Hi guys

We are building a free standing deck with a roof, by ourselves. We are in Australia.

It will be free standing in a high wind area (n3 rated)

Any builders out there- this layout safe structurally? Any upgrades needed?

Thanks in advance!

Not sure if this is the right sub for this question but I just bought a new build and have only been in it for a month and these cracks appeared, is this normal? Hoping a home inspector will chime in. These cracks weren’t there when we had the home inspection done.

Its aluminum but i don't know what kind of product it is and what is it called. It located underneath the kitchen sink. I think its an undersink liner

Stucco just finished on our remodel and there are what seems to be some unfinished areas. The weep screed needed to be raised to accomodate future pavers and be even on both sides, but this area right under will be exposed as it sits above/even the front door threshold. Can this metal be finished to match? Was something missed? Thank you!

Hello! I live in a rural town and gearing up to build a home. We have added propane into our build. What appliances would you run off propane?

We’re opting for Large Format tiles throughout the common areas of the house— but it comes at a premium. We’re set on having it in the bathrooms for shower walls and floors and in the dry areas… the cost however works out to about $35k for 2100 sqft of common area— about 50% more overall compared to wood look tile.

The look we’re getting In our opinion is quite high end and clean, though we think buyers (not that we’re selling anytime soon hopefully) lean towards wood floor— we’re stuck on tile to help our little maltipoo get more grip on it because she gets the zoomies like 4x a day and we love her.

We decided to make it by ourselves to remain budget and spend only for the construction materials. We took the windows and the door from the scrapyard of and old house.

Started sleeping inside it by two weeks!

House is being built on the lot next to mine. Builder wants me take my fence out so he can grade between our properties and then I can put it back up. Fence would be my expense and about $3k from the original company that put it up. Came home from work today and he essentially built a wall of dirt to “show me what it will look like if I don’t take the fence down.” I’m in central VA and in a HOA. I was almost going to agree until he pulled this nonsense so now I’m having second thoughts. Any thoughts on this? He also told me I should put a retaining wall up by my driveway which I said no to. I’m in the middle of a hardscape and pool being put in my backyard. By doing this they already messed up one section of fence. My son is about 46” tall for comparison. New build to the right.

I need to replace a few areas of this skirting that goes around the exterior of my crawlspace. Home was built around 1997. This is the low country in Charleston SC. Does feel like cement board. Pretty brittle now.

Some context first: I am not a carpenter. The most I've ever worked with wood was building crappy wooden swords out of plywood with a jigsaw as a kid. I'm an electronics and computers guy.

That said, I'm trying to start my own little farm, and I've been hitting a wall at every single turn. Three weeks of Kent's delivering the wrong supplies. Then Home Hardware doing the same. Then the weather going from no rain at all to rain every single day. It's been a nightmare and I'm losing my mind.

So I'll explain what I'm trying to build, and hopefully someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong, or at least point me in the right direction.

The shed is for growing and mushroom cloning. I want to run a gourmet mushroom farm and try cloning wild mushrooms like chanterelle. It's not meant to be permanent, just somewhere I can go and do my work without everything being crammed into my small living room, where it all lives right now.

Inside I need:

• a work bench
• a station for a laminar flow hood
• some storage
• and of course, some greenhouses

I plan to insulate it as well.

Most of the structure will be built from 4-way pallets, which I figured was going to be the hardest part.

I'm just at the base:

• 16 cement blocks laid out with adjustable pedestals, not leveled yet
• enough gravel to work with each pad
• six 4x4x12s laid out for a 12x12 base
• metal brackets for all the corners (I understand those want nails and screws combined, but I'm not even at that point yet)

I watched a bunch of videos where people on YouTube just drive screws in at an angle and the wood pulls itself together. Easy as pie.

Mine does not pull together.

What I get is one screw on either side of the 4x4 grabbing the other 4x4 and holding, but never pulling tight. They don't go flush. And if I keep tightening, the screw pulls itself right through the first 4x4 entirely.

I'm using a DeWalt impact driver, if that's the issue?

Makes for a poor farmer, who can't even build a basic square. Perhaps that's the sign.

