How I build my house from the Ground Level?

As I was going through my old picture albums, I came across an album full of fantastic memories. These memories took me back when I came to Los Angeles and I got lost in all its glamour and shimmer. For the first few weeks I adjusted in the cultural and climatic diversity of the city. But I was fully aware of the fact that I need to build my own house as soon as possible, as I couldn’t always live in a motel.

I want to build a house where do I start?

I had a thorough meeting with the financial institute from where I would get the money to build the house. Although I already had a good amount of money but just in case I ran out at the very last moment then what? I needed to be sure about each and every thing.

So I started off first with making things to do list. This would help me in step by step process of building my own house. I needed to contact a contractor who could guide me all the way through the construction. I discussed some important matters with him.

The very first thing was to find an appropriate location for the house. The contractor informed me about certain things that I should consider before building a house in a specific location.

The climate in California is moderate but it could be very hot some days so I had to find a location where heat was at the least. Then the contractor told me that he would check the ground for any instability. As Los Angeles is located on Pacific Ring of fire, which has produced many faults, so this region is most vulnerable to earth quakes. But still some grounds are strong and can withstand strong earth quakes.

If I had not listened to the contractor I hired then I would be in trouble as many of the areas has utility supply problem.  So the location was decided; Glenoaks, Sylmar, Los Angeles. This area was the best as there were schools, grocery shops and local transport is in the locality.

After that the contractor gave me a phone number of an architect so that he could design the house for me. I called him and he was at my motel in no time. There we discussed the details of the house. 

While we were going through the fundamentals I remembered one thing my father told me that don’t have lots of walls around you, if you do so you will feel frustrated and can become claustrophobic.

I had that in mind and showed some pictures of different houses and a book that my father gave me 

The Apartment Book for reference. When I told the architect about my ideas then he request to give him time to design the house and after that he would contact me. The architect took, some time and after a couple of days he came with design of the house.

He requested to me to give him sometime as he wanted to discuss some important technicalities with me. I had all the time in the world as I was to join my job after the initial construction had been done.

He had his laptop with him and virtual reality goggles. This technology enabled me to take a virtual tour of the whole house. He showed me each and every room even with the possibility of furniture setting.

I was very excited as he had constructed a beautiful virtual reality house. I specially requested the architect to build two bathrooms one for me and the other for guests and visitors. The design of two bedrooms was traditional so I went with the architect. The laundry room and storage area were adjacent to each other as it would be convenient for me to do laundry and handle things at the same time.

As the tour began the architect guided me through the whole way. As I entered the garage I saw different tool boxes and other equipment. After exiting the garage, I came to the porch area. After climbing a few steps I opened the front door and entered the house. A hallway was leading to the drawing room area.

Before going into the drawing room as I turned right I saw the guest bathroom as I requested the architect to be there. From there I went further ahead towards the drawing room area. A large window opened the view to the backyard.

The drawing room was spacious and the situation of the windows was perfect as during the day I need not to turn on the lights in my house. This will save my electricity bill. To my left of the drawing room I saw a fire place to heat up the house.

When I walked further ahead to my left I saw the spacious dining room and an island kitchen. The color combination of the kitchen was chocolate brown and beige. The shape of the outer wall of the kitchen was circular and large windows allowed sunlight and fresh air to come in.

I asked about the two bedrooms and the bathroom? He answered turn around and go through the drawing room. On your left a small passage will lead to the two bedrooms. While passing through the passage I saw a door which led to the laundry bathroom. The architect advised to have a laundry bathroom as you can wash your clothes and if you water is spilled on the floor then it will be easy for you to dry it up. I loved the suggestion and approved it.

The two bed rooms one on the right and the other in the left were wondrous. The bedroom on the right was the master bedroom and the one on the left was a smaller one. Both the rooms had windows in such a direction that sunlight would shine in.

Once again the architect walked me pass through the drawing room as it was the central part of the house. After a few steps ahead to the right a door opened into the backyard of the house. There the architect explained and show a few options on how to make a beautiful backyard.

There was the typical backyard, a canopy backyard, a spa backyard and many others. But I wanted a canopy backyard with a spa. I also added the small home garden with different vegetables and fruits to plant on. He immediately saved the idea on his laptop there and then.

From there he guided me back into the house through the kitchen and into the storage room which ultimately led to the garage. I was surprised to see the inside door to the garage. When the inside of the house was finalized, he asked me to go to the front lawn and select the ideas. I loved the idea of flowers and other plants on the front yard with small pathways in between the two rows.

After discussing some safety measures the architect asked me if I had applied for construction loan. I satisfied him by providing the copy of the loan I applied and said that I also bought some finances with me. On this confirmation he said that I should get the construction permit from the insurance company.

Also get the house, the workers and the material pre-insured so that in case of any mishap you get full coverage of the damage. As soon as you pre-insure everything, you have to get permits from the state’s Department of Housing for different things like; building the house, a septic tank permit, an electrical permit, a plumbing permit, a mechanical (HVAC, or air conditioning) permit and an environmental and/or impact permit.

