My husband and I have bought already built houses before, and it is always a hard yet exciting decision. When we decided to build a house, it was a totally new experience.
We wanted our house fast. We realized that we were not getting younger and our kids were growing up fast. We wanted to be able to enjoy our new home before they flew out of the nest. Our new house needed to be built fast, so after looking at our options, we decided to buy a manufactured house.
A manufactured house is still built to your specifications, but it is built in a factory inside a building under controlled climate. I liked this because our house was not going to be rained on as it was built, yet we could make it the way we wanted. Because of this, a house is also built fast.
We visited our house several times as it was being built, so we saw it from the time it was just sticks to the time it was finished. The workers were always comfortable as they put the house together, so I figured they may make a better built house.
We decided to be our own contractor in the building of our house to keep our expenses down. That meant we had to decide where to build and what was the next step in the process. First, we hired a bulldozer to prepare the land and help us decide where the house should go. It was fun to watch the fellow push dirt around and I asked him if he enjoyed his job. He said “it is like any other job, you get tired of it.”
We needed to put in a well and septic tank. The well was easier then the septic. There are so many laws that you must follow when you put in a septic tank because of the environmental impact that a septic tank can cause. We found it overwhelming, but the man we hired to put it in was very helpful. We put in a mound system that must be pumped out every two years.
We hired a concrete company to put up the basement, and when that was done and the house was finished, they put the house on top of the foundation. Now we had a house, but still needed to hook up the plumbing and electricity, so we hired to have that done.
The hardest part about building a house was following all the laws. But we asked questions and trusted our work men to know what was needed. It is also important to hire people who do a good job, so ask around and find out who is good in your area.
We were able to build our house in three months, and we have lived in it for 14 years now. It is not new anymore, but it still feels new to us. Building our own home was a good experience for us, and it really makes a home feel like it is yours since you build it as you like it.
