Building Your Home From YouTube Can Be Great (But Avoid These Pitfalls)

I learned to build my home from YouTube. I thought this was a fairly ordinary thing to do, given the immense number of videos on the platform about building homes. This, I reasoned, is how the marketplace copes with people like me who didn't soak up much hands-on building knowledge from their family trees. Surely, I thought, this is the next best thing. After all, people do strange and wonderful things on YouTube. I've followed a Canadian engineer's efforts to puzzle through a Florida bridge collapse. I've learned to play guitar better, and how to say I'm learning banjo even if I'm really not. I've seen people play video games that simulate everything from construction to car repair to managing a vending machine business. Why not absorb most of the ins-and-outs of homebuilding on YouTube?  

You may be thinking the same thing. That may be why you're here now, because you're only a click away from getting started and want some tips on achieving good results. What I can tell you is that there is, in fact, an epic amount of content about homebuilding on YouTube. You can learn the basics of construction lumber. You'll figure out how to tell the difference between a knee wall and a pony wall. I'd even argue that you can learn how to build an impressive 95 percent of your house by watching user-created videos ... 

However, while 95 percent of a house is an impressive playhouse, it won't be as cozy, dry, and spark-free as you might prefer in a home. So, let's talk about the 5 percent you don't learn, as well. Let me teach you the lessons that I learned the hard way.

Unlike much of the online world, YouTubers are happy to help, whether it's teaching you how to wire a three-way light switch, or how to keep a fire barrier between your garage and the rest of your home. Some of these videos even predate YouTube as a platform — for example, you can watch hours of Larry Haun explaining how to frame houses, 30 years before the website existed — and whether old or new, there is spectacular content about nearly every aspect of building, as well. From Electrician U, to Roger Wakefield Plumbing Education, to Matt Risinger's Build videos, to dozens (maybe hundreds) more. Some present focused, highly structured learning systems, while some are just solid info interrupted by the occasional random video about replacing the bumper on your Dodge Ram. The point is, channels like these should be your starting place, because these are mostly established craftspeople having a go at the YouTube thing. They know their stuff, and they're willing to tell you what you need to know. Some are natural educators, and some are big personalities with big brains full of knowledge.

There are some things that video is ideal for, compared with non-hands-on learning. It's often more engaging than written educational materials, and can even be clearer than in-person training when the right tools (such as animation) are employed. And the load of jargon you'll encounter in residential construction is often easier to grasp via video. These videos are the perfect place to get your brain wrapped around your impending task. Getting your hands wrapped around the handle of a power tool, meanwhile... 

YouTube will get you knowledge. It won't get you experience. And boring as this might sound, learning construction tasks pretty much any other way than in the field runs into that same "lack of experience" problem. You absolutely will not learn to drive a nail like Larry Haun by watching him drive nails on YouTube. No big deal: Either the skill or the nail gun will come in time. But homebuilding is complex, and surface-deep building videos won't tell you what you don't know, so you'll be moving forward incorrectly until the inspector comes around and does tell you. Sometimes, to top it off, you simply do things wrong while thinking you did them right. 

Think about a simple wall. In addition to framing, you're going to need to sheathe it, wrap it, flash it, install the windows, rough in the plumbing and wiring, drywall it, finish it, on and on. Within each of these topics you can drill down fractally into a whole other universe of increasingly fine detail covered by increasingly few YouTube videos. Some info you didn't happen across — stacking wall studs directly above floor joists, perhaps, or your local Ufer ground requirement, or the very idea of a footing drain — catches up with you, badly, down the line. 

This is, of course, assuming you're looking at the right videos to begin with — specialized stuff from experts, vs. generic "here's a guy casually doing ___" videos. Because you do want experts. It takes experience, and sometimes formal training, to even know the right questions to ask. A pro has a much deeper well of information, sometimes hard-won information, to base decisions on.

When diving into YouTube, the first thing you have to do is strip out all the frivolous amateur videos. That's not too hard, thankfully. The more serious YouTube educators are easy to spot, and not because they're dull. Some, like Dustin from Electrician U, are very engaging and present a lot of information in an organized way. But it's well-nigh impossible to present comprehensive information on a platform like YouTube when the video has to cover a broad topic. So if you want the nitty-gritty, you need to seek out the nitty-gritty. 

Don't just watch the generic "how to wire X to Y" video. Understand that simple answers don't tell the whole story. Ask for resources in internet forums. Search for terms that aren't likely to be covered in a half-hearted treatment of the subject. Check out the featured channels on the YouTube user pages of creators you trust (many don't have them, but those who do tend to be very good). Over time, the YouTube algorithm will catch on to where you're going, and it will often start to make very good suggestion on your homepage and to the right of building-related videos. When videos have them, make use of the chapter markers that divide some videos into topics. This is useful for getting a handle on the scope of the video you're watching, and for identifying videos that are going to be too general to be really useful.

The bottom line, though, is that YouTube is a gateway to knowledge about homebuilding, but it isn't a destination. To get things right, you need (1) hands-on experience, and (2) tedious trial-and-error.

First off, when you start on YouTube, don't overestimate yourself. Watch full build videos from people like Greg Vanden Berge and Perkins Builder Brothers, paying careful attention and documenting for yourself any term that doesn't sound completely familiar. Dive into these topics with the same strategy of noting and researching anything you don't know much about. From there, we get to the more "boring" parts: Yes, you should read building codes, for no reason other than finding more things you don't know, which you'll then wander off to learn about. Lurk in construction forums (where you'll be insulted every day by guys who were just like you three months ago) and take online courses from providers like Udemy.

As for hands-on experience? Volunteer with organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Building Homes for Heroes. If this isn't an option for you, try helping a knowledgeable acquaintance build something. Have a friend over and badger her about how to pull wire (or whatever) until she agrees to show you. Remember, the key elements are guidance, depth, and actual experience. 

Piecing together video and other sources of information is a slightly nutty, Roomba-esque way of learning things. You'll cover the same ground 100 times, but pick up something new with each pass. It's not perfect, so there's going to be some tearing down and rebuilding in your future. That's fine, as long as you see it coming and have the right videos in your Watch Later playlist.