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Hateyou

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Made an offer on some land, going to build a house. My idea is to get a crew to slab on grade, build the frame, exterior, roof and I will do the rest over a couple years. Electrical, fixtures, plumbing, drywall, flooring etc. With the correct tools I have found I am pretty handy, but obviously never built a house. Am I a crazy person?
It will be a good learning experience but mentally prepare for it not going very fast, the toll that zero free time has, going over budget, etc.
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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I had a heater element just randomly break before
i'm also gonna redo the duct, it's the semi rigid kind, but its so "rigid" it came loose after pull it sorta out (i'm asian so i was able to contort my way behind it)
also gonna might as well redo the duct opening
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
65,205
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Made an offer on some land, going to build a house. My idea is to get a crew to slab on grade, build the frame, exterior, roof and I will do the rest over a couple years. Electrical, fixtures, plumbing, drywall, flooring etc. With the correct tools I have found I am pretty handy, but obviously never built a house. Am I a crazy person?
Edit: If it matters this will be about a 2000 square foot single story house(layout TBD), with a detached 6-800 square foot garage.
is there a way to attach the house? cuz i find it so easy to go from house to garage w/o having to put on boots or a coat, the one time i helped a dude get more beers from his deep cooler in his detached garage in the winter, told me nope, will never buy detached.
 

Fucker

Log Wizard
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Made an offer on some land, going to build a house. My idea is to get a crew to slab on grade, build the frame, exterior, roof and I will do the rest over a couple years. Electrical, fixtures, plumbing, drywall, flooring etc. With the correct tools I have found I am pretty handy, but obviously never built a house. Am I a crazy person?
Edit: If it matters this will be about a 2000 square foot single story house(layout TBD), with a detached 6-800 square foot garage.
It'll take you forever and end up not saving much if any money.
 
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BrutulTM

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Made an offer on some land, going to build a house. My idea is to get a crew to slab on grade, build the frame, exterior, roof and I will do the rest over a couple years. Electrical, fixtures, plumbing, drywall, flooring etc. With the correct tools I have found I am pretty handy, but obviously never built a house. Am I a crazy person?
Edit: If it matters this will be about a 2000 square foot single story house(layout TBD), with a detached 6-800 square foot garage.

My brother just did exactly what you're talking about, so it's possible. He actually did more than you're talking about, he did the walls/framing and roof as well. It's here on the ranch so I helped a lot with it and I also just did a pretty major remodel on my house. I will tell you it's a lot more work than you think. I don't think you will do it in a couple of years in your free time unless you're a real go-getter. My brother's house is 6 years old now and there's still stuff that's not finished. Not because he's been working full time for that long, but you just get tired of spending every waking moment on it. Everything takes you much longer than it would take a pro because you have to learn first, then you don't have all the good tools, then you make a lot of mistakes that a pro wouldn't. He's an electrician so he had experience on that part. When we started on my brother's house, we would have said we knew it was going to be a lot of work, but I still think we were very naive. Everything is doable, but it takes a LOT of time, it's hard to appreciate how much until you're in it.

One thing that is hard as a amateur is drains. Doing the incoming water with pex is easy, but the drains can get pretty complicated making sure everything has appropriate vents and the correct slope so it all runs downhill. Especially in small bathrooms and such where things are close together it gets tricky. Another one is taping drywall. It's not hard or complicated, but it's very based on experience and muscle memory. You will probably be decent at it by the time the house is done but you will probably have some shitty work to live with wherever you start. Depends on how much something like that will bother you. My brother chose to hire someone to tape his just to get it done fast and because he knew it would drive him nuts seeing the lines in places where he didn't do a good job.

I think my brother would say that he's glad he did it but he would never do it again.

EDIT: I disagree with Fucker that it won't save money, at least as long as you consider your time "free". Contractors are very expensive. Reference Uber saying he would charge $4k to rough in plumbing in a bathroom in this thread. That's something that takes maybe $250 worth of material and then it's just your time.
 
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Fucker

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If you've done it before and have all the tools, sure you can save money. First time builder, need good tools, and then there's the inevitable redo's and assorted little shit that has a pretty good knack for soaking up a lot of cash.

I'm not saying one can't save money, I just wouldn't count on it if he's new to it.
 
