How NOT to Build in Minecraft (Common Building Mistakes) 

"Don't defy the laws of physics" Grian says as he casually walks on thin air.

This is what's great about Grian. He doesn't give a block by block tutorial. He teaches you how to build. Inspires you to go on and build your own creations. Shows you methods to use, not builds to duplicate. Exactly what we need to learn.

Moral of the video: Grian roasts 7 years old kids for 12 minutes straight

I know this video is 6 years old, but as someone who just discovers the international Minecraft community, I just have to say: This video is of amazing quality! It is absolutly clear why you are as successful as you are, putting that much effort, into such a simple video! Respect!

"Oh this seems nice!" Grian:"OVERDETAILING" "Yuck what a horrible build"

This video aged like fine wine. Sure, there are new blocks to build with now, but the tips apply to all of them. This is the only true building tutorial.

How to build a house: Step one: find a hole in a mountain Step two: decorate hole There is no step three

I remember thinking those emerald diamond houses looked good and now that I look back they look like toothpaste.

My real problem is how do you even start? Where do you go at the beginning? Like how do people like envision what they're trying to build from the start when there's nothing? Or even with the foundation already made, how do you effectively plan out what to make of it all?

“And he decorated it, very Minimalisticly” Me: right. MINIMALISTICLY.

Me : *wakes up* Grian : No, no, you're doing it wrong.

The dude has a point though. Yes, there is some somewhat harsh bits, but really, I agree. It would be nicer like that. This is my own opinion and you all are fully entitled to yours.

Look man, once the crafting table is placed next to the furnace, it’s the perfect home

Grian is literally gordon ramsay but in minecraft and without swearing

This video is just solid architectural and landscaping advice. Much of it are things that should be applied to real world projects

The "defying the laws of physics" thing is a thing in modern architecture. It's called a "cantilever" where the frame extends into the building and the weight of the rest of the building keeps it in place. But yes, a cantilever that big does look odd.

I agree with grian, overdetailing kinda hurts my eyes. Literally and figuratively.

It is really dificult to build trees because the leaves has to be so random, messy and still look natural. It is difficult to make something random and still make sure that it looks great or just good/fine.

Me: (Digs a hole in a mountain and calls it home.) Grian: *So you have chosen, Death.*

grian helped me improve so much in minecraft building i swear, i first saw this video years ago, and these techniques are basically instinct to me. thank you grian!

I CANNOT believe the detail and quality of these EXEMPLARY builds. This man is a genius. P.S: thank you for the part about square builds this is going to help me a ton.

9:28 in my opinion. if your gonna build something with a flat roof you should make it a completely different colour. stone usually works best. and add some details like vents, small chimneys or skylights, this design usually works good when building post-war British houses or tower blocks. if you make a bunch of houses that are conjoined into a row of terraces. then you get the top and the sides of the wall that separates each house. make the wall a different colour, preferably a darker colour, then make it stick out from the rest of the building and add a stone or different coloured slab on top. do it to the end of the last house as well as it doesn't look normal if you don't and most houses after the war have a different colour on the end. slightly slanted roofs work well for post-war architecture. make sure that the shape isn't super complicated as most buildings of that time are mostly square with maybe one or two parts of the building sticking out. this goes for most post-war office buildings or flats. I wouldn't doe this kind of building tho if your trying to show off your building skills as it is really simple to do and doesn't have that mush detail as it's mainly curved roofs and unique shapes that make a building look complicated.

sad that this omits the final rule: "break the rules if you know what you're doing". a part of my build style has square buildings with overdetailed interiors, but that works for me as my style focuses on tiny, detailed builds

I make detailed houses now but the first houses you built in this vid, I made in middle school and I thought they looked good 😂 so glad I changed the way I build now. I just finished a wizard's tower in my minecraft realm and I love detailing like that

Minecraft: here’s a game that’s in your complete control, no rules just be happy. Grian: there’s rules, follow.

I remember making a large wooden hotel that has no details at all in a ripoff game of Minecraft. It was on one of the public servers, but after my mom's tablet broke I never could download the app again I was so super proud of it, so I hope that whomever owns it after me takes good care of 'The Wooden Hotel by OneOddKid' (my naming skills have always been bad lmao)

Grian: _”Do not make box houses.”_ Noobs: that’s all I can do

Now that’s what I call a “Building Tutorial” even though it is about how not to build, it teaches everything. Thank You, Grian! Actually overdetailing is similar to organised detailing. The difference is, the normal detailing is mostly symmetrycal, it is concentrated in the corners and edges the max, overdetailing is the same but the detailation is not that symmetrical and is spread almost randomly on the build with no precise manner.

