Home improvement

New home construction is often a better option than buying an existing home. Getting your dream home constructed is the best way to fulfill your specific residential needs. There are several benefits of getting a new home built, such as energy efficiency, modern decor, latest appliances, customized design and cost effective construction. However, you should consider a few things before you actually get your home constructed, such as:

1. Select a reliable builder with an excellent track record.

2. Select the design and layout for the home after proper consideration.

3. Don’t forget to check with the builder during each construction phase.

4. Remember to keep a check on the amount of money being spent.

5. Try to time box the whole process.

According to official reports on residential construction trends in the metropolitan regions of America, the number of residential units constructed annually, between the years 2001 and 2005, grew substantially across all regions. However, a sharp decline in the construction of residential units was observed between 2006 and 2007. The decline rate was higher in single family units than in multifamily units.

Three Popular Reasons for Opting for New Home Construction

Here are top three reasons that have made new home construction the preferred option:

Tailored Design

You can decide on the design depending on your particular requirements and tastes, such as a spacious home office to conduct business, an extra bedroom for guests, a gourmet kitchen, choice of flooring, etc. Also, if you take well thought out decisions during the building process, you will not need to redecorate your home for a long time. Building your own home also ensures that your home is constructed according to your life style and other functional needs.

Modern Facilities and Energy Efficiency

In case you opt to buy a preexisting home, you may have to face several problems, such as lack of adequate insulation, inefficient and obsolete appliances, leaky window panes and chipped tiles. New home construction enables you to install the latest, energy efficient materials, such as energy saving appliances, advanced energy saving windows and high R-value insulation. These energy efficient appliances help to reduce electricity consumption and result in long-term savings.

Superior Quality Workmanship

Hiring the services of reliable and experienced home builders eliminates concerns that are otherwise associated with buying a preexisting home. Further, the superior quality of workmanship ensures that the job gets done in the best possible manner.

By: Melville Jackson

Instead of purchasing a home, many consumers are opting for new home construction. Unlike buying someone else’s home, these homes are especially created for the homeowner. This guarantees that the individual will love their home. In addition, having a new home constructed may benefit the individual in numerous ways. The style, quality, and designs of these homes are impeccable.

Construction is not as costly as many would be homeowners may believe. As a matter of fact, it may be possible to have a home constructed for the same price in which you were to buy one! This is especially true for those that may own land. Home prices have soared and for some it may be more economical to have a home construction company build their dream home.

There are a variety of Construction companies to choose from. Many have show rooms and may allow you to make changes to floor plans. However, not all home construction contractors operate in this way. Several of these contractors may build your new home directly from your blue prints. This will require that you either purchase or create blue prints of your own.

Before hiring a contractor to construct a new home, it is important to make sure that they posses necessary credentials. This usually includes all building permits, licensure, and insurance. A good contractor will be more than willing to show proof of these things. One should not enter into a contract or pay until they have examined these items.

The consumer has many options when it comes to building their home. Home construction can be an affordable way to have the home you have always wanted. As with purchasing a home, there are many finance options available. Many are very similar to traditional mortgages. Be sure to shop around to get the best deal on your new home construction.

By: Carol Tarnowski

This “New Home Construction Checklist” is made to help you through the step-by-step process of building your dream house. If you’re doing this for the first time, it has to be confusing and frustrating. I’ve tried to simplify as much as possible.

NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION CHECKLIST

Find the right lot to build on. Check the neighborhood, as well as the proximity to transportation and town conveniences. Get pre-approved by your lending institution. Now you know how much you can spend. Hire an architect. Review the services included in his/her fee. Review your wish list to make sure that every item you want is indicated on the construction documents. Anything the architect is not doing, relative to permits and building department requirements, you should start looking into what you have to do. Go to the building department and ask. Once the architect completes construction documents, and you approve them, start the process of getting permits. Often, the contractor will do this, but it might pay for you to do it yourself. Hire any services not included by the architect (i.e. surveyor, builder, etc.) Select a builder, determine schedules, and finalize pricing. This might result in a few minor changes to the design or construction specifications. The builder should be familiar with the local building department requirements and should arrange for all necessary inspections by the building department. Get your financing. Once you’ve finalized the plans and the costs, go to your lender with the information needed to complete the financing. Determine what (if anything) needs to be done by you before the building starts. This could include landscaping or layout issues, or building department processes. During construction, have weekly meetings at the site, to check progress and answer questions. Be available to the builder to answer questions between meetings. Make sure the payments are made on time (this is the grease that keeps the engine working smoothly). Think about landscaping options (I recommend doing the bare minimum initially). If you wait a few months, you will end up with a better landscape because you will have thought about it and seen other landscapes that give you ideas. Close the construction phase of the financing and finalize your mortgage. Get your Certificate of Occupancy and other closing documents from the building department &/or builder. Occupy the house and start decorating.