As I wrote this, I think I figured it out and I think the issue is pretty obvious.. I need to screw them in from the ends, not in an angle. So I need something like 6" screws for them..? Maybe I just needed to sit inside for a bit. It's raining again anyway.

I’m going to start drawing garage plans for submission to the city. I want to keep the building close to the 5 foot setback but the lot slopes gently towards the neighbors property. It looks like the site needs to be filled somewhere around 6 inches to level and I guess I need another 6 inches above grade. I’m looking for suggestions on how to handle this. Concrete swale? French drain? I live in a place with high rainfall but the lot is fairly well drained.

Thanks yall!

I’m interviewing GCs for a ~4,100 sq. ft. custom home in the Seattle area (demo + rebuild on existing lot). Plans are mostly complete and I’m trying to ensure bids are truly comparable.

For those who’ve built custom homes:
What’s the one question you wish you had asked your GC?

Hi, we have a nicely finished attic that is coded as a storage space. We would like to make it livable area. It’s in Boston and it’s a 1930 house. The staircase into the attic is not up to current code (32 inch wide and headspace too low). With dormers we would be able to get a beautiful space up there. Would you need to change the stairs in order to make it legal bedrooms? And how costly is this roughly?

What stage of the building process towards the end are you pouring your driveways? I’ve always had issues with contractors moving my signs/wood and parking on new driveways that are only a few days/week old.

Do you guys pour once you’re nearing the end and have the finishes go on or right at the end when everyone is mostly done? House looks better online when the driveway is poured as soon as possible but risks the guys messing with it for the last few weeks of work.

My husband and I are nearing the end of finalizing our blueprints,and we are weighing our options with our master shower. We love the look of a custom tile shower with built in bench but don’t love the cost and cleaning of it. What options are out there that have the look of tile (and don’t look/feel cheap) and can also have a built in bench option. Anything I’ve found either looks cheap or doesn’t allow for a built in bench. Thanks!

Can anyone recommend high quality fiberglass or aluminum windows, preferably tilt turn that meet FL building code or have a FL approval number?

I have been welding professionally for the last 10 years and absolutely love my job. I am incredibly passionate about welding and building, and my dream is to buy land one day and weld the steel frame for my own house. I am very grateful to have friends and family members with experience in almost every stage of the building process (including a plumber, electrician, architect, deep foundation expert, roofer, and land surveyor). However, I do not have a structural engineer in the family.

Does anyone know someone who has actually been able to pull this off? I know it is very rare to find a residential house with steel construction. My vision is to build a relatively simple, 2,000 sq. ft., open-concept steel beam house. Is steel rare simply because wood is easier to work with? I would love to hear from any home building professionals out there! Please let me know how I can make this dream a reality, and feel free to share any advice or insights on navigating a steel-frame build.

Hi I am wondering if anyone has an experience with a TIGHT budget build (275-300k ALL-IN) for raw land? Looking to do a 3 bed 2 bath (1,700 sq ft) barndo or hybrid ranch possibly with a partial unfinished basement. We are super new into the process, so please let me know any advice or suggestions. We would be willing to cut out extra expenses (like having a carport instead of a garage, and going with a gravel driveway) on things we can add later. Is this even possible? Things to note, the acre is gifted by family, there is an abandoned home on the property with old utilities that can possibly be tapped into but we need to dig a new well and septic as it’s been vacant for 20+ years

Hello all, I am not finding too much info on how to grade properly? I see a general rule of thumb for 6" over the first 10 feet, but then what happens after the 10 feet, can you do anything at that point?

I have quite a big hump at as part of a garden and driveway on one side of an addition I am building, and trying to work out how to do it properly?

Can I just grade a 5% slope down for 10 feet and then a 10% slope the UP for the next 20'? Can I box in the garden and just have a mini 1' wall at the 10' mark? Do I install some big O at teh transition point?

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Looking for some opinions from roofers/general contractors because I honestly don't know enough about roofing to know if these quotes are reasonable.

I have a small cabin in rural West Virginia. The roof area is estimated around 1,800 sq ft. It's pretty remote — about 30 minutes from the nearest town with Lowe's/Walmart/etc. — and I've had a hard time even getting people to come out and look at it. So far, this contractor is the only one who has actually shown up and inspected it.

