How to Build a House
One of the first things you do when you are going to build a house is determine the location you wish to build it in. For that one the builder will typically scour the countryside looking for land to put the house on. Eventually you will find some land in the country, or a lot in a neighborhood where you can begin your quest to build a house. A typical lot in a decent neighborhood will cost you anywhere from thirty thousand dollars to about fifty thousand dollars. However, in very desirable areas these plots of land will cost much more.
After finally finding the location in which you want to build your house you are ready to begin the entire task. You will need to have a set of plans for the house of which you wish to build. Plans can be found from certain architects for prices around four-hundred to six-hundred dollars. Typically these plans will already be engineered and ready to go, however, if they are not engineered it is generally a good idea to go ahead and have them professionally engineered. Now it is time to begin estimating costs and getting quotes from sub-contractors. This way if you are building the house to sell you will know the price you need to set your house in order to make a profit. After you have determined which house plan you will build on the lot you are going to purchase, it is very important to go ahead and get a loan for the monetary means with which to build the house. It is cheaper to use your own money to build the house because then there will be no interest payments, but in the event your company lacks the funds to do this, you will need to take a loan from the bank. After you have secured a loan and such, you will need to take your plans to the county you are building the house in and have them approved. Throughout the process you will need to attain permits for various parts of your construction. Once you have determined everything and purchased the proper permits, it is time to begin the manual labor.
The very first thing that will take place is the clearing of the lot. If there are trees and other things in the way you will need to clear them out before you can begin any construction at all. Once the lot has been cleared you will need to dig a footing. Once the footing is dug you pour concrete into the area and the footing is what you will set your foundation on. Foundations are always brick and in the event that the house will be on a crawl space, it will have vents every few feet to keep the crawl space well ventilated. A crawl space is the foundation for the entire house. Here in Charlotte crawl spaces are the most popular form of construction. This is to say, there is space under the house in which you are able to crawl around. That means all of the instruments of the house, such as the plumbing and HVAC components are going to be under your house. This makes it easier to repair in the event that something becomes damaged or malfunctions. These are the first steps in building a house, and also some of the most important.
After these steps are complete, it is time to finally get the actual house part going. This is the part where everyone can begin to recognize exactly what the house will look like. That is to say, the framing. This is the main part of the house and the largest step in building a house. It can typically take anywhere from three to four weeks to simply complete this step. This is also one of the costliest steps. During this step you must rely on your workers to show up and the weather to cooperate for you to be able to complete it in due time. Natural disasters are always a concern during this step because the cost of wood will fluctuate depending on disasters. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast it affected more than just that region. Katrina caused building costs to spike due to the amount of forests and tree fields that were simply decimated. Many people fail to see events such as that as affecting the price of a house, but it plays a very large role.
Watching the framing take place is one of the most exciting parts of the entire building process. Throughout this process the house really begins to take shape. You are able to finally recognize the fruits of your labor as you can begin to see exactly what the house will look like. Most people enjoy this step most because you can finally see the house coming together.
After this step a lot of indoor construction takes place. Not many people can fully follow what is going on after this point unless you are on the jobsite very seldom. This is because if you are on the jobsite every single day you will believe that not much has changed since the following day. The more you are there, the less things seem to change. Things do not change very fast at all once the house has been built up with walls. Now things such as plumbing, electrical, and HVAC rough-ins go in place. Rough-ins are all the wires, pipes, and ducts that are inside of the walls that the common homeowner will never see. So the sub-contractors for plumbing, electrical, and HVAC rough-in their wires and pipes to come in later after the drywall has been installed, and complete their job. After everything that goes inside of the walls is in place it is time to hang the drywall and close in the rooms. This has a drastic effect on the house, as now you are fully able to see what the finished house will look like. This process should only take around a week and will have a huge impact on the appearance of the house. During all of this time the person constructing the house will have things on the outside done, such as windows being set, having the brick or vinyl placed on the house, and things such as the septic tank being installed. Once the sheetrock has been placed and the walls are in place it is time to install any hardwood or tile flooring you may have in the house, and time to put the cabinets in place. It is also a good idea to go ahead and set bath tubs and the such. It is also time to have the trim installed in the house, things such as mantles over the fireplaces and any other trim throughout the house.
After all of this work is completed, the house is getting closer to completion. Things such as the driveway and sidewalks can be poured, along with any work left to do outside, such as screened porches, and decks. With the trim and sheetrock in place inside it is time to begin painting the house. This is a process that takes a very long time. First a primer coat will be put on the walls and ceilings so that the painters can come back at a later time and finish the house. The countertops are also typically installed during this stage of the house, along with the electrical fixtures and appliances. All of the toilets and sinks are also set throughout the bathrooms during this stage. Once all of these things are in place the painters will come back and finish up painting the house.
With the house nearing completion it is finally time to wrap some things up. Once a house is nearing finish a lot of loose ends need to be tied up. Things like handrails, crawl space doors, just random things that are left untied at the end. The landscaping is typically done the week leading up to closing the house to whoever is purchasing it.
This is not a fool-proof guide to building a house, so please do not follow it that way. This is simply a guide to learning some information on the process that goes into building a house. There are many smaller things that have been generalized in this explanation, but this is a very basic gist of how to build a house. Hopefully this paper has shed some light for the reader about how to go about building a house.
