How many people do you know that 'built their own home'?
Either by hiring a construction company or by literally drawing plans and then building a house?
Posted Oct 15, 2022, 1:09 PM UTC
1982
My parents had my childhood home built.
My uncle built his house with his own hands. The only thing he hired out was the drywall.
19
So did my parents!
4
My whole neighborhood was done that way, some of the original owners are still around. We're the second batch for our house.
12
Cool. So all the houses look totally different?
3
My current neighborhood is like that as well. We are the second owners of our house, it was built in 1996 by the people we bought it from.
And nope, none of the houses look the same.
They look similar, because they were all built around the same time so they all have 90's styling, but none of them share a floorplan.
5
Yeah, that sounds pretty typical of a development. They have like 5-10 different versions.
I mean - when different people buy plots and build a house with different plans and builders.
Pretty rare since it usually costs a lot more than one builder banging up a bunch of houses.
1
no, i mean they look similar in their architectural styles. they all look like houses built in the 90s
no two houses are the same. there are probably 30 houses in my development and none of them are the same. actually i dont think this development was built all by the same developer, im pretty sure it was the case of buying a plot of land and finding a builder. all the lots are at least an acre, and i know they werent all built at the same time.
3
My childhood neighborhood was built this way too and while no two homes were identical there's a handful of styles that people generally preferred. Though even two similar homes from the outside were likely to have different interior floor plans.
4
Depends on the builder. Some are custom builders. They buy a plot of land and create a subdivision of winding roads and empty lots. The homes are all custom built to the individual buyers preferences. They are all different.
Other builders will buy a plot of land and build everything, then sell the homes already built. These obviously are more price conscious and look more similar. The homes are not quite as similar as you see in post-war suburban housing, but close.
Then there are some builders who might build the subdivision, and most of the home, but leave the finishing to be determined by the buyer. Things like flooring, cabinetry, etc. that can be finished in not much time.
2
I live in a "bedroom town", basically a suburb that's not really attached to anything, 90% single family housing, very few commercial buildings, and almost no industry. The original plots were laid out in I think the 1890s.
You might have had a developer who bought lots, built a house, and sold them, but they'd usually only do one at a time, and usually only when they already had a buyer lined up, so there's some nearly identical houses around town but they're all mixed up. You might have two similar houses from the 90s on a block, but in between them is a totally different house from the 80s, and the next closest similar house is 4 blocks away with some 2000s houses and some even older houses in between.
1
Yeah. There are some themes based on the time and what choices matched the general income of the people moving in, like brick fascia was really popular at that time, open floorplans weren't, they're mostly 3-5 bedroom places for families rather than starters or massive places but there was no one company developing it all and they were built to spec so the layouts are all different, lot sizes and materials vary, etc...
1
If you're counting hiring people to do some or all of the work then it's fairly common. Almost no one physically builds their own house anymore except for in incredibly rural areas. In most towns and cities there would be no legal way for an individual to build their own house themselves unless they already happen to be a general contractor and know how to get the permits you need from your municipality.
10
My grandfather built my mother's childhood home himself. Needs some work, but it's still standing.
4
I did once upon a bad time ago. I will never again, though. I prefer to buy and re- do what I don’t like now.
Building from the ground up is way too much hassle.
My parents built their retirement home, but it took them five years because they were paying for it as they built it and working on it as they had time. But when they did retire, they were able to move into a home with no debt.
My nephew is currently building his home.
4
My parents
3
Zero
3
My Dad...that's about it.
2
My grandfather owns property and build them to rent out. This includes his home and his sons(my father).
2
Personally, 2 of my cousins and a friend of mine. One actually built the home himself with a few of his buddies.
Indirectly I have a couple of neighbors who had their homes built since most of the land out here is still undeveloped lots. The folks behind me actually has the existing house torn down and rebuilt because the original was bizarrely close to the street given the size of the property and tucked into the corner of the lot for some reason.
2
One. He hired an architect then a GC to handle construction.
2
I did that for many other people, but I just live in one built by some guy in 1933(he built it for himself). Before that was a home in Indianapolis built by a master carpenter (who lived in it until he died and we bought from the estate) with philippine mahogany cabinets and a built in china cabinet with oak floors. The guy went all out in a relatively small house of 3 bedrooms built in 1959
2
Literally, by sawing the wood and hammering the nails themselves, none.
Quite a few use that phrase when they had a custom home built for them as opposed to buying one off the market.
2
Several people.
My aunt and uncle did it themselves with a log cabin kit. They had help from friends laying the foundation. They lived in it for almost 30 years before retiring and moving in to an RV and going full mobile.
My current house wasn’t built by the lady we bought it from but it was built by the people they bought it from. I briefly met the wife in her 80s randomly which was kind of cool. I kind of wanted to give her shit for building a not up to code septic tank that almost scuttled our purchase and be annoyed with her for taking the firebox insert in the basement fireplace with her when they sold the place.
But how can you be annoyed with a sweet 80 something year old lady.
2
By this definition, any custom home can be considered as "built on your own", and they are pretty common. I know quite a few people who had a home built with their own customized floor plan and design.
However, I only know two people who literally built their house by hand, and it was an older couple who had lived in a cabin-type house in a wooded area for decades.
2
My dad, grandparents on both sides and my in-laws and grandparents-in-law, multiple aunts and uncles. Uncommon with my generation but not at all hard to find in older generations.
1
Just one. He and his future father in law built it together by hand. This was in Minnesota in the 80s or 90s.
1
My grandparents built one of their previous homes, my dad's side of the family had people who built homes for a living so they would do their families homes, I've got family who builds their own hunting camps.
Outside my family I don't know anyone who's built their own home from the ground up, some people might have a thing or tek changed if they purchase the home towards the end of construction but idk anyone who's been there for the whole process.
1
One. My dad's best friend built their house himself. I think he actually did a lot of the work himself. He started before I was born but I remember the upstairs being unfinished when I was a kid. It was kind of an open space, good for playing in.
1
Quite a few. It's not that uncommon here.