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Deciding between build or remodel

7K views 77 replies 20 participants last post by  leenamark1 
#1 · (Edited)
EDIT:May benefit to skip to page 3, as pricing out each section seemed to be an underestimate.

Here is a spreadsheet that I have created trying to break the costs down. LINK


Those figures are ones that I know will be similar situations for each house. As you can tell I left out any finish materials other than what it takes to seal a house up.

I'm not necessarily asking if my figures seem realistic, but I am open to opinions.

I'd like to know what areas I have missed, and then a whole hearted opinion on the options of building my own house, or buying the fixer-upper and reworking a few things. It's a heck of a lot of work to renovate down to the walls in old lath and plaster places. It's also a lot of work to build a modest house :laughing:
 
#2 ·
The fixer upper will be far less complicated then starting from scratch. There is so much planning that goes into starting new that you will have already done a massive amount of work before you ever pull the first stick of lumber off the truck.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Again I get the distinct feeling you are coming to us not for advice but for affirmation of what you have more or less made up your mind to do. You got great counsel the last time you posed a similar question but seem to expect different answers this time. I suspect if you rephrase or tune this question more you will still get the same answers.

We still cannot react with anything but generalities---that help you not at all---to estimates of what this will cost you even with breakdown you provide. Building a home from scratch remains a major undertaking you seem intent to take on with very little experience to pull it off. And you still have no idea how you plan to pay for new construction and whether you can get a mortgage having built a place yourself.

I am sorry to sound harsh but what exactly is it you expect from a DIY site at this point? Some of us have been down this new home or renovation path before more times than we care to remember at times. In my case I have usually made the journey with architects, home designers, engineers and other structural professionals at my side. I never got around to building or renovating my own dream home. And I was often comforted to have a localized GC able to navigate finding real sub-contractors working with me too in instances where I needed help only someone up on permits and the quirks of inspectors could provide.

I fear you may have shut down and cannot hear what we are trying to say I guess. Perhaps the dream of building a new home exactly where and how you wish should wait until you have some experience with one you had to fix up under your belt? And please know you will not likely be able to build exactly what you want without plan modifications. You are walking into a money pitted minefield the way you are thinking this through and you threaten relationships with family trying to stand behind or fund you in the process. At the end of it all you could end up with a house you cannot mortgage or ultimately sell when it is time for you to leave it.

Your enthusiasm is admirable and I do not mean to squash it. You are just not ready for this yet.
 
#8 ·
Again I get the distinct feeling you are coming to us not for advice but for affirmation of what you have more or less made up your mind to do. You got great counsel the last time you posed a similar question but seem to expect different answers this time. I suspect if you rephrase or tune this question more you will still get the same answers.

We still cannot react with anything but generalities---that help you not at all---to estimates of what this will cost you even with breakdown you provide. Building a home from scratch remains a major undertaking you seem intent to take on with very little experience to pull it off. And you still have no idea how you plan to pay for new construction and whether you can get a mortgage having built a place yourself.

I am sorry to sound harsh but what exactly is it you expect from a DIY site at this point? Some of us have been down this new home or renovation path before more times than we care to remember at times. In my case I have made the journey with architects, home designers, engineers and other professionals at my side. Up to you whether you can hear what we are trying to say I guess. Perhaps the dream of building a new home exactly where an how you wish should wait until you have some experience with one you had to fix up under your belt? You are walking into a money pitted minefield the way you are thinking this through and you threaten relationships with family trying to stand behind you in the process.

Your enthusiasm is admirable and I do not mean to squash it. You are just not ready for this yet.
Appreciate the input. I wasn't looking for opposite answers. My thread was hi jacked and I wanted to spit out the spreadsheet I had on figures. I know location is a world of difference, but it would be targeted towards those in the midwest to compare with what they have spent. Nothing is set in stone yet, I am just really...really...against living in town, and the only option aside for building on this land to quench my desire is that fixer upper which is beyond just some TLC to make it nice, can't imagine trying to sell it until dumping a good 35 to 40k into it, by that time I most likely wouldn't want to sell it. :laughing:
 
#4 ·
I took a quick look at your spreadsheet, but there's no way to tell if your numbers are remotely realistic. Some of them wouldn't be where I live. As I said in your other thread, my wife and I built our log home by ourselves about three years ago. The only things we subbed were the foundation, metal roof, and HVAC. Just for rough comparison, below were some of our costs. Our house is 1600 sq ft.

