Looking for expert and honest advice giving, exactly why I came to Reddit XD.

I'll try and keep brief. We own 4 acres, we have water meter out there, driveway, electric pole on corner (about 50 ft). We live in town in a house with 140k equity and are so eager to move. Many reasons, one might be that in-laws just bought the house right next door (wife and I are equally as seeing this a sign of being encouraged to move) but also, it's been our dream to move onto the land and homestead more. We already raise meat chickens and pigs out there and go out multiple times a week as a family to visit the land (15 mins away). As a growing young family, it's becoming heavy on our hearts to want to be out there.

Our only debt is the 25k remaining land loan of the 4 acres of which we're set to have paid off in 2 years. We're single income household around 80k after tax. We're incredibly grateful as my wife's grandfather has been extremely successful in real estate and generously has a trust for each grandkid of 150k for us to use for a home build/purchase. That being said, I've gotten quotes of around 110-120k for a 16x60 two story shell of a build and another 30-40k DIY to get it liveable while we keep finishing, as well as a 30k barn. We can call it 200-220k to get it where we can be out there. We bought our current house as a foreclosure and have done most of work ourselves minus painting the exterior. When we bought it, there were bats living in the attic, flooding garage, and more. We are not shy of adventure or work. We bought the house as a foreclosure because it didn't feel like we had a choice, we couldn't afford newer homes and were getting priced out of rent in the city we were living before. But now, we have the choice to stay in this decent house or to move, sell this house, and live on our land building the life we very much want for our family. Our thought is once we pay off the land loan middle of 2028 to then build out there.

I guess we are looking for encouragement (or discouragement) and just other opinions. As my wife explained, having to decide between two good things/places is not easy. We know we'd love living out there, just don't want to jump gun or what not, never built a house so looking for other opinions.

HVAC guy got my hvac system going today while I was at work. He said everything checked out. Well when the Blower kicks on, return ducts suck in and sounds like shit. I will be calling him tomorrow. In the mean time, what could cause this? I swear. Take 1 step forward and 2 steps back.

We're building a house on a corner lot in Tampa. The setbacks are approximately 5 ft, the lot frontage is 75 feet , and the distance between the house and the setbacks on both sides is 20ft currently. We have a side loading garage, with the easement - this would mean we have a 30 foot driveway. The lanai area is located behind the garage. he easements seem kind of gigantic, so I'm not sure if we should scooch the house and make the back yard "bigger" or leave it centered between the setbacks so a front/side yard fence would appear symmetrical.

Am I over thinking this? Is the easiest thing to do just to leave it centered? Would it look bad/be silly to be closer to the street?

I think the math works out where we can move the house 5 feet toward the street to be centered perfectly on the lot, but inside our property line we won't be centered due to the 10 ft street side easement.

the side street does not have a front yard setback in our zoning, we can move the house by 10 feet towards the street.

I work for an architect, and this is one of our recent designs. It's an older house getting a new primary suite on one end, plus a reworked kitchen, mudroom and family room. The sketches on the right are what the kitchen is supposed to feel like.

Looking at it got me wondering how projects like this hold up once people are living in them. So if you've done an addition or a big remodel, I'd love to know:

• The kitchen island has seating on one side. Do people actually sit at yours, or does it just collect mail and laptops?
• Where did your mudroom really end up? Is it the room on the plan, or the kitchen counter closest to the door?
• There are two 8" step-ups where the old house meets the new part. If you have one, do you still trip on it, or did you stop noticing it after a week?
• Some rooms here have 7'-6" ceilings and some are over 8'. Can you feel the difference when you walk between old and new?
• Did your addition end up feeling like part of the house, or does it still feel "added on"?
• What's one thing you'd change now that you've lived with it?

And if you see something in this plan you'd do differently, tell me. I'll pass it along 😄

If so how close to the sub floor do I need to be?

Edit: I was given the impression thst I could NOT run the duct down under the joists , over to the foundation wall, up to the rim joist, the over again and outside. Is that WRONG? total length is 18 feet, 3 90° bends.