Man, old Grian videos are a vibe. This is my childhood, right here.

What I struggle with the most is making odd shapes work - like I'll have a "palette" and style selected, but I don't know how to neatly apply it to the shape.

"He detailed it very minimalisticly" *shows house more detailed than any I've ever built*

It is now my goal to make all of these mistakes in a single build

Grian's videos like this inspire me. Thank you Grian

My first house in any world is a 10 by 10 two block tall chest n' furnace filled abomination with local wood floors and a mine staircase in the corner. It's been like this for years and that won't change because ever since I first started playing my friends would waste resources on fancy builds and end up doing hour long gathering sessions while I strip mine for diamond knowing that I can live at the bottom of the village well and be happy 😊

About the over detailing, I think it really looks more intimidating than good looking. I would say that a base meant to keep away foes should be overdetailed.

After a few years of playing I got bored of my builds, this really helps

grian: “it’s not that difficult” me: *sweats profusely trying to stop myself from making a shoe box house*

Even though this video was recommended 5 years later, but thanks for the tips Grian this really helped me in my builds.

To be honest ,I think the over detailing is what I lack and since u showed me my mistakes ,I thank u very much and I hope more people subscribe to u.

If you want to overdetail i would recommend making it very clean otherwise on the roof and other less detailed areas.

Exqueeze me, but that 5x5 house in the thumbnail is one of the most basic and easiest houses. It is so cute, cozy, and efficient because you need less materials, especially when you do survival. It is my fave house! Come on man!

This was my first grian vid and it’s basically the foundation of everything ik about building today. The deepest rabbit hole I’ve been in for sure

Grian: “Don’t defy physics.” Says while flying

Think you’d ever consider redoing older tutorials with the knowledge you’ve learnt from being on Hermitcraft?

Over detailing looks good if you have an old shack looking house with a lot of different types of wood.

First sin is perfect for horror maps. (for example, when you want to create a long corridor in an abandoned ruins.)

Me: *breathes* Grian: "oh no no no you're doing it wrong."

I do make some mistakes in building, and they are stated in here, including straight up rectangular and perfect square houses, I'll put this to note and improve my building with these tips, thanks!!!

“This house has very little detail.” House: has more detail than I’ve ever put into all my builds combined

Me after mining 3 oak logs: *Yeah that'll do it.*

thank you, i used to struggle with overdetailing alot and not figuring out why my builds looks messy, after seeing this video, my builds improved a ton

3:49 This rectangular house is better than most people's non-rectangular builds.

I think this may well actually help me build better buildings in Survival settings. Thanks for assist, G.

Just a quick note about roof overhangs: Skeletons and Zombies can hide under the roof or frame when the night ends to avoid burning. Just something to keep in mind for survival players

I'm going to make a house that does everything that Grian tells me not to do.

Honestly, I haven't streamed in a while but I have been practicing building, especially in the SMP I'm in... I feel like I've gotten away from most of these mistakes. My biggest one is the very boxy-shaped builds. Other than that comparing my recent builds to my very first build... me being a noob used brick wall blacks... for the walls.

I’ve been proudly building square roofed houses for seven + years now I’m now working as a contractor in a village 😎

Hey Grian, I absolutely love your videos and they really do help, but I have a slight time consuming problem. I am trying to make a Fantasy world in creative but by doing so I am manually replacing all grass blocks with Warped Hyphne ( or how ever you spell that). I was wondering if you knew of an easier much faster and efficient way of doing so?

I think Minecraft builders should also work on the landscape around the build and theme.

Honestly Grian should still make these types of building videos (along with the others of course)

I present to you, minecraft Gordon Ramsey.

Bro seeing the ore blocks on the rich people's house just brings back memories. Remember when ore blocks used to look like that? Good times.

Tip: if your just starting fresh on minecraft and started you need to get a lot of wood so you can build a four block wall and then fill in the open space with the rest and you have a easy house.

I actually think that the over detailing looks great

I like these building videos Grian, thank you so much I took your advice to make a pretty and decent house on a superflat world.

This is a GINORMOUS help ive done the over hangs but 0 of the fancy roofs (that look amazing) and the house shapes.Ive always done squares and rectangles thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I think your definition of minimalistic is very different from mine.

When it comes to my building palette, i mostly use wood and cobblestone type and i make a simple staircase roof

What if you build a modern building with 1 overhang? Would you add support to that overhang? No! You're building a modern building!

