Cheap efficient DIY home?

We bought a nice older mobile home for $7,500 (it took a LOT of looking to find it) and put it on the property. It took us a couple of years to save up for the well, septic and electricity. We did stuff as we could afford to do it. No loans, no mortgage. You can also put up a portable building to live in as a cabin for awhile and then use it for storage once the permanent house is built. Consider getting a second job for the "homestead fund" so that you will not have to wait so long.

I would avoid debt if there is any way to help it.

donsgal

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I just did a little Googling on surface bonded block. I like it!

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While there are all kinds of alternatives out there. They are for the poeple who can afford them. A stick built house may represent the establishement to you there is a reason why they are the most popular. As was said before right now lumber is as cheap as it has been in a long time. A stick built can be p and dried in a week to 10 days. With all the walls in place. I've done hundreds of 1500-2000 square foot homes in 10 days. If you have a great room you can finish it first , or the garage and live in it while you do the rest. The man I learned carpentry built a bunch of houses that way. He put them up with a garage big enough for two beds,bath kitchen living room. Lived in the garage till he got them done and sold them. My daughter lived in a pole barn for 4 years till we built her house. one wall down the middle and split that in back for two bedrooms and a bath.
The trouble with alternative is that they require specialized knowledge and a lot of creative solutions. I've built ,log,timber frame (my choice), yurts, pole barns, ferro cement. You never hear how long the last, how rodent proof they are , how much maintenance they require.
You may think your time is free but the average carpenter is making 10-15 and hour. If your making 20-25 or more how much is your time worth. Lots of things to think about when considering "cheap'

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FREEEEEEEDDDDDDDOOOOOOMMM!!!

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http://tnwoodwright.blogspot.com/

My husband and I just bought a piece of land this past Oct. There is a old mobile home on it and the lady gave it to us. We started working on it...and well can't get the roof to stop leaking...so the lady gave us another trailer. So now we have two. The new one we will move in place for us to live in once it stops raining and the ground either freezes or dries up. The other one that leaks..we will take off the one room with the leaky roof,,and the rest of the trailer will be my wood shop for my craft/wood working business. We are going to have a bigger garden, chickens etc.

The land was a great deal. We are paying this all with our own money. We did not take out a loan. We are buying on contract..with NO interest!!!

We are excited....Very excited. We are so much closer to our dream of peace and quiet living...and being more self sufficient. Now if it would just stop raining....PULEEEZE!!

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Not only that, but I consider everything a disadvantage in comparison with the supreme value of knowing the Mashiach Yahshua as my Lord :baby04:

Our first home was a 1970 12x60 trailor gave 400 cash and 12 hours of labor for it. gutted it replace all the floors finished the bed room and bath and moved in.
lived in it from 93-03 when we picked up our modular (a 96 with 2x6 walls really nice was a repo) for $17000 .
in addition manged to rent the old trailor for 18 months at $200 a month . before I decided I cant stand someone that close. so the old trailor paid for its self rather well . I plan to salvage what I can out of it and junk the rest scrapping it out should bring an easy 800+
trailers arent ideal but they beat a tent and oldr ones can be had cheap , it often costs more to move one than to buy one.

We are exploring what kind of house we want to put on our rural property as well, and this thread has been interesting. The metal building shell converted to a home is an interesting concept, and I think there are 2-3 people on the forum that have gone that route.

We have explored a few of the alternative routes but keep coming back to a small, mostly conventional stick construction home. When you figure in ease of construction, ease of compliance to codes, relatively low cost of lumber (at least right now), the flexibility and forgiveness of wood construction, ability to insure, and potential for resale I'm not finding a huge cost/value difference.

We currently live in a simple 1100 sq ft, 3 bedroom, w/ 2 car garage, 35 year old rambler that is as dated as can be style wise. I put good windows and insulation in it, and while I grow tired of the layout and style, I must admit it is very inexpensive to heat/cool. It's also easy to repair/modify when the need arises.

There are two things that I've not seen mentioned yet that are criteria in our selection process. These are predicated on the fact that this next house may very well be our last house, and that retirement may be a struggle.

1. The house will be single story and handicap accessible. We would like to live in our house as we get older for as many years as possible.

2. The house will be of conventional construction so as to possible qualify for a reverse mortgage. Yes, I'm aware of the issues surrounding reverse mortgages, but I would at least like to maybe have that option available as retirement gets tougher. My understand is you cannot qualify for a reverse mortgage in a mobile home, but I have not verified that yet.

Geodesic dome house.

Comes in many sizes. Most efficient use of space. Saw a great 2 story one with a 1/2 basement & a fire place in the center of the home.

You can buy the steel connectors if you want & build it yourself. Very heat/cooling efficient.

