Alternatives to a "traditional" house.

[TxCloverAngel]

ok...
A little info on us to help you get an idea of what I'm looking for...

we are a family of 7 (mom & Dad + 5 kids) who do alot of entertaining, altho most of that is done outdoors. so we are gonna be talking about alot of room needed for a home .

We currently live in an OLD home, that's way too small for our needs, And it sustained pretty major damage during Hurricane Rita.

We were planning on buying a large 2000+ sq ft mobile home to put here and have the old house removed. But that was going to cost over $90,000 for the home alone! And we still owe $55,000 on our land (we are owner financing the land and will be paid off in 11yrs). But w/ the new home it would have turned into a $150,000 land-home package/30 yr mortgage. YUCK!

We looked at adding onto our existing home, and fixing the damage... But around here, additions/new building = approx $63 per sq foot. And the repair from storm damage will exceed $30,000 w/o any addition. ouch!

Here is my question.....

My hubby said he has a friend who is building his new home out of a 50' x 50' metal building. He bought the building, and is doing the work to turn it into a "home" himself. He said the whole thing should cost him around $25,000 for more than 2300 sq ft of living space!!
Now remember.... we are often in the path of hurricanes, he said that a good metal building will withstand WAY more than a "traditional" home.
Is this true?

I like the idea of it being metal, for fire safety termites etc...

But I'm sure there are drawbacks to this kind of building....

I am open to any ideas for "cheaper" housing, we need ROOM, we want it energy efficient (we are in HOT HOT HOT Texas), reasonable safe in storm/wind, and at the moment a large factor is LOW IN COST compared to building "traditional" home.

Does anyone have any links that show pics and/or explains the process of converting a metal building into a home?

*What other things should we consider other than the metal building?

*Any drawbacks that you can think of to this metal building idea?

*Any other thoughts on alternative/low cost home building?

Thanks Y'all! I know you will have some good ideas!

[flannelberry]

What about something like an Earthship?

[diamondtim]

Bob Villa was doing something on his new syndicated show about building the entire home out of concrete. Didn' see the entire episode, but they were doing this in Florida. The whole idea was to handle huricane winds and build above a possible storm surge. I would imagine that concrete would act like adobe in providing insulation factors. You may want to search if he has a website and get more info.

[MomOf4]

I like the idea diamondtim gave on the concrete - just be sure that if you plan on that, you hire a crew that has experience in concrete - I heard a horror story of a Dellionaire on Texas who had a concrete house built, and the crew didn't vibrate the concrete properly (or at all), so when the forms were removed, there were huge air pockets in the concrete that compromised the integrity of the structure.

If you are considering Metal, contact Ericjeeper on this board - he converted a pole barn to a house...pics look pretty cool.

[rannie]

what about one of thaose dome shaped it kinda shaped like a caterpillar. When i was in grade school my dad and uncle built one in south LA where rita and katrina and many other hurricanes hit. it is still there undamaged. it is made of metal kind of shaped like a loop green house. we were gonna build inside on one end and then have a shop /shed on other. it was tall enough to have loft areas. lots of insulation and glass doors across the front on south side. i grew up and move on since and my parents sold the place before they built inside. that was over 30 years ago and it is still unchanged. must be pretty soild as it is south of I-10 and has seen the wrath of the hurricanes. good luck i will try to remember the name of this type of building. Rannie

[Dubai Vol]

Those metal caterpillar-looking buidings are called Quonset huts

Here's a link that may interest you:

Steel Homes

[ranlan]

Check out Morton Buildings. Their web site shows several buildings that have been made into houses. There are several metal homes here in SW MO.
Randy

[mpillow]

I dont have any ideas for you but I did see on the news that alot of folks that got hit by the hurricanes last year are having a hard time getting insurance and or finding the rate increases unbearable...

I'd like to have a yurt or large tepee someday!

[flannelberry]

Originally Posted by mpillow

I'd like to have a yurt or large tepee someday!

I would love to have a yurt. We were going to have a yurt rather than our house but I chickened out. now I wish I hadn't because we'd be debt free now and not have our mortage. But, I do love my house, althought it's not a lot bigger than yurt.

Anyway, neither a yurt nor tepee is likely to be a good option in a hurricane area.

