Tips to DIY Your Own Home Build: Construction Management, Hiring Contractors, Why Builders are Wary

Deciding to build your own home, or even just act as General Contractor (GC) is not a decision to take lightly. But many of our clients DO go that route because:
A. They seem to know more about building science than any local builder or contractor
B. They get pushback from the local pros on their goals, their materials, or methods
C. They don't trust the process to be as transparent and thoughtfully-paced with a team who builds fast
D. They believe (rightly ot wrongly) it will save money and heartache on the build

Thankfully, today's education quality via YouTube, material and product designs, and the extreme costs and availability of some area's building professionals make DIY'ing part or all of the build much more enticing. Matt Risinger, as you know, is YouTube's biggest high performance builder, and he weighed in with us about the pros and cons of this adventure. We're rooting for you, no matter who or where you are.

[TheBgrugbymatt]

I just finished up with a self build. Swung hammer on ninety percent of the 3400sqft house. While working a full time job, got it done in two years. I learned so much from both of you as well as a couple other channels on youtube. As well as reading code books as a pastime. Saved 600k! I now have a wonderfully efficient house with pride in every stud and nail.

[seanpalmer]

40 years ago, my dad convinced our former neighbor that it would be a good idea to put basically all wiring in conduit (plus some empty conduit to various points around the house) in his custom house that he was building for the purpose of futureproofing. The contractor was very reluctant to do so, and consequently, our neighbor ultimately didn't get as much conduit as he wanted...but he did get some. When the house was built, coax was fairly standard, so that was what was installed in some of the conduit. The neighbor's son has since bought the house and was able to run CAT5 in the conduit himself. He also was able to install an EV charger in the garage. He was able to do this without disturbing the drywall.

[ryancouture]

I did a self build 5-6 years ago. Most builders at least at that time were stuck in 20 years ago or so… if the auto industry was anything like the home builders we’d still be driving model Ts. I ended up just figuring shit out and doing so much myself. Worked out great in the end.

[samuelfeguer]

That's one thing that terrifies me about building a home in my area is builders refusing to use new building science ideas and products for my house.

[bradydollarhide]

I like Matt's contract vetting approach. I am an interior designer. I once had a client push back against my initial contract draft with "I'm not really into such a tight contract. In fact, I don't really like working under the confines of signed contracts." My reply was "OK, you can just pay me the entire amount up front." He looked at me like I was crazy. That was the end of that conversation and that relationship. Haha. Some of the best jobs are the ones you have the wisdom to avoid.

[johnhaller]

My uncle literally built his own home in the 1960s. But, it took years to finish, and since things were never really finished. It was a raised ranch on a hill, with the garage as part of the lower level. This needed a retaining wall and steps from the driveway to the front door. He didn't understand the need to tie both sides of the form together, it started blowing out when the concrete pushed against the forms, and ran out of material before getting to the height he wanted. That was probably just as well, as i didn't think he put any rebar in the wall. The stairs to the front door didn't get built until about 20 years later. His living room was just raw subfloor for about 10 years. The only thing I think he hired someone was for the basement and driveway excavation and the basement walls and floor. His wife was a saint for putting up with this.

[GrayHouseStudio]

Congrats on the collaboration! Been watching since you started your house build. It is exciting to have questions answered for people that want to build their own house.

[gdelete]

Appreciate you making this video. I'm not a builder, but became very involved with my own large renovation because the GC was rarely (if ever) on site for more than 20 min. In my experience, the GC, boss, owner whatever they call themselves tend to hire subs and then "check-in" rather than oversee the job on a daily basis. This led to extreme frustration for me as the owner/payer who had to discover mistakes that could have been avoided if the GC simply was on-site. I've never seen a GC have a desk on site where the trades could easily come and discuss the plan...but that would be amazing if actually practiced.

[dmo]

All of these are great points. I was my own GC and ended up actually doing a lot of the building myself. Matt's point about subcontractor loyalty (and interest) was true in my case. I was building amidst a housing boom in my area and it was hard to find reputable framers, plumbers and HVAC contractors that were interested in a one-off project like mine. They were generally committed to larger companies/builders that line up repeat business for them. Your videos were a huge help in allowing me to tackle the HVAC, ductwork, air sealing, insulation, ventilation, etc. I was lucky to find a great energy design consultant like you to design the systems, ducts and insulation plan and ended up doing the install myself. My systems work great and the blower door test turned out quite well. Anyone considering building on their own should do themself the favor of watching and learning as much as they can from you.

[accountability]

Fantastic questions Corbett! And don't sell yourself short. Though Matt might be the most popular YouTube builders and has help shift building science to the forefront, I have found your videos more educational and consistent to your mission.

