Cheap efficient DIY home?

I'm another that has found the travel trailer option useful. Used it to get the first barn built and the modular/ trailer in and set up.

Unfortunately, both DH and I were inexperienced with "wet" climates so figured that building halfway up the hill ... avoiding floods ... would be adequate. However, we discovered that the runoff from the top of the hill contributes to a line of springs/seeps along a fault line so what we have is sidehill swamp to deal with.

We now have more acreage, adjoining, on top of the hill and the barn is up now. Next comes the house ... and the basic plan with this is to make it more energy efficient and at least partially "off grid" ...

We will start by building a "windbreak wall" on the north and west with a 16' corner building which will be a combined open storage area on one side and an enclosed "small room" on the other side where the wood stove/furnace will go. Still looking at possibilities for the windbreak wall and also for the actual corner block building ... no firm decisions yet, but something we can do without hiring outside labor.

We already have two travel trailers ... both pretty basic but useable ... the smaller one will go along one side of the "L" ... we will strip out the kitchen appliances and add additional bathroom space to the back, so that will actually be our bedroom/bath.

Second, larger camper trailer will go along the other side of the "L" and we will end up taking the sleeping bunks out of that one to add living room space but leave the kitchen appliances and that will be the kitchen/dining/living room.

We're ahead of things because we already have a place to live while we're building, but it would certainly be possible to live in one or the other of the campers while building, if necessary. And the advantage with the travel trailer is that they are self contained and can, if necessary, be run on a generator.

The eventual plan is to continue building in modular "blocks" that will be 16' square and attached to the first corner "block". Move the travel trailer down, put in the new "block" ... and you have another room. Since the travel trailers provide liveable space there isn't the urgency to complete the entire project and we're doing it in small enough increments that I think we will avoid the "we will never get this finished" syndrome that can be so frustrating.

As I said, we haven't made a firm decision of just exactly what kind of construction/ materials we will end up with for those "blocks" ... probably not stick built, but we've considered cinder block and the eco-block system both and will look at others before we make a final decision.

One of our preferences would have been bermed home, but the hilltop has a heavy limestone cap with not a lot of overburden and it doesn't appear that it would lend itself well to any kind of berm construction.

Man, gotta be careful where you settle, things are just way to expensive here in Maine.

We just built and have been living in a yurt for over a month now. We love it, it's very spacious, amazingly solid and is wonderful to sleep in during a rain storm(soothing). We recycled pretty much everything inside, such as the tub, counters, clawfoot,hardwood..... we have the 28ft model and its more then enough room for us, 2 cats and 2 small dogs. we lofted the bed and put our office underneath it to maximize on space. you definately need to invest in a GOOD woodstove to keep the humidity down and insulate the floors. the only downside at this point is it is a bit dark despite the sky light.....i would if doing it again, invest the x-tra and get the large glass windows as the screen windows themselves are black and filter the light in..... done and told with power to a pole, utilities, plumbing and fittings, breaker box,......it set us back 27,000. We got a very efficient woodstove used for 1000 bucks, but it is worth its weight in gold in MHO.
it took 5 of us 10 hours to put up the frame and roof with the insulation and then 2 of us a good day to put up the wall panels and then the outer insulation and "tent". It was a total pain to assemble and the directions were terrible, but our friends 73 yr old father saved the day on countless occasions with his skills. The platform was also tricky to get to be perfectly round and it needs a lip for the tent to be attached to, that also was a pain. we got recycled hardwood from an old school and ran each board through a power planer and then installed it piece by piece....not being that knowlwdgable with hardwood installation was a challenge, but it turned out beautiful after about 50hrs worth of labour.......
We are very happy with our decision , but don't kid yourself on how much work it actually takes to build one of these guys, the sites make them out to be a piece of cake, that is not the case.
good luck with your choice!!!
corry

i've wrestled with the idea of a yurt for the past few years, but have dismissed them each time for one reason or another. your yurt sounds interesting. the plumbing and electrical are two big stumbling blocks that you appear to have worked out. would you care to share more information about the build? any photos you could share? do you have children? what manufacturer did you go with?

Here some things I have been looking at....

