New Plan. Is it a good one?(LONG)
 

So the other day as I was driving home from the library I was thinking about mine and DH's plans to buy land and build a house. Then I had this brilliant idea, what if we built a smaller log cabin-type home with two bedrooms and a loft for an office/play area? We could get on our land sooner and build our bigger house over a more extended period of time. By doing it the smaller house way first it would eventually eliminate the rent bill and cut down on our food costs because I could grow a bigger garden sooner.

We would try to build as much as we can ourselves..DH has carpentry and construction experience, we would ask his brothers who are also construction guys and any family we can to help, scrounge used materials, FreeCycle and Craigslist and basically bargain hunt like mad to try and save some money.

We've paid off a lot of our debt so far...the 2 credit cards and medical bills are all that will be left as of May I feel like if we get out to our land sooner it would be better. Does this idea sound stupid? Or is it a good idea because my DH thinks its a wonderful idea. For those of you who have done something like this any tips? Just looking for some feedback, I am trying to find things on the internet that might help but I can only search for something for so long before my brain starts hating the computer screen. Thanks in Advance!

We built small and did it ourselves. It was the only way we could afford it.



Jill

Getting a house plan that can be added to with ease will be the hard part, and permanent things needed later must be done now to save expense when you do the addition. Things such as the electrical service needs to be big enough for all the completed structure. Changing out a small one that saves money now will be more costly in the future.

Foliomark did something very similar. He has a nice site with pictures.

Is the smaller house going to be seperate or part of the bigger building? If you are going to leave it as a seperate apartment or building ...check codes for MIL apartments. Some counties in Washington allow them on 1 tax lot with some restrictions on size and/or if they can be used for non-family members.

I would talk with the planning people in your county to see what they think of the permiting issues you might run into. The other thing to think about is that you might not ever get the bigger house finished.

This is what we did on our place in Missouri. Started with an 8x14 foot shed and added on each year. Now have a 5 bed nearly 1800 sq ft house. As we do not live there full time, it does not have a well and septic, but the house was planned in such a way that when we do get them, a single small wing will contain all the water related services and they can easily be extended into the existing kitchen. We had electricity right from the start and installed an over sized power line and a breaker box with plenty of space for the completed house. I'd be happy to discuss your idea with you and help you design a starter structure that could be added to in the future. Just drop me a pm anytime. Glad to help. :)

We were thinking of having this smaller house as a MIL type unit or as a possible rental once a larger house was finished. We are still in the early thinking stages and I have found some pictures and a general floor plan online...it just doesn't have the loft part. Also, we are thinking of buying our land in Idaho. Dh would love to move back there and since we are planning on homeschooling it seems like they have some good laws in that aspect.

Would it be easier to build it as something expandable, then to build two different homes? I only get to talk to Dh once a day while he is in Iraq...so getting his input takes a bit.

How long do you think it would take to build? Is a year to short of a time even with all the help we would probably have? Dh always has weekends of because of being National Guard...plus I would only be working part-time.

Depends what you want to end up with.

Building 2 houses will require you to duplicae many things - end up costing you much more than building only once, right the first time.

What kind of zoning will you run into? Many places don't allow 2 houses on one property, at least in some types of zoning. You will need 2x the building permits, more property taxes, issues with a proper septic system to meet both houses, electric service to both.

Often times people run into life, & end up staying in the too cramped house far too long, never get the other one off the ground for one reason or another.

Around here, 2 houses on the same place is a real negative. Extra taxes, hard to find responsible renters, must pay property taxes on empty building, need to maintain it - roofing, paint, etc. even if you arean't using it.

Just things to ponder on. :) Not saying your plan is a bad idea! Just, think it through, what you want, where you want to be, how hard will the govt make it to get there.

Will zoning allow you to move a trailer/ mobile onto the property until you get the house built? Can resell the trailer and be out from under many of the issues of a dual house on one property.

--->Paul

Dog trot houses
 

Do a search for dog trot houses. For some reason my computer won't let me cut and paste URL's any more. The idea is you build a small house, you can build one side with the kitchen, bathroom, living room and a loft for bedroom. Later when you have more money, you build another portion of the house connected by a breezeway or dog trot. It can be open or enclosed.

When you build the other side, you can add another bathroom, bedroom, office etc. and still not duplicate what you already have. It is a great concept and I think they look good. Good luck, you can build it yourself!

If you have storage building(s), a small house is GREAT! Much easier to clean. cheaper to heat/cool. AND you don't get a lot of weekend overnite vistors!

