Having your own house probably is one of the best things that you could achieve in life.
Gone are the days when you’re renting an apartment where you always worry about the monthly rent which you could use for something more significant.
Why Build A House Instead of Purchasing One?
You can choose to purchase a pre-existing house or create one on your own.
A pre-existing home is a lot more convenient as it’s ready and only requires minimal to no renovation and repairs.
While that can be a great option, there could be hidden damage that you’re not aware of when you purchased the house.
There could be hidden termites in the attic, broken water pipes in the basement, faulty HVAC systems, and more. With that in mind, you’ll only end up spending more.
In addition to the hidden damage a pre-existing house possibly offers, the functionality and blueprint design might not be according to your liking.
You may want to have a room on the ground floor when your parents visit for the weekend, or you may want a casual and formal dining area in your home.
With that in mind, it’ll be difficult to change the structure as demolishing it would be the better option.
If you have specific needs for your home structure, you should build a house instead. In this way, you can customize every inch of your house and make it as personal as you want it to be.
Plan Your Home Layout
After you’ve decided to build your home, you should start by planning your house layout. You need to know your lot’s specific measurement and start designing from there.
Given your land size, decide on how huge or small your house should be. You could go for a bigger house with a smaller yard or vice versa. You can also choose to add a garden to your yard for your hobbies, or you can grow your food.
You should also plan how many floors you’d like your house to have if you want a significant floor area. You should note that having more levels means additional construction costs.
After you’ve decided on the layout of your house, decide on your home’s interior. Design where you want to place your living room, kitchen, dining area, bathroom, bedrooms, and home office (if any) in your layout.
You can use a 3D drawing program to help you visualize your dream home.
For a polished finish for your home, hiring an architect would be a great option.
An architect should guide you with your home design while also considering other home necessities that you may have overlooked. He can plan on how the plumbing in your home could be more efficient and cost-friendly on your end.
Set A Realistic Budget
Building a home doesn’t come cheap. Before proceeding with building your home, you should set a budget that’s realistic in relation to the design.
You don’t expect to make a home with a grand plan and only spend a year’s worth of apartment rent.
You should know how much money you can work with, including the money you have now and the money you could borrow.
If the money that you have can’t handle your home design, you could consider designing a more affordable one or hold off your construction until you’re ready.
Get A Contractor
When it comes to building your own home, it’s helpful to hire a contractor to help you make your house more efficient.
A general contractor is responsible for acquiring all materials, labor, equipment (such as tools and engineering vehicles), and legal services necessary to build your home.
Moreover, not every state allows homeowners to be the contractor. Check-in first with your state policy if it’ll let you be an owner-builder. To convince the municipality that you’re capable of building your own home, you’ll need to apply for an owner-builder exemption.
You should also sign the building permit application yourself.
Allowing yourself to be your contractor will help you save up to 10 to 20 percent of the overall cost of building your home. You can spend those extra bucks on purchasing better materials or for your interior design.
While hiring a contractor can be expensive, he can provide a ton of benefits for your home. General contractors usually enjoy bulk discounts from their partner stores.
On top of this, they’re experts in what they do and can provide you the best service. You can hire a professional home builder to guarantee the success of building your home.
With a contractor by your side, listed below are step-by-step guides to building your dream home:
1. Prepare the Site
Before you start building your house, you should prepare your site for construction. You should be able to clear off any debris and vegetation, along with leveling the ground, giving your lot a clear area for your house.
Additionally, you should prepare an area where you can set up an adequate facility for your building equipment and the workers who will help you build your home.
2. Build Your Foundation
Laying the foundation is essential when building a house as it doesn’t only provide your home the base that it needs, but it holds your property to the ground, keeping it steady and sturdy even with the strongest earthquakes.
With the right foundation, you can guarantee that people are safe inside the house, even with intense movements, including kids jumping all around the house the whole day.
Before building your foundation, you should obtain approval or warranty from inspectors to proceed. This will help you identify if the ground is safe enough to make a foundation and will not cause any further damage in the future.
To build your foundation, you should dig deep enough to allow a firm grip of your house to the ground. You should also allow space for pipes to go through as you don’t want them to be exposed, attracting damage.
After you’ve poured your foundation, make sure that it’s leveled perfectly to build your house on a flat surface.
3. Start with Your Superstructure
After your foundation has settled in, you can now begin building the superstructure of your house. Ensure that you’ve only consulted a building inspector and had him sign off any permits needed.