Of course I am just dreaming now

http://enertia.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

and

http://www.countryplans.com/

I went with this company http://www.yurtco.com/products/prd-ord-us.html, as i live in canada and vancouver is only a ferry ride away from me. We actually went down and picked it up to save on shipping which was close to 500 bucks, it easily fit in the back of our 3/4 tonne.
I do have pictures but they are in my friends computer as we used her bigger and better camera to document the build. We actually took pics from the start to pretty much move in......I'll get her to e-mail me those.
No we don't have kids, but could see it working if you were a close family. I for sure would get one of the larger models though..... or get one of the small models 8ft or so and use that as another bedroom...keep it seperate and put in a wood stove and run power from the main yurt???
I for sure would share more info about the build! Any specifics?
Also should i start another thread? i don't want to hi-jack any post????
corry

no particular questions at the moment, just really interested in the build and the building process. i would love for you to create a new thread when you get the pictures. i'm sure i'm not alone in my desire to hear more about your experience.

thanks!

Use metal stick built not wood stick built. Reason? Less chance of termites and less house insurance to pay. I have built using metal. Will be taking classes on how to build with wood.

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

Correct, IF you buy everything at retail and IF you use logs that are not logs, like most of the kits the OP was talking about. Using whole logs that are big, like say 12" around and up will give you tremendous amounts of "storage" in the logs themselves. You can heat 2,000 sq ft with a woodstove easy or a room Rinnai heater. (Like a Monitor, just a lot better quality)

IF you plan and scrounge for things, take your time finding the tools instead of buying at HD, and look for bargains, you can make a log home for under $25/sq ft.

I like the idea of metal-framed stud construction, (which is what we Aussies call 'stick' construction), as it is quick, easy, and termite proof. However I was interested to hear from a firefighter that they do not like to enter burning houses with metal framing as they can collapse suddenly, and with less warning, than a purely wood-built house. I've not seen any research on the topic, and it could well be a fireman's myth, but I do wonder if it's true. Anyone hear of anything similar?

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BIDADISNDAT: Aiming to Live a Good Life of Near Self Sufficiency on a Permaculture Based Organic Home Farm

I was reading where wood is roughly R-1 per inch.

So a 12 inch thick log, would have R-12 at the thick spot, and R-6 at the thin area where one log meets another, then the R value of the caulking.

So to make a R-40 home would require 40 inches of log?

Is that how it works?

Its quite true
metal loses strength when heated . wood will char and retain much of its strength

Here's the link to our building process.

http://employees.oneonta.edu/landrydk/spechouse.html

overall with everything including our septic/well/electric/driveway (so basically saying that your mileage may vary) it came to 110k ( around there i forget exact number )

things i like about it ..it's pretty efficient. We did put alot of windows in though for resale since this was just to sell ( although now we live in it ..lol, but not for long). We used drystack and surface bonding cement for basement. In fact that part of the process was my favorite and our passive solar house we are staring in the spring will be drystack and sbc. Make sure to put your windows right against the typar and not on the outside of the insulation as the instructions say.. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE... water has a way of finding it's way in. Also I would not run the shiplap boards vertical like we did. The house has a very warm feel and doesn't take too much to heat. It's a bit noisy for us. Actually for our dogs whom one has had stress issues b/c every little sound freaks him completely out. There is a yahoo firstday group if your intrested in more info. BTW i hope you like pine

Reminds me of Grandpa's house he built from his own lumber. Thanks for the picture, It helps to see them in real life! Found the right house plan, but the land prices are incredible here!! 110k for dry land , 35 acres,no irrigation or water rights, and it's the ugly pieces, not the pretty Colorado mountains!! We only get 7 inches of rain a year so we need irrigation, a creek would be better, but thats even more$$$. I'll keep looking, but at least I have some great building ideas now, thanks again everyone!!!

Tilly

This is theory, but I believe if it is possible remodeling an old house would be cheaper than anything you could build. As long as structure is solid, jacking up, repairing, gutting, insulating, etc. Dirty, slave labor but cheaper I would think. As long as you don't have to live in it while doing it.

Even the run down, gnarly looking homes on land are around the 190s and up. We've remodeled ( not just painted and made look pretty, but tear back to the studs and start over) the last three homes we have owned, and would like to find another one, we'll keep looking. Hubby talked to our landlord today and he said he might still want to do an owner carry if we would put 20% down in a couple years. It's a purged title 'modular' on a permanent foundation, 2000ft2, 3.5 acres with great neighbors and schools, in the country on a mesa, so I guess we just have to see if we can find better or stay put. We just really don't want to rent and would like more land.