Framing …. no matter how I think about it, is without a doubt one of the most overwhelming and huge jobs that we had on our house. This one “trade” took longer than any other job we have had to do so far. The reason is not because it’s incredibly difficult, but because there are so many little jobs included in the overall framing job.
This is the part where you build the actual shell of your house. This is the part where you fill in the insides. This is the part where you put a “lid” on it all. And although ours is mostly built out of lumber, that lumber is all different sizes, shapes, and types. That lumber requires hardware to hold it together. That lumber has to be cut in a certain way to provide ample strength.
If you are building a custom home like we did, the framing will take awhile to figure out because each wall, window, door, level, and set of stairs will be unique. Lumber isn’t cheap, so you need to take the extra time to double check all of your work and measurements before you cut. Otherwise, you will end up with hundreds of dollars in lumber that you messed up on and wasted.
Even though framing scares me a little, it was still one of my very favorite parts so far of owner building. There are a lot of reasons for that:
- I LOVED seeing something happen every day. It wasn’t like some jobs where you really don’t notice much being done. It was obvious what they had been working on that day from the moment I drove in. An actual house was being built! And not just that, but it was MY house.
- We hired some family friends to frame our house. It was so much fun to be able to hang out with the guys that were working on our house. We trusted them, they were kind to my kids, and they did a great job.
- We had an agreement that Farmer and I could help and learn any time. I spent time at the new house most every single day during the framing portion. Josh, Matt and Mikey taught me and the kids how to do things. They let us help out with whatever we could. I can truly say that I understand how our house was built. That is something I wasn’t real sure would ever happen because of what a huge job it was.
I broke this step into 2 parts because of the huge amount of information that I want/need to share with you guys. I got to writing and realized this would be a 10,000 word article if I tried to put it all into one! So, this article is part 1, and there is a link at the bottom to go to part 2 of Framing the walls.
If you are acting as your own general contractor (owner building) you might be a big part of the framing or you might not. You have that option to hire someone to do it, or to do it yourself. That is a personal decision, but here are some of my thoughts on what helped Farmer and I decide what to do on our own house.
The biggest deciding factor for us was time. We knew framing our house would take a long time. If we had tried to do it ourselves, I am honestly not sure we would have ever finished.
-We hired Josh as our man in charge. He was there from September 8th until December 22nd, with the exception of about 1 week of vacation.
-Then we hired Matt who came about 2 weeks after Josh, took a 3 week hunting vacation in Oct, then came back and worked until Dec 22nd also.
-And finally, we hired Mikey for the months of November and December.
All three of these guys are experienced framers who worked full time on our house while they were here. So with 3 real framers, plus Farmer helping out at least several hours a week, and me running back and forth from town grabbing supplies for everyone, it still took us almost 4 months to frame up our 4,000 square foot house. Can you imagine if Farmer and I had tried to do it on our own? Ahhhh I shudder just thinking of it. I am thinking 9 months BEST case scenario, but probably more like 12-18 months just for us to complete the framing.
Another factor for us was knowledge and experience. Farmer knew a little about building things but had never built a house before, so he would have had to research a lot to find out how to do each step. I, on the other hand, am a building master …. no wait that can’t be right …. I knew almost nothing about building anything. The most I had ever done before our house was helping my dad put shingles on a shed. I also have this incredible ability to make everything crooked. So there was that problem …
The last big thing Farmer and I discussed was that we wanted to be sure that the “bones” of our house were built correctly and wouldn’t have any problems down the road. Finish work is a lot easier to change or fix later on, but the bones of your house are a big deal. We didn’t want to be worrying about how solid our walls were, or if the load bearing points were correctly placed and that our house was properly supported. So we decided that having a professional here was the right decision, and that we could help a whole bunch along the way, but that we wanted this step of our house to be done in a timely manner and the right way.
I am very happy with this decision and I would do it again the same way.
So once you know which route you are taking (hiring a framer, doing it yourself, or somewhere in between) there are a lot of things you need to know as the owner builder/general contractor.
- What you need to do in preparation for framing
- Who will be in charge of what
- The timing of everything
- Back up plans
- What steps go into framing a house (Part 2)
- Things to look for on your blueprints (Part 2)
- How much everything will cost (Part 2)
- Ways to save money on framing (Part 2)
What you need to do in preparation for framing if you are hiring a sub contractor to do the work
We talked awhile back about hiring a framer, but in case you don’t know the CORRECT way to hire someone, READ THIS. In fact hiring people is so important that I put together an entire e-course on this topic. So if you would like more info on that CLICK HERE.
The way you hire your sub contractors is everything. It is one of your primary jobs if you are the general contractor on your own home. It determines everything about how the job will go … how much money you will save, how quickly the job will get done, how well the job will get done, and anything else you can think of.