Best of Luck. This should be a fun process for you. Don’t let it cause unnecessary stress.

By: Charles Gueli

I titled this article “Part One” because there is much to be covered in the plumbing topic. Today let’s talk about the water supply lines that will go into your new home. We’ll begin with a product called Pex. It is rapidly replacing the use of copper for new home water lines.

Pex is the industry given name for a form of plastic plumbing lines for water supply in a new home. The correct name is cross-linked polyethylene. A special manufacturing process has created a durable plastic ideal for use in water supply lines. PEX tubing is made from a plastic created from molecules of high-density polyethylene that have been permanently linked together by a process called cross-linking. There have been attempts in the past to develop plastic lines and these have met with varying degrees of success or lack thereof.

This time they got it right.Here is what the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing had to say about Pex on their Toolbase.org website (see link below):

“In parallel layouts where supply lines are dedicated to one fixture, only two fittings are used. Labor costs can be lower than rigid piping system installations.

There is less heat loss from PEX than there is from metallic pipe. The small diameter tubing that can be used in parallel installations allows less water consumption waiting for delivery of the heated water.

Polyethylene has no VOCs and can be recycled.

Successfully used in Europe and the U.S. for over 30 years. Extensive testing and certification is conducted to assure durability and resistance to effects of high and low temperatures and chlorine.”

http://www.toolbase.org/pdf/techinv/pexhomerunplumbing_techspec.pdf

It is important to note that Pex is approved by all codes in the US. The plumbing industry is rapidly embracing it as it proving to be the far superior product.

In a typical installation when using copper, the supply lines are placed under and in the slab foundation. The problem with that is if you develop a leak under the slab, then you must jack hammer your floor to access the leak, if you can find it. Copper reacts with concrete and will corrode over time if in direct contact. Plumbers try to sleeve the copper where it passes through the foundation, but can’t always be sure that in the placement of the concrete that the sleeving wasn’t compromised.

Pex may be installed under the slab as well. Where it passes through the concrete it does not require a sleeve as it does not react with the concrete. We have found the better way to install is overhead. In our homes there are no water lines in the foundation. Consideration must be given to protection from freezing when installed in such a manner. This of course is no problem as our entire attic is insulated space since we apply our insulation to the underside of the roof (see my article, “Nothing Insulates Like Insulation”).

Another benefit to Pex is that usually we install, inside the home, a manifold that is easy to access. This allows you to turn off water to any fixture that you desire. If you need to make a repair to a faucet or install a new one, you simply turn the handle labeled for that fixture and the water is off.

The only downside to Pex that we see in the industry is that like anything new it requires training. Make sure your plumber is properly trained. The manufacturers of Pex send their field representatives to the plumbers and train them on its proper use and installation, using videos, technical documents and hands on demonstrations.

Here is a different water supply; 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4, 13:14.

In our next article we will look at other aspects of plumbing you new home.

Copyright ?2007

By: Ronnie Godfrey

If you are a home improvement contractor, you already know that the economy has directly impacted your business. You have probably felt the pinch in your bottom line profits. In the past, many home improvement contractors have relied on homebuilders to provide the majority of their business. With the housing market in a spiral, what has happened to contractors who relied exclusively on new home construction to keep their business viable? The truth is many have gone out of business or are struggling to stay afloat hoping the housing market will resurge.

Perhaps for the first time, many contractors are forced to reach out to a new type of customer – the homeowner. While contractors may be experts in their field, many have never had experience in creating a marketing or advertising campaign. The logical response is to buy advertising because they know little about marketing. However, unless your advertising efforts are targeted to your audience, meaning homeowners who want and can afford your services, you may be wasting money and not getting desired results.