Land - $64,000 (1.5 acres).
Impact fees - $13,000
Grading/dirt work - $5,000
Septic - $5,000
Well - $12,000 (my immediate neighbor's is 200 ft; mine is 750 ft)
Metal roof - $11,000 (standing seam with 12/12 pitch - definitely not a DIY job)
Hearth, chimney for wood stove - $6,000
Miscellaneous tools I didn't already have - $3,000 (includes a 16-1/4, $1,000 circular saw for cutting the logs)

That's just a few examples. Having lived in the Midwest (Kansas), I'm sure they're quite high compared to Nebraska. As I said in the other thread, I am retired and my wife wasn't working, so we had plenty of time to devote to the project. We even lived on the site in our RV during construction. Also, we had owned/remodeled nine previous houses so were hardly beginners. As I recall, this would be your first house? If so, please think long and hard about trying to do it yourself.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the figures. only 12k for 750 ft well? That seems reasonable! That's a hell of a roof! The truss system I planned on was 4/14 and 32 or 34' long. The house depth would be 32-34' also. I assume it would be DIY to roof as long as I had a couple of my contractor buddies working with/along. :thumbup:
 
#29 ·
Why build a new home using cheap materials? Tract home builders do that on a very large scale and they still ending up costing more than what the OP is budgeting for. I remember his thread from a few weeks ago. A lot of great info in there. Of course it wasn't what he wanted to hear. To each his own, I guess. I have heard and seen this same attitude many times over the last thirty years. Of the few that even attempted to pull it off, I can't remember one that turned out well.

I built my own home here in the midwest about 20 years ago. Very simple design, performed the framing, roofing, drywall, painting, and finish myself. I did not skimp on every little thing, knowing that I could end up living here for awhile, or if I needed to sell, building with better materials would mean a quicker sale at a better price. One of the many things that I failed to budget for was light bulbs. Ended up spending about a hundred bucks for those. Imagine how many other little things the OP has omitted.
 
#6 ·
I could get a first time home buyers mortgage for a local home, but I don't like being in immediate town and having preset plans. I like independence, water wells over city water, bigger lots of land, and of course the idea of building my OWN home (with help).

Any country house (bit too far out for me) are going for a LOT more money because of the country life, and there are honestly not many if any for sale within reasonable distance like the land I have been offered.
 
#9 ·
I certainly understand the out in the country thing. I would live there too if I could afford to. Thing is that if you are still working 40 hours a week you just don't have enough spare time to build a house. BUT! Maybe you could buy a used mobile home and stick it on the property and then you are country living and can plan and execute a home erection over the years that it would take. That was my dream as a young man but where I live country land that I could afford was at least 50 miles from my job. Today most Ohio counties are so anti-mobile home this kind of idea wouldn't even be feasible but maybe you got a shot.
 
#11 ·
I admire you for wanting to tackle such an undertaking.

My 2�¢, do both.

If you really like the land, buy it and do nothing for now.

Get a fixer upper or move in ready. Work to get it the way you want and build equity. Roll this equity into your dream house.
 
#12 · (Edited)
As you can tell I left out any finish materials other than what it takes to seal a house up.
I think you left out a lot more than just finish materials. Like about ~half~ of the total. If you figure $150/sf, 1300 sf would cost $200k. Let's say you can get your cost down to $100/sf, you're still at $130k, and that's very low do-it-yourself level.

Your window prices are crazy - $3k for a whole house? What about doors? We looked at doors... a nice entry door w sidelights is $2k itself. That's only one door.

I think where you're underestimating is on every given line item, you're only looking at the "bulk" item. Like floor joists - fine - if thos are the dimensions you need, what about the fasteners, the joist hangers, the j-bolts, the saw blades, etc.

Windows? Ok yeah - but what about the flashing, the tape, the screws.

Plumbing $3500 how is that even possible? Two bathroom sinks, toilets, shower/tubs, kitchen sink, dishwasher, disposal plus the plumbing itself and fixtures everywhere you're looking at double that much at least for bottom-of-the-line everything. And the tile? Vents? Ductwork? Flooring? Paint? Caulk?