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Hatorade

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is there a way to attach the house? cuz i find it so easy to go from house to garage w/o having to put on boots or a coat, the one time i helped a dude get more beers from his deep cooler in his detached garage in the winter, told me nope, will never buy detached.
I live in south Texas...what is this coat you are talking about? Detached garage because it will not be for cars, it will be for getting rad, building stuff, and repairs. Going to put a deck off the back half that will be a place to hang and a roll in for BMX and pit bike jumps.

The base plumbing is def. of concern but I was watching some dudes put the Pex stuff together and that is like legos. Other concern being electrical, I need to make sure by law I don't have to hire a licensed professional for fire codes or something, no idea how to wire a consumer unit but so many things are plug and play these days and there is a fuck ton of videos like this:



Appreciate all the info, Fucker Fucker from some basic research even if I bought all the materials twice over it would still be cheaper then paying people. Hell a 14x8 bathroom remodel was 10K and this was 8 years ago. Generator and a mobile A/C unit for a while will be how it goes when it is 100+ outside.

The more I work with my hands the more I feel like I missed my calling, I am pretty damn good at whatever I have tried so far. I really want to learn all this stuff and I am prepared to call in professionals if I am in over my head before I fuck something up. I am currently looking for an old dude that has built a fuck ton of houses and ready to pass on his knowledge, literally pay him in grunt work to show me how to do shit but that might not work out.

As far as tools and my skills I do already have a bunch of builders tools, I will likely need something specialized here and there but I have good drills, saws, nail guns, compressor etc. I can't build an armoire but I could definitely build cabinets from scratch if I had to. I see myself sweating, hunched over my phone youtubing specific stuff I don't even know to look for yet but I currently spend all my free time building shit out of dirt/concrete/wood and no matter how hot/insane/hard the idea is I fucking love making things.
 
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Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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I live in south Texas...what is this coat you are talking about? Detached garage because it will not be for cars, it will be for getting rad, building stuff, and repairs. Going to put a deck off the back half that will be a place to hang and a roll in for BMX and pit bike jumps.

The base plumbing is def. of concern but I was watching some dudes put the Pex stuff together and that is like legos. Other concern being electrical, I need to make sure by law I don't have to hire a licensed professional for fire codes or something, no idea how to wire a consumer unit but so many things are plug and play these days and there is a fuck ton of videos like this:



Appreciate all the info, Fucker Fucker from some basic research even if I bought all the materials twice over it would still be cheaper then paying people. Hell a 14x8 bathroom remodel was 10K and this was 8 years ago. Generator and a mobile A/C unit for a while will be how it goes when it is 100+ outside.

The more I work with my hands the more I feel like I missed my calling, I am pretty damn good at whatever I have tried so far. I really want to learn all this stuff and I am prepared to call in professionals if I am in over my head before I fuck something up. I am currently looking for an old dude that has built a fuck ton of houses and ready to pass on his knowledge, literally pay him in grunt work to show me how to do shit but that might not work out.

As far as tools and my skills I do already have a bunch of builders tools, I will likely need something specialized here and there but I have good drills, saws, nail guns, compressor etc. I can't build an armoire but I could definitely build cabinets from scratch if I had to. I see myself sweating, hunched over my phone youtubing specific stuff I don't even know to look for yet but I currently spend all my free time building shit out of dirt/concrete/wood and no matter how hot/insane/hard the idea is I fucking love making things.

research what pex you want to use, in my previous house i did pexb cuz it was simple and cheap and it was only going to my backup sump pump (water activated), for the new house since i want as much water pressure as possible i'm going with pex-a even though it'll be more expensive, but the internal diameter is larger and more "pros" would rather work with pex a than pex b

if you are going to go pex, then the electric tool is a must if your going to do a whole house
19495220cc9071ec4ca00429f7d52c4e.png
 
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Fucker

Log Wizard
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I live in south Texas...what is this coat you are talking about? Detached garage because it will not be for cars, it will be for getting rad, building stuff, and repairs. Going to put a deck off the back half that will be a place to hang and a roll in for BMX and pit bike jumps.