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The geodesic dome is normally selected for ease of construction, but there is a lot of waste in construction materials. You wind up throwing a lot of triangular pieces of sheetboard away.

The dome shape is efficient, but I think the Pyramodule is even better in that respect, and construction costs are lower because there's less waste.

http://pyramodule.com/

I almost went with the Pyramodule instead of my cabin.

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When it comes to 'alternative' building methods.

Wigwams are cheap [they are free]

Adobe is cheap [it is free].

Local mud mixed with camel dung and sun-baked then built into homes are cheap [they are built for free].

I have seen truly cheap housing options.

However I have known a number of contractors who focus on woodstick homes; everyone of them when discussing price per square foot has openly admitted that steel buildings are cheaper.

But again 'cheap' is relative. An igloo is cheaper still, but I do not live in an area where an igloo would be practical.

Cord wood stacked and mortared can be cheap.

Rammed-earth can be cheap.

Buying old trucking containers insulating, wiring, and plumbing them can be cheap too.

Framing interior walls?

I cut the holes for the windows and framed the windows. I put up all of the insulation and covered it with paneling. Then trim.

The trim is dark-stained and in two forms 1X2s and 1X4s. The 1X2s are attached to the window frames and to the paneling. The 1X4s are all horizontal at seven foot high and bolted to the purlins, and attached to the paneling. Each piece of paneling is held by trim on all four edges.

I have never touched a 'metal stud', I am not sure exactly what one is.

I have no sheet rock in our home.

I did build the floor joists from wood, and the sub-flooring.

Concrete here is running around $55 per yard delivered, they deliver it at 220 degrees heated during the winter months, they deliver it cold in the summer.

When our home is finally completed, it should have cost us about $15 per square foot.

wasnt knocking it at all . around here there are quite a few metal conversions most have standard wood framed interior walls . Lack of sheetrock would violate local codes here.
in jest
your comment on camel dung and mud homes being free , camel dung is pretty expensive around here Im afraid import costs and shipping would put it in line with italian marble

I have been in many homes without wood-framed interiors.

Sheetrock is required in your area? Ugh, what about strawbale houses? and yurts? And all the different methods where you dont hang more burnable materials.

I once was inside a store, when it began raining outside. All I could smell was manure, and it really bugged me as I was wondering why there was such a strong smell of manure. Then when I stepped outside I was watching the rain run down the sides of the building, and I was looking at the straw in the bricks, when it clicked, what I was looking at. The entire store was built from camel dung and straw bricks. And when it gets wet it stinks.

OK whoever sent the link for the First Day homes, you are my kinda person!!! Just about sold on those, although still trying to think of other options. Wow, all I had to do was ask, and what a wealth of opinions!!!!

here is my sisters converted pole barn. this is used as their weekend place...

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'Firstday Cottages' look real nice.

1,067 sq ft for $29,800 is around $27.93 per sq ft. Add wiring, plumbing, heat and sewage and it is going to be closer to $50 per sq ft when you are done.

Which brings it back very close to the industry standard.

Not 'cheap' at all.

I think you're a little high on the wiring and plumbing, and it really isn't fair to include the septic system as part of the square footage cost of the home, but I have to agree that First Day isn't really cheap. My cabin is enclosed and insulated, including doors, windows, and foundation, for around $10/sq ft.

Tilly, First Day Cottages do look nice and are the right size for your needs, but you'll pay $40-$50K for your 1500 sq ft home. That's not something most people can do without a mortgage, and being mortgage free was one of my primary goals. I'm with ET1 SS, you can do a lot better than $30/sq ft.

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To be fully honest and up front, when discussing a person buying land and then wanting to go out and to build themselves a complete home to live in. I think that we must include everything that will be needed. Including well, septic, power poles and breakers, wiring, plumbing, flooring.

There are cheaper alternatives, I do not mean to be cute or playing games, but everything is relative, and in my experience woodstick is not among the cheaper methods.

I visted Rob Roy(The author of "Cordwood Building" and "Earth-Sheltered Houses") at his home in Ny state last January. He uses surface bonded block for the back of the house and cordwood for the front of his house. He is a big believer of round houses. He also believes in using earth roofs.
He sold me on an earth sheltered surface bonded block home..however he didn't sell me on the building a round home, or cordwood. I just don't like the appearance of it. I am still debating on an earthen roof.
His website is http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/

Another good surface bonded block home site is

http://www.thenaturalhome.com/drystackblock.htm

Oh yes, Rob Roy. I read his book "Mortgage-Free!: Radical Strategies for Home Ownership". I didn't think his strategies were all that radical, but I did get a lot out of it.

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Sure, we have to include all those things in the total cost of the project, but when we're comparing different structures head-to-head on a cost per square foot basis, only the cost of the home itself should be considered.

I don't know anyone else who built a home and kept it under $10/sq ft.

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