January 22, 2021 One of the first challenges an owner builder needs to tackle for their new dream home project is the financing. Many traditional banks don’t want to provide construction loans to the owner builder due to the increased risk associated with the project. Let’s take a look at a few of the reasons […]
Are you thinking about building your own home? We recently launched a new online course that covers the complete building process from lot selection through the entire construction schedule. Owner builders can save up to $100k on the average new home in the U.S. Check out our Build Your Own Home online course preview below. […]
For every home that gets built we need a detailed set of architectural house plans. These house plans tell the trades and suppliers exactly what we are building so they can estimate costs and build the home as we want it to be built. So what is the best way to create these plans for […]
7 Tips for Hiring Contractors to Work on Your Home
0 Comments | Posted by armchairbuilder in Owner-Builder
When you hire the wrong contractors to do work for you, life can get messy. We’ve all heard the horror stories…a homeowner gives a “down payment” to XYZ company to put a roof on but they never show up. Or, Ned’s Painting was hired and did a wonderful job for half the house until they […]
Video: Is it Possible to General Contract Your Own Home?
0 Comments | Posted by armchairbuilder in Owner-Builder
A question that comes up regularly at Armchair Builder is…”Is it really possible to general contract your own home?” This question is followed up with, “Don’t you need a license to build your own home?” Or maybe, “Building a home is just too complicated except for seasoned home builders.” So, we’ve put together a video […]
August 5th, 2020 As a home builder that provides resources to people that want to build their own home, I’m often asked, “what is the one thing you would recommend doing to make the process of building a home by owner easier?” So, my first response is to use all the tools and resources available […]
Reader Question: How to Add Second Sump Crock to Basement
0 Comments | Posted by armchairbuilder in Owner-Builder
July 22, 2020 We get a fair amount of questions from our readers on how to build or repair their homes. As always, we are happy to provide answers whenever we can. Our latest question comes from Salvadore in Illinois. He didn’t say so much, but we assume he is having ground water show up […]
July 6, 2020 A new house foundation is such a complicated part of the structure. And since it’s so important to get it right, we’ve created a three part video series covering best practices when building a new home. There are three major parts to a quality house foundation… Foundation Engineering – including the walls […]
Customer Question: Is There a Maximum Step Riser Height?
0 Comments | Posted by armchairbuilder in Owner-Builder
Good afternoon,I am in the process of having a new driveway put in. The cement extends toby the back door. The height of the old door step was 5″ high, after theypoured on friday the height of the new door step is 8″. Is there a minimum/maximum door step height? Thank You, Irene S. Hi […]
June 11, 2020 The support for a new home is so critical we’ve put together this video, House Foundation Engineering 101, to share best practices. If the foundation isn’t built properly the basement will leak or worse, the structure will fail. Water leaks and foundation structural problems can cost tens of thousands of dollars to […]