The base plumbing is def. of concern but I was watching some dudes put the Pex stuff together and that is like legos. Other concern being electrical, I need to make sure by law I don't have to hire a licensed professional for fire codes or something, no idea how to wire a consumer unit but so many things are plug and play these days and there is a fuck ton of videos like this:



Appreciate all the info, Fucker Fucker from some basic research even if I bought all the materials twice over it would still be cheaper then paying people. Hell a 14x8 bathroom remodel was 10K and this was 8 years ago. Generator and a mobile A/C unit for a while will be how it goes when it is 100+ outside.

The more I work with my hands the more I feel like I missed my calling, I am pretty damn good at whatever I have tried so far. I really want to learn all this stuff and I am prepared to call in professionals if I am in over my head before I fuck something up. I am currently looking for an old dude that has built a fuck ton of houses and ready to pass on his knowledge, literally pay him in grunt work to show me how to do shit but that might not work out.

As far as tools and my skills I do already have a bunch of builders tools, I will likely need something specialized here and there but I have good drills, saws, nail guns, compressor etc. I can't build an armoire but I could definitely build cabinets from scratch if I had to. I see myself sweating, hunched over my phone youtubing specific stuff I don't even know to look for yet but I currently spend all my free time building shit out of dirt/concrete/wood and no matter how hot/insane/hard the idea is I fucking love making things.

You might be able to find a retired GC or something to help you out. I am friends with one at my last place of residence...that guy knew everything and also knew the right people to help. One of the benefits of having done construction for 50 years. :)

I'm certainly not at that level or anywhere near it, but I have seen far more incomplete or financially abandoned DIY houses than successfully completed ones. Perseverance, an eye for detail, and keeping a handle on getting things done within a reasonable time frame, and you can probably do it.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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I fucking love making things.

That's probably the most important factor in succeeding at a project like this. There's never been a better time to be a DIYer with YouTube and Amazon in your pocket. Be sure to take pictures and post updates so we can follow along and Uber can tell you you did a shitty job on the plumbing.
 

Hatorade

A nice asshole.
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That's probably the most important factor in succeeding at a project like this. There's never been a better time to be a DIYer with YouTube and Amazon in your pocket. Be sure to take pictures and post updates so we can follow along and Uber can tell you you did a shitty job on the plumbing.
Dude I am going to have multiple angles and a time lapse go pro going etc. Going to be epic one way or the other.
 
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lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
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My brother just did exactly what you're talking about, so it's possible. He actually did more than you're talking about, he did the walls/framing and roof as well. It's here on the ranch so I helped a lot with it and I also just did a pretty major remodel on my house. I will tell you it's a lot more work than you think. I don't think you will do it in a couple of years in your free time unless you're a real go-getter. My brother's house is 6 years old now and there's still stuff that's not finished. Not because he's been working full time for that long, but you just get tired of spending every waking moment on it. Everything takes you much longer than it would take a pro because you have to learn first, then you don't have all the good tools, then you make a lot of mistakes that a pro wouldn't. He's an electrician so he had experience on that part. When we started on my brother's house, we would have said we knew it was going to be a lot of work, but I still think we were very naive. Everything is doable, but it takes a LOT of time, it's hard to appreciate how much until you're in it.

One thing that is hard as a amateur is drains. Doing the incoming water with pex is easy, but the drains can get pretty complicated making sure everything has appropriate vents and the correct slope so it all runs downhill. Especially in small bathrooms and such where things are close together it gets tricky. Another one is taping drywall. It's not hard or complicated, but it's very based on experience and muscle memory. You will probably be decent at it by the time the house is done but you will probably have some shitty work to live with wherever you start. Depends on how much something like that will bother you. My brother chose to hire someone to tape his just to get it done fast and because he knew it would drive him nuts seeing the lines in places where he didn't do a good job.

I think my brother would say that he's glad he did it but he would never do it again.

EDIT: I disagree with Fucker that it won't save money, at least as long as you consider your time "free". Contractors are very expensive. Reference Uber saying he would charge $4k to rough in plumbing in a bathroom in this thread. That's something that takes maybe $250 worth of material and then it's just your time.

This is totally right. I bought my house 13 years ago, and when I bought it the house was going to a sheriff's sale. It was a crack house. I've fixed almost every room, but not every room. There's still a lot to do. I've focused on making out buildings, but working on your own home is always going to take longer than you think.
 

