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Build Your House Yourself University

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.

Copyright: © BYHYU.com 2016

Latest Episodes:

Should You BUY an Existing House or BUILD a New House?—BYHYU 053 Jan 18, 2017

Show notes

If you decide you want move to another house, one of the first decisions you’ll have to make is whether to buy an existing house or build a new one. Each option has advantages and disadvantages. Today’s mini lesson will explore the pros and cons of buying a house versus building a house. We’ll also talk about building allowances.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

https://www.facebook.com/BYHYU/

See What Your House Will Look Like BEFORE You Build It— Get A 3D Rendering from Viz Source —BYHYU 052 Jan 11, 2017

Show notes

If you’re anything like me, you like to actually see what you’re getting before you pay for it. But, what do you do when you’re building a house? I know you’ll have blue prints, but for some of us blue prints are difficult to read and visualize. For some reason, my brain has trouble translating blue prints into a good mental image.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see a 3D, photograph-like image of what your house will look like before you build it? To have a color picture and maybe even an animated aerial video of the outside or inside of your house? Then you could show it to contractors and suppliers to ensure that they know exactly what you want to build?

Today, you’ll hear from Rob Clasby, CEO and Founder of Viz Source, the Rendering Company. Since 2006, Viz Source has been in the business of providing photorealistic 3D images and animations for all types of projects, including new homes.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

www.vizsource.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BYHYU/

Paint and Painting Tips— BYHYU 051 Jan 04, 2017

Show notes

Many DIYers have successfully painted their new homes inside and out. But it’s hard work and it takes some skill. Before you decide to do the painting in your brand new home, consider the painting projects that you’ve done in the past? How did they turn out? Was the trim smooth, without excess caulk? Were the walls uniform and free of debris and drip marks? If your past results haven’t met the standards that you have set for your new home, you may want to hire a professional painter with good references. For some advice on what to look for and expect when hiring a painter, take a listen to last week’s episode, episode 50.

Whether you choose to do your own painting or not, you’ll have to decide what paint finishes are best for your house. This week’s episode will cover what paint finishes that work well for the different areas of the house. We’ll also cover some quick painting tips for those of you who want to do the painting yourself. Not a full tutorial, but some helpful tips. If you have little or no experience painting, first and foremost, I suggest hiring a professional painter. But if you’re determined to save those labors costs, in addition to listening to the quick tips in this episode, go over to YouTube and take a look at some painting tutorials.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

https://www.facebook.com/BYHYU/

Having Your House Painted--What Should You Look For, Ask For and Expect ? — BYHYU 050 Dec 28, 2016

Show notes

Painting is one of the tasks that many DIY’ers tend to take on when building or remodeling a house. Doing it yourself can save you thousands of dollars in labor costs, but it will also take you quite a bit a time. And unless you have significant painting experience, your results will probably be less attractive than the results that you would get from a professional painter.

Because paint affects the looks of just about every room of the house, I say, if you have it in your budget, leave the painting to the professionals. So, our mini lesson this week will give an overview of what to look for, ask for and expect when hiring professional painters. If you’re absolutely determined to do at least some of your painting, join me next week for an episode filled with painting tips and tricks.

https://www.facebook.com/BYHYU/

Building in the US versus Building in the UK with Ben-Adam Smith—BYHYU 049 Dec 21, 2016

Show notes

This week we're airing an interview that I did with Ben-Adam Smith for his podcast, House Planning Help. We talked about the BYHYU podcast and about building in the United States versus building in the United Kingdom.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

https://www.facebook.com/BYHYU/

20 New House Must Haves— Design Features that Homeowners Most Often Request in New Homes—BYHYU 048 Dec 14, 2016

Show notes

This week we have a list of features that many homeowners are requesting in new homes that they’re buying or building. This is according to an article in Professional Builder magazine where builders, architects, designers and other industry experts were asked about must-have features that today’s homeowners want. Take a listen and see how many things on the list might be included your new home. You may not want to include all these elements, but consider the ones that are best for you and your family.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

How Will You Pay for the Construction of Your Dream Home? Construction Loans 101—BYHYU 047 Dec 07, 2016

Show notes

Hey BYHYU. Welcome to Build House Yourself University. I’m Michelle Nelson, your host and fellow student, and together we’ll learn the basics of home design and construction and demystify the building process, so we can build our dream homes, with or without a general contractor.