Before you add bricks for your home, make sure that you’ve planned well where the pipes and drainage would go through. You can start by creating your house’s soft structure by using wood frames to give you a guide into how it’s going to appear once fully built.
In this way, you’ll have a clear view of where the pipes and electrical wirings will go through before laying any concrete.
Additionally, determine where you’ll be putting your windows, doors, and fireplace. This should give you a guide on where to place the bricks. You don’t want to be halfway through the construction of a room and realize it needs a window.
You could also start placing your basement, attic, and staircase to help you manage your house’s structure from the inside out.
4. Plan Your Electrical Wiring
Hiring an electrician is a must when it comes to your electrical concerns as an uncertified person who’ll do this task might endanger lives.
The electrician should build electricity and gas meter boxes for your home.
You should call your electricity provider to install the meter in your home and connect it. This will help your workers in using their power tools to speed up the building process.
5. Construct Your Roof
Your house’s roof is an essential part of building a structure as it gives security to your home. After you’ve constructed your roof’s structure, you should start laying your roof cover.
You could use metal, slate, asphalt, stone or concrete roofing. The roofing choices will depend on your style, budget, and requirements.
After placing your roof, you can paint it. Ensure that you use paint intended for the roof. It should be entirely waterproof to prevent any damage and moisture from coming inside your home.
6. Finalize Your Plumbing and Gas Line
After installing the roof, you’re getting nearer to finishing your home construction. You should be able to finalize your plumbing with the help of a plumber.
The plumber should fix the guttering, fit the downpipes, and connect them to the drainage. He’ll also take care of the plumbing system for your bathroom.
Moreover, the gas line should be installed by a gas plumber perfectly in relation to your kitchen. Ensure that the materials used are brand-new and free from any leaks. Gas leaks could lead to a house fire when not taken care of immediately.
7. Wrap Up the Exterior
Once you’ve settled the plumbing and electrical wirings, you should proceed with finalizing the exterior of your home.
You need to have your window and door frames installed before polishing the wall.
Once everything’s settled, you can begin polishing your wall by leveling it with any surface finish you wish to have.
You could also start filling in any gaps between your wall edge and ceiling to ensure no pest or moisture will get in between those spaces.
8. Proceed with Finishing Touches
When you’re finished with wrapping up your home’s exterior, it’s time to proceed with designing your interior.
This is the most exciting and thrilling part of building your home as this allows you to envision how your property would look like.
You can begin painting your walls and ceilings and adding floor tiles, wood floorings, or carpets.
Once you’ve finished with your painting and flooring in every corner of your rooms, you can begin installing your kitchen counter and cabinets. There are a lot of materials that you can play around with for your countertops, such as granite, marble, wood, or tiles.
Make sure that you cover it well as the surface is more prone to moisture.
You can begin installing any wall-mounted oven or microwaves to your kitchen wall to ensure that it’ll fit perfectly and avoid any complications.
Place kitchen appliances strategically for convenience and safety.
9. Add Lighting Fixtures
To add elegance and life to your interior, you should add lighting fixtures inside your home. Make sure that they’re of the appropriate height so that people would not bump into them.
However, you should not add in an incredibly short lighting fixture as it’ll make your high-ceiling blank and dull.
You can also consult an interior designer to provide your home interior a better appearance. He or she can recommend fantastic color schemes and proper lighting fixtures to guarantee that everything will match and not make the room look crowded.
You’d be amazed how color and lighting can work magic on your interiors.
10. Begin Landscaping
If you plan to build a house with a yard or garden, you can now begin designing it to make it look attractive and healthy.
You can start by adding plants and trees to your yard to add life. If you have a porch, begin to purchase porch furniture such as swings and outdoor seats.
Ensure that you’re buying furniture appropriate for your area’s weather as some materials are not suitable for certain weather conditions.
For instance, if you’re building your house in a place that is prone to wet weather, using a lot of wood might be counter-productive. The wet weather will only serve to make wooden furniture rot faster.
Conclusion
Building your own home is an absolute dream come true. You’ve been dreaming of it for years, and now it has come to life.
With that in mind, there are two ways to build your home: on your own or by hiring professionals.
Hiring professionals will guarantee you a safer option and a fast-paced construction. However, hiring them can be quite expensive.
If you’re trying to save a few bucks, you can choose to build your own home with a little guidance from this article. Just make sure that you file any necessary permits and plan and prepare every single step.
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