1st of many house building questions. Help please

This is NOT the cabin she is talking of, but is as similar as I can find on the internet. I have the sales flyer on my frig at home.

http://www.conestogas.com/legend/legend.htm

She would have to have it read to be constructed on the lot, and it would be finished very much as the one on the link is, and the financing is similar.

I have seen this cabin in the link lived in, and have considered the larger version for me if I get land....

You can change the windows, doors, and roofing to upgrade it.

Angie

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"Live your life, and forget your age." Norman Vincent Peale

Isn't that design close to the one she is living in now? Is this one just bigger or is this need for a new cabin because of that nasty inspector that was giving her trouble?

It's small house size, and will satisfy persistant inspector and give them some elbow room....... 12 x 30 is not much space and that's what they have now.

Angie

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"Live your life, and forget your age." Norman Vincent Peale

http://www.conestogas.com/legend/legend.htm

better link, go down this page about 1/2 and it shows one fixed as ahouse with the "carport" being a large front porch. This is what I've been eyeing for eventually.

Angie

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"Live your life, and forget your age." Norman Vincent Peale

Ok by the time she pays interest,it is going to cost her four times what it would if she was doing it herself.

big rockpile

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I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

Holy Ka-Schmoly!
You can build that for a lot less money! Try around $15,000

Oops - I was looking at the wrong model -
Still, any builders out there who could build it for less?

We built my MIL a 20x20 garage with stairs & full size loft for $15,000
That included siding, roofing, poured floor

hmmmmmmm

The one I'm talking about is not a barn style at all. It looks like a New England Salt Box turned the long way. It's not on the Home Depot site. It's 2 story with a full front porch and is about 1300-1400 sq ft. The man at Home Depot says they have sold many of them that the owners finished off into residences. It satisfies the requirements by the coding office. They come and build the building on site. I will have to add flooring, interior walls, insulation, electric, plumbing, etc. I don't have to build the actual building. Also, the financing will be through whomever Home Depot uses. I won't have to get a conventional loan because it is billed as a 2 story storage unit. I will mail a copy of the flyer to anyone who has a scanner that can post a picutre of it for me. I may be able to build it cheaper, but I don't have 15-20K to use to do so and I don't have the skills to build it from the ground up myself. I'm going to have to do the foundation myself (it doesn't include the foundation) and all the finish work.

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Sometimes the last minute is the best one.

As a woman who has built her own 3200 square foot house, laid every danged block and so forth...
here is what I think:

1. I am scared of electric..burns houses down if not done right..so I hired that part out.

2. Plumbing - this is GA gal, you can use PVC and it is no harder than putting pieces of a puzzle together. Lay it all out first!, plan where each line will go, hire someone to dig the septic and field lines (if you don't already have those) - best line to remember: crap goes downhill...lol...PVC and CPVC is seriously glue and check for leaks before you put the walls up..lol. The worst thing that can happen is you don't have angles correct so once again - crap goes downhill..or you will flood your house..not a problem if you have it checked before you put up your interior walls...if in doubt, hire somebody that is licensed to oversee your work, it's cheaper and they get paid to stand around going: uhm yea, that's ok...

3. NO TREATED WOOD INSIDE THE DWELLING..oh dear Mother of Jesus, use Pressure Treated outside or underneath for sills, etc. and use regular wood for interior, but I think I understand what you are saying and that is the building comes with a pressure treated floor..you will need to provide an overlay flooring on top of that. PT inside with heat/humidity may make you sick...might poison the stew out of ya...so DON'T go there unless you are treating it as a subfloor...

4. Stump removal..I usually cut the roots and use Molly to pull the stump out..in your case, burning is not an option if you plan to build there. When you hire the excavator for the septic and lines, get him/her to pull that stump and then backfill the hole. Cheaper and problem solved.

5. Otherwise, dynamite is good but you need a license so trot over to the GA. Farmers Market Bulletin (google is your friend here) and look under farm services for stump removal. If nothing is listed, then list Wanted Farm Service: Stump removal. You will get bids from that and it's free to advertise and you can do it online.

6. Hope this helps some. Oh and the foundation - I hired a backhoe operator to come and dig out the "footings" then I poured them...not a prob and saved a bunch of money, I do not like to dig in the GA clay, if I can hire someone to do that, I will.

Pouring footings is not hard, but you must make sure you follow code and that isn't hard, go down to your local building and zoning department and ask for a copy of the code for building (specifically the sections you are most interested in). Follow the code to avoid penalties and whatnot..

Take care, if I can build a 3200 square foot block building from scratch including pouring floors, etc. you can do this one. Just realize your limits and hire that part out..makes life a lot less stressful!

Sidepasser (still working on her lifetime house!)

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Be yourself - no one can tell you that you're doing it wrong!

Have you considered getting a house that needs to be moved? They are cheap and complete. You just have to move them and install a new foundation and utilities. This is the most house you can get for the least money.

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

I looked into moving a house, but the lowest bid came in at 14, 500 and they have to be paid 1/2 up front and the other 1/2 after it's delivered. There is no financing it and I don't have a large sum of money. Sidepasser, thanks for the vote of confindence. I think I'll be able to handle the foundation. My neighbor will grade and dig the footings with is backhoe. He has a small one and will also get all the small stumps that he can. The large one is going to be the problem, but I may be able to angle the house in a way to avoid it. Then I can drill some holes in it and put the stuff in it that rots it out. It'll be far enough to the side of the house to not be a problem.

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Sometimes the last minute is the best one.