No mention at all of the kitchen in your list - probly the biggest expense -- Cabinets? Countertop? Appliances? Lighting?

No mention of interior doors - casings - base moldings - carpet - flooring - stairs.

I have this problem when I estimate something. Yeah it's easy to figure for a tiling job the price of the tile and cement backer board - but then you need so many peripheral things you didn't think about when you were anxious to get started.

I just cant imagine building a house for $67k including all the permits, well, septic, and basement. I would budget about double that much.

Edit: I think you missed drywall too, another huge chunk.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I'm with the poster above, there is a lot of work that needs to be done on your budget.

I just got done remodeling a 8'x6' bathroom. And with doing all the work ourselves we were just over $3,000.

Vanity and prefabbed granite countertop with faucet and sink = $600
Concrete demo, rework the plumbing, repour = $100
Corner Toilet and installation materials = $220
Shower Pan = $250
Marble Shower Walls = $10 (craigslist)
Custom (this was an smaller shower due to room constraints so no prefabbed enclosure would work) Glass Shower Enclosure (neo angle) = $1,100
Upper Cabinet = $180
Tile, Thinset, Grout = $300
Mirror = $60
Shower Valve = $140
Trim & Paint = $60
Misc. Materials = $100-200

And all of that was just for a 8x6 bathroom and having about $300-400 cut out of the budget due to finding the marble shower panels on craigslist for $10. Also, this was with us doing all the work and it wasn't as if we went all out on the materials. Bathroom remodels are some of the highest cost remodels to do there is a lot of expenses per square foot, just like kitchens.

I would be inflating your budget on building new a good chunk.
 

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#14 · (Edited)
Come on guys...I said I was leaving out all finish materials and that I just wanted to include the cost of having the place sealed up more or less. I wouldn't be installing duct work, drywall, mud, paint, caulking, trim, tile, carpet, trim, molding, cabinets, cupboards, etc. until I have more equity built up.

3000 for windows is low? I wouldn't be buying fancy ones, nor very many. 9 to 11 of them, standard size. Shucks, I could buy 13 of these or 20 of these.

I know the misc hardware will add up, and the exterior flashing, wrap, trim, etc does cost a pretty penny.

I do not mean to sound arrogant.

3,500 on plumbing is low? Simple sink, toilet, and shower. Water lines to kitchen sink and dish washer, bathroom laundry machine, then exterior faucets. The toilet and sink downstairs would be put in later, tub/shower if it were turned into a full bath.

All kitchen appliances would most likely be bought used and gradually as I am further down the road with the build. No frills counter top is cheap, and cabinets are affordable if you spend time building them. Am I wrong?

A nice entry door with sidelights...2k? Haha, yes, I am aware that THAT kind of door would be. Do you really need one that fancy? :no: Maybe you would like one, but you can live with one of these or these. I guess your post does show the different desires in a build and style of home. I suppose you scoff at the 'puny' dimensions of 32'x32' and how there is NO resale value in that at all. To each their own, but I don't plan on having many frills until much later in life. I think that's part of life...upgrading as you go and afford. However, I also put good faith in a good location of a home no matter the amount of effort it takes. Money on the other hand...can be a gamer changer to me. I'm willing to dump my personal time into it, but I can only work so many hours on the clock. :jester:

Once again...just trying to set the hurdle bar height so you can see what I am going on about.
 
#28 ·
On your windows: Those don't appear to come with a nailing fin, which if they don't you can't use them as they are for replacement, NOT new construction. Okay, let's try to help you hear with a story that is true":

Decided to put new windows in my house, it had what I call mobile home windows. You know the kind, awning styling that push out. I really wanted the double hung windows, cottage style and got lucky 1 day. A guy had bought new construction double hung cottage style low e argon gas windows for his house, installed them and then the city condemned the house. Talk about bad luck for him, it was good luck for me as I pulled 13 windows for $300, Pella's on top of it. Vinyl with the flange. There are really nice windows, 36 inch x 50 inch or something like that (I sold the house a few years ago)

Okay, it's time to install windows. The house was on a slab built in a very wet part of Ohio. They used a brown fiber board for the sheeting on it in the 50's, 1954 to be specific and this stuff was shot. So, now I have to resheet the whole house with 5/8's inch osb. Okay, my $300 cost just went up a bit as the house was a 1700 sq ft ranch. Damn, gonna need more nails.

