We shared responsibilities with our carpenter - he did oversight while he was on the property, we did the rest. We hired the subs, chose the materials, wrote the checks. It was good for us in the sense that we were able to find some really unique materials - I scoured the web looking for light fixtures, for instance. A hired GC would not have put that much time and effort into the job. I was on the job site 24/7 the entire time the house was being built - either at the job site or available by cell phone.

The problem was our carpenter - who often GCs jobs on his own - turned out to be horrible to work with, and made mistakes that cost us money (we didn't feel like taking him to court - just wanted the man out of our lives entirely). Also, some professionals don't want to work with owner builders. Many of them are here, and will speak negatively on the subject. So I hesitate to say much - I'm not willing to put my experiences out in public, just to get bashed.

Incidentally, I don't know that I would recommend GCing your own house in general. Not worth the bother for "ordinary" houses. But our house is a log house, with some really unique interior features that are special to us and to our environment. I don't think a professional GC could have done that for us.

We GCed the first half of our build (till shelled in stage), and are now DIYing most of the rest of the build. It is pretty awful and is taking forever!!!! Yes we are saving money for sure and learning lots, but I can't say I would recommend it. In our case, DH works part-time and I work full-time. There is no way I could recommend GCing or DIY much of the house if you both have full time jobs and a family too.

In our case, dh works outside the house; I do not. I agree - we could not have done it if we had both been working outside the home. As it was, dh was at the job site every day after work and on weekends. We learned a lot, and we have a strong sense of pride in the outcome since we were so heavily involved in the construction process.

I don't know how a forum on this site or any other site, but I haven't really looked. My husband is the GC on our build and is involved with some of the actually construction - it's my job to find subs for work we can't do.

Since I'm not a home builder by trade, this website has helped me understand at least the order of things and what is expected from the GC and subs. My county website and local lumberyard has helped too.

Online JLCOnline and Green Building Advisor also has a wealth of information.

if you find a forum out there, please let us know!

I figured that gardenweb.com should create one geared towards the DIY Builders. I personally am the GC, as an owner-builder. That was even how my loan was provided, albeit not a large loan but enough to get things going. I am building modest. I see houses on here that looks like mansions compared to mine. But they also look like 300k+ on cost. It's a bit offputting to be dealing with the large gap of people in this section. Like some of you and myself, I was there helping shovel in concrete for the footings and helping set forms for the foundation wall while others have little or no knowledge on the topic whatsoever, but claim to be building 'their house'. Suppose it's more of a rant, but it'd be nice to share information with the actual owner-builders who have hands on experience along the build to learn from.

There are all types of builders on this forum. For example, mushcreek is building his entire house by himself. I have followed builds on this forum that are small, huge and in-between and found that the info obtained from all was very helpful at times.

We are our own GC. This is not the first time we built our own home so we know the ropes a little better. Plus my husband works in the Construction industry and has a lot of contacts. We poured the foundation ourselves and I basically built all the ICF walls in the basement. We will sub out the framing, electrical, plumbing and drywall. We will basically do the rest.

We have enjoyed building our home and are building it way better than any GC would (within our budget). I love being in charge of every aspect of the build. not to mention we are saving tons of money being our own GC. This is something my husband and I enjoy doing together so it hasn't caused in stress for us. I know this would not be the case for all couples.

It would be nice to have a subforum for those acting as their own GC, and those doing a lot of the work themselves. I haven't really found other forums other than the ones at countryplans.com, which are nearly all owner-built, but they are mostly small cabins. There is a DIY forum as well, but whole-house builds are pretty rare.

As you know, I'm doing nearly all of the work myself. I hired out excavation, concrete, and drywall. It is a life-long dream of mine to design and build my own house, and I love every minute of it! It's going to be a sad day when I retire from building and go back to work as a mild-mannered tool and die maker. I don't know how I'd do as a GC. I read too many horror stories here and elsewhere about the mistakes that subs make, and I'm very fussy. It drove me crazy just trying to sub out the few things I did, as subs almost NEVER show up when they say they will, or get the job done on time. I watched them like a hawk to make sure things were done right.

I'm sure there are many more people who are hands on in their builds to varying degrees than actually post here and that can be for many reasons. Much as we may think of GW/Houzz as part of our day to day routine, many people don't know it exists or care. Beyond that someone like mushcreek, IMO, who is first, last and in between on his build, is a rare bird. And not just because he's doing the work but because he makes the time to document and share it here. Much as he may like sharing, that has to adds an extra layer of work on the build. If someone else is building their own home and under a much tighter timeline (perhaps trying to get in the house before school starts), writing about the details and photographing it to share here would probably come way down on the to do list.

