following

Congrats on being O/B. Hope you got GC pricing from the subs. You could save ALLOT of money if you did. But you HAVE to know the difference from GC pricing vs consumer pricing. If you got consumer pricing.....well....you're S.

Love this! We also acted as our own GC. I will be following! (Also love following along when anyone builds Four Gables)

Such a beautiful lot! We are also O/B so love seeing others on the same journey.

"I am projecting to save at a minimum $55,000 savings."

Have you subtracted the value of your time from that figure? You are spending time on this project that could have been spent relaxing with family; that has value.

Take every hour you've spent times $100.00, probably the minimum any reputable GC would have charged, subtract it from the 55K, and get back to us, please.

I'd also discuss the time value of money. Getting subs to work for you / keeping a schedule. If you are carrying 2 houses, stretching out a build to wait for subs adds cost. We are struggling with getting subs these days, even though we are working with someone who is a BUILDER and has a ton of contacts. It may be easier the more conventionally you are building, but you are still battling with folks who can give them more / ongoing work.

Good luck! There is a lot of satisfaction doing it this way, you'll earn a ton, and you'll have every opportunity to make it the best you can.

We did too - if I had a nickel for every time I thought to myself "What the heck were we thinking" over the past year.... I think back to some of the things we said in the beginning and laugh out loud.

I've heard crazy stories about limitations of contracts with builders, so thankful we didn't deal with that. BUT having said that, I would never advise going it on your own. Unless you have a lot of extra time, money, and a VERY healthy marriage lol.

Thankfully, we knew a lot of professionals and had prior experience at each stage. We have a lot of people to thank for helping us oversee the process. It's been a fun journey and we have learned a lot.

Best of luck to you!

Have fun on your journey. Building homes is a really cool experience if you have the time. I learn something with every home I build. 30+ years later or as I've said to friends "My father gets smarter every day I follow in his shoes.... dammit!"

You will earn that fee.

I'm assuming with subfloor complete in Sept you've made some progress?

"Can I place value on my time? Yes."

Well then please do as I fairly requested so we can do the math and see how much you really saved. Thanks.

Yeah, we are O/B on our home. I think a year ago, everything would have gone well. But, there is a building boom going on in my town and since we are out-of-towners with NO contacts, it has been a challenge getting subs. We have done about 50% of the work ourselves just because I can't get anyone to work for me. Even though this has put us at least 2 months behind, it has been worth doing the work ourselves just because it saved me the aggravation from dealing with subs.

However, since November, it has been 6 days a week, 10 hours a day for us which is a lot of personal time. It has taken a physical toll on me (not so much on my DH, but he is a retired contractor and used to hard work). I hope we have saved money though, or I don't know if it would have been worth it.

But, to put things in perspective, we are about 1-2 weeks from getting done and I'm totally burned out. I think in a few months when we are moved in, I will look back and be proud of all the things I learned to do and all the problems I solved. I'll also be blessed with living in a pretty nice house.

Jhvrga - you look like you have things under control. I hope your build continues to go well for you. It's looking good :-) Post some updated pics please.

suru11:

You bring up an excellent point. Not only do you have no contacts, even if you did get good subs, you have no leverage of future work to hold over their heads as the local GCs do.

When a guy who gives a sub 100K in work a year calls him, he's leaving your job. Contract, schmontract; you're a onesie.

We are building our entire home ourselves too, just a little selected subcontracting for some specific tasks. It’s not for everyone, but we can spend in time what we cannot spend in money, with much more control over the process and the quality. I wouldn’t do it if my husband didn’t have engineering degrees in multiple fields and a lot of DIY experience in smaller remodel/build projects, but it makes sense for us.

On your project, I am AMAZED at the iron content of that clay. So red! For your CMU foundations were they grouted and rebarred or just grouted?

dsnine:

No offense, but if I find out a potential client is an engineer, he immediately goes on double secret probation. Even faster than a lawyer. At least a lawyer will admit they know little of construction, but some of the math geeks seem to think that just because they drew it they can/should build it.

Contract, schmontract; you're a onesie

Onesie - Had to laugh at that one :-)

Hey Joseph, what if you find out that they are a retired contractor?

It depends. If someone starts out with "Well, I would do this myself, but..." or even worse "All you have to do is..." I run for the hills; no Joe for you.

On the other hand, I've learned a trick or two from my retired clients too. It's a balance that isn't always easy to strike.

Wow Joseph; that’s extremely rude. And part of why we are doing it ourselves. Or do I need to make some comments about why con is in contractor?