The question becomes how do you buy home improvement advertising which will produce results? There are many publications who claim to specialize in home improvement advertising, but there are many variables which can affect their efficiency. The majority of these publications contain editorial content in the form of articles and tips which are often contributed by your competitors. Many of them also contain ads from non-home improvement businesses. The reader’s focus can be distracted by pizza coupons, dry cleaning, or oil change advertising, for example. While these publications may have a large distribution, they may never reach your target audience, especially if they are sent to apartments or homeowners not in your geographic or economic target market, or if they are placed in businesses counting on foot traffic.

What should you look for when choosing a venue for your home improvement advertising? Follow these tips for optimum results. Look for publications which:

target the top homes by value in the marketplace; provide a venue to showcase your best work through photographs and images of how a home could look; only have advertisers who specialize in home remodeling; and
give your direct contact information

By: C. Goebel

Many families dream about building a new home for many years before they actually do. It isn’t unheard of for families to research building a new home for a few years. It’s never too early to start thinking about what type of home you want to build; the earlier you begin your research the more you will know what you want in a home when the time comes to move forward.

Below are some tips on how to get started on your journey to building a new home:

One of the first steps to building a new home is to find land. It is highly recommended by many building professionals that you find your land first before you begin the design process. Your land could affect your overall design for your new home. For example, your land may influence how you position your new home and what views you are looking to maximize. Maximizing natural lighting is important for the energy efficiency of your new home. Also, your lot size can impact how big you can build your home, especially if you have a small lot with restrictions. If you decide to build a garage right away, where you position your garage depends on the layout of your land too. When it comes down to it, your land will play a significant role on how you design your home.

If you are looking to build a timber frame home, panelized home or any other prefab home the next step is to find a manufacturer. With so many types of building styles and manufacturers out there it can feel overwhelming. It is important to have multiple discussions and possibly make arrangements to see a sample home in person. There are many online tools today to help you establish a connection if you live far away from the manufacturer.

The next step is to start the design process. Many prefab manufacturers offer design services or you can work with an independent architect or designer. Once you have your land, starting the design process is one step closer to building your new home.

To help you figure out a timeline, you should allow at least a year from start to finish to build your new home. The design process can take as little as three months or as long as nine months, depending on the number of changes you make and the complexity of the design. The construction process can take anywhere on average between 9-12 months. Your timeline could be less or more depending on the size and complexity of your design. Also some methods of construction are a faster and more efficient way to build such as prefab homes that are manufactured in sections than shipped to your site and assembled.

By: Molly Gagnon

It’s not common to find damaged roof trusses when building a new house, but every once in a while you will run into a problem where a truss has been damaged or even destroyed. This could hold up the final buildings completion date if not taken care of, immediately.

Here’s a little advice from an experienced building and framing contractor. I cut one truss, while installing a stairwell for a two-story room addition and it held the job up for one month. The building inspector wouldn’t sign off the house framing or let me continue working on the project, until this truss was repaired and this required a correction from the structural engineer and the city building department. What a nightmare.

If you’re building a home and you notice that the roof trusses are damaged, before they have been unpackaged or used. You should contact the roof truss company immediately, to find out, what steps will be necessary to resolve the problem. Sometimes these problems can be solved simply and inexpensively, but you won’t know until you contact them for further instructions.

There are plenty of ways that these roof trusses can be repaired, even after they have been installed. So whatever you do, don’t panic, if these trusses have already been installed.

The best advice I can give you, for any wood truss roof repairs, would be to contact the manufacturer and get a professional to look at the damage as soon as possible. If they don’t respond in a timely manner, try to avoid using them in the future.

Unless you damaged the roof truss, they should be responsible. If you damaged the roof truss, you will need to accept responsibility and understand that you will be paying for these repairs.

By: Greg Vandenberge

Choosing a home builder is more complicated in challenging economic times. The weak new home construction industry raises concerns about the financial stability of builders who don’t have nearly as much business now as they had just a couple of years ago. Builders whose businesses were once thriving may be seriously struggling now.

When making plans to build a new home, one of the first tasks is to find a good builder. Choosing a home builder is a five step process involving developing a list of builder candidates, doing background checks, conducting interviews, checking references, and negotiating a contract. During your background check on a particular builder, you may find out that he has not built many homes in the past couple of years. Given the sagging economy and the slow pace of new home construction nationwide, that should not be too surprising. Before giving a builder further serious consideration, however, it is important to understand why his business has been slow or idle for an extended period of time and how well prepared he is to take on a new project – construction of your new home.

