only to have him ignore that is typical. Everyone I know that has had a custom house built has spent a huge amount of time and effort making sure everything is done correctly. Since it is never all done correctly, they then spend more time trying to get those items fixed.

Building a house by having someone build it is still a lot of work. If you end up with exactly what you wanted, you either have a great architect and GC or you spent a lot of time and learned a lot in the process. A really good architect or GC is a treasure.

In my area with all the hacks, I'm not sure doing it myself is that much more work than trying to get it done by subs to my standards. If I do it myself and there is a problem, I know the cause.

My BIL + SIL "built" a custom home and it was more than a full-time job between them. He was basically the GC on the project.

It's painstaking in detail and perseverance.

I have lots of respect for someone that can design something that really works. I have lots of respect for somebody that can build something nice. Very little for somebody that pays for something to be built.

********

Not everyone has the aptitude or inclination to build, but their money is just as green and they are stimulating the economy, enabling many other people to earn a living.

I have lots of respect for that.

'My "builder" didn't build my house. Laborers and sub contractors did. Oh, he did repair a pipe one time.'

I just realized that I did a lot more of the actual building of my house than a 'builder' would have.

Hiring an architect, going through the designs, then hiring a builder and having most decisions made by the final homeowner is still "building a house", IMO. What frustrates me is when people go to a model home, pick the model, the paint colour and the tile, and call THAT "building a home". No. That is buying a brand new home. An entirely different level of headache. Granted, there are still headaches, because stuff gets put in the wrong spot, and only the final homeowner is going to care.

Like I said earlier, the fact that this has become an accepted meaning in English is what's so frustrating. Because then when you're calling to have the gas connected, and they pat you on the head and say, "No, dear, your builder does that."

And I'm pretty sure I'm repeating myself here. But the people who have better things to do than worry about language other people use also don't seem to have time to read the damn thread before commenting. And yet, AREN'T too busy to belittle people for being annoyed?

Time to step away from the thread. Have an egg nog!