Posted: 1/6/2009 8:29:52 PM EDT
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In the last few weeks we have started the preliminary process of having a new house built.
Looks like they will be pouring the slab the last week of this month (January). And I was wondering if anyone here that has built / had there house built may have some useful tips. Since this will be our first house, I just wanted to see if anyone had anything to share. And if anyone has been thinking about it, right now is a good time to get a mortgage loan with the current interest rates in the mid to upper 4's! My wife and I were approved for a 30yr fixed rate mortgage at 4.65%! I just hope the interest rate stays down until the house is finished at the end of april.. 
Thanks in advance. |
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I hope a bunker is in the plans. Yea, that would be nice. But this is our first house, so I had to be reasonable about it. If all goes well, I plan on selling it in 3-5 yrs and then building the house we will stay in for a while. We are just looking to use this house as a stepping stone to get to our goal eventually that will include a concrete reinforced safe room installed when its built. 
So no, no bunker this time.  But I will be far enough out in the county that I could cross the road, and hit the woods on foot if need be and stay concealed pretty well.
I will be about 5 miles from BGC. 
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My wife and I are 85% complete on our new house. We got locked in at 5.25% in June when we got the loan. We signed paperwork today for 4.75%. You can lock in and get a floating rate.It will not go up, just float down a little if the prime does.
Our biggest fight was interior color and flooring. We have NO carpet, all hardwood and laminate. Everything else we agreed on. Don't go cheap or "contractor grade" on; Windows (Anderson) Insulation (blown in) Central H&A Plumbing Electrical Do as much as you can yourself. I did the rebar in the footings, helped frame it and roofed it. We did all the interior paint also. Shop around and find the best prices on stuff YOU want. We went with a clawfoot tub in the master bath and my plumber qouted my $3700 with all hardware. I found a place here in town that refurbishes original cast iron tubs. I bought a clawfoot made July 22, 1933 with all hardware for $1295 out the door. So it pays to shop. Our house is built on a wood floor, wrapped in rough cedar and brick and is a "custom" home for half the price because of how involved we were in the project. GOOD LUCK!!! |
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My wife and I started our house around this time 7 years ago. We started with sketches and notes on a tablet and graph paper. That went to a draftsman and created a true floorplan and a front elevation. From there we found a contractor that would work in our budget. Then we had the blueprints created and started construction.
I've read stories that range from where people weren't allowed on the construction site (insurance reasons) to where the owners were allowed to help build it. I was at the site twice a day since I passed it on the way to work. I also ran the audio/video cables because the electrician had no idea how to meet my requirements. We went with an independant general contractor instead of one of these large house building companies. Instead of picking options from a list, we could do anything we want. He gave us a breakdown that he used on his spec houses and access to his suppliers. We used his suppliers for the discounts but also went out on our own for a few things like a 127 gallon, dual 3hp pump whirlpool bathtub. The contractor charged us a flat fee instead of going on a cost plus rate. That meant he had no reason to run up the prices on us. In fact, the faster he finished the job, the more money he pocketed. His negotiated rates with subcontractors were lower than if I had been the general contractor. Combine that with the discounts from the suppliers listed above, we came out ahead money-wise buy not being the contractor. The big plus was that he started years ago as a framer so his expertise was invaluable there. Insulation was mentioned above. We had foam sprayed in all stud cavities on the outside walls and then the pink insulation added on top of that. We have 4,250 sf of heated and cooled rooms and our gas bill last month was $85. Besides good insulation, we are using Trane heating and cooling equipment and programmable electronic thermostats in each zone. I could go on for days on this project but I'll stop here. If you have an specific questions, just let me know. -Robert |
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Tankless water heater is awesome How does it handle the colder incoming water in the winter? Our incoming water is luke-warm in the summer but ice cold in the winter. The last time I looked at tankless heaters, they had issues with the cold incoming water. What model do you have? Does it run the whole house? I'm looking at one that provides hot water to just the bathrooms for sinks, shower and the massive tub I mentioned in the post above. We won't have two showers running at once if that is a problem. -Robert |
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the Rinnai water heaters are the best that I have installed. they usually raise the water temp arount 50deg at 8.3 gal/minute. they will actually slow down the flow of water to keep the temp at the desired level. What is retail cost on a Rinnai tankless for a house with 2 standard toilets, 2 standard showers, 2 standard bathroom sinks, and the standard kitchen sink. Nothin special, and only two adults living in the home? The house I am building is a small 1325 sqft, but it will only have electic, no gas, they dont have gas ran into this neighborhood where I am building. As of now, we are putting in a Marathon full size electric water heater. But I would like to hear more about the tankless options from they guys that install them and/or use them. Thanks for the info guys! |
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the Rinnai water heaters are the best that I have installed. they usually raise the water temp arount 50deg at 8.3 gal/minute. they will actually slow down the flow of water to keep the temp at the desired level. What is retail cost on a Rinnai tankless for a house with 2 standard toilets, 2 standard showers, 2 standard bathroom sinks, and the standard kitchen sink. Nothin special, and only two adults living in the home? The house I am building is a small 1325 sqft, but it will only have electic, no gas, they dont have gas ran into this neighborhood where I am building. As of now, we are putting in a Marathon full size electric water heater. But I would like to hear more about the tankless options from they guys that install them and/or use them. Thanks for the info guys! Why would toilets factor in to the cost of your hot water heater? Fucking geek 
Last I checked, you're looking at about $800 installed. That's been a while though. |