[Natalie11]

Earthbag Building
The Tools, Tricks and Techniques

This book could get you all kinds of fired up about building. This is our plan, starting next year.

Cheap, and with some creativity, like nothing you've ever seen before.

http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3842

[Ramblin Wreck]

Originally Posted by Natalie11

Earthbag Building
The Tools, Tricks and Techniques

This book could get you all kinds of fired up about building. This is our plan, starting next year.

Cheap, and with some creativity, like nothing you've ever seen before.

http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3842

A neat concept. The first chapter didn't go into a lot of details, but it would be interesting to learn how they plumb/wire/wall them on the inside. Good luck in building your structure.

[donsgal]

Originally Posted by TxCloverAngel

ok...
A little info on us to help you get an idea of what I'm looking for...

we are a family of 7 (mom & Dad + 5 kids) who do alot of entertaining, altho most of that is done outdoors. so we are gonna be talking about alot of room needed for a home .

We currently live in an OLD home, that's way too small for our needs, And it sustained pretty major damage during Hurricane Rita.

We were planning on buying a large 2000+ sq ft mobile home to put here and have the old house removed. But that was going to cost over $90,000 for the home alone! And we still owe $55,000 on our land (we are owner financing the land and will be paid off in 11yrs). But w/ the new home it would have turned into a $150,000 land-home package/30 yr mortgage. YUCK!

We looked at adding onto our existing home, and fixing the damage... But around here, additions/new building = approx $63 per sq foot. And the repair from storm damage will exceed $30,000 w/o any addition. ouch!

Here is my question.....

My hubby said he has a friend who is building his new home out of a 50' x 50' metal building. He bought the building, and is doing the work to turn it into a "home" himself. He said the whole thing should cost him around $25,000 for more than 2300 sq ft of living space!!
Now remember.... we are often in the path of hurricanes, he said that a good metal building will withstand WAY more than a "traditional" home.
Is this true?

I like the idea of it being metal, for fire safety termites etc...

But I'm sure there are drawbacks to this kind of building....

DH and I thought about this option when we were planning our homestead. It looks good on the surface but once you start including things like foundation, insulation, cabinets, flooring, ceiling, plumbing, electricity, it adds up fast! When all was said and done, it was less expensive (and less headache), just to put a mobile home on it.

Have you considered a previously owned mobile? As everybody knows these things go down in value fast when not attached to land and you can pick up a used double wide for a fraction of what a new one costs. You can save even more if you buy a repo that has been a little abused, and fix it up yourselves.

Also, since your home was damaged by the hurricane, isn't there FEMA money available to you to repair your home? Have you looked into it?

My philosophy is that people don't need as much room as they think they do. Yes, I know you have 5 kids, but my dad was one of five children who lived in a two room cabin for many years. Think bunk beds.

Finally, you might consider alternative forms of construction such as straw bales and fibercrete or papercrete. Since you live in Texas, I believe adobe is an option as well (although adobe seems to be as expensive as anything else now that it has become "trendy"). Of course, living in a populated area, you have building codes to contend with.

We went with a used mobile (850 square feet!) and I think it is going to be wonderful. It gives us an opportunity to get rid of lots of unneeded junk.

donsgal

[TxCloverAngel]

Yep FEMA helped us out ALOT!! (NOT) lol
in total for home repairs we got..

$1607.08

this is supposed to
1. replace our roof.
2. jack & level the house
3. rip out and remove "toxic mold" from all exterior walls & attic
4. replace living room floor & sub-floor
5. replace 7 windows
6. re-attach the front porch to the house.
7. replace sheet rock
8. paint
9. replace 2 light fixtures
10. remove damaged cabinets & hang new ones.

That is actually what the letter said! lol

The roof estimate alone was $4000+ leveling = $5000 Mold removal = $9,000!!!

Yes, I have appealed this decision... again have done so 2 times already....
I told them.... I won't appeal if you tell me where YOU shop for those prices.. or just send me your contractor to do this work for THAT quoted price! lol "sigh"

[rambler]

Several alternative buildings are cheap to put up; but then you run into issues with insulation, electrical & plumbing runs, insurance premium surcharges, building inspectors going postal, and so on. Even if raw material price comes out cheaper, you could pay a lot more in labor as people unfamilar with a 'different' design have to figure out how to do it, rather than just doing it like every other house they built. In the end the 'expensive' regular house comes out cheaper.

