Masculinity

5 Reasons Why You Should Build Your Own House

102 Comments

Ever since I Found ROK, I took a greater interest in aspects of my life to challenge my greater limits. Twenty one and still living with my dad, I’ve been looking at buying a house for some time. After a couple houses purchases didn’t come through I started brainstorming building options.

I’ve done renovation work with my dad but nothing this scale. After pondering and running numbers, I recalled a masculine affirmation. If it scares you, do it, so I ordered house blueprints that night. If you stop reading here, the biggest takeaway is not to stress the details. Action with a unfamiliar task yields experience, and details will keep guessing at the start line. Get in the habit of throwing yourself in unusual experiences.

Site prep July 12nd

Site prep July 12nd

1. It establishes credit-ability

Growing up, my father was the definition of a blue-collar guy. He worked extremely hard and labored to get what he wanted, eventually building his own business with his hands rather than the mind. I went on to a university and pursued my own forms of business. The biggest realization that hit me getting out of school was enough of talk without action. This is the real world now, you can only deliver. Putting your hand to the plow is way you create your momentum. With momentum comes success. With success comes ambition. Simply attempting what you talk about lets people respect and value the person you are.

July 22nd, Foundation laid

July 22nd, Foundation laid

2. It’s a lot cheaper

Here a contractor’s percentage of the cost of having him build the house: 25% cost of land, 25% building materials, 25% labor, 25% builders profit/overhead.

In my instance, I got the land for pennies and therefore only paid 25% for materials.  When you build new, you wipe most repair bills out of the budget. Everything is brand new; plumbing, electrical, roof, doors, windows, you name it. Suffer now for decades of peace of mind. Furnace or AC have an issue ten years from now? Even they have ten year warranties. Walls and insulation are now made a lot better for energy conservation. This makes your utility bills a lot lower, probably 30-70% cheaper than a house of fifty years or older.

You could even budget a simple estimate to frame the structure, roof it, and house wrap. The stage materials bill on my house would be about 20k. This would give you a project you could finish at any time, therefore finish the house out of pocket over the years. Leading to the best aspect of the project, NO MORTGAGE.

August 8th, Walls Framed/sheathed

August 8th, Walls Framed/sheathed

3. It’s a masculine challenge

At one point in everyone’s life, they looked at floor plans or day dreamed about a certain house. Everyone shares this fantasy, and therefore sees you as greater value for accomplishing on of their own dreams. The biggest thing I took out of this project was to test your limits.

Your capable of much more than you can comprehend. I did this for the challenge, and the hands-on experience for my field. When I started, I never framed new construction, finished concrete, installed HVAC, etc.  With these beginner aspects, you must understand you will error on the project. However, the errors in my house give me a sense of pride, rather than pain. There’s a lot of things you must do incorrectly to learn how to make it right, and construction is one. You will have more knowledge in two months of swinging hammers, than you could get as two years in management.

August 27nd, Roof-Raftered/sheathed/Roofed. Back in College Now= Half production to completion

August 27nd, Roof-Raftered/sheathed/Roofed.
Back in College Now= Half production to completion

4. It checks your ego

The biggest reaction I get among my peers at management is a “Why?” The mindset of many educated professionals is entitlement and superiority. However larger than that is their affirmation of “I’m above that”. Hanging drywall? Plumbing in a crawlspace? What is wrong with you?

I decided that the path to protect my ego doesn’t lead to my goals. I did this not to prove to anyone, but myself. For example, I took note of a skilled contractor during college. This man built his business out of the ashes. He did more in five years than most do in a lifetime. The main reason I learned was he didn’t obtain an ego. That ego would have told him to sit out nasty and hard jobs. However, he told me if he didn’t take those jobs, he wouldn’t have had near the experience or opportunities. The same exact lesson I learned.

So now when my coworkers drive by building site they smile with envy, instead of doubt. I learned to listen to myself, and base my actions off that.

October 14th, Plumbing/Electrical/ Windows

October 14th, Plumbing/Electrical/ Windows

5. It challenges your mindset

In the first awakening I experienced growing up in my teens, I gained confidence steadily without making progress with girls. This came from my struggles and work. I experienced issues and conflicts most teenagers don’t encounter.  Through a lot of failure and uncomfortable situations, I became a new person. It one thing to learn how to solve a problem from someone telling you; solving it yourself, however, is a serious confidence boost.