It might be a valuable new category for a forum - why don't you suggest it to the admin at the link below? I know I'd be interested to follow and share there when our build time comes. As for the rest of your 'rant' as you called it I think you're being a bit harsh. There have been modest builds here and very high end builds and a whole range in the middle. That's life in any category and if it's going to twist you in knots to see people spending what you consider to be extravagant amounts on their build and call it (horrors!) 'their build' then you're in the wrong place. The amount of support and sharing of ideas, skills and experience here is pretty remarkable and if you want some of that, don't bite the hand that feed you.

Indeed I will try to suggest it to an admin, the link to contact them pops a red flag up with my antivirus because it says the certificate has expired with their security.

I am sure I may sound harsh. It's just my opinion as much as it is yours. I appreciate the various company here, but I think it would be true to be a valuable additional forum for those who are the 'rare' DIY Builders like mush and myself as I have stated initially. It makes a difference to connect with people who are seeing things eye to eye, and that is just what I am seeking out to find. I am friends with those who have various professions, but it makes a world of difference when I talk to someone who is in the *same* profession as I am, you know?

But if they are as rare as you state, why would GW think it was worth having a separate forum for them?

Because it would be worth having a place for those who are DIY Builders to share thoughts. If it's a small group, that's all the more reason for them to all post in one section so it is not drowned out and lost in the midst of other concerns. Quality over quantity as I would see it.

Nothing to do with DIY, but the mention of sometimes feeling a little intimidated or left out when you see all the big homes and expensive kitchens. I have seen quite a few comments from those building small homes that they feel it necessary to say their home is small or not as elaborate as most. Some seem to be almost embarrassed or hesitant to put a picture of their build because it isn't a 3000 pr 4000 sq ft home. People, we don't care if you are building a 900 or 1200 sq ft home. Share your experience and pictures. Don't just "lurk". All houses require the same things to build, some just more of it. My house is 1700 sq ft, pretty modest but has everything I wanted including a fireplace and screened in porch. The purpose of this forum is sharing experiences, offering suggestions, encouraging and sometimes just venting.

Zorroslw1 I couldn't have said it better.

Diluting a forum because you feel insecure about sharing it with those who have more means is as silly as diluting it because you prefer to only rub shoulders with fellow travelers and condescend to those who aren't hands on. Cutting off your nose to spite your face is a curious phenomenon.

If you want to talk DIY building, then start your own thread about it. See how many participate. Nothing to prevent you from doing exactly what you want in THIS forum.

The same people will visit that forum, changing the heading and making it another group will not change that.

If you want to discuss DIY building on a separate forum in the hope of attracting only other DIY'ers, you will be intentionally limiting the knowledge base of the participants, unless you believe amateur designer-builders know more than professional builders, designers and architects or you are only interested in chatting about your experiences.

"bearing the fruit of their labors" is a biblical reference that hints of a self-righteous aspect to your thinking and that probably belongs in a separate forum. I trust that people who want to share their ideas with the rest of the community, like Mushcreek, will remain.

renovator, I would not say it is "intentionally limiting the knowledge base of the participants, unless you believe amateur designer-builders know more than professional builders ". Is it not just as bold of a claim to stereotype a DIY builder as an amateur as it is to say someone is a professional because of xyz...? I will always feel DIY is two fold in benefits, and having a sub forum just for that does not seem like it should be criticized when you look at the big picture of this category, over 50% of the topics are about design this, lot layout, layout of a certain room, bids, contractors, and subs instead of the building process itself. I don't think that is a bad thing to have all those other aspects of the build, but to claim there is no use for a sub forums for those building the house to discuss that *stage* of *just* the construction process, or for those who are owner builders to discuss that together.

There has to be enough interest from enough people to warrant a sub forum. You can't even get 10 people that meet your very narrow clubhouse criteria interested in a thread on it on this forum.

ctsnicholas - unless you would find it off-putting to have input, comments or questions from professionals or members who are not doing hands on work, then I'd personally like to see you work within this forum. We really all are in the same boat.

If you will be counting on professional builders, designers and architects to contribute to a separate forum I think you will probably be disappointed.

