Custom home build

[Winston Havelock]

For anyone who’s been through this process before or has any expertise in this area, please bestow thy knowledge upon me.

Anything you learned or wished you had/hadn’t done on your home? Anything you wish you had included or thought of? What are some things you would make sure to do/include now if you were building another new home?

We’re in the early stages of planning and any advise or insight anyone could share would be much appreciated. Also any builder recommendations would be great. Will be in the Chickasha area.

 

[The Duke]

Take lots of daily pictures so you can confirm workmanship is correct or you have evidence if things aren’t done properly.

 

[SquinkY5786]

Basically. You will have thing you wished you have done when it’s finished. Always are. You think you have it perfect. Also, you may say oh we will finish this or add this later on. You will never do it. Build it like you want it now. Because you will never finish the plans later on. Unless this is a starter home. Also don’t skimp on carpet. I’m 5 years in and the kids had worn the carpet to nothing in their rooms

 

[okstate_1]

We general contracted our house last year ourselves. It was a great, challenging, nerve racking experience. Every decision always comes down to the mighty dollar. Whatever you want done will be dependent on where your budget is. (Obviously) also my wife and I searched and sent each other houses, styles, etc. To each other to see what we liked. Also it showed us how close or apart we were on what we wanted out of a house.

My advice put money into the areas you deem the most important. Kitchen, floors, technology, whatever. We spent more on the kitchen, windows(we live on a lake), technology (we have lutron smart light switches).

I know you are in Oklahoma(I live in MN) but I would add in floor radiant heating. It is a little more expensive on the front end but in the long run it will save on heating costs in the winter. I would also do spray foam insulation.

There are lots of things to do, but the house is yours to build. Build the best house you can afford. Also you can go to https://www.houzz.com/
There you can search for anything house related and get some great ideas and advice.

Oh the most important advice we received"building a house will test your marriage"

Good luck and let me know if there is anything else I can answer. I'm assuming we have to have some custom home builders on this site. So hopefully they can chime in.

 

[Winston Havelock]

Basically. You will have thing you wished you have done when it’s finished. Always are. You think you have it perfect. Also, you may say oh we will finish this or add this later on. You will never do it. Build it like you want it now. Because you will never finish the plans later on. Unless this is a starter home. Also don’t skimp on carpet. I’m 5 years in and the kids had worn the carpet to nothing in their rooms

Have had several people say the same thing and I can see the truth in that just from when we remodeled our current house before moving in. None of the things we planned to do later on were ever done

 

[Winston Havelock]

We general contracted our house last year ourselves. It was a great, challenging, nerve racking experience. Every decision always comes down to the mighty dollar. Whatever you want done will be dependent on where your budget is. (Obviously) also my wife and I searched and sent each other houses, styles, etc. To each other to see what we liked. Also it showed us how close or apart we were on what we wanted out of a house.

My advice put money into the areas you deem the most important. Kitchen, floors, technology, whatever. We spent more on the kitchen, windows(we live on a lake), technology (we have lutron smart light switches).

I know you are in Oklahoma(I live in MN) but I would add in floor radiant heating. It is a little more expensive on the front end but in the long run it will save on heating costs in the winter. I would also do spray foam insulation.

There are lots of things to do, but the house is yours to build. Build the best house you can afford. Also you can go to https://www.houzz.com/
There you can search for anything house related and get some great ideas and advice.

Oh the most important advice we received"building a house will test your marriage"

Good luck and let me know if there is anything else I can answer. I'm assuming we have to have some custom home builders on this site. So hopefully they can chime in.

Great info thank you. Definitely doing the spray foam insulation and looking into the floor radiant heating.

 

[cowboyclint25]

We just got our plans back from the architect, doing a walkout basement and considering general contracting it ourselves.

Any recommendations on Windows? NE Okla.

 

[tcpoke]

We just got our plans back from the architect, doing a walkout basement and considering general contracting it ourselves.

Any recommendations on Windows? NE Okla.

Speaking from experience, do not skimp on your basement construction. In fact, budget 15-25% more. Basements are tough. Much easier in NE Oklahoma (I have two homes with basements in them, Bixby area and Grand Lake) than they are in the rest of the state...but just know if you are in the house long enough you will have issues.

 

[purkey]

We just got our plans back from the architect, doing a walkout basement and considering general contracting it ourselves.

Any recommendations on Windows? NE Okla.

a walkout basement can be a great idea or a bad one. Many appraisers don't know the difference between a walkout basement, a basement, or a split level house. So, if it's below grade, which a walkout is, then it may not be considered actual living space and won't be included in the square footage of the house. The good thing is your taxes will be cheaper because whatever sq footage you've got down there won't be included in sq footage. I have a walkout basement, but found the right appraiser who included it in the livable footage. You can't tell any difference in the walkout basement area and the upstairs as far as condition...they are both the same so it's not looking like some kind of a basement. Have had the house appraised several times and he was the only one who ever included it and he's supposed to be the best in okc. I call a walkout basement a split level house but they don't do that anymore...the realtors came up with a new term.

