I am no expert when it comes to building a house. Kyle and I don’t build houses everyday and we haven’t even lived int hat many houses either. So when we decided to build a house we begged, borrowed and plain stole ideas of what to do. We were so fortunate to have a lot of friends and family who shared plenty of tips with us. As my way of paying it forward I tried to write down all the tips we received so that maybe we could help others like we were helped out. So………. enjoy these 30 + tips when building a house…..
General-
- When you dig the hole for your foundation (before the concrete goes in) spray the ground for termites.
- If possible, go with 2×6 walls. This helps with energy efficiency and for sound.
- If your builder lets you, get 2nd quotes on everything.
- I’m sure most of you know this but when you stake out your house it will be small…. like super small. One thing that helped me was measuring the size of my furniture in the staked off area. We also went to a friends house and measured their room dimensions to put our (ok…. actually just my) mind at ease.
- When the foundation gets poured put your conduit in, so there is no drilling through concrete walls. Also, remember to cap in the conduit so that the concrete and waterproofing black tar don’t get in it.
- Take pictures of everything. You’ll want to know where an outlet is that was accidentally hid by the drywall guy.
- Make your doors wheelchair accessible. Actually, look at your house overall and say “how accessible is it?”
- Rough-in plumbing in places you eventually will finish out or want a bathroom in (like the basement). Honestly, one person even suggested a bathroom in the garage, and I think it was genius! While I didn’t do that it made me remember that my boys always come in super dirty from outside, so we put our laundry room with a full wash tub right by our garage door and a bathroom access right as you walk in there too. That way they don’t have to go all through the house to get to a bathroom or to throw muddy clothes into the laundry room.
- Interior sound insulation, especially if you are doing an open concept.
- Where will you store a vacuum or broom? Think about living in the house. Where will you store things? Where will you hang out? Walking through our house and thinking of those things helped us switch a few things.
- Do you LOVE shiplap like me??? Pre-paint it (or buy boards already primed/painted) so that when you put it on the wall and over time the house “breaths” you won’t see the grooves that you missed. If you paint it once it is on the walls then the boards will separate over time and it’s really hard to get paint in those cracks!
- When choosing tile try to stay away from white grout. White grout will never stay white. Also, if you go with a dark tile in the shower keep in mind that soap scum is white.
- Can you add attic storage anywhere? Our builder was able to make us some attic storage that had access from our bonus room.
- Ask for any leftover material so that you can touch up things later.
- Also, think about where you can use leftover material. Can you use scrap granite in your bathroom on ledges? Can you use the outside board and batten on the fireplace or around a tub?
- Lowes Pro account. Kyle signed up for one of these and we get 5% off our purchases all the time. There are a few advantages to it. 1) you can order at the contractor pack levels (i.e. cheaper rates on lights/drywall if you buy so many) and 2) you can have it pulled and waiting for you and pick it up at the one door that says contractor (it makes us feel official). 3) it is kept separate from our checking account so it is easier to submit when we need reimbursed from our loan. I think using a military discount if you qualify would work well too.
- One thing that helped us was having some really smart friends (those who were contractors, inspectors, etc.) walk through our house at each stage. More times than I care to admit they pointed out things (like a wall that wasn’t supported right or a friend who looked at one of my building pictures and sent me a Facebook message about plastic wrapping to prevent rotting porches) that we were able to take back to our builder the next day and ask that they address it. I can’t tell you how much this saved us in failed inspection fees, and it gave us peace of mind.
- I can’t tell you how many things we have returned. Lights because I didn’t like the size, fans because I didn’t like the color, 4 different styles of door handles, etc. Make sure you don’t get into a habit of buying and returning too much. It costs money and time to return all those items.
- Final walk-through for paint/dry wall. Give family and friends each a roll of blue painter’s tape and have them put a piece of tape by anything they find. The worst thing would be to move into your brand-new house and realize you already have to patch a wall because when they brought in the cabinets, they scratched something up.
- And keep in mind that some things will not go right. Try to have a good attitude about everything! I’m a Christian and my faith has helped in ways I can’t explain! This house is not my #1 priority, it is just a house.
Kitchen-
- My pantry wasn’t as huge as I’d like it, so my builder found some space between the studs to add an extra small closet. Utilize space between studs well- extra closets, built-ins, etc.
