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Comment by pessimizer | Hacker News Reader

> The actual building of a house in the US is down to 100 days by a well operated tract builder.

So I think one person should be able to manage it in less than 30 years, periodically calling in skilled help. If you're a Walter Segal fan, you can probably do it a lot faster.

> The outsize portion of the cost is in the land.

It is. I think that's a problem because land value is always speculative, so everything can be written off as land value. Why is that land worth that much? Because that's what was paid for it.

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If you think the average person is capable of doing the things needed to build a modern house, or learning to do them at a level of expertise compared to any professional, we are living in different worlds.

90% of people will not get past laying a concrete foundation.

I think of all the reddit DIY posts where there are immediately a hundred comments about how those notched beams will inevitably collapse and destroy the second story, or about how those pipes are laid out wrong and are guaranteed to clog, and then there's the nightmare that is bad wiring...

Not to mention code compliance. It requires high skill just to understand what requirements you must meet, when they must be inspected, etc. The idea that most people can build a modern house is hilariously out of touch.

90% of people would have a mental breakdown just trying to get a permit accepted.

The permitting process would become much easier if actual voters had to go through it regularly instead of just paying someone to do it for them.

> 90% of people will not get past laying a concrete foundation.

Mainly because it's a good idea to leave certain parts to the pros. Anyone can do framing or hang drywall. Roofs are as simple as you design them to be. It's the areas where your house 'interfaces' with the rest of the world where you'll need the most help, but a lot of those situations can be set up so you can do the majority of the labor (and the tools available now make it easier than ever).

People could also learn to do a lot of stuff they choose to buy instead, like sew their own clothes or build their own furniture. What makes housing so special here?

Code.

concrete starts curing right away,which is the only reason someone inexperienced can't learn on the job.

> Anyone can do framing or hang drywall.

The USA has enough cheap and cheerful (aka "shit") housing already. The last thing we need are people with no building skills building crappy stud framed square boxes. If they have to build, let it be more quirky and individual, and if they don't, lets try to keep pushing building standards forwards, not backwards towards the level that Jill & Joe Everyman will likely (not necessarily, just likely) operate at.

>Anyone can do framing or hang drywall

I could take a random sample of 10 HN users, ask them to frame and drywall a house, and the result would have to be condemned. Please don't kid yourself.

I’m fairly handy and have hung drywall before. It’s not the hardest thing in the world, but you quickly realize a mediocre hanging job results in far more work by the mudding/taping crew. And the end result still probably would be OK at best.

Agreed, and I was exaggerating of course. There are definitely some handy people around here, but a lot of folks tend to underestimate what is involved. I've worked with a lot of beginners, and they can have a rough time just getting drywall screws to sink properly.

Like you said, it's not the hardest thing in the world, but it's not something that just anybody can do.

Not to mention … where am I living while I am taking "something under 30 years" to build this home?

Not sure how long it takes to build offsite but they can assemble a new McDonalds in under 24 hours:

https://youtu.be/kqn1BBudPS4

There’s bound to be companies out there that do the same with houses. I think the Scandinavians are meant to have quite a lot of flat pack housing.

they can assemble houses on sight that fast too. however it is a lot of management and you often have people standing around waiting until someone else finishes their part so they can start. . it is done as a stunt once in a while, but for price reasons it takes a few months.

Segal houses are cool, but I'm pretty certain they are unpermittable in most places

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