GO SMALL! put extra money in storage/workshop/garage type buildings.

When you build......use a floor-plan that you can add-on to if need be (at minimal cost).

Go For It!

We built smaller and love it.
 

http://www.abceltd.com/pics/Web/CabinSummerBack.jpg
Our 20'-0" x 28'-4" two sotry log cabin, last summer

http://www.abceltd.com/pics/Web/Firs...Image3-7-1.jpg
First Floor Plan of our log cabin

Our trees were free, the neighbor gave them to us, and most other items, windows, and things were salvaged. Our cost was $500, today, would be $5,000. We added the power two years after we built it. We have been spending, improving and upgrading ever since -- what great fun!

Good Luck,

Go-For-It!

Alex

Looks VERY LIVEABLE, Alex!

Nice to have something "paid-for" ain't it?

Yes
 

Junkmanme,

Only way to go.

We do pay though -- sweat equity -- and creative use of materials -- and it's great fun, isn't it?

Alex

Doing it the way Alex did it is true homesteading. Start with a small "shell", then frame in rooms as needed and add on when you can.

OR you can bring in a mobile home (used ones are abundant in western WA), or you could even buy a yurt (probably plenty of used ones around too...).

Good luck!

Two or three people with moderate building skills could easily build a 20x20 pole house similar to mine in a weeks time. That would be a rough enclosed shell, but it would be tight to the weather. Another week or two of work would get it wired, insulated and the wall board up. All depends on how fancy you want it before you move in. This last summer, Levi and I and two neighbors built a 16x14 pole house in about 4 days, that was tight to the weather but not finished inside. Its got a plain leanto metal roof and a huge bay window I got for 25 bucks at a salvage yard. This summer I will finish the inside as a library for my house. It will be heated with a little wood burner and be joined to the main house with a pergola deck.

The dogtrot idea is a great one too. I have plans for several. Also a plan that is basically two lean to sheds, one is divided into sleeping rooms and the other is for cooking and storage. The two sheds face each other across an open courtyard that can eventually be roofed. The large central space can be a great room, if you decide to live in the structure. Or the whole thing can be converted to a barn. The central area can be used for work and equipment storage and the bedroom spaces turned into stalls. The kitchen becomes a work shop or dairy room.

Real homesteaders didnt start off building a grand mcmansion or full size farmhouse. They started small and added on. Give me a holler and I will be glad to show you some ideas. :)

heres you an idea fairly simple fairly cheap and with the future in mind .
get a 24x30 garage kit plumb for a small bath room with shower and gas water heater and cook stove . put radiant floor heating in the slab wire in plenty of plugs . you can partition off "rooms' where need . live in it while building the House and when the house is finished use it as a garage or leave the partions and use it as a guest house . framimg siding and slab should be around $10,000
from scratch soyou can have a nice livable home for around 12-15,000
that shouldnt take more than a 6 weeks to complete

Here is a pic I found on photobucket of what we would like the outside of our home to resemble. We want two bedrooms with the possibility of converting one of the bedrooms into two seperate ones for our eventual children, plus a second floor which will be the loft. Here is the pic:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...Lodge-2005.jpg

We are still in the dreaming stages, trying to come up with floor plans and such. My DH gets his re-enlistment bonus in July and that will be going towards purchasing land either here or in Idaho and by the time he comes home in the fall we should have around $3,000 in savings, if not more because I just got a job and will also be putting that towards what is left of our debt, then the rest goes to savings.

So help me come up with some more ideas! I keep trying and can't come up with much...may be seeing what you all have done will give me some more inspiration! TIA!

It never fails to impress me how many people here have so much imagination and can make a homestead through patience, hard work, and not always a whole lot of money. I think you're smart in thinking ahead and asking lots of questions before diving in. I could have saved myself a lot of time and money if I had belong to this board back then and had a source for advice. I love to see the ones that folks have posted with before/after pics of their homesteads. One of my favorite examples of imagination is mtman's. They have a running log with pictures on when they started on their place up til now. Here's his website. I hope he doesn't mind, but it is posted on this board.

http://www.rushingtrail.com/

As someone else already mentioned, you will be doubling up on a lot of things by building two homes. Have you ever considered building a garage structure to live out of for a year or two while you save up for/build the house? This is what my parents are currently doing because it gives them an enclosed garage area to store stuff and do woodworking, etc, and they will be living in the loft temporarily. My husband and I plan on doing it that way, too.