We know code, materials, inspection, design, and have more than a few years of actual construction experience too, outside of several houses worth of DIY (summer jobs while getting all those nice degrees and paying for college). While there are plenty of clueless engineers, that doesn’t mean you should disrespect each one as though they’ve never seen the business end of hammer drill or feathered out the edges of a drywall seam. Or heck, even waterproofed a basement or installed a gas line to a kitchen. To code and with permits.

Plenty of homeowners, engineers or not, can construct beautifully and well. The trade off is speed in most cases, not skill or knowledge. And I’m glad most of the professionals around here are a little less speedy with rude pidgeonholing than you.

OP, I’m wishing you the best and as few rude comments as possible. Sheesh.

dsnine:

Which parts of "No offense..." and '...some of' the math geeks" (qualifier) did you not understand?

Right, because qualifiers make it okay to insult someone you’ve never met as though it’s professional and acceptable to do so.

I don't think most people doing an O/B are doing so just to save money. Many already have experience doing lots of remodel work themselves, get frustrated with work that subs do (or they see on new home construction), etc. There are multiple reasons we will O/B and do lots of the labor ourselves.

For the OP, the cost of his $55,000 savings results in reduced mortgage payments of $94,500. (4% note at 30 years). At a 20% tax rate, O/P would have to earn $118,125 to make those payments.

Even more amazing is the investment potential of the $55,000 general contractor bill. Assuming that O/P would finance the amount over 30 years, at a cost of $263 per month. If O/P put $263/month into an investment account at 10% annual interest, the value in 30 years would be nearly $600,000.

dsnine:

I went out of my way to not offend and still managed to do so and for that I am sorry.

Many readers come to Houzz for information. If some have learned that it may be best to be vague about careers to avoid scaring away contractors, I hope my infraction will have been worth it.

Looking good! What a beautiful property too.

Jhvrga thanks for sharing and I look forward to seeing more. We also did O/B (for many reasons) and took the same insults being lobbed at you, suru and dsnine - it's part of the game here and seems to be a major form of entertainment for some - shrug it off is all I can say. At the end of the day and your build, you'll have what you want and have reached that point in your own way and for your own reasons which do not have to qualify or make sense to anyone else. I 'know' that red soil! GA? SC? NC? The trees and soil look like my yard. We used Advantech floor and sheathing and are very pleased - great products. The zip tape window flashing also proved to be a great product.

Love the pic of the 4 gables. It's all looking good!

Have you subtracted the value of your time from that figure? You are spending time on this project that could have been spent relaxing with family; that has value.

Take every hour you've spent times $100.00, probably the minimum any reputable GC would have charged, subtract it from the 55K, and get back to us, please.

Just to be fair, you don't value your opportunity cost at $100 per hour, the maximum value of your time would be your hourly after tax net pay (plus an hourly portion of your benefits). In other words, if you make $75,000 per year the value of your time is a little less than $30 per hour, assuming that you are paid hourly and can make extra money.

While you may value your free time, the value of that free time can't exceed your hourly pay. If it did, then going to work would be an irrational decision. A good model for thinking is driving for Uber, if you could make more money driving for Uber than you save by being your own G.C. then drive for Uber and use that extra money to hire a G.C. However, if you can't, and you want the challenge, or you get more enjoyment out of being your own G.C. then do that instead.

For most people, hiring a G.C. is a good investment, but at the same time, I suspect that most people who go the owner-builder route are glad that they did. I strongly suspect that this is one of those self-sorting tendencies. Those people who end up being their own G.C. look forward to the challenge, while those who don't consider it, don't.

I asked the framer can you stick build this garage next to the house? He said he could.

I love the garage! Did you purchase stock plans or have an architect draw them up?

ASWTRENT: really just googled detached garages and picked the one I felt had the best look. The framer really did a great job by building from a photo.

I'm sorry I should have made myself clearer. Did you purchase stock plans for the house build?

Sorry, yes stock plans and made adjustments with a red pen. Structurally, no major changes, just minor or add-ons.

@Jhvrga DYI Thank you so much!

That awning/pergola turned out really nicely. I love the black metal too, very slick and clean. What is the house color to be with that?

Your wife did an amazing job!

Yes she did! And that's one beautiful piece of property! Good luck on your project!

Jhvrga, please excuse my ignorance but what is it about this house that makes it difficult to build? (you said in one of your earlier comments that it is not considered an easy build). Your house looks beautiful by the way. Perfect setting too.