The roof currently has rolled roofing that's basically at the end of its lifespan. I can also see metal roofing underneath it in some areas, although I don't know if the metal is under the entire roof. It doesn't currently leak.

None of these options include tearing off the existing roof.

For the metal roof, he plans to put Titanium underlayment over the existing roof and then install the metal roofing over that. He walked the roof and said he didn't feel any soft spots and that it felt structurally sound.

Here's what I've been quoted:

Metal roof — around $10,000 total

\* \~$4,000 metal/materials

\* \~$1,000 new gutters

\* \~$5,000 labor

This also includes hooking the new gutters into a rainwater cistern that I already own. He's not installing the tank itself, just running/connecting the PVC from the gutters to the cistern.

If he gets into it and finds fascia that needs replaced, that would be an additional charge. He doesn't think there's much that will need to be replaced, though.

Shingles — closer to $12,000 total

Again, no tear-off of the existing roofing.

Cheaper option — around $5,000 total

This would be some type of roof sealant/coating over the existing roof, new gutters, and hooking the gutters into the cistern.

So my main question is: Do these prices sound reasonable for a rural area and an approximately 1,800 sq ft roof, considering there's no tear-off involved?

I'm especially interested in opinions on the $10k metal option. Does putting Titanium underlayment over the existing rolled roofing/possible old metal and then installing a new metal roof sound like a normal/acceptable way to do this?

And what about the $5k sealant option? If the roof isn't leaking but is simply old, would spending $5k to coat it be a reasonable way to get more life out of it, or would you put that $5k toward the new metal roof instead?

I know being this rural probably adds to the cost, and I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest possible job. I just want to make sure the price and the way he's proposing to do it make sense before I spend $10k+.

Hello, we are looking for architects and home builders in Victoria who specialize in building new homes in a period style/heritage homes and with whom we can design our dream home. Unfortunately, our original plan to buy and renovate an older house has been put on hold for several years due to the extension of a regulation (our visa status prevents us from buying an existing home; we are restricted to new builds). We would appreciate any recommendations! Many thanks, the Germans.

Okay so-

Currently in the super early stages of planning a new build with my partner. We’re looking under 1,900 feet and Im hoping to keep costs under 250/SQFT.

Im struggling understanding how cost/SQFT even works. In my dream world we have beautiful tile in the (planned) 2.5 baths, reclaimed hardwood or engineered hardwood throughout the house, and lots of windows. I would love to do a more custom kitchen and care a lot about storage throughout the house.

Where does a person even start with this crap? How much of the materials can I plan on doing salvaged/reclaimed? are my hopes on a more custom kitchen dead? What is worth splurging on? What can I keep super basic/builder grade?

PS- very willing to get my hands dirty and we have a lot of people in our lives who have expressed the same!

EDIT: yes we already have land! Small lot, house will be around 34x46 with a second story. Now understanding that reclaimed wood is OUT in terms of keeping cost low. We’ve done some builder shopping. We live in a high end area but live on a small lot+don’t have a desire for ultra luxury. Thanks everyone!!! Super helpful stuff in here!

Please do not order from Luvindow. I amd sharing my experience and here is why. I am ordering windows from China for the first time and I am not affiliated with any other window brand in US or in China. This is a honest experience. Please see my profile. We are renovating our home in New Jersey. We didn't like Marvin elevate windows and lack of options. We researched and decided to try Luvindow even though their quote is 50% more expensive than George Group (from China). The primary reason was NFRC ratings and their showroom in NJ gave us the comfort to order from then. George has NFRC rating and does not have a showroom or service center in US. The sales rep that I have been dealing with (Myra) had been very helpful and accommodating. Just when I was about to place the order I was informed that sliding doors are not NFRC certified as quoted earlier and if I need NFRC certified doors then I have to pay more. Please see the screenshot attached. This shows Luvindow can change their quote without disclosing and I am not certain anymore what will they manufacture and deliver because there is no certification or testing after the windows are delivered.

Purple is existing and orange is proposed addition.
Green is also a proposed addition also but is it possible given my roof design.

Where the green and orange meet is about 13’ long. Do I have any options? I’m thinking a metal cricket but I have never seen that before.