How to build your own house

I built my own home back in 1995 without the help of contractors. I didn't do it to prove anything or to make a point at all; I just wanted to make a nice place to live for my family without the high mortgage payments. I paid cash or traded labor for as much of the materials that I could. Most of the time, I used whatever money I could get from credit cards.

I began the foundation and dug it out with a shovel. Then I built the cement forms and poured the cement. After the foundation, I started the first floor by putting on the floor joists then covering them with plywood. Then I built the walls that included the window and door openings.

I also did most of the water and septic plumbing and electrical systems while the walls were open and exposed. I made the stairs and started building the second floor. After the second floor was done, I built the roof framing and enclosed the entire house to keep the snow, ice, and rain out. I put on strong metal roofing and put in all the windows and doors.

Next, I put up all the interior walls and finished the electrical wiring and the rough-in plumbing so I could have those systems inspected before the sheetrock walls were hung. After the first inspections passed, I enclosed the walls with drywall.

I also covered the outside of my home with vinyl siding and trim. It looked really good. I had kitchen cabinets built and started all of the inside finish work and trim. I installed all of the electrical systems and appliances.

The house passed the second round of inspections with the electrical inspector, plumbing inspector, and the building inspector.

I had all the flooring and carpeting put in. Once my house was finished, I had one final inspection to obtain an occupancy permit. After that we moved in to our home. We consolidated all of our credit card debt into one home mortgage with low interest. We had a lot of equity in our home from my hard-earned labor.

My cost of materials was around $60,000. The final appraised price of my home was $140,000 when we moved in.

It was only after all of my building experience that I realized how much the cost of labor is and why contractor built homes are so expensive to buy. The price of construction labor has increased so much over the last twenty years that people who make average to good incomes cant afford average homes.

Banks have had to get dangerously creative and take many chances so people could have homes. Wages haven't been able to keep pace at all with the inflation of homes or anything else and that's the main reason why we are in this financial crisis.

Tagged with: build your own home • build your own house • diy • do it yourself • home • home and garden • home construction • home improvement • home interior • home repair • my own home • my own house • Remodeling

Filed under: Remodeling

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