Even if you have never picked up a hammer, you are still more than capable. When you approach this with a “No matter what, I’ll handle it” attitude, the house is just a set of simple goals. Once this is done, you don’t see hands on tasks the same. Oil pan leaking on the car, I’ll fix it in an hour. Want a picnic table in the backyard? Weekend project is an overstatement. Shingles blew off last night, please…. you put the other 98% on. Upon completion, your mindset forms a default setting of “I GOT THIS”.

No worries, in so many ways. Besides stated above there is a lot more peace of mind that molds into confidence. A lot of simple minded people set goals like (lose 2 lbs., get a new car, get a raise). Anytime you fall short in an aspect of your life, you can sit at your kitchen table, looking at the hardwood floor job that came out great. Shifting your eyes to the vaulted ceiling that was a challenge to frame and drywall. Then you watch as your wife does dishes, and drains the sink. The sink that you put in along with all the plumbing. All the sudden you realize this opposition doesn’t stand a chance. You erected your own home with your own hands. This new hurdle is nothing more than a grain of sand on a very large beach.

Dec 4th, Siding, concrete garage/driveway. Last to be completed-HVAC, floors

Dec 4th, Siding, concrete garage/driveway. Last to be completed-HVAC, floors

Conclusion

You’re going to spend at least eight hours a day wherever you live. Why not make that environment yourself the way you want? It took a lot of hurdles and hardships to get that career, dream girl, car…etc. Your home should be no different. The only thing you should fear is the possibly of not giving it a shot.

Read Next: 7 Reasons Why Buying A House Is A Terrible Idea

102 thoughts on “5 Reasons Why You Should Build Your Own House”

  1. Congrats, If I have a goal, I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I work 12 hour shifts and if I can grab some 16 hour shifts I do it to finish graduate school.
    I was in construction in my 20’s – 30’s. I thought educated people were the hardest working people because they got through college. I now find they are the laziest and some of the most condescending. If they can manipulate a way to take credit for someone’s work, they will. If they can shrug off their work to underlings, they will. Super disappointment.
    Keep it up.

  2. If I built my own house I would put trap doors and secret rooms and shit… I know that’s not what this is about but the kid in me really wants to live in a house with a revolving wall…

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        1. With all the thirst betas out there, why don’t you just use that gold mine between your legs?

    3. Make sure to get a hidden floor compartment for the gold and silver when the dollar becomes as useful as firewood.

      1. Not to mention food (canned goods, mostly — because you can’t eat gold and silver), firearms, and ammo.
        Gold and silver are good, but don’t forget the brass and lead to be able to keep what you have.

    4. “…the kid in me really wants to live in a house with a revolving wall…”
      We all do, man. We all do. Haha…

        1. They have one of those in the Henry Ford museum in Detroit – what a stupid idea, even more stupidly executed.

    5. “If I built my own house I would put trap doors and secret rooms and shit…”
      Personally I’d want to install an underground (secret – off the plans) tunnel to get away from SWAT or the army for whatever reason in the upcoming apocolypse.

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      2. I’m unfortunately not in a position to build my own, but I’ve had a handful of guys I’ve built for request secret rooms, tunnels, etc (I do AV, comms & security, so they can’t keep much from me!). Not nearly as expensive as the movies would have you believe. A few of them have even been remodels/retrofits so you don’t have to build from scratch to have something fun like that.

  3. very cool article and job well done on the house. About a dozen thumbs up for you!

  4. I’d love to build my own place but Im in no financial means to do it. I’ve already thought about the place though — it’d be small, very minimalistic. A place with lots of natural light but a nice minimalist bachelor pad. Something around 800 SF to keep utility costs low living in Northern New England.
    I’ve always wondered what $20,000 would get you. Frankly this is larger than I imagined. The only thing I’d do different is a poured foundation based on climate I’m in.

  6. Superb Ross. It took fortitude to see it through and you no doubt gained alot of experience along the way. Congrats.

  7. plumbing would be a bitch I think and electrical could be a challenge as well. The rest of the house would be fun to do. I did plenty of renovation but not something I enjoy.

  8. Awesome. That house is YOURS, in ways most people will never understand.Your blood, your sweat, your labour.

    1. It’s called “sweat equity”, and there’s NOTHING like it to build up your confidence and give you a sense of accomplishment! (Been there, done that.)

