It’s really difficult to know which products are the best ones when you have no experience using any of them. This is one hard problem to overcome when owner-building. The best way to combat this issue is to talk to other people about which products they like to use (or really hate using so you can steer clear). Usually professionals, or other owner-builders, are happy to give you pointers and suggestions on what products they use and which ones they have been unhappy with in the past.
This page is devoted to the products we used on our own home that we were really impressed with. Hopefully this will help guide you on some of the things you will be doing on your own home, and help you decide which products are worth your hard earned money.
I will be doing this in list style, with a website link included, so you can look through quickly for what you need. Then I will be adding a full review for many of the products to talk details and specifics. Once I have a review completed, I will add a link so you can click on it to read more.
Pre-build:
- The Owner-Builder Book by Mark A Smith- My favorite book about general contracting your own house HANDS DOWN.
- Measuring wheel– goodness we used this way more than I thought we would, especially when measuring distances to draw up our site plan.
Used throughout the build:
- Big buddy heaters– super handy, indoor safe propane heaters. The guys loved having these on the cold winter days. I loved that they were safe to be around, even for the kids.
- My favorite gloves– unless you like pink, these gloves won’t be great for any of you men out there. I have used them constantly for everything from gardening to roofing for 3 years now and they are still holding up well. I love that they don’t have Velcro to get full of junk.
- Construction radio– I seriously thought these were a waste of money when we started building. Then one of the guys won a free one at Home Depot. After that, I wished we had one the whole time! This particular one is even one of the cheap ones. It works with a battery so you don’t have to have somewhere to plug it in. Plus you can use it to charge your phone, which oddly enough, seems to be a HUGE problem on construction sites!
- Laser level– When I walked into our house and saw this brilliant device in action for the first time, I literally said “that’s the coolest thing ever!!” This small and inexpensive tool is helpful for almost every single step of building a house honestly. We used it first to make every outlet in the house exactly even. Then bought our own to use for things like setting the siding straight, perfect tile lines, etc. Seriously one of the most versatile tools I can think of.
Plumbing:
- Tile EZ shower pans– I LOVE LOVE these shower pans. We did our own custom showers, so these saved us soooo much time, money, headache, and worry.
- Shark bite connectors– Farmer tells everyone he runs into about these incredibly easy to use plumbing connectors. They just pop right on and you’re done! Just make sure you have the right size. He said he will never use anything else ever again.
- Redgard waterproofing– We used this bright red waterproofing paint around each of our showers. It allowed us to use regular drywall, and still water proof it before putting up our tile. Easy to use and this brand was a little cheaper than the others we looked at. 1 gallon of this goes a long way.
HVAC:
- Carrier brand– This is just a brand recommendation, so you would have to find a place near you who sells the Carrier brand. I tried to do extra research on our forced air HVAC system because it’s a rather large chunk of money and something you want to last. After learning all that I could, this was definitely my favorite brand. High quality for a lesser price. Obviously we have only had our HVAC system in for a short amount of time, but we have been very happy with it so far.
- The Range Hood store– When the HVAC guys said they would install my range hood for free if it was there when they came, I was in hustle mode to find the perfect one fast. I knew what I wanted, so it was easy to compare prices quickly from different places. HOLY COW, The Range Hood Store was way cheaper than the 10 other places I looked. And bonus, my hood shipped right to my door less than a week later.
Electrical:
- Legrand electrical– Our electrical consultant recommended Legrand so we went with that. The reason I am recommending it here is because after we put all of the electrical trim in our home and found ourselves just a couple covers short, we went shopping to get some more. That’s when I discovered how bad I hate the other brands that are available. It’s all about the style and color in this instance. Legrand offers more modern shaped and flat color instead of shiny and rounded. It made a huge difference for me. Oh yeah, and I love their dimmer switches.
Insulation:
- Touch N Seal spray foam insulation– I can’t say whether or not this brand is better than others, but I can tell you that we were overly pleased with this one. It was really easy to use, came with simply instructions and everything we needed. Also, it went on really nicely and way faster than we thought it would.