Having built a house entirely by myself, I feel some empathy with DIY'ers but if it is necessary to correct strongly held specious ideas or write the instruction manual a DIY'er never bothered to find, it can get tiresome.

If you participate on this forum for an extended period you will find that it is the wide range of experience makes it so educational and enjoyable for all of us.

But Sophie is right, to create a new forum the moderators will expect to see a successful thread on this forum that attracts many members. That's how the others were created over many years. Unfortunately, some of them don't attract many comments.

I am probably a DIY builder by most peoples definition. But maybe not by everyone's. I contract with the trades directly and do some things myself, but I still hire trades and have a consulting GC to help me out. It's nothing compared to mushcreek. But I also don't have a builder to blame if things don't go right.

I wouldn't post in a DIY only forum for the same reason you are uncomfortable posting about your "small" house. I would be sure there would be someone thinking I should run along and go play in the kiddie playground.

You post to a forum as opposed to asking opinions to friends because you get an unbiased opinion or at least get all sorts of ideas and opinions and the forum acts as a good sounding board and if I may say a brain storming session.

How does it matter what other posters think, as long as your goal is served. My 2 cents..

I love that I can see builds of small home and of larger homes. I've learned from both. After all a larger home can still make use of the way a small house creates unique storage solutions, as just one way of looking at it. By coming onto this forum and reading about all different builds, you learn to think outside the box and it might help with solutions you might not have thought of.

Same thing with building yourself vs hiring a builder/GC. Mushcreek as an example built his own house himself. However some of his info has already helped me and I haven't started to build yet.

Well said Autumn4. I also think there are more DIYers active on the forum than it appears.

I would like to see new forum too. Also discuss cost effective energy efficiency, proposals, bidding, better construction techniques, but then again this forum does not have high volumes of posts.

I can see that I was getting too far up on the soapbox. I see both points and know it's a great community overall. I'm getting comments on a rigid foam question where I asked about the house wrap location and detailing around openings. That topic to me is very important and is something I want to learn more of. When I browse the 'Building a home' forums I see numerous posts about helping someone with their house design, or picking colors, or needing suggestions on elevations (I like a simple hip or gable, lol) -- and to me those are things I have little interest in because I am more into the construction itself. And I apologize for stepping on toes, I can understand better that we are all different and that a post I make about rigid foam and house wrap is probably little of any interest to those who are posting topics about the things I have little of interest in. :) I will work on trying to participate in those topics more. In the mean time, I will keep an eye out for questions on the things I do have knowledge about.

Actually ctsnicholas because of your post about rigid foam, I wound up doing some research on it so I can better understand it when it comes time to question what my builder is doing.

Equally, while building a well constructed home is very important, it's really just as important to build a well designed home that is visually appealing and functions well.

I second jennieroad's recommendations above for websites/forums more oriented toward technical or construction advice. The commenters on GBA seem to be very helpful and accommodating. Some of the same folks contribute on multiple sites. Personally I enjoy GW the most.

Many of us are here and on the other sites because we enjoy learning in general and specifically about the houses in which we live. So I could tell you about our rigid exterior foam and my disappointment that it is not completely continuous because of the way the builder had to address the advanced framing and siding details. I found that from wandering on to the various sites and hearing from folks with different backgrounds and perspectives, I learned quite a bit more than I would have by sticking to sites/threads only by people having a custom home built. After all, why would I want to just have a conversation with myself?

Glad to hear that cpartist :) I am curious as to what method they choose for your house. What zone are you in? There is a golden rule to exterior foam, and I forget the exact percentage but I think it's 60% inside 30% outside. I know if I have a 2x6 wall filled with R19 or R21 insulation I am required to have R-8 or R-10 outside. Less than R-8 on the exterior would result in what is called 'cold sheathing' which can cause moisture problems among other things. If I had no foam at all, it would not be a problem because the foam is not very permeable in terms of moisture.

We had to do the ratio calculation when the city inspector found out we were doing exterior foam and had a fit. It was on the plans, but they missed that and wanted extra engineering done when we mentioned it. (The inspector was demanding sound proofing, and we said "in addition to the exterior foam?") When we started researching it, we realized that ALL the local stucco houses have the condensation issue the city was worried about on our house, because they have a thin layer of exterior foam.

ctsnicholas, our house is still in the planning stage. We are building in SW FL. I know we will have Iceynene spray insulation in the roof, and polystyrene block insulation for the walls. As for the rest of the details, we are still waiting on the final plans so we can get a better idea.