Most people don’t have the means to pay cash for the construction of their new homes, so most folks will need to take out a construction loan. We’ll talk about the different options for financing new construction in this week’s mini-lesson.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Save Money, Energy and Time by Building a Tight House Using the Zip System— BYHYU 046 Nov 30, 2016

Show notes

Together we’ll learn the basics of home design and construction and demystify the building process, so we can get the biggest bang for our buck and build our dream homes, with or without a general contractor.

“Build tight and ventilate right.” That’s a mantra that I’ve heard since I started educating myself about home design and construction. A tight house is a house with minimal air leakage. Building a tight house is important so you can save on energy costs and make your home more comfortable. A tight house also protects the structure of your home. Here’s how: If a house is built tightly, it prevents warm, moist air from entering or exiting the home. The unwanted flow of warm, moist air can lead to moisture within your home’s walls and roof, causing structural damage. Building tight can alleviate that potential problem. You’ll also need to ventilate right. We’ll discuss ventilation systems in a future episode. Today, we’ll concentrate one of the first steps needed to build a tight house, which is adding a continuous air barrier to your house to reduce air leakage.

The Zip system by Huber Engineered Woods is a continuous air barrier that many contractors are using to build tight houses. Most of them agree that the Zip System outperforms traditional building methods using house wrap. Today, I’ll review Huber’s Zip System. I’m not affiliated with the product or company, and have no personal experience with it, but I’ve noticed that over the past several years quality builders in my region consistently choose the Zip system over traditional methods, like house wrap. Plus I’ve read many contractors’ forums and home building websites for a consensus on the Zip System.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

What exactly is a Zero Energy/Net Zero House? BYHYU 045 Nov 23, 2016

Show notes

We’ve made it to episode 45 of Build House Yourself University (BYHYU). I’m Michelle Nelson, your host and fellow student, and together we’ll learn the basics of home design and construction and demystify the building process, so you can build your dream home, with or without a general contractor.

So, what exactly is a Zero Energy Home? To quote the folks at zero energy project. org, “Zero energy homes are just like any home—except better.” They are air-tight, well-insulated, and extremely energy efficient homes that produce as much energy as they use, over the course of a year. That means that for heating and cooling, electricity, and water heating, your net payment to the power company would be zero, zilch, nothing! You’d have no net utility bills with a zero energy house.

Zero energy houses also have very little negative impact on the environment. If all that sounds good to you, but you’re weary of looking into a zero energy house because you think that it has to be a super modern, minimalist white box of a house, think again.

These houses can be built in a variety of sizes and styles and for any climate. If you want a zero energy house that looks very unique and unconventional, that’s fine. But, you can also build a zero energy house that looks like any other home—like a traditional colonial or craftsman, or a Mediterranean or bungalow. You could build a large estate house or a tiny house, or something in between, and you could make any one of those a zero energy house.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

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What exactly is a heat pump? — BYHYU 044 Nov 16, 2016

Show notes

Deciding whether to choose a heat pump or a standard heating system and air conditioner for your new home will significantly affect your family’s comfort and your utility bills. That’s why it’s so important to be an informed consumer. Today’s mini lesson will give you a good foundation for understanding heat pumps, including the commonly used air-source heat pumps, geothermal systems and mini split systems. It’s a complex subject and you can get much more detailed information online or in books. But my goal today is to give you enough knowledge so you partner with your HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning) consultant to determine whether a heat pump is the right choice for you.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

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