Besides all of the other criteria that factor into your decision to hire a builder, such as experience, reputation, court actions, overall financial health, the quality of his work, and personal style, consider how busy the builder has been recently. A builder for whom business has been very slow or whose construction company has been idle for a long while may not be in the best position to gear up for your project. If you are considering a builder who fits that description, you need to convince yourself that he can fully commit the required resources to your project through its completion. And, in addition, you’d like to have confidence that the builder will be around for some time afterward to service your warranty.

Advertisements and lists of home builders willing to build in the area where your land is located can be obtained from various print and online sources. The question then becomes: How many of those builders are actively building homes?

An online directory of home builders servicing my home county of Park County, Colorado, lists 23 different general contractors. According to data obtained from the Park County Building Department, however, only three of those builders applied for new home building permits in Park County in the last two-and-a-quarter years. Does the lack of activity for the other 20 builders reflect slow business conditions or something else? For a builder you’re considering, it’s worth investigating.

Lack of work for a builder could be a sign of any of these issues:

Lack of demand (That’s certainly a reasonable explanation if the builder is no worse off than his competitors.) Not competing effectively with other builders in the same geographic market Financial troubles in a tough economic environment Construction problems that have damaged his reputation Inability to hold onto subcontractors because he can’t offer them sustained work

Here are concerns you’ll want to address with the builder when you interview him:

Does the builder have the financial resources to carry him through your project? Can the builder assemble his crew and retain those subcontractors for the duration of the project? Will the builder be able to pay his subcontractors on time? (Make sure to get a lien release from each subcontractor who works on your home and from every major supplier.)

Besides the list of questions you ought to ask any candidate builder, if the business of a builder you’re considering hiring has been slow or idle, you will want to get credible answers to a few additional questions. While these are valid interview questions for any general contractor, they are targeted at a home builder for whom business has been slow in the last couple of years:

How long has it been since the builder completed his last home? How many homes has the builder constructed in the previous three years? In the previous two years? Last year? In each of the past three years, how many homes has the builder constructed in the area where you want to build? How active is the builder in neighboring towns and counties? How has the builder maintained his relationships with his suppliers? How has the builder sustained his relationships with the county building department?

I do not advocate passing over a builder just because his business is not booming. I do suggest that you use a little more caution in evaluating builders in this sluggish new home construction market. While it’s a good deal for all concerned when you hire a great builder whose business has been slow, you don’t want to put yourself in a situation where your builder’s financial woes become yours.

By: Mark M Conway

If you have a problem with something that you purchase in a store, you can simply return the item most of the time and get a refund or another item that isn’t damaged. In the new home building construction business, this isn’t exactly how it works, all of the time.

All of the products that are purchased are brought to the job site and assembled into the new home. If any of these items are damaged, there’s a good chance that they will need to be removed, if possible and returned to the store that they were purchased from to make the exchange.

That’s okay and usually works… sometimes. If you install a couple of boxes of floor tile and you notice that there is a flaw of some sort after you have installed them, I don’t think the store is going to be happy or interested in having you return floor tiles that have tile grout or adhesive dried on to the back of them.

In other words, some new home construction defects are going to be bigger problems than others. If you notice there’s a chip in a piece of tile, bathroom sink or even a light fixture, don’t bother to install it in the new house. This is the point when it needs to be returned for an undamaged item.

By now you’re probably wondering, wouldn’t everybody do this, isn’t this kind of stuff called common sense. Not when someone’s in a hurry and isn’t really worried about the finished product. The biggest problems with construction defects in new homes is building materials that get damaged by other workers or building materials that are already damaged and installed anyway.

There’s not a lot that you’re going to be able to do about building materials that become damaged after they are installed, but there is something that you can do before they are installed.

By: Greg Vandenberge

Quoting a price for construction of a new home is one of the hardest things to do because every home is unique and truly there are no two houses exactly alike, even if it is only the lot that makes them different.

Perhaps one of the most significant factors to cost of new home construction is the local region. Local building codes and labor play a major role in the cost of new home construction. Local building codes vary widely by region. For example, in warm climates building codes often do not require high-performance windows, higher insulation values or advanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Strict building codes or lack thereof makes a significant impact on the cost of constructing a new home.