  9. I’ve often pondered the idea of building my own house. For those who are completely new to carpentry, construction, etc, try to get in with a few groups who are building houses for Habitat for Humanity. It’s a good way to get some on the field experience.

    1. Have a look into SIP (Structural Insulated Panels) housing, specifically PUR SIP. Anyone can build a house with minimal skills, other than having a foundation pad laid.

  10. Sure sure. After the revolution or civil war when we can do this without zoning and building codes and fees out the wazoo. I can see the value in building codes for example when we see a storm roll through some dindustan and people die wholesale, but the abuse from the zoning board and the inspectors is enough to make any reasonable man consider “hoisting the black flag and slitting throats” so to speak.

    1. We can only hope. If I see leftists getting clubbed like baby seals I’ll petition to make Trump into God-Emperor.

      2. If the lefties try to make trouble and get their asses handed to them by the bikers, I hope that Trump would release it on DVD — I’d buy it.

  12. There is another big reason: You will do it right, whereas many contractors do it cheaply and as fast and slip-shod as possible, just enough to BARELY pass inspection. There’s a lot more shit going on behind your walls than you realize; half-eaten sandwiches are just the beginning.

    1. Houses by good builders from back in the 1950s and before can be very well done. The problem of course is the redoing and fixing because its all old and past its service life. But the good thing is the government won’t know what you’re doing inside your own house when you’re repairing rather than building new.

  14. You forgot to add with some of these dodgy building materials used by modern builders doing it yourself could improve insulation for both weather and sound

  16. why no basement?
    in the north, we always dig out a hole first for the foundation and a basement.

    1. I’m no expert, but I’d guess from the pictures it’s closer to sea level where he’s building. If that’s the case, it’s hard to dig a basement as you would have to break the water table to do so (i.e. water would naturally seep into the basement area and ultimately compromise the integrity of the basement and possibly the house).

      1. That would have been my guess, but this is still common even in places where the water table is lower than the foundation.
        My father built his house in a place with a lot of natural spring and he made sure the foundation had plenty of draining on the property. In almost 50 years, there has never been any flooding in the yard. The neighbours above and below us, on the other hand, live in a swamp.

  18. Never buy a home or house on mortgage/credit.
    I worked in a bank, and we had to push the Swiss Franc based mortgage loans. We were ordered not to talk about the exchange rate risk, period. If the client asked, we had to say they will benefit from it, and their monthly payments will most likely decrease during the 20 years time-frame.
    In five years, half of the country (Hungary) lost the roof above their heads due to the exchange rate changes, their monthly payments doubling and tripling, while their salaries remained the same.
    Fuck that shit. Build one or wait till you inherit one.

    1. Never take a loan in a different currency than the one you have your income in but I wouldn’t throw away the baby with the bathwater either. For rental properties borrowing can be a good way to control more assets and increase leverage.

      1. As a matter of fact, back in those days there was no choice. You either took the Swiss Franc-based mortgage loan, or you did not, but there was no Hungarian Forint-based mortgage loan on offer.
        It was a calculated rip-off by the banks, backed by the state legislation of a liberal-left ex-communist government.
        The result was fucking outrageous, whole families thrown out into the streets by the thousands, families who already paid millions to the banks, and even after losing the collateral real estate they remained in debt towards the banks. The banks wanted to steal the money of the people in exchange for nothing, and to make them homeless.

        2. And that’s why the federal reserve hates savers.
          In the USA if you try to save for a house you’ll never have one because all the two income households will bid the prices up faster you can save. These people bid the properties up to the maximum loan they qualify for and the bankers and government let them do it at 3% down and other BS.
          Just try to get as close to the minimum size mortgage loan they’ll write in your area as possible. In mine it’s about $60,000. Also keep that in mind for refinancing, that minimum still applies.

    2. I would offer a third option: Buy a run-down one and renovate. Pay off quickly if you still have to borrow.

      1. Maybe after the renovation you should rent it out, and the rent fee could cover the mortgage fee?

        1. That is a very feasible approach. I know many who did pretty well doing just that. In the case of a duplex, you can have the tenant’s rent pay your mortgage costs and then some.

    3. That shows that you should NEVER trust a banker any more than you would trust a woman…

      1. On the other hand, while it is a sensible move to put your dick in a woman, you should NEVER have sex with a banker, ever…

    1. True. Now I’m even more reluctant to marry, now that I have a house of my own. I’d sooner put it in my sister’s name than risk losing it during a frivorce.

