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Skyrim Hearthfire Guide Part 4: How to build a house
http://www.rarityguide.com/articles/articles/3330/1/Skyrim-Hearthfire-Guide-Part-4-How-to-build-a-house/Page1.html
By chronodev (Ron)
Published on 09/4/2012
 
In this tutorial we build the first house in Skyrim Hearthfire

After buying the plot of land, go to where you land is.

Plot Land Locations:
Falkreath (Lakeview Manor Charter) -
Follow the road east from Falkreath, then north at the crossroads. Turn left just past Pinewatch.
Hjaalmarch (Windstad Manor Charter) - From Morthal, head north past the mill. The odd tomb or two along the way won't bother you. The land is on the coast, across the Karth Delta from Solitude. An inspiring location. It is north of Ustengrav.
The Pale (Heljarchen Hall Charter) - From the city of Dawnstar, go south.

The easiest way to find your new property is to bring up your mission log, find the misc objective "visit your new property in Falkreath", and set it as active so that it is trackable using the compass.

When you reach your new land, locate the crafting stations. You should see a spot which has the following:
Log Pile (20)
Drafting Table (You can USE)
Chest (has some building materials and supplies to get you started)
Carpenter's Workbench
Anvil (Blacksmith Forge)

The chest contains:
Clay (30)
Corundum Ingot
Iron Ingot (6)
Quarried Stone (30)

NOTE: When you need more materials, see out Building Materials Location Guide which will help you get more house materials if you run out.

Near the drafting table, sometimes on the ground, you will find the book "The Beginner's Guide to Homesteading" which you can read to learn more about the basics of building a house.

Building your Starter House

USE the Drafting Table. It will complete the objective of "Visit your new property in Hjaalmarch hold" and you should get additional objectives now, such as:
Buy Lumber for building your house
Use the Drafting Table to begin building your house

When you use the Drafting Table, under MISC you should find one layout:
Small House Layout

It will also say: "Drafting Table: Choose an Item to Create". Select the Small House Layout. It will ask you if you want to create this item, choose yes. You should now see the message: "Small House Layout Added"

The next objective is:
Use the Carpenter's Workbench to build the foundation of your house

Use Carpenter's Workbench, and select House, Foundation. The House Foundation requires one Sawn Log and 10 Quarried Stones. Make sure you have gotten all the items from the chest, most importantly the Quarried Stone. The Sawn logs will be automatically used from the Log Pile nearby.

Use anvil to create nails. You can make 10 nails out of a single Iron Ingot

Then use the Carpenter's Workbench to create the following items:
House, Wall Framing (Requires 6 Sawn Log, 10 Nails)
House, Walls (requires 2 Sawn Log, 8 Nails, 4 Clay)

Make sure to look after you craft each item to see how your house is progressing.

Once you've built all the walls, then you should be able to make:
House, Floor (Requires 4 Quarried Stone)
House, Roof Framing (Requires 6 Sawn Log)

Next, create the house roof:
House, Roof  (Requires 10 Nails, Sawn Log)

Keep working on the walls, floors, and roof until house is complete. You might need to create more nails, or other materials, in the process.

Then, you will build the door to your house:
House, Door (Requires Iron Fittings, Sawn Log, Lock, 2 Hinge, 2 Nails)

For the door you might need to use the anvil again to forge the necessary items.

Once the door is in place, you will be able to create some other cool additions such as Animal Pen, Armorer Workbench, Smelter, Grindstone, Fish Hatchery, Stables, Garden, and other stuff. But you can build those later.

You should now have a basic starter house which you can enter!

Time to check out your new home!

Enter through the door to access your house. It's not much yet, and there won't be much furniture in there initially - just a workbench and a chest. But we will expand it in the next parts of the guide, where we will continue building the house, as well as furnish it.

Summary of instructions for building the house in 10 easy steps:
1) Buy plot of land
(see: Where to go to buy a plot of land in Skyrim Hearthfire)
2) Go to your land location
3) Create Small House Layout
(Drafting Table)
4) Gather Building Materials (See: Skyrim Hearthfire Building Materials Locations Guide)
5) Build House, Foundation (Carpenter's Workbench)
6) Build House, Wall Framing (Carpenter's Workbench)
7) Build House, Walls (Carpenter's Workbench)
8) Build House, Floor (Carpenter's Workbench)
9) Build House, Roof Framing and House, Roof (Carpenter's Workbench)
10) Build House, Door (Carpenter's Workbench)

The next step is to add a main hall