Any formal education for own house building?

[Gamdwelf]

Definitely, first time I ever soldered a copper vertical pipe I had a pinhole that sprayed a good amount of water, of course it was something I found and fixed right away but if that had been in the wall. ugh.

Copper blows. Pex all the way.

[Bigbazz]

I've got a mate who is a joiner/carpenter who builds by trade and built his own house, he gets specialists in to do each job (electric, plumbing, bricklaying). By all accounts he could do it himself but why would you do something you're not trained in and risk a shitty job? Getting it right the first time is important and I don't think it's a good idea for someone not experienced in construction to try to build their own house.

I've done a bit of work in the area, since I used to work with said carpenter/joiner putting staircases in, building roofs etc and it's all intricate stuff that rather than being difficult is easy to get wrong. That said, my brother (also a carpenter/joiner) did a lot of untrained work on his house about 10-15 years back and it was hilarious, all the botch jobs and wonky flooring and stuff from when he was heavily modifying his house.. He's now a professional in construction and renevation, but that took training under a carpenter and years of work experience, all I can see with you building your house is my brothers house from 10-15 years ago. A fucking mess.

[Azadina]

Doing drywall once can make you never want to do it again.

It's not too bad, if someone else sands it. ^^

[Cosmic Janitor]

Here is what I'm talking about, basicaly makes the repairs extremely easy, shut the water off, drain the line then cut and pop these in. No more soldering required and they are extremely durable.

Hmm, soldering hastn't been a huge part for most installations I've done around here. It's usually a pipe and some sealant. But then I haven't done anything in 10 years since my shit finally works .

[Iamanerd]

Hmm, soldering hastn't been a huge part for most installations I've done around here. It's usually a pipe and some sealant. But then I haven't done anything in 10 years since my shit finally works .

Oh yeah for PVC work that sounds right but for a lot of home here it's still uses a lot of copper pipes and PVC.

[monkmastaeq]

If you have to ask , just dont do it. I don't mean to be rude but thats the best advice.

Sharkbites are aussie! With pex and compression fittings plumbing is much easier than it used to be when you had to solder and mess with oakum.

There are just so many things to go wrong, can you find and draw a straight line? Do you own all the tools you need? (cause its alot) Do you just want to build a one room shack?

Just with your local city hall and find out what permitting is required. Where i live you can do all the work yourself but if you dont have a ticket for plumbing/electrical it has to be inspected and approved by a certified person.

(source - I'm a Contractor, red seal plumber and Flooring installer)

[Al Gorefiend]

Cities and counties would be extremely hesitant to outright denial to give you a building permit if you have no education or license whatsoever.

[Gamdwelf]

If you have to ask , just dont do it. I don't mean to be rude but thats the best advice.

Sharkbites are aussie! With pex and compression fittings plumbing is much easier than it used to be when you had to solder and mess with oakum.

There are just so many things to go wrong, can you find and draw a straight line? Do you own all the tools you need? (cause its alot) Do you just want to build a one room shack?

Just with your local city hall and find out what permitting is required. Where i live you can do all the work yourself but if you dont have a ticket for plumbing/electrical it has to be inspected and approved by a certified person.

(source - I'm a Contractor, red seal plumber and Flooring installer)

I want to live in a 1 room shack, but even that I wouldn't build completely myself.

[Al Gorefiend]

Copper blows. Pex all the way.

PEX improves insurance rates on homes too. Fire will melt the plastic and release the pressurized water. It's our go-to choice for new home installation.

[Donald Hellscream]

You don't need a formal education in order to build a house, of course that doesn't mean you don't need to know a bit about it but still you are not required to be a carpenter, mason etc. In order to build a house.

[Gamdwelf]

PEX improves insurance rates on homes too. Fire will melt the plastic and release the pressurized water. It's our go-to choice for new home installation.

And it's so much easier to work with than copper.

[monkmastaeq]

I want to live in a 1 room shack, but even that I wouldn't build completely myself.

Yeah 100%, I avoid painting like the plague, and i would never think about doing my own foundation. You want a professional job you pay for it

[zenkai]

Copper blows. Pex all the way.

less likely a redneck will steal my pipes before my home is finished, so that's a plus.

[Deleted]

I'm an architect, so I have a pretty sound knowledge of how a building gets built. I wouldn't want to build it myself - there's so many specialist trades that require a level of skill that someone who isn't proficient in construction just doesn't have. Not to mention that, dependant on where you live, some parts of a building are illegal to build if you're not certified. Wiring, for example.

[Al Gorefiend]

You don't need a formal education in order to build a house, of course that doesn't mean you don't need to know a bit about it but still you are not required to be a carpenter, mason etc. In order to build a house.

But you'll need a building permit. To do that you'll need to be your own contractor. And if you don't follow the local building code an inspector will never allow you to be able to live in it.

[xact4]

My father and family built the house I lived in with them for 10 years or so, 2 story, half basement, big place. Having said that... Don't do it. Absolutely don't unless you can sit down with plans and imagine the epic truck load of things you're going to need to know/have and say with confidence "yep I'm good". My father had no formal education, but he's something of a jack-of-all-trades and knew A LOT of things from experience. It took us I think 3-4 YEARS to build it to the point we could move in, it's SO MUCH WORK to do yourself and the house still has little things like no carpet on the back stairs that are left unfinished.

List of things that will make you want to set your new house on fire and walk away:
Fiberglass wall insulation
Roofing
Walling something in and realizing you need to run wire back there
Trying to get sheetrock level and smooth (if you're OCD this will make you crazy)
If you're not in city limits, which why ask if you are... septic system
The list goes on...

You'll feel good about it, you'll learn a lot.. but imo from personal experience, not worth it.

But you'll need a building permit. To do that you'll need to be your own contractor. And if you don't follow the local building code an inspector will never allow you to be able to live in it.

Most places are extremely lax unless you live within city limits.

[Orange Joe]

Does one need any formal education to build their own house? Anyone built their own house?

Can i just purchase materials, land and go watch youtube videos on construction lol?

Thanks.

There will be codes depending on where you live that you have to follow to build something.

[Gamdwelf]

My father and family built the house I lived in with them for 10 years or so, 2 story, half basement, big place. Having said that... Don't do it. Absolutely don't unless you can sit down with plans and imagine the epic truck load of things you're going to need to know/have and say with confidence "yep I'm good". My father had no formal education, but he's something of a jack-of-all-trades and knew A LOT of things from experience. It took us I think 3-4 YEARS to build it to the point we could move in, it's SO MUCH WORK to do yourself and the house still has little things like no carpet on the back stairs that are left unfinished.

List of things that will make you want to set your new house on fire and walk away:
Fiberglass wall insulation
Roofing
Walling something in and realizing you need to run wire back there
Trying to get sheetrock level and smooth (if you're OCD this will make you crazy)
If you're not in city limits, which why ask if you are... septic system
The list goes on...

You'll feel good about it, you'll learn a lot.. but imo from personal experience, not worth it.



Most places are extremely lax unless you live within city limits.

Probably 90% of people live in city limits.

[xChurch]

Building your own house isn't really hard perse, but doing it right will take a long time, especially when you're going in with zero experience.

[Annoying]

Well, the secret is to hire a contractor, have them build part of it, fire them, hire another contractor to build a different part, but don't let them see the part that's already built. Repeat as necessary. It's the only real way to ensure that your mad scientist lair's layout remains a secret.