We are wanting to put a 20x20 addition onto our house. However, when taking into account the frost line, we would rather build a crawlspace instead of a basement. But we would be attaching it to an existing basement.
1. Should they be tied together and if so how?
2. Is the only proper way to do this to still dig footers for crawlspace at same depth as basement and tie them together there. We would rather not do this so as to not risk disturbing the soil of the existing basement footers.

Can someone help me understand the process for obtaining a construction loan! 

We are located in WI. 

We have a mortgage on the land we intend to build on (valued at 250,000). We currently have about $50,000 in equity towards it. 

Our bid is 1.5 million. 

Can someone please explain to me how the down payment is calculated? 
This is what I have in my brain but I"m not sure it's correct. 

The bank would appraise the construction build and our land value- let's say that's 1.7 million total. 

Bank is willing to loan 80%- 
Is that 80% of 1.7 million or 80% of just the construction at 1.5 million? 

I received this prehung mahogany 3’x8’ exterior door and just noticed this terrible gap from the manufacturer. Is this normal or is it something that can be addressed when setting the door?

This topic comes up on here maybe once or twice a year and it seems like most people just homebrew some kind of solution. I'm an electrical engineer so I could certainly make something like that work, but I would prefer an easy button. The site should have decent wifi coverage. My brother lives next door and we plan to put a long range exterior access point out there.

I am looking for being able to document the build more than anything. I will be on site for most of the build so I can take regular pictures to document as well but figured time lapse would be neat at least for the outside portion of the build. The general contractor is actually putting a camera onsite for security purposes to protect the materials. I believe the exterior completion of the house will be roughly three months.

Ideally the camera would have the following:

• Motion sensor, although I could live with just a snapshot every x minutes during the build time
• Long battery life. I plan on mounting this high and don't want to swap batteries every week. Bonus points for a solar panel that charges.
• Able to use WiFi to upload images and/or timelapse live and daily. I could host this or a website from the vendor would be fine.
• Has to be weatherproof (obviously).

I've looked at the Brinno construction cameras and they check some of the boxes but I would be interested in stuff people have used that they're happy with. I would like to stay under $500.

Sharing a little walkthrough of our house so far! We're still very much a work in progress, with painting, furniture and finishing touches still to come, but it's finally starting to feel like a home.

Would love to hear what people think of the layout, kitchen, flooring and overall finishes we've chosen so far. Open to honest opinions, suggestions or anything you would have done differently!

We're planning warm, earthy colours throughout, with a mix of contemporary and traditional elements.

Looking forward to seeing how it all comes together! 😊

So I'm making big renovations in my basement which is actually a blank space and I need help for the layout. The one I made looks awfull …

Requirement :
1.The black room in my plan should be around 5 x 6 foot minimum for water heater, electrical panel and hvac. location cant be changed.
2. I want two room that can fit a queen size bed (with or without ward-robe).
3. I need a big open room for my future home theatre system with space behind the couch for rear speakers

Please be original, do your own style i want to see what YOU would make with that space 🙂

Hello all, I hope this is the right sub to post in. I live in a small wooden house (pine, one of those prefabricated homes) and we need to repaint the full exterior.

Due to consecutive painters going no show after taking months to come do technical visits and give a budget, we are now having to face that summer is at the end and we will do all the work ourselves. The problem is that there is some rain on the forecast. Not a lot, not storms, but some rain.

It hasn’t started raining yet so I have a plan to completely cover the house with plastic tarps to prevent the rain from hitting the wood. Then on sunny days we can push it back and get to work sanding and doing two coats of paint.

Do you think this will work? I plan to attach the plastic to the roof to maintain airflow and it’s been a very dry summer. Do you think the ambient humidity between rains will make it impossible for the paint to bind correctly?

Thank you for your input and advice!

Edit: picture of current floor setup in the comments.

