Anyone here managed the build of their own house/shop?

[fordracing19]

So you wouldn't use Doug Parr Custom Homes again?

[FastFord19]

lol no. He's not that bad. I just wanted to give a review of Doug Parr Custom Homes. Nothing more.

[fordracing19]

Is Doug Parr Custom Home related to Dan Bishop?

[FastFord19]

So just an update.

We met with Doug Parr, with Doug Parr Homes ( Doug Parr Custom Homes ). We are finally done and he wanted some feedback on how the process went. He also apologized for it taking 210~ish days. He is a nice guy but building the house with him just wasn't a very personable experience we thought it would be. For his thank you for us building with him and an apology, he gave us a large Big Green Egg.

http://www.dougparrhomes.com/

I want these posts to get hits on Google for his name.

[bigminz]

I'm in Whitewright, grayson county, and we contracted every ourselves, bought all of the materials, and did some of the work. Built a very nice home for around $62 a square foot. It wasn't a hard process but as was mentioned above we don't have a lot of the inspections that other counties have. If I was going to build again, which I am within 5-8 years, I will do the plumbing and electrical along with sheet rock and roofing and hire a plumber to sign off on it. No need to worry about electrical now but those rules may change. We've built a few houses though so we have some sub contractors that work well with us because they work fast and we pay fast.

[FastFord19]

I contracted our first home out in 2002. It wasnt bad but figured it would be much easier to have our current one built in 2012 using a builder. Big mistake. They just want your money and could care less about the product or customer. My brother made sure to interview a lot of builders for his current home under construction. I figured he might chime in. It should of been finished by the end of May.

I interviewed about 7 different builders. I chose the guy that spent the most time with me during the interview. i went and looked at about 8 of his houses (some still being built and others were finished). I talked to one couple a few times that were currently getting their home built. He also told me he would be there just about everyday and I would be dealing with him directly. I felt like I had picked a good builder..I was wrong.

He told me they usually build houses within 90 days because they have good subs and have them scheduled so well to get them one in after another. The slab was poured on February 17th. To date, that puts us at 217 days (7 months exactly). I am still not in. They are currently fixing some touch up stuff.

Now I can't even get in touch with the builder, only his foreman. If I would have met this guy at the beginning, I would have went with someone else..

Some of the subs would have tried to use cheap stuff if my brother and I didn't stay on em. The electrician (CJ's Electrical in Decatur), wanted to put 20 outlets on one circuit and were going to use #14 wire. I had them put #12 and a maximum of 8 outlets per circuits.

In the end, it will be a good house... But I felt like I had to do way more than I should have since I was using a general contractor. The foreman never caught anything. I had to point everything out myself. If I was to do it again, I would probably try to sub everything out myself if my bank would do that.

My Builder was Doug Parr Custom Homes out of Boyd.

[black2002ls]

I contracted our first home out in 2002. It wasnt bad but figured it would be much easier to have our current one built in 2012 using a builder. Big mistake. They just want your money and could care less about the product or customer. My brother made sure to interview a lot of builders for his current home under construction. I figured he might chime in. It should of been finished by the end of May.

Who did he end up building with. Most of the large builders are giving 12+ month build times, and are lucky to hit them. We are one of the few who are giving sub 12 month build times and hitting our dates. In my neighborhood we are running about 5-6 months from contract to close. About 3 weeks of that involve quality/best practice and energy inspections.

[akfodysvn]

I contracted our first home out in 2002. It wasnt bad but figured it would be much easier to have our current one built in 2012 using a builder. Big mistake. They just want your money and could care less about the product or customer. My brother made sure to interview a lot of builders for his current home under construction. I figured he might chime in. It should of been finished by the end of May.

This! Builders disappear with a ninja bomb as soon as your house is done.

They will use the cheapest subs guaranteed unless you are paying BIG money for your house. Considering you are considering GC then I doubt you are quite to cow skin rug wealth.

