Framing your own house

[safety-man]

Has anyone every purchased a home kit? I was wondering, for someone who has never built a house before, if it is too difficult to build on your own? I know I can follow directions, but...... I've just heard that you can save a ton of money if you do it yourself. I know there are going to be things that need to be done by a professional like the foundation and the electrical, but shouldn't I be able to do the rest?

Safety-man

[bee_pipes]

...for someone who has never built a house before, if it is too difficult to build on your own? I know I can follow directions, but...... I've just heard that you can save a ton of money if you do it yourself. I know there are going to be things that need to be done by a professional like the foundation and the electrical, but shouldn't I be able to do the rest?
Safety-man

Depends on what sort of setting you live in and your definition of house.

Do you live in a suburban neighborhood with covenants and restrictions? Or are you out in the boonies where you can do whatever you please? If you are out in the boonies, will you be selling someday? That will make the type of house important - might be hard selling your land if the house isn't to code. Don't know how strict code enforcement is in Markham, Tx. It's pretty loose out here in Tennessee, but the banks lending money to a prospective buyer may have other ideas.

Is your definition of house limited to strictly conventional - slab or footing, conventional framing, etc.? With a pole building, you can avoid footings and slab. Many of the house around here are on pillars - nothing fancy, you will see stacks of rocks under the framing where the house is above the ground. Most trailers are up on blocks too. People also build cabins without slabs and footings.

Don't know what sort of a kit you're talking about, bud, or where you plan on building, but if you have the freedom, the sky's the limit for the type of construction you use. There's cob, straw bale, cord wood, green wood - all sorts of unconventional building strategies (by modern urban standards). Are you talking about a lincoln log type kit?

I am a klutz with tools and wood working - the old joke about cutting a board twice and it's still too short. In the last year or so I have amazed myself with some of the work I've done. Not particularly neat or clever, but serviceable and much better than I thought I was capable of. A matter of going slow, taking my time, and doing a lot of pondering before doing something. The more successes I have, the more ambitious I get. The more mistakes I make, the more I learn.

Here's a link to some folks that built a pole-house out in the boonies. Kind of opened my eyes to unconventional building:

http://www.innerexplorations.com/catsimple/tr1a.htm

If you're going to go the conventional route, and need to get a cement truck, dozer, or other heavy equipment in to do work for your house, Backwoods Home has had some excellent articles lately on laying out the construction site and minimizing the impact on the area. This is good to keep the heavy equipment from trashing the place you want to build.

Best of luck to you. Post what you're thinking about and what you decide - we can all learn from your experiences.

Regards,
Pat

[safety-man]

Well, thanks for the response. Markham isn't in the boonies, but I thought it was when I first moved here. ;D

It's just a SMALL town. I grew up in a fairly large city in Indiana and then met the lady of my dreams.

Anyway it's small enough that when you wake up in the morning you hear the roosters all around and see the the cattle grazing etc, etc if you get my drift.

I'm thinking about a more conventional house. I was looking at the books for sale on BHM and saw a book:

Habitat for Humanity: How to Build a House

That sounds really good.

The kit that I'm talking about is a kit from our local lumber store. Supposedly they sell you everything you need to build your house for a mere $35,000. Something like that. Maybe the kit with the above mentioned book I could get to town!

I know here you still need a building permit, so it might be harder than I think to do it i.e. restrictions huh?

Anyway, I would appreciate any comments and thoughts.

safety-man

Remember: Safety comes first! :)

[Weezin]

Safeyman:
If you've already bought your property, go talk with your neighbors to see what hoops they had to jump through.
Go and meet the county building inspectors, buy them a cup of coffee or a beer and pick their brain. All and all
they are a pretty good source of info, and usually down to earth working stiffs.
If you keep the structure up to code, you probably have to have the plumbing and electric checked and O.K'd
...........Happy Building.............Dennis

[rassd71]

It is very possible to build a house yourself... in my case, we've hired out a few things that we felt were beyond our abilities and a few that it works out to be cheaper to pay a pro to do!

The biggest thing is if you're paying for it yourself, you can do what you want (so long as it passes the local restrictions) But if you have to go with bank financed, then you have to meet their restrictions too! That's unfortunately the situation we are in.

IF you are planning on doing it yourself, including the financing. Then your first step would be to go and talk to the local building dept. Bring in a copy of the plan for the 'kit' and see if it meets their requirements. Does the 'kit' come with engineered plans? Does it include the foundation plan? Will you be on sewer or septic? Septic will require more plans. How much grading will be needed on the property? Does that require a plan and permit?

The other thing you may be able to do, is to hire a local General Contractor to work as a consultant. IF you can find one that is willing, get a flat rate up front for his consulting services and what that will and will not include.


It is quite an adventure to build your own home. If you do decide to take it on, remember that one in twenty things will go as planned and on budget. Everything else is a fluid situation, you just adapt, adjust and overcome!

Good luck to you!