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The Pretty Good House

prettygoodhouse.org

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Re: The Pretty Good House

#51

Post by simonebrunozzi »

carabiner wrote: post #11

I'm looking at building a home as a first time home owner in the next few years. One thing I'm wondering is how many headaches can I avoid if I just choose an expensive builder and not try to haggle or save a buck at every turn? I just want a 2-bedroom, 1,000 sq ft bungalow and am willing to pay 60-70% more than the average $/sqft in my city if they do a good job. I'd rather have a nice small place rather than a huge…

Invest 40-50 hours of your time, and do the following:

1) interview 5-6 contractors/builders; then, go look at 2-3 houses that they finished - you pick them, don't let them pick. Try to observe bad issues - here's a funny video about "snagging" [0].

2) pick one. Ask a lawyer to draw a contract and have them sign it. The lawyer should be experienced in construction contracts. A good contractor/builder will be comfortable signing a fair contract.

3) find a friend (architect, civil engineer) who will, for a modest amount, be your sounding board, and help you through the various phases of the project.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqdRiBF9HLQ

Re: The Pretty Good House

#52

Post by Keyframe »

carabiner wrote: post #11

I'm looking at building a home as a first time home owner in the next few years. One thing I'm wondering is how many headaches can I avoid if I just choose an expensive builder and not try to haggle or save a buck at every turn? I just want a 2-bedroom, 1,000 sq ft bungalow and am willing to pay 60-70% more than the average $/sqft in my city if they do a good job. I'd rather have a nice small place rather than a huge…

Not sure where you are, but prefabs, especially panelized ones are popular choice recent years in europe. Customizable layouts, fast to build, affordable, great on energy consumption, better in earthquakes etc. Downsides would be that foundations and roof are built the same as traditional build, have to be careful what you nail through the walls (US people will be familiar with it since drywalls..), and statics-wise it's what you build initially (so if you want more floors, do it initially) and that's it whereas with traditional brick and mortar you can usually (usually provisioned) build another floor.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#53

Post by bboygravity »

tibbon wrote: post #46
galenko wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. That’s still a lottery and you are basically saying I’m paying more, so I expect a better service. This does not guarantee results. At all. What you want is a third party. Someone who understands the trade and the codes and will check in on the building site daily and will make sure everything is being done correctly. And if it’s not, will stop work and put everyone in their place. I frankly have no idea what the…

A good architect will be this third party and hold the GC's feet to the fire. The GC might not care about you and repeat business, but they will likely care a lot more about keeping a good architect & firm happier with a decent reputation. Plus, the architect is used to helping this process.

I thought architects are designers who are not experts on the technical details of things like constructions (strength, earthquake proofness, wind proofing), heating/cooling, humidity issues, electrical installation building codes, proper tubing, insulation materials, sound proofing etc.

That's the experience / knowledge I'd want to hire for oversight.

I don't see how a designer is the best person for that but then maybe my idea about architects mostly being desk-bound designers focused on estatics is totally wrong?

Re: The Pretty Good House

#54

Post by danans »

carabiner wrote: post #11

I'm looking at building a home as a first time home owner in the next few years. One thing I'm wondering is how many headaches can I avoid if I just choose an expensive builder and not try to haggle or save a buck at every turn? I just want a 2-bedroom, 1,000 sq ft bungalow and am willing to pay 60-70% more than the average $/sqft in my city if they do a good job. I'd rather have a nice small place rather than a huge…

> Can I just throw more money at the problem so that I'm less stressed and offload more decisions to the builders?

The most important (and often stressful) decisions you will have to make are ones that the contractor can't make for you.

Like: do you want an airtight house? do you want a 30 year or 100 year roof? do you want high indoor air quality?

These are as much about personal priorities as they are about money.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#56

Post by nextos »

carabiner wrote: post #44
nextos wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not trying a high-end factory-made house, such as https://www.huf-haus.com/en-uk In a nutshell, they are manufactured into standard components and assembled onsite. The number of defects is small. The level of quality is incredibly better than what most builders can produce. They are not cheap, though. There are several alternative manufacturers. They are a great option for a bungalow.

Looks cool, wish they were in the US. Here we have "kit homes," like this First Day Cottage that I really like: https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/sibihx/first_d... The company that makes the plans is http://www.firstdaycottage.com/

Huf Haus is just an example, there are several alternatives in the EU.

I'm not familiar with the American market, but I'm willing to bet there are some similar options.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#57

Post by reef84_ »

bboygravity wrote: post #53
tibbon wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good architect will be this third party and hold the GC's feet to the fire. The GC might not care about you and repeat business, but they will likely care a lot more about keeping a good architect & firm happier with a decent reputation. Plus, the architect is used to helping this process.

I thought architects are designers who are not experts on the technical details of things like constructions (strength, earthquake proofness, wind proofing), heating/cooling, humidity issues, electrical installation building codes, proper tubing, insulation materials, sound proofing etc. That's the experience / knowledge I'd want to hire for oversight. I don't see how a designer is the best person for that but then m…

No, architects are the ones who know. Source - construction oversight guy.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#58

Post by trgn »

georgeoliver wrote: post #49
trgn wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's great. Sidetracking a little, I wish someone(s) could develop a complementary vision for the urban context. This escape to the woods ethos does not scale. Yet, it's the only one that - at least in my impression - has crystalized in some truly homely aspirational bitesize aesthetics, that seems in reach, if only one would just commit. The closest thing I can think of was maybe "the loft", you know, think 80s cool…

It's happening with DADUs (detached living units), with one critical issue -- they're way too expensive for the average person. I'm curious what the distribution of DADUs are nationwide with respect to cost of living.

Actually really true. They do seem to have a ton of momentum. Can really capture the imagination if well done.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#59

Post by lukewrites »

carabiner wrote: post #44
nextos wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not trying a high-end factory-made house, such as https://www.huf-haus.com/en-uk In a nutshell, they are manufactured into standard components and assembled onsite. The number of defects is small. The level of quality is incredibly better than what most builders can produce. They are not cheap, though. There are several alternative manufacturers. They are a great option for a bungalow.

Looks cool, wish they were in the US. Here we have "kit homes," like this First Day Cottage that I really like: https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/sibihx/first_d... The company that makes the plans is http://www.firstdaycottage.com/

I think Dvele (http://dvele.com) is one option in the US for this. I'd love to hear about others. They build in SD and ship in the lower 48 afaik. Would love to hear other options. Our budget to expand and my opinion of gc's after hearing an unending litany of horror stories are at the point that I'd be quite glad to pay a premium for a known, factory-made product.
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