Wish you knew more about the biggest investment you will most likely ever make? Build Your House Yourself University (byhyu) will teach you to save money and make smart decisions about the construction of the place you and your family will call HOME. We will help you understand residential construction— simplify and demystify the design build process. You’ll come away with successful strategies for building your own house, with or without a general contractor. Become an educated consumer, even if you prefer to buy, rather than build a new house. Complex construction jargon and best practices will be explained in easy to understand terms. It’s not the typical DIY (do it yourself) show. You will learn how to MANAGE the labor, not DO the labor for your new house. Join me, Michelle Nelson, host and fellow informal residential construction student. I’ll share the research I find on home design and building as I prepare to build my home. Together, our community of future home builders, will learn the tips, tricks and trends of experienced contractors and industry experts. I’ll interview owner-builders and construction professionals. During our mini lessons, I’ll inform you about framing, flooring, windows, insulation, kitchen cabinets and countertops…almost anything having to do with new construction homes. You’ll hear about energy efficiency and green building too. There will be product reviews in which you will be introduced to cutting edge, as well as, tried and true products and services. And in keeping with the university theme, episodes will end with short, fun quizzes. If we do our due diligence BEFORE we start construction, we will actually start construction with the most difficult part of the project behind us. Let’s put in the time, effort, preparation and research BEFORE we break ground and building our homes will be much easier and more enjoyable.
Will open concept homes become a thing of the past? In the midst of the pandemic, lots of people have been talking about wanting more private space i...
As you probably know, a major part of doing our due diligence and vetting or investigating a contractor before hiring him or her is to contact some re...
In the last episode, we had a brief overview of the rough-in phase of construction, including what goes on during the electrical rough-in. This week I...
Significant progress has been made on my house, but if you’ve been following me for a while, you know the process has been painfully slow. Soil instab...
This week we’ll go over some design tips that I read in a recent article on houzz.com called 7 Major Decorating Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. Even ...
This is the second part of our interview with fireplace professional Jake Cromwell of Top Chimney and Roofing. He’ll continue his discussion about hig...
This week and next we’ll have a fireplace professional and educator on the show who will help us understand the different types of fireplaces and educ...
The current homebuilding environment is a tough one. Builders and homeowners like us are dealing with historically high prices and historically low av...
The cost of lumber has increased more than 300% since April 2020. Lumber sold for $348 per thousand board feet before the pandemic and peaked to a rec...
If you’re considering building a house with exterior cladding made of stucco and/or manufactured stone or thin natural stone veneer, this episode is f...