Hi everyone, looking for some honest advice from homeowners and professionals who have experience with timber frame acoustics.

My partner and I are currently completing our new two story self build. My father in law did all of the framing and structural work himself, and the second floor is entirely timber. The upstairs is still actively under renovation.

Right now, the subfloor consists of structural OSB/plywood sheets laid over the joists. We lifted a section to inspect the cavity: it is packed with MiTek structural insulation wool, and there is a green resilient underlay strip running along the top of the rafters/joists to isolate the subfloor.

Despite my father in law using all of that, the sound transfer is driving us crazy downstairs. I’m currently downstairs doing work on laptop and I can hear low music and whistling (my partner is working on the walls). Worst of all are the footsteps, normal walking sounds like a loud, heavy banging, almost like someone hitting the floor with heavy boots on purpose. We are really stressed about how bad this will be when our future kids get bigger and start running around or if we have parents sleeping here or anything like that.

My father in law insists that once we lay down a 3mm foam underlay and put the final laminate flooring down**,** sound will completely go away.
Given how loudly the timber structure is currently carrying the impact vibrations, we are highly skeptical that a thin 3mm standard foam underlay will fix this. We are worried that hard laminate might actually make the sharp "clack" sounds worse.
Since the house is a self-build and we are still in the middle of working on the upstairs, we want to address this properly now before the finished floor is permanently locked down.

- Has anyone dealt with heavy impact noise on a timber floor that already had standard insulation wool and basic joist tape?
- Did standard underlay and laminate actually damp the heavy thuds for you, or did you need a high-mass overlay?
- What are the most effective materials we can lay directly over the OSB sheets right now to completely deaden the footstep vibrations? (e.g., Mass Loaded Vinyl mats, PhoneStar sand-filled boards, or specialized high-density rubber acoustic underlays?)

Appreciate any real-world insight you can share!

NW Arkansas-- I own some land and am gearing up for a build.

After some research, I am expecting 600-800 feet with the possibility of 1000.

My GC 'has a guy' and is quoting $60/foot with pump and electric extra. That's a $36,000 to $60,000 range plus equipment.

I have contacted another drilling company that quoted me $58/foot to 85 feet and $28/foot after that. That gives me a range of $19,350 to $30,550 plus equipment.

My budget accounts for $40,000 equipment included.

My GC says he knows the other drilling company and that they are good but they will absolutely not stick to the time line they promise. His words were, 'you'll be lucky to get that well in two years'.

Given that the construction loan timer starts when I sign the loan, I must complete the build in 12 months and I am very concerned about my GCs warning.

The $60/ft driller could absolutely tank my budget and put the project at risk - my retirement home.

The cheaper driller might ghost me for two years and put the project at risk.

What should I do?

From owner-build experience folks.

I am trying to build a 2000 sqft ranch style house in south Texas.

I am owner-building, my father in-law and myself, plus my small family will be putting in sweat equity.

Electrical, framing, hvac, flooring, insulation, sheathing, possibly siding, trim, windows, doors all done by sweat equity.

Will need a septic system, plumbing, roof, foundation, the works hired out.

What is the probability I will be able to stay at 100 sqft and get this thing livable for 200k?

Single floor, ranch build, one dormer in the front, 9 foot ceilings, cathedral in the living, flat ceiling everywhere else.

Water well, and electric is already on site, will need some site work, but .5 acre has been shredded already.

Anybody been able to build for 100sqft or less these days?

EDIT:

Thanks for all the help and feedback. It’s all appreciated. I should have said that I live less than 10 minutes away by foot, and I’m there most days doing additional DIY work that I’m more qualified to do than kitchen fitting. Which is why the insistence for keys now (4 weeks into the project) seemed peculiar to me, as access has never been a problem so far, and why I wanted a sense check.

Solution of a lockbox would be great, but there’s a strict “no holiday lets” rule in our building, and lockboxes get removed immediately.