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the Rinnai water heaters are the best that I have installed. they usually raise the water temp arount 50deg at 8.3 gal/minute. they will actually slow down the flow of water to keep the temp at the desired level. What is retail cost on a Rinnai tankless for a house with 2 standard toilets, 2 standard showers, 2 standard bathroom sinks, and the standard kitchen sink. Nothin special, and only two adults living in the home? The house I am building is a small 1325 sqft, but it will only have electic, no gas, they dont have gas ran into this neighborhood where I am building. As of now, we are putting in a Marathon full size electric water heater. But I would like to hear more about the tankless options from they guys that install them and/or use them. Thanks for the info guys! From what I've heard, you only want to use a tankless if you have gas. An electric one requires an obscene amount of electricity to heat the water. |
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the Rinnai water heaters are the best that I have installed. they usually raise the water temp arount 50deg at 8.3 gal/minute. they will actually slow down the flow of water to keep the temp at the desired level. What is retail cost on a Rinnai tankless for a house with 2 standard toilets, 2 standard showers, 2 standard bathroom sinks, and the standard kitchen sink. Nothin special, and only two adults living in the home? The house I am building is a small 1325 sqft, but it will only have electic, no gas, they dont have gas ran into this neighborhood where I am building. As of now, we are putting in a Marathon full size electric water heater. But I would like to hear more about the tankless options from they guys that install them and/or use them. Thanks for the info guys! From what I've heard, you only want to use a tankless if you have gas. An electric one requires an obscene amount of electricity to heat the water. This is true. |
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the Rinnai water heaters are the best that I have installed. they usually raise the water temp arount 50deg at 8.3 gal/minute. they will actually slow down the flow of water to keep the temp at the desired level. What is retail cost on a Rinnai tankless for a house with 2 standard toilets, 2 standard showers, 2 standard bathroom sinks, and the standard kitchen sink. Nothin special, and only two adults living in the home? The house I am building is a small 1325 sqft, but it will only have electic, no gas, they dont have gas ran into this neighborhood where I am building. As of now, we are putting in a Marathon full size electric water heater. But I would like to hear more about the tankless options from they guys that install them and/or use them. Thanks for the info guys! Why would toilets factor in to the cost of your hot water heater? Fucking geek
Last I checked, you're looking at about $800 installed. That's been a while though. Well hell, maybe I was planning on installing hot water toilets. 
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the Rinnai water heaters are the best that I have installed. they usually raise the water temp arount 50deg at 8.3 gal/minute. they will actually slow down the flow of water to keep the temp at the desired level. What is retail cost on a Rinnai tankless for a house with 2 standard toilets, 2 standard showers, 2 standard bathroom sinks, and the standard kitchen sink. Nothin special, and only two adults living in the home? The house I am building is a small 1325 sqft, but it will only have electic, no gas, they dont have gas ran into this neighborhood where I am building. As of now, we are putting in a Marathon full size electric water heater. But I would like to hear more about the tankless options from they guys that install them and/or use them. Thanks for the info guys! From what I've heard, you only want to use a tankless if you have gas. An electric one requires an obscene amount of electricity to heat the water. Yea, after reading more about them, I have come to the same conclusion. Guess I will just stick with the Marathon hot water heater. |
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I'm drawing about 3200 sq foot, all electric house. One level, and I included a 12 x 12 vault.
I have gotten interested in the work Doug Rye does. I plan to have his son Phillip draw the plans. I have his DVD and most of his recommendations for efficiency are very simple and cost effective. What do you guys think about geothermal? Anyone have it? Downsides other than front end expense? |
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I'm drawing about 3200 sq foot, all electric house. One level, and I included a 12 x 12 vault. I have gotten interested in the work Doug Rye does. I plan to have his son Phillip draw the plans. I have his DVD and most of his recommendations for efficiency are very simple and cost effective. What do you guys think about geothermal? Anyone have it? Downsides other than front end expense? Geotherm is good for Arkansas, but VERY expensive and hard to schedule. Not to many people do it, then again, building is so slow right now..... |
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Quoted: My parents put a geothermal system in their house when they built in 85. I'm drawing about 3200 sq foot, all electric house. One level, and I included a 12 x 12 vault. I have gotten interested in the work Doug Rye does. I plan to have his son Phillip draw the plans. I have his DVD and most of his recommendations for efficiency are very simple and cost effective. What do you guys think about geothermal? Anyone have it? Downsides other than front end expense? Around 1995, they had got tired of running fans on high in every room in the summer, and space heaters on high in every room in the winter.  Replaced it all with new standard HVAC stuff that saved money and felt better to boot. I've heard the systems have gotten alot better, and one would hope thats true since 2 deacades have come and gone. I would still find somebody with a NEW unit and visit their house 2-3 times a season and see what you think. |
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Here's my take on this. And you might say I'm "in the know"
When I build my home, it will have standard cooling, radiant floor heating, SUPER high efficiancy stuff, and have the ever loving shit insulated out of it. Call it what you will, but I've done everything from install the most basic package units in homes, to run laptops (with direction from a tech) on the most complicated systems at Children's hospital, the Bigmac building, and even got to play in the superdome when the HVAC was being done on it when I was but a wee lad. It's safe to say I know a little something about the HVAC bidness. |
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M4geek,
Ike is correct, the electric tankless waterheaters are not worth the trouble. the last tankless I installed was $1,475.00 and that is about as inexpensive as it gets. I plumbed a 4800sq ft house that has 2 rinnai's in it, those are the only gas appliances in the house and his gas bill with 4 people is $26/ month. |