Only another issue came up as we were resheeting the house. Remember how I said it was built on a slab in a very wet area? Well, the damn seal plate and bottom of many studs were rotted out. Okay, now the price just went up again as I need a new seal plate and many new studs. Only now to protect the seal plate for years to come needed to lay some brick to bring up the height where the seal plate attaches and get it off that damn slab that is pretty much at ground level. Oh, did I mention by now I've had to rip every drop of aluminum siding and then wood lap siding that was under that off the house? Found a whole wall that was from floor to ceiling corner to corner hornet nest. Had to pay an exterminator for that too. I wasn't ripping that SOB out with live critting playing in it.

Okay, so now I've paid a mason to lay this 4 brick high wall all the way around my house running supports as he works, tearing out ahead of him and fixing studs behind him. Had to replace every damn exterior wall 2 x 4 on the house, resheet the whole friggin' thing, rerun electric that got in the way, by all new sheet rock for all the exterior walls (inside of them) and reside the whole damn house in vinyl plus all new insulation. Why? Because I wanted new windows. By the time this job was done I said screw it and put in new doors and replaced the patio sliders with french doors. Again, all because I wanted to put in new windows.

Now OP your bid doesn't have lots of things in it that are basic to just sealing in the house. I'm not gonna go through it but your in Nebraska, you'll need a roof. Did you include ice-guard? Gutters? Don't say gutters aren't needed at the start unless you want to be replacing that whole exterior as you flood it. Of course then you need down spouts and elbows for them and fastners and caulking and a new caulking gun and utility knife and a hammer and a drill and lots of little bits and saws.... Oh gawd there is the table saw and the compound mitre chop saw and the circular saw and the jigsaw and the coping saw and the pipe cutter and the hacksaw and the concrete saw... Did I mention the band saw?

Strong suggestion OP, buy a used mobile home, put it on your land and fix it up. You'll be able to sell it in in Nebraska when your done. Get a good feel for what all it takes to redo/build a house, save your money and in a few years then you can use the land after you've established more credibility as the down payment for a construction loan. The mobile home you can buy for cash and get lots and lots of valuable experience as you fix it up and then you can get a much nicer dream home when your done.

Your right, you don't need fancy, noone needs it. But your young and you'll realize as you get older and have a family that many things we consider luxuries really are a neccessity. Like more than 1 bathroom.
 
#19 ·
I've owned my "dream land" for 7 years now.
I have looked at every book and internet site that include home plans you can think of.

After all this time, I just cut the grass and fish every now and then.

Wife has changed her mind about living there, so what's a guy to do?

I have come to realize that it would be cheaper, and quicker to find the "dream land" with a house already built.

Until then, I just cut the grass and fish a little.
 
#21 ·
Man that kind of sounds depressing! If I had the land I would want to landscape it, but I can't landscape until long ways down the road with the house build haha. Locations around here that I personally like are scarce. I'm really picky about it, which I think I can and should be if it's where I'll be for an awful long time.
 
#25 ·
It seems like I am having that conversation more and more about how much stuff is going to cost. I just did a bottom end rental property bathroom for a brother. I figured every nut and bolt I would need, totaled up the cost of materials. 3900 dollars. My brother though I had lost my mind. He could not believe his little bathroom was going to be 4000 dollars just in materials. I tried to explain to him that it would not be possible to do things any cheaper, other than stapling a tarp to the ceiling and running a garden hose through the window. Ended up costing 4000 dollars just in materials. When a homeowner acts as a gc things get messy real quick. One poor decision and you are out all the money you would have ever saved on the whole house. I will say these other posters on this post are giving very good advice.
 
#27 ·
Prior poster raises an interesting possibility I thought about but did not mention since you seemed set on building a new home from scratch.

It is not a casual process but is there a home you like, or would like with some work, that you could move to the land you found? This might pose a nice solution to many of your challenges. It is a longshot but there might be grant money for something historic and landmarkable.

You will need a thorough inspection for your own sake as you should get on any used home. Consult with a home moving company to make sure the one you pick can be relocated.

