Show ) X “We were trying to buy a home but our income was just too high for everything or too low for everything” said Far- Once Upon a Time Survival Meant uilding Own Home By BECKY CAIRNS Standard-Examin- Staff er There was a time when nearly every American built his own home usually for no other reason than simple survival Times change This is the age of crowded cities and suburbs of highrise apartments of tract housing where rows and rows of houses appear as clones of each other But there are exceptions Some people still build or design their own homes People like Trent and Margaret Johansen who are building a dream home in the country Or people like Farley and Colleen Merkley a young couple living in their first home or Sharon and Lew Thorpe who wanted a new home for more room and custom features These three Ogden area couples have been involved in varying degrees in building their own homes — from pounding nails themselves to overseeing the work of others For the Johansens who are constructing their house in Liberty it is a dream come true — getting the kind of house they want in a location they like Their new home located on a rural lot complete with a river is in the framing stage When finished it will be a 3200 square foot passive solar home featuring a greenhouse a large kitchen and food production area a schoolroom where Margaret hopes to run a preschool and a small gymnasium “I really think we can have d existence” quite a The said key to the Margaret home’s design is living An owner of the Fisher Stove Co Trent is contracting the house He said he has always dreamed of building his home ‘‘I spend most of my time searching out prices getting bids and references of good help well-rounde- self-sufficie- nt and contractors who do good - ' ? ley an accounting clerk at Mountain West Savings and a part-tim- e student “We were saving but the more we saved the more we got behind because of interest rates Then it just popped out of the blue My dad said ‘Let’s build you a house’” Farley’s father Philip work” he said Merk- ley of Layton is a schoolteacher who enjoys building homes during the summer He offered to build a house with no labor “For one to construct their own home they’d better be wil- ling to put the time in or it’s not going to come out right I’m up there almost every day and closely supervise every step” Trent had the framing electrical work and plumbing subcontracted but the family is doing the finish work themselves including painting staining and putting in tile and hardwood floors Trent and Margaret who have been married 10 years and their three children used to live in a lot in Pay-so- n house on a five-acr- e Canyon Last October they sold that house and moved to a basement apartment in Ogden where they are “camping out” until the new house is ready Margaret said they did a lot of research on passive solar homes talked through the design of the house and then had an architect draw up the Plans A house becomes a home Margaret said when it begins to meet family needs including spiritual economic educational and recreational goals The Johansens said they would advise other prospective home builders to get good references for all contractors closely supervise the work and shop around for prices “We’ve really found you can save a lot of money by shopping around for both labor and materials and I mean thousands and thousands of dollars” Margaret said “If you’ll take time to do that it really pays off” The Johansens used the equity from the sale of their previous home to finance the new one Although they did borrow some money the new house will be paid for in two years On a different side of the spectrum are the Merkleys who have been married less than two years and are living in their first house charge for Farley and his four brothers providing they help in the effort “The only things contracted in this house were the plumbing and heating” Farley said “My father is the last of the breed who can do everything” Farley worked with his father every night he wasn’t in school and all day on Saturdays They started the house last July and he and Colleen moved in in March Farley helped in all phases in-of construction and Colleen got volved in the painting and staining “We wouldn’t have been able to afford this house if it hadn’t been for friends and family” said Colleen who is a receptionist at Wheelwright Lumber The fact that both she and e jobs and Farley hold that they lived in a basement apartment with low rent also helped she said Their home located in North Ogden has 1150 square feet and was appraised at $64000 but the Merkleys saved $17000 in actual cost because the labor was free “I wouldn’t want to do it again — never — not unless there were full-tim- extenuating circumstances” Farley said “When we built this we planned on living here forever” They agreed however that they’re happy they have the home and are proud they did it themselves “It’s ours Our blood sweat and tears are in it” they said Lew and Sharon Thorpe have lived in their South Ogden home for 17 years They decided to build a new house just a mile away to give their three children more room and to get exactly the home they wanted The Thorpes were contractors for their new home and not involved in the actual labor They said contracting is a job in itself “It’s extremely time consum- ing” Sharon said “It takes hours of time to get everything organized and get the people and materials there” They began building the house months ago and have just moved in 10 Choosing good subcontractors and nailing down starting and two-bedroo- m Standard-Examin- er FARMINGTON — Skyrocket- ing home prices are forcing many young couples to look at alternatives to conventional home building Many are finding that building their own home saves money and allows for personal quality control Some couples like Rulon and Tauna Homer of Farmington had no choice When the Homers went to the bank for a loan they couldn’t qualify By subtracting the contractor’s six to eight percent and figuring on doing some of the work themselves they qualified Another Farmington family John and Marilyn Kraczek couldn’t find the kind of home they wanted The Kraczeks wanted an energy efficient log home close to their daughter’s school When they found