      1. I’m not sure a sister is more trustworthy that a wife. My daughter would steal a house from me in a second if given the chance.

      2. I wonder — could you create a corporation and make it the ‘owner’ of the house?
        Nowadays, I’d NEVER trust a woman (even a blood relation) enough to put my property in her name.

  20. Excellent, man. Plus building a house in north america is easier, quicker due to the fact houses are wood. European construction is cement – pretty, but more labor intensive and require more time. That plus, in cement homes one has to be sure of putting in proper moister barrier to prevent mold which happens at a higher rate in cement structures.

  22. My father helped building the house of my grandparents in the 60s when he was a child. Until that time he lived in a post-war ruin without a bathroom.
    Then after he married my mother he built a huge house in the 80s. Then my mother betrayed and left him (AWALT) and they sold the house but didn’t divorce.
    After the douchebag that fucked my mother left her she went back to my father and the idiot forgave her. Well, at least it made my birth possible, so it’s not too bad.
    So my father built another house in the beginning of the 90s where we live now.
    It’s way smaller than his first house but that’s how it is – if you give women the force of Hypergamy they will make everyones life worse just for the sake of the cock carousel.
    So when you build a house make sure you build it without a female involved. Build it for yourself. Don’t be a cuck for the modern sexual marketplace.

    1. Hahaha! I’ve been on and off OKCupid for a few years. Never got a first message from anyone.
      Then I go back on after two years away and mention I recently closed on a house. Then all the single moms hit me up. Needless to say, afterward my profile code generated by OKC said “Replies Very Selectively”.
      No thanks. They get no response from me. I’m not on there anymore, still happily single, and with more ROK wisdom. I may go back to be an asshole for shits and giggles.

    2. Now that’s alpha. Holding your mom as accountable as your dad and not letting her off the hook because “she’s my mom, I love her”.
      For the rest of you guys, if you see your mom making your dad miserable. Let her know.

    3. Until an American man experiences this for themselves, they are deaf and stupid white knights who don’t hear a word from experienced men who give them good advice, when all red pill men ever seek to do is help men prevent a lot of needless personal and financial pain for them, we get called cucks, gay or women haters….Frankly, experience is always its own best teacher (if you survive it and the bitch don’t just murder you for simplicity sake and say you were abusive) but the reason why seasoned advice from red pillers is ignored is because White Knights know everything already and red pillers mess up their ‘game”, then the NAWALT excuse (NAWALTS exist just like purple and pink unicorns, dontcha know), til they cheese grater their lives on the road and go crying to their buddies later. Then it all sinks in they should have listened and paid attention to their miserable married buddies….Nevermind the beta males, they were destined to be female ankle lickers or gay…
      what does my screed have to do with anything?….I build decks fences and buildings and became hands on experienced with many building and construction jobs (electric plumbing concrete carpentry and landscaping…oh my!) to feel fulfilled that I actually DO something constructive. I may never be rich, been 100 percent bankrupted twice, but the end of the day feels great after building ANYTHING or fixing broken shit with my own two hands and brain. You ain’t going to find satisfaction like that being wrapped around a woman lying manipulative finger, honest work is why a man thrives.

    1. Yep, haven’t built my own home but I have gutted old broken rentals right down to bare studs and put enverything back properly. Nothing quite like taking something broken fixing it and turning it into a money maker…

  24. Top article, well done. Did someone help you? It looks quite professional for a first try.
    I built something similar last year – a fairly large summerhouse in the garden. I feel my best when I do something like that.

  25. Nice job!
    On a slightly related note, I highly recommend “Mr. Blandings builds his dream house”, and of course “The Money Pit”

  27. I have always wondered; why do you guys at the north build almost everything with wood? I know its cheaper but isn’t it less durable than building with mortar and brick?

    1. The difference between wood and masonry is night and day. The cost in materials, labor, and skill is very high compared to framing and sheeting a wooden house. I can take a person off the street and have him doing a house like this is a month. Bricklaying takes a solid year from what I’ve seen.

    2. Older houses are built with brick. It’s about cost. People want to buy bigger houses now so for the same price a bigger wood framed house can built. Brick is much better for the climate too. Stays cool in summer, warm in the winter.