Do your research.

--->Paul

[Wildoutdoorsmen]

I'm a union carpenter and sell here and moving to 40+ acres in WV. For the last two years, I have done several estimates and cost/value projects. For the climate and living needs, I come up with a earthbag/chalet style home. The total cost for 1200 sq. ft. less then $40,000 with me doing the work. This includes solar panels, generator, waterpower and rainwater systems. Look at all the alternatives that are out there and you would be surprized what a little creativity and compromise will bring you. The gables of the chalet will be cordwood.

[MikesMate]

We live in a pole barn. Yes, it was actually used as a barn before we "remodeled" it! We needed someplace to live after we sold our house, had to be out in 6 wks. Our 6 year old pole barn became our new home. We did most of the work ourselves, just contracted the wiring and plumbing. The only drawback was insurance, it was going to be very expensive. We couldn't justify spending that much on insurance on what ended up being an approximate $20,000 house ($6,000 for barn, $15,000 for remodeling). We built another pole barn, it's about twice as big...in case we want to move up! Let me know if you'd like info or pics, I'd be happy to share.

[Ramblin Wreck]

Wildoutdoorsmen: I'm sure you've got a lot of sweat equity in your place, but to get solar and everything else you describe for $40K is a great feat. Have you had enough time in the new place to determine how well this style house insulates, both from Winter's cold and Summer's heat?

MikesMate: Pictures would be great. They sometimes give you ideas you can try for totally different projects.

[Freeholder]

Originally Posted by donsgal

When all was said and done, it was less expensive (and less headache), just to put a mobile home on it.

Have you considered a previously owned mobile? As everybody knows these things go down in value fast when not attached to land and you can pick up a used double wide for a fraction of what a new one costs. You can save even more if you buy a repo that has been a little abused, and fix it up yourselves.


My philosophy is that people don't need as much room as they think they do. Yes, I know you have 5 kids, but my dad was one of five children who lived in a two room cabin for many years. Think bunk beds.

Finally, you might consider alternative forms of construction such as straw bales and fibercrete or papercrete. Since you live in Texas, I believe adobe is an option as well (although adobe seems to be as expensive as anything else now that it has become "trendy"). Of course, living in a populated area, you have building codes to contend with.

We went with a used mobile (850 square feet!) and I think it is going to be wonderful. It gives us an opportunity to get rid of lots of unneeded junk.

donsgal

I can't imagine that a mobile home, new or used, would be safe housing in a hurricane-prone area. Personally, I would go with rammed earth, cob, adobe, or something along that line -- how about concrete block? Not pretty, but ought to hold up in a hurricane. And it's standard construction, so your local people should know how to do it.

It's true that we don't always need as much space in a house as we think we do -- although local building codes will establish minimum dimensions for most rooms. If the minimum bedroom size is 7 X 10, put bunk beds and a trundle in it, and build in a wide dresser. Have large closets and lots of storage space, and the rooms don't actually need to be so big. Have one large room, such as the living room/dining area. Make rooms multi-use. And, in a warm climate such as yours, have rooms open to the outdoors in order to expand them. Build a large porch on the east and west ends (protects the house from the low-angle morning and evening sun).

What you ought to do, before you make any decisions, is go to the nearest large library and check out a whole bunch of books on home design and construction. Go through them and make notes. There's one I'm thinking of, can't remember the name, but it had to do with ten elements of good home design -- making it fit the site, making it fit the family, transition spaces between indoors and outdoors, and more. There are also good books on passive solar design (which will help with cooling the home, as well as heating it); small-home design; all kinds of 'alternative' building materials, and more.

If your children are old enough to help, you have a ready-made construction team. Your family could build your own home, or most of it, reducing the costs to just the materials and maybe a plumber or electrician. Personally, I would hire the foundation done, too. But most of the rest of home construction isn't that difficult. It might take an inexperienced crew two or three times as long, but if you have more time than money, it's worth it.

Kathleen

[BigBoy]

My 2 choices for strength and low cost would be Pole building and dry-stack block. Check out http://www.texasmusicforge.com/gimmeshelter.html for the block info.

[Cyngbaeld]

I think earthbag would be the way to go and that is what I would love to do myself.