If you work a crazy job as it is OP then it may not be worth it. We get quite a few days off which they used to oversee their job sites. The last 2 I knew had zero experience as a GC but trusted their subs. The savings would be worth it... check out the amortization table on a loan and see how much you will truly save up in the long run as well as the initial big savings.

Your quality will likely finish better as well. With that said you may look into that cost +10%. Pretty good deal there.

Thats a full time job. No way you could stay sane doing your regular. Dealing with workers, getting quote , hiring the contractors, making contracts, etc etc . Like every one has said run away

You get all your quotes before building ever breaks ground. The guys I work w/ say it's a bunch of work but totally worth it.

[lincolnboy]

Thats a full time job. No way you could stay sane doing your regular. Dealing with workers, getting quote , hiring the contractors, making contracts, etc etc . Like every one has said run away

[TX_92_Notch]

I was AK but I'm beginning to nix that idea.

This would be in Van Alstyne (Grayson Co.). If we go down the building path, we'd be renting in Van Alstyne for a while but I still don't think I'd be able to keep a close enough eye on things to actually GC it.

Tx92, would you mind sharing the builder's info? What do you mean "for the most part"...just because he drug it out?

The foundation, framing, insulation, windows, etc. all went perfectly. It was the nicest framing I've ever seen. He used quality glu-lam beams where most framers would used traditional built-up 2x10 or 2x12 beams. When he took on the other house, he virtually dropped my parents. His crew would go days without showing up, he made commitments he wouldn't keep, etc. He actually stiffed the fireplace vendor - my parents paid the GC for the fireplace and he didn't give the money to the fireplace vendor. My parents had to pay for the fireplace twice ($6,500).

The guy's name is Ross Perkins. Stay the hell away from him. He does quality work, when he works. His integrity towards the end of the build went to shit and he eventually quit returning calls and won't come out to fix any of the minor stuff that's come up.

[fordracing19]

I contracted our first home out in 2002. It wasnt bad but figured it would be much easier to have our current one built in 2012 using a builder. Big mistake. They just want your money and could care less about the product or customer. My brother made sure to interview a lot of builders for his current home under construction. I figured he might chime in. It should of been finished by the end of May.

[phaux]

Unless you know what you're doing and can manage the job full time, run away. I work on construction sites constantly as a welder and know a handful of GC's. I see the headaches they deal with all day every day with subs, and these are the guys they use on all their jobs. Unless you can just take a few months off and really want to have a hand in the building of your house, I wouldn't do it.

Not trying to discourage you, I just see how it ends up when people try and build there own houses and it usually leaves them pulling their hair out all to save a few bucks when there are other ways on a job to save money.

[GeorgeG.]

The rules around my part of kansas are a hoot. Basically do whatever the fuck you want.


There is some skeeeetchy shit around here.

that's funny and is pretty much what I don't want to end up with. I want it to look like it was professionally designed and built.

[GeorgeG.]

I was AK but I'm beginning to nix that idea.

This would be in Van Alstyne (Grayson Co.). If we go down the building path, we'd be renting in Van Alstyne for a while but I still don't think I'd be able to keep a close enough eye on things to actually GC it.

Tx92, would you mind sharing the builder's info? What do you mean "for the most part"...just because he drug it out?

[TX_92_Notch]

Where are you building?

My parents built a house 2 years ago in Grayson County (Lake Texoma). There were no plans to submit for review, no building permits required, no inspections required, nothing. I kid you not.

I am an architect and I designed the house for them (sorry, I'm not for hire right now - too busy) and kept a close eye on the builder while it was going up. They used a well-known builder from the area and he did an excellent job for the most part. He took on another house towards the end of my parent's build and he drug it out because he was too busy.

Even with my experience in the field (not on the construction side, but still), I wouldn't tackle the GC aspect of it. I'm planning to build within 2 years and I will hire someone with experience to manage the construction of my house. Too much to go wrong on a huge investment that you'll potentially own for a very long time. Do it once, do it right.