  28. One caveat:
    Calculate your future property taxes BEFORE buying anything! I almost made this mistake once: We found an affordable piece of land in a
    great area, had the wherewithal to build the house and then…..we learned a new
    word: “millage”. Once we punched in the
    modest size of the proposed dwelling and applied the millage rate we were
    greeted with a starting property tax of $1400.
    PER MONTH!!!!! Forever. Nowhere
    to go but higher.
    So needless to say, we backed out and pursued another
    direction.

    2. Yep.
      Every time I find a suitable for me fix-up property the taxes turn out to be about $12K/yr. Always check the taxes before buying. Also watch out for senior freezes by checking the neighbors’ taxes too. The house could have been owned by someone who was 95 years old and had a senior freeze on the tax assessment since the 1980s.

      1. Taxes and regulation, another example of how the system is biased against action. Remodel might be the way to go.

  29. [ I decided that the path to protect my ego doesn’t lead to my goals. I did this not to prove to anyone, but myself. ]
    ^This right here. The takeaway for me.
    Great article.

  30. Unfortunately here in Sweden I don’t think that would be possible, plots are expensive as hell, 25% taxes on all the materials (then even more taxes since the companies have to raise prices because of all taxes and fees on them), then all the legislation and regulation that is a bitch to get through, and requiring approval at every turn.

        1. I’ll put it a different way. In liberal, hellhole metropolises (and Hawaii) land is expensive. Pretty much everywhere else is cheap. Enjoy San Francisco if that’s where you want to be

        2. Moving to where land is cheap usually necessitates a drop in income where by land isn’t so cheap any more. It would be cheap if income can be maintained but odds are it won’t be.
          SanFrancisco of course doesn’t have pay high enough to make up for the increase. Nor do any of the fed money tap locations.

        3. If you have any skills whatsoever it is extremely quick and easy to save a few hundred thousand in a high income area then move to a cheap area and live very well off savings and lower income.

        4. Not without a bubblicious housing market and getting out before the bubble pops. Let’s take a typical engineering job in California. About 150K/yr. A simple house is 1.5 million. Put 300K down. $1.2million loan at 4% is 48K/yr in interest alone…. Good luck….So we’re talking living in a rental apartment for years. But in a decent neighborhood that’s 4K a month so we’re back at 48K year unless ghetto.
          Then there is today’s interest rates of nearly zero. Which means you don’t need a few hundred thousand you need a few million. Same if you want to live off stock dividends. Possibly doable if living off principle or by selling stocks that have gone up. But that won’t work for all that long. Not with only a few hundred thousand anyway.

        5. 1.5 million? 4K a month rent? Where are you getting these numbers? I live in CA, you can easily halve both of those figures and live in nice houses even in this shithole which of course is every man’s worse option.
          But more importantly, that’s not what I fucking said. I said save up a bank roll and move, which obviously is going to slash housing costs. If you’ve never been out of this state I can assure you there is cheap land and cheap housing (and high paying jobs, not that you’ll need them, but they exist).

        6. Every time a recruiter contacts me about a job in your fine state I call up Zillow and take a look at the housing situation in the area. Where there are jobs for me the simple 3bdrm homes are 1.5 million dollars. The last one had trailer homes available relatively close by for $250K.
          There’s no interest on savings any more. Maybe you noticed? It’s been like this for eight years. A few hundred grand makes diddly squat in interest. I couldn’t even live in the most rural poverty stricken areas of the nation on what is earned in interest on a few hundred thousand.

        7. I honestly don’t know what you’re arguing. Can a man easily save up a large chunk of change in CA? Yes. Can he easily move away after? Yes. Can he buy cheap property elsewhere and live well on a smaller salary? Yes. All of this is true because I know people who’ve done it.
          I don’t give a fuck about no interest. Get a lower paying job and set aside a hundred k from your savings to supplement that. Are you arguing that none of this is possible? Are you arguing that men can’t leave CA/NYC/SanFran? Your original statement posed that land is only cheap where no one wants to be. Thus you are implying you want to be in a major US city. If you actually want to live in major US cities then god damn… I don’t even know what to say to you. Go see Europe. Fuck one girl from every country in South America. Move to Thailand and live on a beach and only fuck between the ages of 18 and 19. Get out of whatever your life is right now. Good luck man

        8. So now you’re saying someone like me should quit the engineering gig and live off the seed corn and work as an auto mechanic or some other labor job in the sticks. That doesn’t work mathematically either when someone has decades of working career left never mind total time living.
          The problem remains, you did not do the math of the situation and have to resort to strawmen versions of what I wrote to try and save face. I am arguing simple math, that’s it.