Now when everything was finalized, the most important job for me was to divide the money into various categories that need spending. As I was all alone and a stranger to the area I needed help and support so the contractor as well as the architect both send me a list of things they had to do and what they needed.

First the contractor and the architect came with their team. Both were bound to work together as one is nothing without the other. Finally they started off with laying the foundation of the house. The excavation team surveyed the ground and started digging. After digging the team builds the frame to fill in the concrete for the foundation.

The foundation depended on the structure of the house. The stronger the foundation the more safe the house will be. Then the outer walls of the house were constructed first. You might be thinking how I know all this? Well I myself stood and supervised the whole construction.

The flooring of the house was the next to be done. As they were installing the flooring; pipes and other materials were fitted so that nothing would be left behind.

Next the walls were framed so that they could be constructed. The wooden frames are made to strengthen the walls even more. The constructors carefully marked the doors, windows and other spacing with architect to guide them. I was watching the whole team in amazement that they were so involved in the construction like they were constructing their own house.

When the wooden frame of the house was laid out, a house inspector from the state’s Department of Housing came for a visit to see how the construction was going and whether I was taking safety measures to ensure the safety of the workers. I showed him all the permits and he stayed on the premises for a few hours to observe and when he was satisfied he went away. But he said that he would be visiting time and again.

Now it was time to fill the walls with concrete, insulation and putting wooden panels on the interior and exterior walls. As a team of workers were doing this another team was installing the roof felt to use it as a moisture barrier. The architect asked me whether I wanted to exterior metal sidings to prevent rain water damaging the roof. I agreed to the ideas but I knew Los Angeles had very little rain but still for the bad days I had to be well prepared.

The final stage of construction at last came as the constructors started installing the windows, doors, waste drains, and drain vents in walls, HVAC (air conditioning and heat) ductwork, air handlers, bathtub, shower enclosure, and any other large plumbing fixtures and refrigerant piping.

The interior decoration team was called in to help with the interior of the house. They were experts in installing wall panels and wall trims to hide the nail holes. The head interior decorator gave me a catalog of different color schemes to choose from.

I choose purple for the master bed i.e. my bed, light pink for the spare bedroom, tea pink for the drawing room, light yellow for dining room and light green for the hallways. I already had chosen chocolate brown and beige for the kitchen and light blue for the exterior walls.

When the painting was done, it was time to install the kitchen and other storage cabinets and the wooden flooring in the house. As all these things were going on the inspection team came once again as they promised and again inspected the house for any faults. But they didn’t find any as I hired the best to construct the house.

After that the teams’ main focus was on the front lawn and the backyard. The flowers were planted, pathways were made and the backyard spa was also installed. The architect added a few rockery and exterior ideas of his own which looked very beautiful.

As soon as they were finished with the whole construction, they architect and the contractor took a final tour of the house to see that everything is in place. When they were satisfied they handed over the whole bunch of keys to me and wished me good luck in the new house.

As I stepped into the completed house I felt overwhelmed with joy. Although the furniture and few other things were missing but still this house I could call my own.

As the album progressed I saw my colleagues pictures from job in my house, I realized that it was the house warming party I gave them. I also remembered the horror of buying the things that were left.

The first few days in the house were nerve racking as I had no bed or any sitting arrangement. But I was determined to fully furnish my house with the most beautiful items. So the first thing I did was made a list of every item I had to buy each under separate heading of the room.

After that I took a highlighter and highlighted the items to buy on first priority. The very first things that I had to buy were furniture, some bathroom accessories and kitchen appliances and utensils.

Many of the bathroom accessories were easily available at the local shops. Same goes for kitchen appliances. These two things I could easily carry and install myself in the bathroom and kitchen, but furniture buying was a problem as how will I bring it to my home and install it.

By the time my house was being constructed I made many friends in the neighborhood. They were all friendly and helped me a lot in my moving in. I discussed this problem with one of my neighbor and he suggested me to search it on the internet as there are many options available.

So following his advice I browsed the internet and came across Lowes, a company which has the best deals to offer. I thought of it as a great opportunity to buy furniture from them. So I made an online account, applied for Lowes credit card and bought furniture from them.

To my utmost surprise not only they had the facility of home delivery but also they installed the furniture wherever I wanted. As easy as that they installed my bedroom, drawing, dinning and the backyard furniture without any extra fee.

Now when my furniture and other things were installed, it was time to focus on the small things I left behind like small rugs, paintings, curtains, and other accessories. But as I told you the people of Los Angeles are friendly, many neighbors brought gift as a token of their love and affection. So I didn’t have to worry about many things and the things that were left were brought by the colleagues in my office.

Wow! This picture album brought so many memories back to me. I fell that it was just yesterday that I came to Los Angeles all alone and built my house from ground level. Although some difficulties came in the form of not having permission to construct my house but at last I am safely in my own house sharing my experience of building my house form ground level.