How to Build a House

Back in 1995 I decided to build my own home. I had several friends that had done the same thing and they taught me what I needed to know. Since then, I've realized how much of an advantage I have over others who have paid for construction labor costs. I moved into my home with over 60% equity.

I started out by drawing up a simple plan on grid paper. This helped me keep my measurements to scale. After getting the necessary permits, I dug the foundation and put the cement forms in and poured the foundation footer.

Once that dried, I poured the foundation walls. The next step was the floor joists and then the plywood floor. I started on the exterior walls and framed in the window and door rough openings.

I framed in the interior walls and put in a lot of the electrical and plumbing lines while the walls were still exposed. I then started on the stairs and the second floor. Once the second floor was finished, I put the roof on and enclosed the sides of the house.

I put metal on the roof and put in all the windows and doors to keep the rain and snow out while I worked on the inside of the house.

When the weather was nice, I put on the vinyl siding and trim to protect the outside of the house from the elements.

I had to pass a building, electrical, and plumbing inspection before I put the sheetrock on the walls.

After that were completed, I hung the sheetrock and taped up the seams with joint compound. I textured the walls with compound for the last layer.

I started to put on the interior doors and all the trim necessary for the finish work. I put in all the electrical appliances and fixtures. I finished the plumbing and installed all the plumbing components.

We built the kitchen cabinets and installed them. They were the most difficult and expensive part of the house building process.

The carpet and wood floors were the last things to finish. Once all that had been done, we needed a final inspection from all the inspectors and an inspector from the bank to approve everything.

Once everything was approved, we received the occupancy permit and moved in.

We had used cash for all the materials we could afford, but we still had to use credit cards to finish most of it. After the home was finished, we consolidated all of the credit cards into a low interest mortgage home loan.

The total cost of materials for the home was $60,000. The appraised value of the home when it was finished was $140,000.

We moved into our home with a lot of equity and really low payments because of doing all our own labor.

Read more on www.make-my-own-house.com