        9. I said land in US is cheap – and it is, to anyone who isn’t a loser. That’s what started this. Then you pulled out some absurdly bogus figures to prove your “simple math.” That one provided a good laugh. And now I’m the one resorting to straw man when you tell me that I said engineers should become automechanics? Go re-read your last post – don’t worry take your time

        10. It’s cheap because there aren’t many people that want it and those that do don’t earn much to bid the price up. Exactly what I stated. That’s how markets work.
          You’re giving me a prescription…. oh just work a low wage job after you move to the cheap area where there are no high wage jobs. That’s your argument applied to me, not a strawman. You wrote it yourself:
          “I don’t give a fuck about no interest. Get a lower paying job and set aside a hundred k from your savings to supplement that. “

      2. I might some day, I know that the US has more non-whites than Sweden, but there is too many Arabs here, and I would like to be able to own a gun to defend myself.

        1. Don’t come to the US if you want white, we have more mongrel blood than any European country I would imagine. Is there Euro country where you can own guns freely?

        2. I want freedom more than anything else. I know hunting rifles are pretty common on Iceland >_>.

        3. Btw, forgot to write to you that it isn’t entirely true that the US is so mongrelized, most of the white population of the US is still pretty pure.

  31. Looks great! In my grandfathers generation this was a normal project. They’ve made us less by this endless specialization.

  32. If I didn’t have to deal with all the government bullshit I would build my own house. The houses that my grandfather and his siblings built with their father are still around but things were a lot different in the 1930s.
    Thanks to all the regulations, permits, licenses, and such required building your own house in my area these days means playing general contractor, not actually building it. The inspectors and government bureaucrats will just make your life a living hell if you’re not employing people to take care of stuff or just taking care of the right people as the case may be.

  34. My grandpa built his own house, then he built a garage. I remember him saying he wished he built the garage first so he knew what he was doing the first time.

  35. I did build my own house. My dad and other relatives chipped in, but I was the main carpenter and general contractro. I contracted out elec, plumbing, blockwork, HVAC, and most importantly Dry wall. Well worth the experience. You get way better product this way and a huge sense of satisfaction. You also get a bigger house because it doesn’t cost much to make it a little bigger.

  36. OP, I get that you can save a lot of money, but what about opportunity cost? Is this something you did instead of pursuing most if not all other hobbies?
    Hopefully you didn’t leave your job to do this? Unless you want to become a contractor, the opp. cost. would be yuuge if you left a job to build one house.
    Also, can you comment on how many workers you hired to help you and how you found them?
    Thanks and great story-very inspirational!

    1. I am 25, so I don’t have much experience to speak of really. My job frequently puts me on or around construction sites, but I don’t actually do any construction.
      I don’t make a whole lot of money either. It would no doubt take me some time to save up the kind of money I’d need to do something like this.
      That being said, this is something I’d really like to do at some point. Did you seriously just buy the property and build the thing yourself? I mean I’m sure there’s got to be a lot of red tape involved right?

  38. Only thing I would change is go with a STEEL roof. They last 100 years. Not much more expensive than asphalt shingles with a lot less labor installing them. And you can filter the rainwater coming off a steel roof to drinking water quality unlike asphalt shingles.

  39. That’s a nice build.
    Did sorta the same myself, only used a barn cabin to cut out flooring / framing / roof. As budget did not allow for any hired help.
    Even with frame, the remaing carpentry ( everything ), electrical, plumbing was work to say the least. There is no slack doing any one task when responsibility for all are yours.
    Funny / sad thing is…after done it all becomes easy. AFTER ITS DONE.

  41. I love the article, but there is one missing downside:
    Time. This takes time. You could build a car from scratch, but that would take a massive amount of time that could be spent doing something else.
    Props for building your own home.

  42. Great idea real got me thinking. I have 3 sons ages 7, 3 and 18months, this might be a great real estate investment project for us in 10 years time. I regularly involve my 7 year old in the routine maintenance of our house, plumbing, basic electrical work etc. I’ll probably have them help me build a kick ass shed first.

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