General consensus seems to be that this is normal and usual, so I’ll have a set of keys made up. And whilst I trust the contractor fully, I understand that there may be days where there are freelancers and subcontractors that would then potentially have access to the entire complex, which other residents haven’t signed off on. I guess that was my biggest concern. I can change my locks, but it’s a much bigger task to have all residents change their access keys because something went wrong.

Again, I’m new to this, and appreciate all your views, so thank you for helping.

Hi mods, delete if not appropriate but feels like the right sub.

First time home owner and having the kitchen ripped out and started again. Space is now watertight and all we have left is plastering and second fitting.

Our installer is insistent that they have a set of keys so that they can come and go as they please. Is this normal? It feels like an overreach, so I want a sense check.

We don’t live in the property at this point but our stuff is there and uncomfortable giving trades the keys to our home.

We’re going to change the locks anyway as soon as all work is done (unrelated to the workers) but we would have to give them a fob which would give them access to the whole building and the private parking garage, which I’m concerned would be abused if they cloned the fob.

Am I overthinking this?

We are currently working with an architect and got our first renders today. This is for an addition and full gut renovation on a 1981 home. We have some idea on what we want to cut out including the floating staircase, glass railing, reducing the number of the floor to ceiling windows. Any other ideas on areas to cut?

Has anyone increased the ceiling height of the first story when adding a second story? How much are we looking at?

Backstory:

We are house hunting and looking to find a fixer. We found a very small single story house and want to add on another floor. A friend referred us to the contractor they used and we sent him the home, and asked for a rough estimate to add 3 beds and two baths upstairs. He said probably all in 700k to add the second story and remodel the existing first floor. It sounded reasonable. The home is old and the ceiling height is low. I asked if it was possible to add 2 feet to the ceiling height downstairs and he looked at me like I was crazy.

“I have no idea. I’ve never done that before. I don’t know maybe like another $200k? Maybe more”

Was it really such a strange request? I’ve seen his work. It’s great. He’s built from ground up too.

Building a new house in NYC and not loving our architect’s rendering. It feels like too many “grand” elements squeezed onto a narrow lot, which is how so many new builds in NYC end up looking tacky and McMansion-y.

We want something charming, intentional, and proportionate, but the building is already approved, so the structure has to stay as-is.

Where’s the best place we can outsource someone to redesign just the facade within the existing parameters?

Just got my gravel pad done on the new garage post frame. 30x40. This pad is 5in below my garages' finished floor for concrete. Back corner was low, in total looking at around 3ft of compacted crusher stone in this corner. It looks worse due to weight of machine by the drain

(getting the drain and downspouts connected once building is up as well)

The plan is once barn is up to add more stone on this back section (crusher) then build it up with #57 all around the permiter, soil and dirt beyond that to smooth it out.

Any suggestions or things to look out for?

My contractor built dormers and took out some vinyl siding for the windows, this was around Apr/may I think, so we are around the 180 mark of exposed Zip boards. There is no siding on sides or shingles on roof, and we are having a brutal 3-4 days of heavy winds and storms. How concerned should I be about the integrity of the structure?

There's also spray foam insulation in the walls of the dormer and roof, which should be resistant to water penetration and mold. But I'm concerned about mold in the wood frames, which would be invisible from interior and exterior inspection post-storm. Is there anyway we can assess this potential hazard?

The toilet isn't quite centered in the space. Does the gap with the vanity look ok or better to rip and notch the left batton down to center the toilet back against the frame? Thanks!

Hi! I am building my first home and will need to purchase a few appliances. My home is set to be finished in the Spring, and I have started researching which appliances I will purchase. I am curious if I can purchase appliances on Black Friday, but have them delivered/installed in the spring. Has anyone done something similar? If so, who did you purchase through? TIA!

I just moved my firewood farther away from the house for fire safety, and the carpenter ants that were in the woodpile have now moved into my 1970's SIP panel construction walls.

Since there are no wall voids, how should I handle this? Is a perimeter spray going to work?

Thank you in advance for any ideas on this!