Hateyou

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<Bronze Donator>
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I’ve even seen people burned out finishing their basement in their spare time because it turns into a two year project and all their free time is gone. It’s what convinced me to just bite the bullet and pay for the rough in. I still got to do all the finish work myself and it turned out great, so still feels good in the sense of accomplishment way.

I’m like Hatorade Hatorade in that I like working with my hands and all my stuff turns out well, and it feels good to say “I did that myself” I just have to recognize how much time I really want to spend on it. Also need to look at how heavy shit is like the pergola I did over the summer that made my back ache for a month.

When we first moved into our newly built house I spent months (probably a year) of free time hanging light fixtures, changing faucets, hanging blinds, built ins, shelves, etc. I got so fucking burnt out I ended up refusing to do even minor projects for like a year or two.
 
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Funkor

Molten Core Raider
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dryer no heat, either fuse or heating element is blown, no time to check, just bought both will replace when return.

idk why this would have happened, theres no lint in the trap, i vacuum it out and theres no lint on the exhaust, i saw a nice video on repair and most likely there is a bunch of lint inside (didn't buy dryer came w/ the house)
Late reply but things to check on this:
Examine exhaust line all the way out of the house (at least visually) to be sure no lint is stuck in there
Is there any sort of screen on the dryer for printing error codes, or maybe blinking lights that some models have? The lights can blink in patterns (like 10 on the left, 4 on the right) which gives you an error code ABC you can look up.

What brand of dryer? Kenmore's I've messed with have a thermal heat limiter (to stop overheating) thing that screws on to the heating element in the back, along with a separate thermostat that also screws on to the element. So any of either the limiter, thermostat, or the heating element are all potential failure points. Having some kind of error code helps a lot to narrow things down otherwise you're forced to go through part by part until you isolate the broken one. Other models probably use fuses which you can look up in the manual and at least check them to see if they're blown.
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
65,205
146,986
Late reply but things to check on this:
Examine exhaust line all the way out of the house (at least visually) to be sure no lint is stuck in there
Is there any sort of screen on the dryer for printing error codes, or maybe blinking lights that some models have? The lights can blink in patterns (like 10 on the left, 4 on the right) which gives you an error code ABC you can look up.

What brand of dryer? Kenmore's I've messed with have a thermal heat limiter (to stop overheating) thing that screws on to the heating element in the back, along with a separate thermostat that also screws on to the element. So any of either the limiter, thermostat, or the heating element are all potential failure points. Having some kind of error code helps a lot to narrow things down otherwise you're forced to go through part by part until you isolate the broken one. Other models probably use fuses which you can look up in the manual and at least check them to see if they're blown.
it's a maytag bravos xl, no lights to say something happened really, it spins and runs, just no heat, i took off the exhaust completely and its all cold air with no obstruction, yea i got a fuse for 8bucks and a heating element for 25bucks on order, it's cheap enough i don't mind just keeping them around as spares
 

Kobayashi

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
780
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Anyone have some good resources for painting interiors? I did a fair amount of my current house, but not really thrilled with how it turned out. On the new house, I'd like to nail down the proper tools/technique. I feel like a lot of the videos I've watched completely gloss over the important details. Also, any thoughts on spraying vs rolling? A coworker of mine is swearing by hplv guns.
 

Dandai

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<Gold Donor>
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Anyone have some good resources for painting interiors? I did a fair amount of my current house, but not really thrilled with how it turned out. On the new house, I'd like to nail down the proper tools/technique. I feel like a lot of the videos I've watched completely gloss over the important details. Also, any thoughts on spraying vs rolling? A coworker of mine is swearing by hplv guns.
 
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Hateyou

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<Bronze Donator>
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Anyone have some good resources for painting interiors? I did a fair amount of my current house, but not really thrilled with how it turned out. On the new house, I'd like to nail down the proper tools/technique. I feel like a lot of the videos I've watched completely gloss over the important details. Also, any thoughts on spraying vs rolling? A coworker of mine is swearing by hplv guns.
You need to trick the coworker into coming over to demo this gun of his. Then sneak out and lock him inside the room and don’t let him out until he finishes painting it.
 
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