[JP-ylon]

What an incredible collaboration. 👏🏽👏🏽❤️

[MichaelJ]

Great collaboration! Really informative and helpful. I’m fully retired from working 30 years as an owner’s rep on small to medium sized commercial/institutional design and construction projects and I’m in the early stages of designing and building my own home. Looking to find that sweet spot of how much to handle myself and how much to handle myself. The single most important lesson I learned from 30 years of project management experience is to get the right people on the team and then empower them to do what they do best and make sure all the pieces are connected and any gaps filled. Keep a close eye on every aspect of the job, but be fair, be collaborative, and show appreciation for good work. I totally agree with Matt that those relationships with subcontractors and suppliers built over time are more important to the success of a project than lowest cost. Look for BEST VALUE rather than LOWEST COST. And I totally agree with Corbett’s emphasis on Scott True’s advice to be flexible and creative. There are multiple ways to achieve your end goals and the best projects are collaborations that are fun and fulfilling for everyone involved.

[Grossinspec]

Thank you Corbett. Big fan of your Matt. Appreciate both of you sharing the knowledge.

[InlogixEnterprises]

So timely. Our plans are 90% done and I retired last year.

[Ginger-Wasabi-]

Great video! I was already following my favorite build scientist Matt and found you. I’m planning on being my own GC and appreciate your educational videos. I’m looking forward to building this community.

[AaronHope_Sow]

I'm SO excited to see this come across my timeline!

[r.j.bedore]

Thanks for this video, as I recently started considering building my own house, and I have been watching a lot of yours and Matt's videos. The house I grew up in was designed by my Mom and built primarily by my Dad and Grandfather, with some help from their friends. They had a contractor dig the foundation, pour the basement slab, and put in the well and septic, but my parents and Grandfather (who was retired by that time) built the basement walls with cinder blocks, and built all of the floor trusses and wall framing themselves. My Grandpa had built a lake front cottage by himself when my dad was still a kid, so he had experience with doing this already, and did all of the electrical and plumbing for my parents' house. My parents also did all of the insulation and ductwork for the wood burning furnace themselves, but had an HVAC installer put in a high efficiency propane furnace a few years later (they had an infant and a toddler at that point and it was apparently hard to find the time between work and watching them to chop wood and add it to the furnace, especially at night).

One of my Dad's friends was a professional drywall installer, and helped my Dad with that. They knew an Amish woodworker who built the kitchen cabinets at a discount in exchange for the maple and ash trees that had been cut down to make room for the house. My Mom painted the inside of the house, and my Dad painted the outside with the help of a neighbor who turned out to be a professional house painter and offered to lone my Dad some scaffolding and taller ladders than the one he had (I don't think he charged them anything and was just happy to help a neighbor in his spare time and share his expertise). The only other thing they hired a professional for was installing the roof.

Now that I'm looking to buy my first house, everything in my area has doubled and tripled in price over the last few years while I was paying off student loans and saving for a downpayment. Now, most of the houses available in my price range are manufactured homes that were built in the 80's and 90's and are in need of significant repairs. This has led me to consider building a house instead of buying, but there is a shortage of builders in my area, so most are already booked out on jobs for several years. This leaves me with either hiring a company that will put a new manufactured home on property I purchase (including digging a well and septic and building the foundation), or trying to do like my parents did and build it myself. I have helped my Dad with repairs on their house since I was little and I'm sure I could do most of the electrical work, the flooring, the drywall, the insulation, and the plumbing fixtures (I would want a professional to do the rough in for all the pipes because I don't have experience with that and wouldn't want to risk leaks or not putting enough drop in waste lines). Since I don't have any experience with framing, I have also looked at buying a framing kit for an A-frame house where I would just have to bolt everything together using the included hardware and attach it to the foundation. My biggest fear in trying to tackle a project this big by myself (besides it taking significantly longer than I expect) is that I don't know what I don't know, and there's a good chance that I would miss something that could lead to expensive repairs down the road. I also don't know what current building codes are, but they are certainly more stringent than when my parents built their house in the 70's and my Grandpa built that cottage in the 50's, so trying to comply with code and passing inspection is another problem that is difficult to solve without experience. I really WANT to be able to build my own house and experience the pride and satisfaction that comes with that, but the practical side of me says the smartest thing to do is to go the new build manufactured home route and hope these newer models are built better than the existing ones I've gone to look at and won't have the same problems with warped floors and lack of ventilation.

[patrickharrington]

Enjoyed this video very much. I have been following Matt for years and many of my clients come to me saying "We want this because we saw it on a Risinger Build video". I run an "Owner Builder" company in Houston and love helping people act as their own GC. I was a custom builder for 27 years and now i am on "the other side of the fence" and consult. It is an ever-evolving business and some of my clients bring ideas to the table that amaze me and we implement them. I learn as much from some of my clients as i do from my membership in the local HBA. I completely agree that homebuilders are lumped in with used car salesmen and it has been that was for many years. I subscribed to your channel and look forward to learning more from you. Let's all raise the bar in the home building industry!! (that is, if it continues to function...these are very weird times in the US)

[johnwhite]

Matt is surprisingly open and thoughtful here. That said, I was left hanging when he said his contrcat was one sided builder friendly? In what ways? Time to completion? Owner work prohibited? 20 per cent down payment?

[EK--rylr]

I took this to the extreme because of your awesome videos. I have personally built almost every bit of my house aside from the concrete, roof, and spray foam insulation. Your videos have given me so many things to think about and implement on my personal home. Thanks very much for all of your hard work.