6 Essential Steps to Building Your Home the Right Way
Building your home from the ground up can be an interesting and exciting experience and create a new type of appreciation you will have for your home.
01/05/2019
Buying a house is a process many people still don’t understand today. It is important to keep in mind the possible ways to own a home. Building your home from the ground up can be an interesting and exciting experience and create a new type of appreciation you will have for your home. You get the things you truly want and by installing everything yourself you know how your house truly works.
Many homeowners would love to watch the home come together from beginning to end and seeing the end outcome is rewarding. You are getting the chance to design every little thing yourself and tailor the home to your family’s needs and wants.
There are pros and cons to taking on the responsibility of putting an entire home together. By being your own contractor you heighten the chance of saving a lot of money. The costs of hiring a contractor can be expensive when added to the cost of the home. It can be extremely easy to take on more than you can handle. Hiring a contractor can be good if you need assistance or to minimize time, but it will come at a big cost. The possibility of having a defect with soil or any other foundation issues is prominent. Pay attention to what your inspector tells you throughout the process to avoid building defects.
1. Prepare the site and foundation
Deciding the lot and your home’s style and size is the initial step to building your own home. Once you’ve come to an agreement with what kind of home you want to build, its time to start clearing the land. Bulldozers and backhoes are used to help clear trees and brush to make room for the house’s foundation. You may need to rent trucks and other vehicles to get the job done properly.
At this moment in the process, you must dig your basement if it something that you want as an addition to your home. Factoring in things like attics and greenhouses are important at this point in the process as well to make sure the land is cleared correctly.
Consider the water flow of the site and make sure there aren’t any alteration needed. Start the footing of the home when you’re ready to begin the foundation. Cement and steel rods are often used when stabilizing the home. Waterproofing the foundation is important to keep groundwater from ruining the home. The next step only beings after your lot has been inspected for safety.
2. Framing, Siding, and Roofing
The woodwork required for the framing of your home should be carefully done. The framework can be done quickly but it must be done correctly. Make sure you or your professional team is building the walls, floor, windows, and roof as you wanted and as it is supposed to be.
The sheathing is the next step as you finish putting up plywood for your frame. To make sure your home is free from mold and rot in the future, wrap the sheathing in a protective barrier properly. The barrier prevents water from entering the structure of your home and ruining your frame and foundation.
3. Electrical and Plumbing
Once you’ve finished the exterior portion of your home, turn to HVAC workers, electricians, plumbers, and masons to get the details of a working house completed properly. You can oversee this process, or if you have the experience, you can save money and complete this portion yourself.
This part of the building process makes the interior portion of the house protected and shielded from outside conditions and weather. This will require the most outside contract work and inspections. Every portion of interior work completed must be signed off by an inspector to make sure that all plumbing and electrical work is up to par with the latest local and county regulations.
4. Insulation
There are different types of insulation and whichever one you pick doesn’t matter. This is one of the most important steps to keeping your household protected from outside weather and temperature. The type you may use depends on your budget and what the usual climate is where you live. Every exterior wall, attics, and basements must be filled with insulation. The common types of insulation used are:
● Fiberglass
● Concrete blocks
● Spray Foam
● Cellulose
● Structural
panels
● Foam board or rigid foam
● Foam
mineral wool
5. Drywall and Finish
Drywall is the messiest part of building a home. It is important to install after finalizing all insulation. It is hung with nails and taped to the wall to create the interior look to your home. Once this step is finished the paint is ready to be applied. This is definitely the time for your family to get involved.
Next, you apply the doors, window sills, stairs, and baseboards, which are called the interior trim and all cabinets and countertops are placed in their designated spots. Install the flooring and you’ll be ready to finish up your new home.
6. Exterior work
Exterior work is what you call the driveway and walkway. This step is usually done last due to the machinery needed for the delivery of drywall and other building tools that can damage the concrete you placed for your driveway. Any other final landscaping will be completed in this step, along with exterior work like getters, shutters, etc.