We are wanting to build a home and need some input on the different kinds?

Question

My husband is extremely handy, a long time ago he used to build houses for a living, he was the foreman. We dont have a ton of money at this moment, but he is starting a new job soon that almost triples his salary. We were debating buying some land and building a home ourselves because of my husbands background in house building and we are hoping it would be more cost effective. I should mention that we are moving to northern Utah, lots and lots of snow!

What are the pro's and con's of conventional wood homes, stucco homes, concrete homes and wood homes? Which is the cheapest to build? What could withstand extreme cold and snow the best?

We only have a few months out of the year that we could construct a home because of deep snow, what would be the fastest? What about energy savings?

Thanks everybody!!

Answer 1

If you live in a tornado prone area or you want to build something that will outlast you and all your generations, consider the DacArt Building System. It is best for classic architecture. Not big necessarily, my first was only 600 sq.ft, (not a mistake, only 600 is correct) but it is so classy that it got featured in Coastal Living magazine twice, the DIY TV Network did a 30 min show about it, etc..etc..

DacArt is modular concrete dry stack block construction. I have put many photos plus videos of the process online. You can watch the progress at the sites I link to below.

Luckily I am building close to the plant, but homes are going up in Calif (3 of them) , south FL, Louisiana, Mississippi, and there is one in Tennessee. Other places that I forget.

You can have DacArt made with as much interior foam insulation as you want. You can have any R-value that you want. I am building in a mild climate, so I have two layers of foam which is plenty for here. And it is a very quiet house.

At least take a look and know about a completely different home building system that you might not see otherwise. Everyone who visits in person, goes WOW and decides to build this way for themselves. You can self contract the home. I did my first one.

Answer 2

Look at Panabode. The basic structure could go up very quickly. I checked them out before I bought my present house and was very impressed. Unless you really can do all the work yourselves which is unlikely these days, the only way you really save when building a home is by acting as general contractor. You might have someone get it to lock-up for you, then do the finishing yourselves. However, before you can start building the house, you'll need to get your land, get your permits, have foundation and prep work done, get your water, electric and septic or sewer in place, etc etc.  And be aware that financing a house you are building is not like financing for a house already there. Find out exactly how that works before committing. If your husband is handy and will have the time, it might be better to buy some place that is basically okay but needs extensive updating.

Answer 3

I have been extremely excited with the Idea of building a Dome Home.  Its inexpensive and withstands weather some 35% better than the standard box house.  Kits can be bought for $35K to 85K depending on sq ft you looking for.  One of the biggest expenses in building a home as your Husband know is permits. Dome Houses  can be built in a mater of 2 to 3 weeks to be weather constructed and the time to work the interior would take you as long as you desire as you are out of the elements. Check it out.