Of course if you have a huge family and you know you will be entertaining guests quite often (or if you are planning on extra income from turning the little house into a rental), then it would probably be a good idea to have that extra living space.

My daughter built a 30x60 pole barn. split it in half and used one side to live in and the other side for lumber and storage for their house. We built the house two years ago. They now have a 30x 60 shop for crafts, critters,greehouse, machine storage & repair and what all. There was little duplication because they kept it simple and bought inexpensive stuff to just last a few years

cusatocottages.com is worth a look. These are small cottages designed specifically to be added onto at a later date. One of them features a loft that overlooks the living area - very cute.

Lowes are distributing kits and/or plans and a material list any time soon. I'm not sure if they have it together yet but there is a link to Lowes information page on the cottage site. Building costs were estimated to be between $50.00 - $75.00 per ft. including basic appliances.

www.cusatocottages.com.

I talked to DH today and we have agreed that building two houses just isn't a viable option even with the possibility of renting out the smaller property later on. He is concerned about building a small garage like structure at first because of his 3 sons and the visitation issues that the mothers would likely bring up because its not something mainstream to live in. We are hoping to may be rent a small cheap place while we build. Which of course will cost us money but that is the dilema we came up with while talking today.

DH thinks we can still get everything done in a year to a year and a half even with renting our own small place, working and other everyday life things. That's why I am looking at everything right now, to get a jump start on the planning, for when the unit comes home this fall.

We regret renting while building our house. We were told it would take 9 months to build the house and we ended up renting for two years. We really wish we'd just bought a used mobile home and set it up on our place while the house was being built. Then we could have sold the mobile home.

Lived in our 3tn fixed-up truck for 3 mts
 

That's right, we drove from CA to Canada, removed our grubstake-stuff from the truck, put it in a shed that was on our land, and lived in this ex-furniture-store truck, for 3 months, while we built our log cabin.


http://www.abceltd.com/pics/Web/FurnitureTruck.jpg
I put insulation in the walls and ceiling, 1" ridged, window at each of the kids bunk beds, our bed, and kitchen sink. I put two 15 gallon tanks up high for gravity water at sink and out door shower. The heater is a water heater.

It sure was good when we expanded into our HUGE 20'-0" x 28'-4" two story log cabin. It only took 3 months, as mentioned to finish our cabin enough so we could live in it: we started June 1, and finished Sep 5. Well, it wasn't finished, finished, but it was good enough to move in.

Go for it,

Alex

Build with SIPS
 

Before you read this let me state I am not a manufacturer of SIPS. I just love building with them!!!

Have you looked at SIPS ( structurally insulated panels) ? For several years I have been researching their use for building affordable planned neighborhoods. As well I have helped several friends build homes out of SIP panels and it is very easy with minimal tools.
There are great benefits to building with SIPS, the inherent HIGH R-Value and low toxic emmission, airtight construction and lower cost base than traditional building methods. With SIPS the electrical conduit is built into the panels at the factory so all you have to do is pull your wires. They build the panels according to your home plans and are a dream to assemble.

My research and tests building homes for and with my friends using SIPS have shown me the DRAMATIC savings over standard stick construction. There are several other non conventional choices such as Straw bale or dome homes. I have enclosed some SIP links below. Let me know what you think

Cheers
Brett

http://www.ibpanels.com/index.php ( great build video)
http://www.fischersips.com/finishedprojects.html
http://www.sips.org/
http://www.heathershome.info/
http://www.sipweb.com/monitor/bc_11.2004.asp
http://www.murus.com/index.html
http://www.sipsupply.com/department_...ed_panels.html

We have friends who bought 100+ ac & are building the 1st of a few cabins on their land. I guess they will build this one w/bth & kit then the others w/only bdrm & liv rm. They want to do this so they'll have room for friends & relatives to visit! Planning on doing 'cordwood' constrution.

Patty

Gotta watch the zoning laws, I don't think you have an easy state to deal with, but moving a used trailer onto the property will put you _there_ to be doing the building work, save you money vs renting an apt as you can sell the trailer when you are done, and give you a 'real' living quarters for your other issues. You might also be motivated to get out of the trailer & get the real house done sooner. :)

Without the 'other issues' the 2 stall garage idea would be the best way to go.

Renting - the money flows out, won't ever come back. It might end up being the best way to go tho, given the location & your requirements.

--->Paul

Look for garage plans with an apartment above. Even an efficiency apt would work as you could use the large downstairs area for a living/great room. Then as children grow up maybe one would like to live there and go to college, or you could use it for farm hand living quarters or rent it.