- Green Fiber cellulose– We tried a couple different brands of insulation. I personally like Green Fiber the best. It was packed better, easier to work with, and they sell it at Lowe’s and let you rent the machine for free to blow it in. My favorite part is it’s cellulose so it doesn’t itch like other types of insulation. It’s environmentally friendly too, if that’s something you are interested in.
Siding:
- Gecko Gauge siding holder– This is a really smart tool that I am so glad we found out about. These siding holders make it possible for one person to put up siding by themselves …. me. Yes, me, without Farmer’s help. The plastic ones worked fine, no need to buy the metal ones that cost a little more.
- James Hardie siding and trim– I will only ever use this brand. I have been so impressed with their quality and easiness to use. I also think all of their products are very attractive.
Finish work:
- EZ-Hang door hangers– Made hanging doors sooo much easier and faster. Now Farmer won’t hang a door without these.
- Paint/mud mixer– For something so inexpensive and so handy, it would be silly not to get one of these. We use ours constantly and will continue to use it even after we are done with our build. Paint, grout,
I would also like to include a quick list of the little things you will need. I don’t have a specific brand for these, we just got whatever was available. But these are the things we used over and over again throughout our build.
Bonus list of little things you will need:
Chalk line
good measuring tape
good hammer
good drill (contact driver)
paint rollers
nail gun
tack stapler
level
Do you have any excellent products or brands to add to this list?
~Farmer’s Wife
Chelli says
I am so fortunate to visit your website. You have provided everything a newbie house builder needs to know.
Thank you!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Glad I could help Chelli
Thomas says
Insulation – my favorite is Roxul. It’s easy to work with, and doesn’t leave you “itchy”.
Subfloor Adhesive – LePage PL400
+1 on the Big Buddy heaters. I’ve got the one that you can use an adapter hose to hook up a 20lb tank to.
+1 on the Construction Radio. I’ve got a Milwaukee that I can connect my iPod and play my favorite songs. It can run on Milwaukee rechargeable batteries, if you are working somewhere without power (most of my builds are off grid locations).
+1 Sharkbites. They are amazing. My brother and I renovated his place, and didn’t know about them. Used the compression fittings. A few years later they came out with these, and any more changes we’ve done we used them every time. They’re much more expensive, but save so much time.
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Thanks Thomas!
Kellie says
Did you hang your own Hardie Board?
Congrats on your new baby! I’m in awe that you were blogging so soon!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Yep we have done all our own Hardie Board. I love how easy it is to use!
Michelle says
Love, love, love all of these!! I was wondering what brand windows do you use?
Thank you!
Michelle
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Hey Michelle,
We used Milgard
Sharon says
Can not say how blessed, relieved and excited I am that I found your site as I was up in the middle of the night trying to find a site that would help this Mom, Wife and Interior Designer figure out how to build our own home! As a designer it’s easy doing for others but my husband decided 3yrs ago to move to land and build a one level farmhouse with basement. I worked on my own design for a year and we are about to break ground. We want to contract out a lot and do some ourselves along with our builder. Learning as we go I’ve just started trying to figure out the process and guidelines to help me and so grateful I found this site! Thank you for sharing your journey to help others as I know this isn’t for everyone and three years ito get to this stage takes lots patience and research. Thank You!!!!!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
You are welcome Sharon! I am glad I could be of some help. Let me know if you have any questions. I am happy to answer!
Sarah Marchant says
Hello!
A while back you recommended a paint mixer. I think you said you found it on amazon. Can you give us the name of that paint mixer you used?
Thanks!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Yeah, it was on Facebook which is why you can’t find it sorry! It was a goldblatt and here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002X2ET/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=farmerswife-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00002X2ET&linkId=f28b72d24369bb9c0ccd7475f04a9293
Doug says
OMG! YOU ARE THE BESTEST BESTEST! THE information you have provided and the checklists… I could go on and on but ..YOU.. ARE TRULY A GODSEND!
WORDS CANNOT SAY HOW THANKFUL I AM TO HAVE FOUND YOU AND WANTED TO THROW YOU A MASSIVE THANK YOU!! EXCELLENT!