The framing sub contractor that you hire will likely be working on your home for quite some time. Even small homes usually take a few weeks to frame up. Our 4,000 square foot home took the better part of 4 months. Please, I am begging you, take the time to hire your framer the right way so that you don’t have a giant headache for months that ends up costing you thousands.
Here are some things you need to discuss with your framing contractor BEFORE you hire him:
- Get a detailed quote in writing
- When is he available and how long will it take him?
- What other homes has he framed up in your specific area?
- How many men are on his crew?
- Does he have insurance?
- What are his thoughts and suggestions about your home? Does he see any potential problem areas?
- What is his policy if problems arise like materials not being there on time, weather issues, etc.
- How much can you be involved? (if that’s what you are wanting)
- Who will be in charge of what? (we will talk about this more in a second)
- Does he have any suggestions for ways to save money that you can help with? (we will also talk more about this in a second)
It’s always better to take a few days to think things through and discuss literally every tiny question and detail you can think of with your favorite framing contractor before you actually commit to hiring him. Every time I hired someone super quick I would think of a whole bunch of other questions over the next several days that I wish I would have asked before diving in. Look through your blueprints a few times and make sure to write down the questions you think of as you have them so you don’t forget. It’s also a good idea to sit down with him in person and look through your blueprints together if that’s possible. You will be glad you did.
The question of “who will be in charge of what” is an important one that often gets forgotten. Personally, I made some assumptions that I shouldn’t have about what exactly each one of my sub contractors should be handling. A big part of that was because of my lack of experience. I just assumed that if you hired someone to do a job that they would handle anything and everything that pops up during that time. Wrong. You need to discuss what exactly your sub contractor and his crew will be in charge of and what you will be in charge of. This can be a little difficult if you are like me and have no idea what these jobs entail. I hated trying to think of questions to ask when I didn’t even understand the lingo they were using. So here are a few general questions that I asked almost every sub contractor in order to get the ball rolling and make sure that I didn’t miss things:
- What jobs/things need to be completed for you to be able to start? Then I would elaborate sometimes and tell them that I was new to this whole house building thing and I wanted to make sure that everything was ready for them when they show up.
- What supplies am I expected to supply? This can be anything from the materials they will be using (lumber) to extension cords, generators, water, etc.
- Can you walk me through the whole process so I can understand what you will be doing and the methods that you use? This was my favorite question to ask because it allowed me to understand the process and I was able to then ask more questions that actually pertained to the job.
- When you are finished will there be anything I need to do before ________ can come in and start their job?
- Are you willing to do your own clean up?
Make sure both you and your framer are on the same page about who will be in charge of what things. And write down those questions because they should be asked to every sub contractor you hire. In fact, I will make up a little printable for you so you don’t have to hunt down a pen. Just print this off and tac it up next to your computer so you always know what to ask when you call a potential sub contractor.
What you need to do in preparation for framing if you are doing the work yourself
I am not going to pretend to be an expert on framing up a house. I was at our house every single day that the guys were framing it up except for maybe a handful. I asked a thousand questions, they explained things to me, they let me help with things, and I watched as much as I could, but that definitely doesn’t make me qualified to tell you how to frame up a house.
So if you are taking on the job of DIY-ing this part of your home, I just have a few suggestions. You probably already know these things, but I am going to say them anyway.
- Get quotes even if you plan on doing it yourself. There are a few reasons that I say this: It will give you a great idea of how much everything should cost and the amount of money you are saving. You may find someone willing to do it for as cheap (or almost as cheap) as you can do it yourself. And also, you can talk to a few different professionals who may have suggestions for you or just be able to answer some questions. I find that the more contacts I have, the more information and resources I have. Always call as many people as you can.
- Do your homework ahead of time. Obviously you will be researching and learning in order to be able to do it yourself, but it’s important to do as much of it as you can long before you actually start framing. The process will take way longer if you are trying to complete one thing before researching the next. Also, so many of the things in your house will depend on, or be effected by, something else. If you take the framing one step at a time then you may end up having to undo some things that you thought you already finished.
- Make a detailed and written plan. It is common practice for the lumber and materials to be delivered in stages. After all, there is a TON of material and you won’t be needing it all at the same time. Let me tell you what happens when you don’t have it all planned out… You finish something, or switch gears to something else, then discover that you don’t have everything you need for it. Then you call the company to make a delivery and they are a few days out. Then you have to decide if you are going to get it yourself or wait for them to deliver it. So you are either wasting days or making extra trips to the store that wouldn’t have been necessary. Yes, this happened to us a few times in case you were wondering.
