Have you ever wanted to know what it would be like to construct your own home? I am speaking of a ground up experience. An experience that would take you from start to finish. I was fortunate enough to be able to take on such a task. I say fortunate because there were many advantages of constructing your own home. I built my home in 1997 and still live in my creation. The preparation and planning was well worth the work and effort. Talk about rewarding! Let us take a look at some of the better aspects of constructing your own home.
One of the biggest advantages of constructing your own home is the money that you save. Labor cost can be one of the biggest expenses in any construction project. Being in the residential home construction industry for over 30 years my knowledge of home construction was the biggest asset I had. I done every part of the construction phase that I could. I managed to do my own electrical, plumbing, framing and finish work. I could accomplish this because of the hands on training and the knowledge I obtained over the years.
I contracted out some of the work that I was less capable of preforming. A brick mason was hired because of the efficiency of someone who does this for a living has. It would take him and his crew at lot less time to do what would take me forever to accomplish. Not to mention the materials that would be wasted when I would try masonry work. The same was also true when it came to sheetrock work. A messy and tough job better left to the person more suited for the job than myself. I also contracted out my HVAC work. The main reason this was done was for the warranty that came with the ac/heat unit that would be installed.
Another big advantage of doing your own construction is the care that you would take when it comes to your own house. When a contractor gives you a contract on your home he will give you what is known as a lock and key price which is the price it would cost you to have your home completely finished. The only thing with this type of price the contactor will give you a certain allowance of money on certain aspects such as your flooring, plumbing and lighting fixtures, and an allowance on things such as your cabinets. This compares much to buying a car and adding accessories. When you do your own construction you are in control of this. You can do your budgeting according to the things that are more important and appealing to you. Many people are not able to accomplish this huge of a task. It is a great accomplishment in life if you are fortunate enough to experience a home construction project as I was.