 

[Winston Havelock]

Had a builder today recommend against the spray foam. Said in this area it does not create enough savings to justify the cost. Any body have any experience with that?

 

[SquinkY5786]

(I have two homes with basements in them, Bixby area and Grand Lake)

 

[SquinkY5786]

I have built 2 different houses. One in 2012 and 2014. I had a buddy build one in 2014 and 2017 and I was floored how much more it cost in 2017. It appeared that lumber really went up between 2014 and 2017. Supposedly it had to do with the fires in california and Oregon or Washington.

 

[osuja]

You need a banker in the Chickasha area?

 

[Winston Havelock]

You need a banker in the Chickasha area?

Only if he runs the fanciest red angus cattle this side of the Mississippi and his office smells of rich mahogany.

 

[osuja]

I thought that was you. Love ya bigboy.

 

[SquinkY5786]

Also don’t forget to keep all the specs and model numbers of paint, windows, and replacement parts for basically anything on the house

 

[OSUIvan]

Had a builder today recommend against the spray foam. Said in this area it does not create enough savings to justify the cost. Any body have any experience with that?

That is not the first time I have heard that around here.

 

[Dally1up]

Basements suck. Over time water will penetrate.

Few little things.

Things like choosing door knobs, cabinet knobs, drawer pulls, etc can be hitting your nut sack with a hammer. I advise going through parade of homes, open houses, etc and settle with your wife/family on an agreed style. Many homes are open while in construction phase and you can actually see the boxes of the fixtures, knobs, etc. Most can be found on build.com.

Keep a notebook and take pictures as you walk through open houses. Paint colors, stain colors, etc should be agreed upon with the wife as you do this. Again, as you can tell, agreeing is key and what better place to do this then when you are looking directly at something. The more decisions you get out of the way early the less stress you will have.

 

[BigBobBarker]

@dacowboy54
You have to do the spray foam. It is well worth it. Keeps the AC units off and the attic a workable temperature all year. My father in law builds in chickasha and Norman and he built our home in Chickasha.

 

[Winston Havelock]

@dacowboy54
You have to do the spray foam. It is well worth it. Keeps the AC units off and the attic a workable temperature all year. My father in law builds in chickasha and Norman and he built our home in Chickasha.

That’s what we’ve decided to do. Everyone I’ve talked to that has it has highly recommended it.

On a side note, price of lumber is brutal right now. Lumbar yard said up 52% since March

 

[Cowpoke]

As a crippled dude that will end up more so as I get older things I've decided I want, and IMO help it be more marketable when selling to older folks.

1. All electrical outlets at least 2 foot off the ground to keep from having to bend over as far, also helps when trying to reach behind furniture.
2. All interior doors be wide enough for wheelchair/scooters. Many standard interior doorways are not wide enough for wheel chairs.
3. An interior main water shutoff for the whole house. Maybe this is pretty standard nowadays.
4. The side of my house with the AC would have an extended concrete pad for parking utility trailers/rv's etc that you don't want in your drive. Also dont have to clean grass off the AC from mowing.
5. WC accessible walk in shower and enough wiggle room in bathrooms for a WC.
6. PLENTY of light fixtures and electrical outlets in the garage. I tinker a lot and it routinely pisses me off how few outlets and light fixtures are in it.

 

[OSUIvan]

it amazes me that there is ONE light and ONE outlet in garages

 

[Cowpoke]

it amazes me that there is ONE light and ONE outlet in garages

I have 2 lights and 3 outlets and it isn't enough.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

We just got our plans back from the architect, doing a walkout basement and considering general contracting it ourselves.

Any recommendations on Windows? NE Okla.

Burnett

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

A walkout basement is quite a bit different from a more traditional basement.

 

[themark254]

On a side note, price of lumber is brutal right now. Lumbar yard said up 52% since March

It keeps going up with no end in sight. I have a rail car of studs coming that was ordered at the end of June. It’s half the price of the current market cost.

 

[SquinkY5786]

It keeps going up with no end in sight. I have a rail car of studs coming that was ordered at the end of June. It’s half the price of the current market cost.

So what’s fueling lumber costs? Man I’m glad I build mine in 2014 before it got crazy

 

[Pokes15]

I would assume simple supply & demand is fueling the higher prices. Mills probably shut down during all the Covid bullshit, people kept building during the pandemic, depleted inventory now mills are having to play catch-up.

 

[themark254]

I would assume simple supply & demand is fueling the higher prices. Mills probably shut down during all the Covid bullshit, people kept building during the pandemic, depleted inventory now mills are having to play catch-up.

nailed it. Also some fvckery with the Canadian government and their logging.

 

[biocowboy]

nailed it. Also some fvckery with the Canadian government and their logging.

I am building a rental duplex.my lumber guy said 20-50% price hike so I took the delivery 2 months early and stacked and covered it on the build site.i will save thousands doing that.

He told me the mills wanted a higher price to mill the lumber when they restarted after covid.i guess the loggers said f u and came and got their logs they had stacked.

 

[sbaPoke]

Supply and Demand issues for sure. There’s also a 20% tariff on Canadian lumber still in place.