Building a house is not fun

[matt819]

And I haven't even broken ground yet! I have been bouncing around trying to figure out what to build. Timber frame, panels, conventional. Then there's an entire cult called the septic designer cult, without whom nothing happens. Nothing.

I could go on and rant, but what I'm looking for are some words of optimism, not what can't be done, but what can be done, and how well it can be done, and how quickly. Humor me.

Micro-rant over. Advice is welcome.

[soleft]

1. I need to build a room

Do you have any advice for me? Where do you go to find out how to do it yourself?

Wood and sheet rock, right?

[matt819]

12. A room?

I'd give my right arm if all I had to mess with was a room. That said, though, it took more than 15 years of marriage before my wife authorized me to start using power tools, and only then after she was sure the insurance was current.

I'm not the go-to guy for DIY help. If you need some guidance on panicking, or yelling and screaming, drop me a line.

[sfecap]

2. Where are you building?

What part of the country?

How big?

[matt819]

13. New England

A smallish Cape.

[Lefty48197]

3. The trick is to hire a fair and honest builder

Like ME!

[matt819]

14. Where are you?

I think I have a fair and honest builder -- pricey, but fair, honest, and with a good reputation. I had thought about being my own GC, but gave up on that notion after about the fifteenth phone call asking for pricing, scheduling, etc. I know it's costing me more for the builder to be the GC, but the relative peace of mind is worth it. And him I can yell at (sort of). If I were the GC, I'd have to have a breakdown and start berating myself.

[Runesong]

4. Is there a state left

where you can just buy some land out in the middle of the woods and build a house?

[sfecap]

5. Sure. New Mexico.

n/t

[bicentennial_baby]

7. New England

Massachusetts, Vt, NH, Maine

[matt819]

15. Well, sort of

In NH, at least, you have to deal with various town boards. In some towns (mine is one of them, thank goodness), this is a fairly painless process. They just want to make sure that they have it on record so that they tax the hell out of you, and that you're not going to build a driveway opening onto a blind curve in the road. In some towns, however, suffice to say that you would not believe what you have to go through to get permits approved.

[Wcross]

8. 52 States

That would be my guess as to where you could build a home.

[Yentatelaventa]

16. That would be sprawl

I'm not sure it's allowed now.

[Wcross]

31. Zoning

If it zoned for residential use, you can. Sprawl is a problem in some area's but not the entire country.

[Maddy McCall]

6. My dad and I built my house...a wood cabin in the forest...

and it was the best experience of my life...I learned so much from my dad.

I found it a thoroughly pleasant experience.

We sank our own septic tank, ran the water lines, and did everything from the ground up. Even pulled the wiring!

My pop is really a jack of all trades. I was raised around building, so it doesn't freak me out.

As for optimism, you can be in your house in 6 months or less if you are around 2500 sq. feet. I don't know about anything larger, but I promise it won't be as painful as you think.

Just wait til you start seeing the frame and rafters going up! All your fears will subside. The planning is the worst part; once the work starts, it's only a matter of time!

By the way, slab?

[matt819]

17. Can I have some of your medication?

Thanks for your positive words. If I tried doing this with my son, we'd kill each other for sure.

No slab. Foundation with basement, maybe walk-out if the cut and fill works out. As for the size, we're under 2,500 feet, and the builder tell me be can be in by December; I'm planning for March.

[Maddy McCall]

25. I bet your contractor is on target...

It doesn't take long if he has a full crew running.

My dad has a crew of thirty volunteers, and they have built large buildings in less than a month, including drywall and flooring...ready to go in a month. (They do habitat-like work for poor nonprofits)

[matt819]

30. I hope you're right

And I suspect you are, but you would not believe how many people think this is going to "take much longer than you think," "you won't be in till spring," etc.

I know things have to follow in a certain order, but I just can't imagine this process taking so long.

[MuseRider]

9. Maybe we should form a support group

We are planning now to finally move out to my farm, I am so sick of driving out there but it has taken us 9 years to get to the point where we are ready. I love planning the look but I can't visualize space and it is killing me trying to make those decisions. Have you thought of concrete? Much better eco wise and lumber these days is pretty iffy. I agree with whoever said to get a trustworthy builder. That is the one thing I do have and when the planning is done we can coast a bit. Good luck.

[Wcross]

10. Farm!

I did it last year and am kicking myself for not doing it sooner! No neighbors, no noise what so ever, abundant wildlife and a self sustaining lifestyle. Just remember that the chicken coop needs to be DOWNWIND of your house!

[MuseRider]

11. Yes, I will have chickens and

I will be downwind from all my darling horses and so close I can look out my window and see them! This will be our 3rd move to the country. The city keeps building on every spare piece of land and we get too crowded. Used to be able to watch a large herd of deer, about 20 usually in the back yard and they would play with the coyotes, it was amazing. Bobcats screaming at night but now it is all houses again! Our farm is in a fairly populated area but I figure we can die in the middle of my 53 acres and it will still seem like the country.

[Wcross]

20. I am rural!

I moved out 43 miles from work for the right place, near the birthplace of the Tennessee walking horse. There are a whole lot of horse breeders around here so hay is cheap. I have cows grazing in my pastures and buy my hay from the neighbor at 15/ roll. The wild turkey and deer populations are huge! Enjoy the farm, I am!

[matt819]

21. Sounds great

I'm in the middle of more than 40 acres, though a good part of that is wide open. Only one neighbor visible, though, and the views are spectacular.

