Has anyone built a custom home?

[Rustic23]

I designed our home. DW and I knew it was going to be our last home. I designed a two bedroom, two bath guest house attached to the Garage, about 30 ft from the kitchen door. It is a self contained unit with its own AC/heat, and hot water. The main house is essentially a one bedroom home. The extra two bedrooms are somewhat combined and are the TV room and DW's scrap booking room. When the kids come up they have their private residence. Oh, the hallway that connects the two bedrooms sports a small kitchen. i.e. sink, fridge, coffee pot. We were going to put in a toaster and microwave, but the kids said they would never use it.

 

[Hyper]

Yes, 4 actually! We are maybe a month away from moving into the LAST (?) one. We've done everything ourselves and still married (31yrs) but it is dang tough. Radiant floors are neat but not in an expansive soil area! One level home! (knees are gone). Most importantly for us was building in the county where permits and inspections are about half those in the city. ( We like rural acreage anyway). Inspectors in our area are past contractors and can take a real dislike to those that are able to build their own. (always be nice!) 20 amp everywhere. Best part is our utility bills would amaze most. Use the best materials for the area you live, meaning we tried very expensive windows, doors but they were horrible for our climate. (9mths winter) Ex. Best vinyl windows are best for our climate but inexpensive. The lot you build is extremely important and placement of home and windows doors, etc. (we have viscous winds). I individually screwed all soffits, facias etc so not to have any bangin with the winds. Contractors would never take the time to do that. Metal roof in our area. We really like log homes. Solid as heck. Barely hear the wind. We have the maintenance down to very easy. Only clear span trusses. (less drywall movement) Everything is new. We know how to fix it as we either built it or installed it. Proper drainage! You'd be amazed by the contractors that don't consider drainage. So much to think about. Takes a long time but worth it when done! Really study the homes in the area you chose to avoid the mistakes they might have or PIA issues!