- Be realistic about how long things will take, how hard they will be, and how many people you need. It will likely take you quite a bit longer to frame up your house than it would to hire a crew to come in and do it. Give yourself plenty of time and even a few breaks in there. Otherwise you will drive yourself crazy because you aren’t on schedule. A large portion of framing a house is not really a one man job. That’s not to say that it can’t be done, but it’s okay to ask people for help sometimes. Don’t put your safety in jeopardy just to save a few bucks or to avoid inconveniencing someone. Safety first!
- If you plan on going to Youtube for help on something, watch no less than 5 videos on the subject. Each one will have a different approach and different suggestions. Watching one Youtube video is not enough to make sure you are getting the best information out there. Sometimes it even takes more than 5 ….. just saying.
Back up plans
You should always have a back up plan for each step of the way, but framing is especially important. The reason for that is because of how large this job is, how long it takes, and how much material you will be buying.
Having a back up sub contractor is a great idea, however, the material supplier is the back up you are more likely to need. You will probably be receiving deliveries of lumber for several weeks or even months. Each time you make another order you should be comparing prices and shopping other places. Awhile back you will have requested a few take-offs from different building supply stores. You would have compared prices, delivery charges, distance, etc. But just because you picked the best take-off/company to be your supplier DOES NOT MEAN you have to purchase everything from them. Each supplier will have certain items that are more expensive and certain items that are less expensive.
Rather than sticking with only one company, have a primary supply company, and then have two back ups. Then all you have to do is look at your order each time before you place it and make a phone call to those other two companies to find out what those particular things cost.
It also doesn’t hurt to let them know that you are comparing prices. My back up supplier made several price cuts and was willing to give me free delivery because they wanted me to purchase through them instead of my primary supplier. If you take the time to do this you can save a few hundred or even thousand dollars on your lumber package.
Alternative shopping places
Raise your hand if you love a good thrift store. I have a few that I visit frequently because I almost always find something awesome for a ridiculously low price.
One time I was shopping for nice boots for my kids, but the ones we wanted were $80. I couldn’t bring myself to spend that for shoes that my kids would grow out of in a year. Our next stop was at a second hand kids store. Guess what was on the shelf at the back of the store? Yep, that exact same brand of boots that didn’t even look like they had been worn! Price tag: $7. Unfortunately they were a size too small for my daughter, but we bought them anyways and gave them to a friend of ours because I couldn’t pass them up.
Wow sorry, that was totally off topic but I just had to share it with you. Anyways, thrift type stores/ second hand stores/ left over stores/ garage sales/ and online websites like Craigslist are excellent places to find brand new building supplies for pennies on the dollar. The problem is finding them. It can take a really really long time.
When I first started shopping for house things it went pretty slow. I got super discouraged because I was looking for building supplies but I didn’t really know what I needed and it was hard to find people getting rid of perfectly good lumber. So here are my personal thoughts on shopping for framing supplies at alternative shopping places:
- Building supplies are a little harder to find than finish items. People all over the place are selling tile, sinks, and light fixtures. But J bolts, electrical outlets, and soffit can be pretty difficult to find. So don’t get too discouraged if you can’t find what you are looking for every time. It will get easier as you move forward.
- If you are serious about saving money this way, then you should have everything you are going to need written down WAYYY ahead of time. You won’t find very many things if you just go to these stores looking for “building supplies”. You need to know exactly what you need and exactly how much of it. This is one huge benefit of PYH. You will have every single thing going into your house written down and organized so you always know what to be looking for.
- If you find something you want, but there isn’t enough of it, do a quick search on your phone right then to see if they sell it at Lowe’s, Home Depot, or your other local building supply stores. It still saves money to buy part of it at 75% off and then grab the rest of it at full price. Farmer and I did this with our roofing shingles. We found some on craigslist, but we needed double what the guy had so we ordered the rest from a supply store. It still saved us money and there was absolutely no difference between the ones bought on Craigslist and the ones bought at the store.
- Make sure you KNOW what the item costs at the building supply store before you buy it somewhere else. Just because it is sold at one of the “alternative shopping places” does not guarantee that it’s a steal of a deal.
- As far as tools go, many things can be rented instead of purchased. As long as you don’t keep it for weeks, this can be a good way to save some money on some of the more expensive tools and things you will need.
Alright, now you see what I mean about this being way too much information to fit into one post. That is why I split it into two parts. This “part 1” was filled with my thoughts and suggestions on framing. “Part 2” covers the steps, the blueprint info, and the money involved in framing the house. You can go to part 2 RIGHT HERE.
If you need to go back to Step 23 CLICK HERE
If you have any thoughts or suggestions about framing a house we would all love to hear them in the comments section! Thanks
~Farmer’s Wife
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