We have horses, and I have to tell you, the thought of fencing is daunting (not the entire property, thankfully). We have deer, turkeys, the odd bear, coyotes, fox, and more birds than you can shake a stick at. We're in a small town and remain hopeful that it will remain so at least for the rest of our lifetime (which I suspect will be shortened by this exercise). Also, a good part of the adjacent land is in conservation, so it will not be developed. The only real problem is a couple of RW yahoo neighbors, but I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that a live and let live attitude prevails. All of which could crumble if I confirm that he has in fact encroached on my property. But I suppose a) that's life in the country and b) why they say that good fences make good neighbors.

[matt819]

19. Tell me more

I'm interested in the self sustaining part of the operation. Also, where is your farm?

[Wcross]

33. Wartrace,TN.

My place is near Wartrace, Tn. Home of Strolling Jim, the first grand champion Tennessee walking horse. I like watching the walkers, but training seems to be cruel to the animals. Sort of like teaching a human to walk in a set of leg irons.
My ultimate goal is to go off grid, or as close as possible to it and produce my own food, with the excess sold to offset expenses. All organic produce and farm fresh eggs ( planning on white and brown large/jumbo size). McMurray hatchery is the place to go to buy a specific breed of birds.

Cows? I don't know much about them but my neighbors have been educating me. I bought the place one year ago this past June and the cows were included in the deal. I can get a large roll of mixed grass feed for 17.(no thistle) The neighbor drops them over the fence. In the summer I rotate fields so there is no need to buy feed. In the future, I may buy more land for hay.

[matt819]

18. Sounds like we are on parallel paths

This house is going up on a magnificent piece of property we bought three years ago. I'm in the same boat as you in terms of visualizing, added to which is my reluctance to interfere with the beauty of the property by actually building on it.

We have looked into a ton of alternative approaches. I couldn't find support in the family for a straw bale house. I gave some thought, also, to a rammed earth house, but, again, not a lot of support, and the slope of the property really didn't support this. So we ended up looking at the more conventional approach. One of the things that really held me up in my thinking about all the options was the issue of structural or curtainwall panels, which are insulated with expanded polystyrene or closed cell polyurethane foam. I had pretty much ruled them out when I found that they were regarded as reasonably "green" at greenbuilder.com.

The house will be sited facing solar south and we're going to take advantage, initially, of passive solar, and then maybe use active solar and/or wind when we have some more money. All appliances will be energy star rated, and we're going to try to make sure that as much as possible is "sustainable." Since it's a farm, we'll be composting (though I draw the line at composting toilets), and we're eventually going to set things up for permaculture. But all of this is years down the road.

Where are you building. And, sure, I'm all in favor of a support group.

[MuseRider]

32. This is exciting!

My farm is in a very small community, there are houses around but I love my land. I have about a 4 acre pond right on the front of it and the house is going to be so I can look out at the waterfowl. I also thought of straw bale, rammed earth but had no luck so I sat down at the site and planned a great house. It is going to be a barn, the tall kind with the sloped gambrel roof. Attached to it I am going to put a silo that will house my husbands office on the second floor with an observation room on the top to watch our incredible Kansas storms. I think this way the impact will be less since it will look like it belongs.
Have you thought of a cistern and a grey water tank? Check your regs. I am not sure I can do this but will try. I also think we may try to sink a pipe (I'm sorry I can't remember what this is called)into the pond and use the warmth of the deeper water for heating (geothermal something I think). Yes, solar, would like to find a way to do wind, possibly a wind mill in the future but I think the expense will be too much. BIG garden for organic food and chickens to fertilize and eat the bugs. Yipee! Now if I could only get over the worry that somehow we will screw this up!

[DemoTex]

22. TIMBER FRAME! GO TIMBER FRAME!

I solved my dilemma - build or buy - by finding a great post-and-beam log house in the mountains of NC. I was breaking out in hives thinking about building.

However, I am a timber-frame freak. This house and land will be very compatable to a small timber-frame guest house or office. Goshen Timber Framers has some great planbook designs for small structures. I'm sure you are familiar with the gamut of timber framers though.

My soon-to-be log cabin in NC:

[matt819]

23. I think that's the direction we're heading

There's a really good timber framer just a few miles from me, and his estimates are pretty good, though overall the prices are still higher than the panel approach. But I think we're going to bite the bullet.

[DemoTex]

24. It will be worth it, I think.

I've got to build one timber frame structure before I die. I want to go to Goshen's hands-on seminar in western North Carolina next year. I might even erect a timber frame garage here in Dallas if it looks like we are going to keep this house for a while. Of course I'll be spending 70% of my time in North Carolina.

Where are you thinking of building?

On edit: I see up a ways. New England.

[foxy]

26. Can I please meet you when you go to North Carolina?

I think you are one of the coolest people on the board and besides matcom you are the next on my list that I want to meet }(

[DemoTex]

27. Well, hell! I'm flattered to be in the league with Matcom.

Looks to me like you are in Texas, Foxy. Maybe we will meet at a Texas DU get together. Or are you now in NC?

[leftofthedial]

28. I would tell you what can be done

But that can't be done.

Passive solar. Smaller is better.

Don't mess with the septic guys.

[DemoTex]

29. Septic guys rule. So do the well diggers.

I'm making the NC house passive solar as soon as I can afford it. It has good southern exposures. The house already has a hard-wired propane generator. As a ham radio operator, I can't tell you how happy that makes me!