Custom home builder that builds for $200,000? (San Antonio, Round Rock: appliances, how much, hotels)

[CoachBForThree]

The subject pretty much says it all -- is there a custom builder that would build at that low a price (building cost only, the $200K is after land)? I mean, build that home at all -- obviously the home would be tiny with not many features whatsoever. The lot is in the middle of NW San Antonio and has normal electric, plumbing, and sewer hookups.

FWIW, I'm asking on behalf of a friend.

[pobre]

Possibly: UBuildIt | San Antonio - Schertz | TX | Build Your Own Home or Remodel ??

[dpantle]

Have you or your friend spoken with any of the local custom homebuilders? Do you have plans? If so, I would shop your plans around, or ask the designer. If not, maybe a home designer, or architect would be a more appropriate place to start.

There are also homebuilders who supply their own plans. Maybe Tilson?

[TrapperL]

Yer bud will need plans first and a designer that has a clue about home building prices. I'd suggest David Gonzalez, Designer for this. He's at 1003 Becket. Phone is 340-8866. He's been in business as long as I have....and that's a long time. But the project is doable, just need a set of plans and specs, and the restrictions of the subdivision. Yer bud needs to have an idea of what appliances he wants along with how much green does he want in the home. Going from a standard window to a low E sq costs money. A fiberglas tub to an enameled steel tub to a tiled shower costs money. If he can arrange it, the water heater belongs in the attic but must have lots of access. The air handler for the A/C should be in the garage. But not all plans are conducive for this. Loads of decisions to make before he turns the first shovel of dirt.

[TexasRedneck]

TrapperL, I usually agree with you....but NOT on the water heater! If the tank fails, the containment pan is usually not up to the task of handling the resulting water flow, so hot water cascades over the sides and onto the ceiling..... A friend that's a Master Plumber has had extensive experience with this - and has started relocating the heaters out of attics wherever possible.
The other part is replacement....an attic heater will usually require more manpower to move out (due to significant weight gain of the mineral deposits in the tank), and they have to be very careful that no water gets out of it onto the ceiling during removal. It's just cleaner and easier to have it either in an exterior-accessible closet, or in the garage.
That's my $0.02 on it anyways....

[CoachBForThree]

Thank you! Reps given, except pobre and TexasRedneck; sorry, you've apparently already been helpful before.

Originally Posted by pobre

Possibly: UBuildIt | San Antonio - Schertz | TX | Build Your Own Home or Remodel ??

I've been wanting to check out UBuildIt myself. A friend of mine went through them ~5 years ago, and he said he had a nightmare of an experience dealing with some of the contractors, but in the end, his final price was (in his words) "far less" than what he would've paid through a standard custom builder. Interesting.

Originally Posted by dpantle

Have you or your friend spoken with any of the local custom homebuilders? Do you have plans? If so, I would shop your plans around, or ask the designer. If not, maybe a home designer, or architect would be a more appropriate place to start.

Although the question's for my friend, I also happen to be looking to custom build, so yes, I have talked to local builders. And actually, no, I haven't asked them this question on behalf of my friend yet, and obviously that'd be a great place to start. Thanks for the reminder.

TrapperL, good points, and I will look into the designer you mentioned. Thank you.

TexasRedneck, personal experience makes me very strongly agree with you on the water heater.

[TrapperL]

I've got probably over 500 houses out there with water heaters in the attic. The idea is to pick up heat from the attic as part of the "green" package. I've never had one go full tilt on leaks or for that matter, I've never heard of any of ours leaking. But we use only 50 gallon heaters and usually in pairs so the home owner isn't running these things at max load. Gives the H/O the ability for 2 folks to take a bath at the same time and not run out of hot water. Now the recycling copper lines we ended real quick. That's the 1/4" copper line that comes from the farthermost outlet so that you have near instant hot water. It didn't take long for me to figure out that the hot water was going to eat into the copper tube. I had a few houses that we had to go back and mod the system because of pin holes in the return lines. I wouldn't even attempt again with Pex.

I know a lot of builders that put the water heater in the attic but few install an actual stairway for it to be serviced. We frame a full set of stairs at 42" wide with 7" risers in the garage so that the guys can muscle the old units downstairs. Most builders, as you've probably seen, install a disappearing stairway. Those are far too small. There's the cheap way to build a house, and then there's the way you and I learned how to do business- the right way or leave it alone.
And by the way TexasRedneck, I sure miss yer dad. One fantastic guy was he!

[TexasRedneck]

Thanks, Trapper - still miss him myself each and every day, just as I know you do yours.

And you're right - the shortcut guys generally cause the problems for the rest. I might be okay w/one in the attic if it was in something like a shower enclosure, etc - just paranoid about leaks.

And that return line pinhole? That wasn't from the hot water, it was from velocity sheer! Can't tell you how many hotels I've reworked, because they'd use high-volume pumps on pipe that was too small to support it! 20, 30 and 40 gpm pumps, 3/4" copper pipe...recipe for disaster! One of the easiest ways to spot a problem caused by excessive flow is leak location - if it's happening after a tee or elbow, chances are VERY high that it's related to flow rate.

Reworked one up in Round Rock about 2 years ago. He was repairing pipe leaks every 30-45 days. Went up, replaced the pump with a proper one - hasn't had a leak since.