Here’s my process: Step 1: Acquire map of spawn. Step 2: Raze block within map chunk above river/sea level. Step 3: Place torch in NW corner and place torches in a 5x5 pattern across chunk. Step 4: Create dirt path along perimeter and through the middle, separating the 4 quadrants. Step 5: Place foundation in the crossroads in a 9x9. Here’s my problem: I want my house to be omni-symmetrical. I want the shape to be the same shape from the 4 corners. I’m willing to unbox the 9x9 in the 4 directions and rounding the corners. But when I start to build up, I find issues. My base pallet is Stone brick 🧱 and the 3 polished stones (1 for each direction). Can you help me? It’s turning into a 3-story tower. My warehouse will be in the basement, bed on the 2nd floor, and enchanting in the 3rd. Maybe the 1st will be a workshop?

I think everything in this video is absolutely accurate. All the bad builds represent my little sister when she builds, especially the rectangular shape, the lack of depth, BUT WHAT REALY ANNOYS ME IS HOW SHE ONCE BUILT A SQUARE HOUSE WITH JUST EMERALD BLOCKS!!!!!!!! AND ALSO NEXT TO MY PERFECTLY GOOD MODERN HOUSE, that I used smooth quartz, oak planks and spruce planks material to give it a nice texture, AND COMPLETLY RUINED THE WORLD!!!!!!!

Some people leave there water flowing because they want their pond to be more than one block deep. If you want to do that, the make the pond,then put water in it, the make it more deep. Just a little tip for some people.

Grian: "It's so easy to avoid overdetailing, just don't overdetail it." Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes

This video was so much help after watching it I built two houses that almost look the same as Grians :)

this is channel is where i learnt everything to get good at building

I feel soo grateful about how sensitive I am with water flow after watching this vid.. like literally, 1 block of flowing water and I tried hard as hell to fix it

I forced my sister to watch this to improve her building skills lol

Thank you. This video taught me a lot. This is gonna help me make cool builds

"He detailed it very minimalistically" *Builds epic house of doom*

overdetailing is fine for cave things, their kind of messy.but regular houses?not so much

I remember watching this years ago, it improved me so much. It still applies today and maybe this refresher will push me to new heights!

Well I have always used to like build rectangular or square houses and I have got to say when I tried tieferen shapes they looked much better.

Btw at 3:00, if you make a house like that, you have a variety of room sizes for the interior

6 years later and I'm still waiting on a do's and don't of building in a mountain

"It's not that hard to do" *accidentally makes a mansion*

I use depth and different blocks and everything else, but my house HAS to be a box, otherwise i just cannot figure out the roof. The roof is the bane of my life, even on box shapes it takes me so long to do, i hate doing them :(

I built my first survival house in a mushroom and its honestly perfect

Thanks to this video im now better at building. Thank you so so much

the over detailing bit i feel but when i build theres always that one spot that looks too plain so you try to fill it in and get carried away

The thing I struggle with the most are circular roofs for example I want to build a cool wizard tower with a circular roof and I mostly fail.... I try to make it taller with some normal sized blocks but then it feels too tall and then I panic I don't know what to do and then I just ,,go for a break" and by that I mean never finishing it and move to a new build................... and I also don't know how to decorate big house walls.....................

Me: wow my house is beautiful Grian: Its a square, you didn't add detail Me: Finally i added detail Grian: You over detailed

To be honest, that's a prettiest diamond house I've ever seen

I'm guilty of doing the box house lol But I already changed my house similar to villager houses, only that it's made of stone bricks and quartz...coz I burned the box house when I placed my cobblestone generator near it 🤦🏻‍♀️

I remember myself 3 years ago playing a craftsman game and making a house with diamonds. Aahhhh the pain!!!!!! I wish i could go back to this world and literally blow up the house and make a new one.

I used to only use oak planks for my house so just a oak plank square BUT IM WAY BETTER NOW now I use wool for my roof pillars to make it look sturdy

I don’t know why. Only wooden oak planks, with windows. With an overhang without something holding it. Feels nostalgic.

Why does Grian sound like a really tired teacher that just can't be mad?

There are definitely a few of these I'm doing. No custom trees, often square houses (but with simple roofs), little things like that. But that's because I'm not very good at working with custom trees (can't get them to look good) and more complex room layouts. I have been trying to get better at it, but the custom trees is just a nightmare for me 😅

6+ years later and I’m still learning stuff from this video bruh 💀

This really helped because I am not a experienced builder in Minecraft I’m not that good of a builder in general but I am trying to improve so this helped me a lot.