Local labor in certain parts of the country is also higher than in other portions of the country. In places that unions are prominent in residential new construction, prices will generally be higher too. Strong unions tend to set the upper price point for skilled labor and it seems non-union wages are higher in areas with stronger union representation. As a general rule, places that have excess labor will have lower labor rates. Because of the recession and the real estate new construction depression, the price of labor has been generally falling around the country the last few years. This trend will continue until the supply and demand of labor reverses itself.

Although not included in the cost of building directly, land prices are easily the biggest factor in home and lot package. The cost of a lot in a city like Los Angeles, New York or Chicago could easily cost more than a home with a lot located in Indianapolis or Minneapolis. Also, lot improvements can be a hidden cost if the lot is not previously engineered by a land developer. Soil corrections, raising or lower lot elevations, sourcing utilities not on the edge of the property, drilling a well or installing a septic can all add large costs to the budget. If the lot is not pre-engineered by a land developer, obtaining at least one soil boring (four is best) where the house will be located is a very smart idea before you close on the purchase of the lot.

Finishes are another big contributor to the cost of construction. I have heard some rich and famous have built houses exceeding $5,000 per square foot with the major difference being extremely high-end finishes. Gold plating things can add up quickly. For us regular everyday type folks, even things like kitchen appliances (stove, dishwasher, microwave/hood, and refrigerator/freezer) can cost as little as $2,000, but can easily cost $25,000 for appliances that basically do the same things, like cool and cook food. Lighting fixtures can be much the same story. You can purchase lighting fixtures at your local Home Improvement store for as little as $500-600. Conversely, you can purchase a single dining room chandelier for a few thousand dollars or ten of thousands. In the case of the rich and famous, the sky is the limit on this stuff.

Having a green building background, I also know that green building can cost you your green (cash). There are a lot of builders selling “green bling”. “Green bling” are things that consumers have heard about and want added to their home and either have a slow payback or no payback at all. Unscrupulous builders can take advantage of a buyers desire to be environmentally conscience by selling a bunch of upgrades that are not only expensive, but are not really that green.

For the average American, building a new home will vary depending on the factors above and more, but in general the higher the square footage, the lower the cost per square foot and vice versa. The majority of houses I have seen around the country range from a low of about $80 per square foot to a high of $300 per square foot. In the Midwest, a good guideline is to budget for $150 per square foot on the main floor, $100 per square foot for the second story and $50 per square foot for finished square footage in the lower level. To these budget numbers you add the lot cost and lot improvements and you should be in the ballpark. For example, a 2,400 square foot two story home with 1,2000 square feet on each floor would cost approximately $380,000.000 with a $80,000 lot. In a down economy the pricing will be lower and higher in an up economy. There are wide differences in the quality of construction at the same price point between various builders.

As you can see, there are many factors that go into the cost of a new construction home and therefore it can be very hard to compare pricing between builders. Sending out a set of plans for bid does not mean you are comparing apples to apples. Builders are smart and know how to cut costs to win a build, but that does not mean you are receiving the best value.

Larger builders tend to deliver the most square footage for the least amount of money, but have cost reduced the product to make that happen. Cost reduction usually means materials are on the lower end of the price spectrum. You will see things like hollow-core pre-painted doors, plastic or pre-finished trim, vinyl floors, shower inserts, vinyl siding and the list goes on and on and on. While lower cost materials does not necessarily mean lower quality, there is a definite difference between homes built with higher quality versus lower quality materials. Square footage, house floor plan and granite counter-tops shouldn’t be the only considerations if you are planning on living in that home more than 5-10 years.

On the other hand, smaller builders tend to provide custom type construction with higher building materials, but can come with their own set of challenges. Smaller builders may not have adequate staff to provide the customer service you may be looking for or may not even be in business in five years. Many smaller builders fail to run a very tight ship financially and the cost of your project could easily be over budget. Also, using a smaller builder does not guarantee a quality built home. It is best to do your homework on any of the builders you are considering.

As a builder myself, we use an open book methodology. This means the consumer sees all actual costs and the actual builder’s profit. I am not advocating our system over another, but I find in todays’ world of educated consumers, consumers understand a builder needs to make a profit and seem to be more comfortable when that number is fully disclosed. To that end, I have never had a customer come to us and ask us to cut our profit.

I am not sure I adequately answered the question “How much will building a new home cost me”, but hopefully you have a better understanding of the things that attract cost and some ideas about how to go about selecting a builder.

By: Raymond Pruban