- Pot filler- ok this is a splurge, but I am so excited about it!
- Pot and pan drawer right by or under your stove/cook top.
- Silverware drawer next to your dishwasher for easy unloading.
- Think about the places everyone goes in the kitchen when they are over. The trash can and sink. Unless you can access the trash by multiple directions, I would suggest not putting it next to the sink (I know strange but trust me!)
- If you have an island with a sink in it, make sure the faucet you select isn’t too tall.
- I don’t think you need a ton of specialty drawers, but one or two are really nice. My two were the pot/pan drawer and the trash drawer. Maybe yours is a fancy spice rack next to the stove. In the other cabinets think about wire racks inside to maximize space without the extra cost of a pull-out drawer.
- Remember that between your island and your cabinets and where your table is you should have at least 42-48 inches so that you can easily maneuver without hitting your hip on something.
- Lights. Two big flaws I have made in our house are the fact that our table isn’t centered to the dining room and the island isn’t centered to the middle beam… which means the light over the table isn’t centered to the room and the pendant lights aren’t exactly centered either. You can’t notice unless I point it out….. but I noticed.
Bathrooms-
- Pick tile for your shower that is not shiny! You will slip.
- Showers that are really large or open air are cold. Think about either making it smaller, adding glass walls, or multiple shower heads.
- Where will you store towels for each shower?
- We went with taller vanities in the bathrooms. And a taller toilet. I am not 100% sold on this but the taller cabinets look nice and the toilet is easier to get off of when you get older…..
Outlets/Light Switches/Etc.-
- Master closet- for a safe
- Hallway closet- to charge cordless cleaning appliances
- Pantry- for kitchen appliances
- Bedrooms- for nightlights
- Living room floor- for power couches and lamps on side tables
- Don’t forget outlets on the porch. Maybe even put some on the ceiling so that it’s easier to hang Christmas lights. And outlets in the garage for charging power tools or your kids power-wheels.
- Where will your bed be in the master bedroom? Think about laying down in it and the lights being on, then having to argue about who’s turning the lights off…… maybe add a switch to the lights by your bed.
- Plan where you are going to put your Christmas tree or entry table and then put an outlet there.
- Put in dimmer switches in certain areas of your house.
- Put in USB outlets in places you might charge your phone.
- Don’t want to see cable boxes and such? Run conduit in the walls from where your TV will go to a nearby closet.
Outside/Barn/Garage-
- Are you having gas? Run a line to your back porch for your grill.
- Driveway….. while building it (and your yard) will be a mess! Try not to do finishing touches (or concrete aprons, black top, etc.) until all the heavy equipment is out.
- Gutters tied into pipes buried to move water away from house.
- In barns and garages (if your county allows)- add drains.
- Make sure windows and doors in detached garages and barns face the house so you can see if someone is breaking in.
- Also we had trail cams put up while we were building. And we had people steal things….. so they came in very handy!
- Double garage doors vs. 1 bigger door are more heat/cooling efficient.
- Put an outside spicket on multiple sides of your house so you aren’t dragging hoses around.
- Think about alternative energy/heat/cooling sources. Could your house use an outdoor wood burning stove, a wood burning stove in the basement tied into the fireplace chimney, an attic fan, or if you had a generator where would you put it and pre-wire it to main areas of the house.
- We were told not to put the outside air condition unit by our bedroom because it would be loud- but ours is really quiet… so this is “maybe” a good tip?
- Our porch is ridiculously deep. So maybe we are a bit excessive. However, make sure it is deep enough for furniture if you have one.
Finding Land-
- We just randomly called up someone to ask if they’d sell us land. Since we’ve done this we’ve heard of so many people who’ve also been able to get their land like this!
- Make sure the land you like isn’t too wet. Or if it has a lot of trees- just know that it is going to cost money and time to clear that land and probably will mean bringing in dirt.
- Think about where you are putting the house and how hard it is to get utilities to it.
- Talking about utilities you can call up the water company to see how much a water tap would be (or even if you have water available) and you can see what your county usually lets you install septic wise (we basically only got to install a mound system). Figuring some of this out beforehand might make you decide if the perfect land is really worth it knowing how much prep you’ll have to do.