a piece of property they liked they decided to build Michael and Joy Jones just wanted to try it themselves They sold their home in California moved in with Jones’ parents in Kaysville picked a piece of property in West Farmington and began to build Each family encountered many of the same problems The major considerations were the loan the house time workmanship and the family “It was hard to get a loan” said Mrs Kraczek “If we hadn’t gone to someone we knew we probabby wouldn’t have gotten it Log houses aren’t that common I think we were the first ones to finance one through our bank” Banks don’t loan money to individuals the Homers found They had to get a contractor to sign his license number on the 'Watch out for the radio and hammer boys — subcontractors who don't know work' you could only get them through a dealer It could have saved us a lot” “You can expect on building A the home yourself” said Mrs Jones “Occasionally friends or family will help but YOU are going to build the major portion by yourself “You have got to have a good' marriage or you are running some risks It will probably be a good experience but you will find out a lot about yourself and ’ your spouse under the ssure” said Kraczek getting the months of her life in a box in the back seat of the car It was an eight to 10 hour day job for Mrs Homer but it payed off Their It 4h what they are doing The older the sub the greater the chance that they know what they are doing and will take pride in their ar-chitect- daughter spent the first six The Thorpes’ house is a five level design highlighted inside with redwood accents Other extras include a laundry chute to the basement an intercom custom made cabinets and a fireplace made from bricks from an old family store “You do save money but you pay the price” Sharon said “We paid the price to wait a year and get it done right” The Thorpes who manage Ogden Auto Parts said their home has not been appraised yet but that they have put about $80000 into it including the lot Among the lessons they learned is that you need to start with a good workable house plan “The more you put into a plan — custom type ideas — the harder it is” Lew said “It’s faster easier and cheaper to build square houses” said Sharon She also said to plan on spending 10 to 15 percent more work and you have to be able to adjust to them” she said license on the line and will get in trouble if you default” Shopping around for a house plan was basic for all the builders “We didn’t know what we were getting into we looked at other homes sent for booklets with home designs and then designed our own plan’’ said Homer “We talked about what we wanted looked at a lot of floor plans model homes and drawings trying to decide what we could afford and what we wanted” said Jones “John designed our house after reading and studying books and house plans on energy saving passive solar systems and log homes Then we took the plans to a draftsman” said Mrs Kraczek “You’ve got to have a lot of courage” said Mrs Homer She found that she did the greater share of running around calling bids and job supervision” All three husbands had full time day jobs Building a home takes a great deal of daytime work "What was hard was that while you were working on one thing you’d find you needed more pipe material or something Then you would have to stop working and run and get it” said Mrs Kraczek Homer said their newborn house” “There are going to be mistakes things that aren’t going to project Mrs Kraczek said “The contractor really doesn’t want to sign the papers He’s putting his of subcontractors Getting a good house plan is also important he said Framing their house took longer than expected because there were holes in the plan Weather was another frustration and delay factor “My favorite program the last six months has been the weather” Sharon said “Weather is very important in building a recommendations on who to go to” she said One hint the Thorpes followed was working a step ahead of each phase For example to find out who a good framer is Sharon suggested talking to a dry waller because he has to follow the framer’s work She also said it is essential to realize that errors are going to occur uilt by Occupants By SUSAN TANNER HOLMES framing than you estimate “If you are going to build your own home you ought to talk to as many people as you can who’ve done it You can find out what the pitfalls are and get Skyrocketing Prices ack Homes Special to the finishing time is very important Lew said explaining they had a few delays especially with the home was finished in six months (It took the Kraczeks 14 months land the Jones are still working after a year “I may not be as skilled but I take more care and can make instant decisions” said Jones in talking about knowing how to build None of the couples had had previous experience The Kraczeks built the entire house themselves The Homers on the other hand contracted out a lot of tasks doing the cl' ning u v insulation roofing and water systems themselves “Watch out for the radio and hammer boys — subcontractors who don’t imow what they are doing” said Homer Mrs Homer added “Look at a job the sub has done or is doing to see what type of work he does The older the sub the greater the chance that they know what they are doing and will take pride in their work” Mrs Homer spent hours watching the subs and says just being on the job made a difference “They worked better” She found it easy to spot a good job even if you didn’t know anything about building “Ask a lot of questions but don’t be critical” she said Mrs Kraczek advises shopping around “You can save money and get a better job We didn’t know that you could go to a mill and buy logs we thought r pre- “If you don’t have the family support you can forget it All our kids got involved Our daughter tended and cooked so I could work One of our sons did the electrical the little ones pounded nails and our youngest put rocks down the plumbing” said Mrs Kraczek But building your own home seems to get into the blood according to these families They are all happy with their self-bui- lt homes and say they wouldn’t hesitate to do it again “Right now I’m tired of building So if I were going to do it again I’d take a nice long rest”-saiJones a d |