OSRS Construction Guide 1-99: Building Your Dream POH

Construction is one of the most useful and powerful skills in Old School RuneScape, but it's also one of the most expensive. A high-level Player-Owned House (POH) can provide teleports, restoration pools, and other utilities that will revolutionize your gameplay.

This guide will show you how to get there, covering the lightning-fast (but expensive) traditional methods, the much cheaper Mahogany Homes minigame, and the specific strategies needed for Ironmen.

The Foundation: Essential Tools

  • Saw & Hammer: You'll need these in your inventory for all building.
  • Servant: A servant is critical for efficient training. The Demon Butler (level 50 required) is the best, as he can fetch 26 items from your bank.
  • Player-Owned House (POH): You'll need to buy a house in Rimmington, Taverley, or another location to begin training.

The Fastest Path to 99: Traditional Training

This is the classic "buyable" skill method. It's incredibly fast but requires a huge GP investment and is very click-intensive. The method is simple: build, remove, repeat.

  • Levels 1-33: Basic Furniture
    • Start with Crude Wooden Chairs, then move to Wooden Bookcases and Oak Chairs.
  • Levels 33-52: Oak Larders
    • This is the first major milestone. Oak Larders offer great XP and are the go-to method for many players. You'll need 8 Oak Planks per larder.
    • XP Rate: ~250-300k XP per hour.
  • Levels 52-99: Mahogany Tables
    • This is the premium, ultra-fast method. In a Superior Garden, you can build two Mahogany Tables.
    • XP Rate: With maximum efficiency (using a Demon Butler), you can achieve over 900k XP per hour. The cost is immense, but the speed is unmatched.

The Cheapest Path to 99: Mahogany Homes

For players who don't have billions of GP to spend, Mahogany Homes is the perfect alternative. It's a minigame where you travel Gielinor repairing furniture for NPCs.

  • How it Works: You are assigned a contract, travel to an NPC's house, and use your planks to complete a few simple building tasks.
  • Why it's Cheaper: It provides much more XP per plank used. For example, a single Teak Plank used in a contract can give over 100 XP, compared to the 90 XP from a traditional build.
  • XP Rate: The XP is much slower, typically ranging from 150k to 250k XP per hour depending on your level and efficiency.
  • Rewards: You'll also earn points to buy useful items like the Carpenter's Outfit (2.5% XP boost) and a Plank Sack.

Ironman Construction Strategy: The Resource Management Challenge

For Ironmen, Construction is one of the most difficult skills to train due to the immense resource requirements (logs and cash).

  • The Plank Problem: Your main goal is to acquire planks as efficiently as possible.
    • Kingdom of Miscellania: Set your workers to collect Teak or Mahogany logs. This will be your primary passive source.
    • Woodcutting: You will need to cut thousands of logs yourself.
    • Plank Make: The Lunar spell Plank Make is a great way to turn your logs into planks without the cost and hassle of a sawmill, though it costs runes.
  • The Method: Mahogany Homes is King
    • Because planks are so valuable, traditional training is incredibly wasteful for an Ironman. Mahogany Homes is the undisputed best method. It maximizes the XP you get from every single plank you've painstakingly gathered.
  • Early Levels: Many Ironmen start with Oak Larders using planks from Wintertodt or early Woodcutting, but should transition to Mahogany Homes as soon as feasible.

Conclusion

A high-level POH is one of the best goals you can have in OSRS. The path you take depends entirely on your budget. If you have the money, the speed of Mahogany Tables is undeniable. For everyone else, including virtually all Ironmen, the cost-efficiency of Mahogany Homes makes it the superior and more intelligent choice.

Ready to build your ultimate nexus but don't have the time or GP? We can help.

→ OSRS Construction Services
→ Check out our POH Essentials Guide