Sandra - I got my flier and found the one you are talking about - online, but they've changed the name.

take a look at "MARK" - if this does not come up to that particular one.

http://classicmanor.com/wood.htm

Angie

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"Live your life, and forget your age." Norman Vincent Peale

Thanks Angie. The one on the lot is orientated the long way and has more windows. It's actually quite a bit prettier than the one they have on the website. I also see the upgraded tongue and groove floor is not pressure treated.

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Sometimes the last minute is the best one.

YEEEEe gads...i'm in the wrong business....I should be building "Mark" sheds! I could retire in a year or two....

Do people actually buy those things for those prices?

Sancraft I am praying that you can get the building through HD. Sure wish DH and I lived close enough to come help you out with the work. Maybe there could be a get together of folks here on the forum that live in your area. With some good home cooking, fellowship and friendship I would bet there could be a good bit of work done in one day.

By the way, I pray every day that your inspector gets what is coming to him. There is a special place for people like that.

Could I be pointed to the thread on the inspector - if there is one? Don't wish to stir up hot topics if this was such, just curious is all.

--->Paul

CATSPAW: Can we go partners in the shed business? I'd have to sit down and run the numbers, but Id be ashamed of myself if I couldnt build a 16x28 foot two story shed for under 15k. Its a nice basic structure and you could sure do alot with it, but 15k seems alot for an unfinished shell.

SANCRAFT: its a nice basic structure and you could do a lot with it, but for the money its not that much space. 16x28 2 story is about 900 sqft. give or take. My place in Missouri is now about 1650sq.ft and the running total is still under 24k and that includes EVERYTHING I bought for the house including furniture and household items and HIRED LABOR. Money wise its tempting but its no prize winner either. Granted its more space than you got now but if you take out the space lost to the staircase and its well, you end up with 4 12x15 rooms. You would have to sacrifice part of one of those for a bathroom unless you but it in a shed roofed extension off the backside as part of the porch. Now if you were to build it and then attach your current house shed to the back side as an ell, you might be in business. Good luck with it.

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FolioMark

Mus uni non fidit antro. ~ A mouse does not rely on just one hole.----Plautus

I'm going to agree with the naysayers. Why put yourself under this gun. Save some money and in a year or two and some friends you can have what you want.

Yeah, right. She's supposed to sit on her butt, let her girls watch her do NOTHING to fix their situation, and hope for friends that will miraculously show up in two years (where are they now?!?!). I think NOT.

Yeah, God provides food for every sparrow, but he doesn't drop it in their nest for them. Sometimes you have to go out there and grab it.

And you do the best you can, as you can.

CC

I don't have the money or expertise to build a 18x40 (is the size I'm trying to get) 2 story shed. If I had that much money on hand, money to hire someone to do it, etc. I would. But I don't. And putting back the 250-300 per month that the building will cost me for 2 years won't have me anywhere near it. I can come up with the monthly money, but not lump sums. I spoke with the man at Home Depot and he said that a lady had just finished one off as a house and it was gorgeous. She spent a total of 38K. I already have 2 central AC units, a hot water heater, all major appliances, etc. So I'm already ahead of the game on those purchases. Everyone saying I could build for cheaper is true. BUt only if I could do so. We could all build our own cars and save money if we knew how, but we don't so we pay for what we can't do for ourselves. I think this house will ending up costing me about 40K purchase price. I can not buy a 1440 sq. ft. house for less than that. We are in a 12x30 cabin right now, that is not up to code. I can't stay there indefinately while waiting for money to come and people to help. I've got to do what I can do. I have to depend on me and my girls. I've had lots of offers for physical help from people that haveneverpanned out. That's why I was trying to find out how much of this I can do on my own and what I would need to try and hire out. The building set on an approved foundation with a septic would pass code. We could then still stay in the cabin while finishing the inside. My oldest DD is 18 and will probably be heading to college in the spring if all goes well with her application. She'll be staying on campus (a requirement for all freshmen at UGA). I want her to leave from HOME and have a HOME to come back to. It will be up and finished for Thanksgiving or I will die trying. We have already started scrouging for the things we don't have like kitchen sink and sink cabinet, bathoom sinks, faucets, wiring, plumbing supplies, drywall, mud and tape, paint, etc. Someone from HT has offered me a bathtub and some tin. I'm trying to see if I can afford to rent a trailer and the gas to go and pick it up. I will get this done and post pictures when I through.

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Sometimes the last minute is the best one.

Well, yer last post paints a much different picture. I agree with your assessment regarding coming up with the money in a given timeline (hence most people have to get a mortgage to pay for a house in the usual way.) I have run into the same situation many times myself.

Just fyi, I've been running numbers [ for myself ] on a garage/workshop based on a $10K budget (as in, what can I build for that amount) for a materials package, no labor.

My original design called for a minimum of 30 x 40 and found it can't be done store bought (no salvage, freebies, nadas, zippos, etc.)

Right now I've been able to come up with a package for a 24 x 40 building, trussed, with 10' walls. I have a materials package of around $6000 - $6500 for the building. This package includes about 170 ft. of underground wire for electric (about $800 scheduled because of the price of wire right now) and one 1" waterline run somewhere to it or in it (illegal in it without a seperate septic, but I'll do it anyway 'cause that's just the kinda guy I am.) The foundation package [using a std footer, three blocks up to a 4" concrete slab floor poured at the top of the block] comes in at around $4000.

Stick framed ( basically either no interior walls or possibly one partition wall dividing the space into two halves ), asphalt shingle roof, engineered siding, two garage doors, one service door. NO insulation, NO drywall (these will be done as money trickles in....sound familiar?)

I do designs in CAD so I can build it virtually and know exactly what materials are required. Thought the above could help you compare to what you might be getting. Local prices in So. Indiana.