Assuming starting from beginning:
(1): Find a hammer and screwdriver.
(2): Disassemble furniture until you reach construction skill level 3.
(3): Decide if you’re making a wood or log house.
(W1): Collect nails and two by fours by deconstructing furniture, looting hardware stores, and/or looting then destroying buildings. Assuming a 3x3 wooden house with one door (1x1 interior), you will need 320 nails and 160 two by fours for the eight walls, 36 nails and 16 two by fours for the door, and 40 nails and 8 two by fours for the roof. So to avoid leaving the job half done, you need at least 396 nails and 184 two by fours for the 3x3 building itself. If you want a bigger house, you will need more materials. Given two by fours are 6 weight and 6 volume a piece, I recommend using a vehicle to cart your two by fours to the construction site to avoid running back and forth dropping off two by fours and going back to pick up more.
If you want a window instead of a wall at a point, you will need a wood saw, 15 two by fours, 34 nails, a sheet of glass, two sheets, a heavy stick and a 3 ft string per window desired, instead of the specific wall’s requirements.
(W2): When you have the required materials, begin construction. Remember you don’t need to have the items in your inventory to build, but can be laid up to two spaces away from you on the ground. *l to begin building a wall. Building is done in stages. Each action completes a stage. When you do this once, you will have a half finished wall, so *l again to finish the wall. You know it’s finished when you can’t walk over it or see around it. Do this for all sides, and for any windows, instead of building a wall, *q three times to finish the window. *r twice to finish the door, *v to finish the floor/roof, and with that, you now you have a 3x3 wood house. Congratulations.
(L1):A log house requires a shovel or stone shovel in addition to the hammer, so make sure you have one.
(L2): You need 4 logs and either 6 heavy sticks or 12 two by fours for each wall. Door requires 16 two by fours and 36 nails. Window requires a wood saw in addition to the hammer, 2 logs (or 15 two by fours), 34 nails, one sheet of glass, two sheets, one heavy stick, and a 3 ft string. The roof requires 2 logs and either 4 heavy sticks or 8 two by fours. For a 3x3 house then (1x1 interior), you need 34 logs, 52 heavy sticks, 16 two by fours and 36 nails. The bigger the house the more materials you need, so scale accordingly. Logs are 40 volume and 20 weight, and can be gotten from chopping down trees with an axe (*d) and chopping the tree trunks into logs (*e).
(L3): Buildings are built in stages. Start with the log walls. *m twice will finish one log wall, which you will know by not being able to see around it or move through it anymore. *r twice will finish the door, and *w once will finish the roof. If you’re making a window, make the window instead of the roof, *q three times to finish a window. Once you have the walls, a door, and a roof, you have a 3x3 log house. Congratulations.
In summary.
Wood House:
Tools: Hammer, Wood Saw (Window)
Wall: Two by four x20, nails x40
Door: Two by four x16, nails x36
Roof: Two by four x8, nails x40
Window: Two by four x15, nails x34, sheet of glass x1, sheet x2, heavy stick x1, string 3ft x1
Log House:
Tools: Axe (chopping trees down and into logs), Hammer, Shovel, Wood Saw (Window)
Log Wall: Log x4, heavy stick x6/two by four x12
Door: Two by four x16, nails x36
Log Roof: Log x2, heavy stick x4/two by four x8
Window: Two by four x15, nails x34, sheet of glass x1, sheet x2, heavy stick x1, string 3ft x1
Materials to build a wood house by interior (no windows)
1x1: two by four x184, nails x396
2x2: two by four x268, nails x636
Materials to build a log house by interior (no windows)
1x1: logs x34, heavy stick x52, two by four x16, nails x36
2x2: logs x52, heavy stick x82, two by four x16, nails x36
Recommendation: Build a car house instead. Faster, materials are more readily available, and can be made mobile if desired. Downside is requiring batteries, welder, hacksaw and wrench, or an integrated toolset. Boards=Walls, Windshield=Window, Doors=door+window, Roof=Roof, Aisle=Floor, Bed=Bed, Kitchen Unit = Fireplace.