Obviously you do not want to drag the thing from the Bahamas or something but if there were something close you might think about this.
 
#31 ·
I think I am going towards an idea with a metal building kit or just...metal building. Start it off as a shop, then transform it into a home. This would soothe some minds of previous posters, aside from those who think I would be safe in a trailer or mobile home when high winds and or tornadoes strike. I just don't want to live in such a thing unless it were in the calm season of the year.

The problems I see are the foundation. As stated, I plan on having a basement. (this also will almost doubly my square footage). Now all shops I have seen are on a solid slab. I think if I had the width at a small but decent size, I could omit some or all center support posts/beams (correct me if I am wrong) If I could do that, then I should be able to have a basement - Right? I suppose I could have center beams made extra long to go down to say a lolly pocket in the basement.

Question to arise is would a 8" thick or concrete masonry block foundation wall support the building? Steel buildings are lighter in the exterior, but I am not familiar with the bracing and weight distribution from snow on the roof down to the foundation on the type of building. I've always seen steel or some rigid aluminum sill plates for the framing of metal buildings to go on, which is anchored into the solid concrete slab. I imagine it would be just like footings, with j rebar or anchor bolts for the sill plate.

@TheJerk - thanks for the story. I am not sure what all I would be getting into with the remodel place. There was termites, and termite damage was repaired to an extent. I doubt it's all fixed...but the termites do appear to be gone. I know with rotten wood around some of the windows that sheeting, wall studs, and possibly parts of the sill plate would need redone.

@sixeightten - I made a new post because the old one I made got over ran with a couple/few people arguing a different subject. I didn't run away from it because I didn't like what I heard. I made a few posts and then some other postees made wrong assumptions and it just went down hill from there because they did not read my responses in the middle.

@Squishy - I dunno...I know it sounds crazy just having a place be watertight and working from that, but the idea was to get a small enough loan to have nothing inside be damaged, but also be affordable to pay off in a timely fashion.
 
#33 · (Edited)
I could omit some or all center support posts/beams (correct me if I am wrong) If I could do that, then I should be able to have a basement - Right?
Huh? What does omitting beams have to do w having a basement or not? You have a post or beam if your span dictates. Joist spans and I-Beams are things you gotta go research. When I did our addition, the city wanted to see full-on plans. Had to include elevation, cross-section of the foundation, energy report, etc.

Question to arise is would a 8" thick or concrete masonry block foundation wall support the building? I've always seen steel or some rigid aluminum sill plates for the framing of metal buildings to go on, which is anchored into the solid concrete slab. I imagine it would be just like footings, with j rebar or anchor bolts for the sill plate.
Look here... this seems to indicate that yes, an 8" masonry block wall is fine.

http://free.woodworking-plans.org/french-country-house-plans-with-4-bedrooms-7229.html

Not to be critical but your question seems so basic... I found that link in about 10 seconds of googling... But how high over grade would you build that? Where would you put your rebars? How many? Does your elec ground need to tie into the foundation? How often do you need to set bolts for your sill plate? When I got concrete bids, the concrete companies were not interested in discussing what's good or not... they wanted to be handed a plan, bid it, dig, pour. They were very no-nonsense. Not in a bad way, but you had to have your act together. It seems like you're just scratching the surface but ready to buy and get started. I think u should do an addition on an existing house before you attempt to build a house from scratch.

@Squishy - I dunno...I know it sounds crazy just having a place be watertight and working from that, but the idea was to get a small enough loan to have nothing inside be damaged, but also be affordable to pay off in a timely fashion.
All I'm sayin... is having done most projects separately which would combined give me the experience to say I've learned most facets of building a house -- I think you're underestimating your cost. Nobody wants you to end up w a half-done house, $60k loan, rent for your living space, and insufficient funds to finish the job. You gotta plan 50% - 100% over what you had there cuz you will encounter overruns.

And you need time. You still have not said if you'll be doing this nights & weekends or full-time and if it's a one-man build. If I was to build a house it would take me 2 years if I could do it full-time w/o working elsewhere or raising kids. Nights & weekends? No way.

-mike
 
#34 ·
@g1 I am 18


@Squishy The support beam was in reference to shop buildings. Kits you buy are for solid slabs. The smaller ones do not have any support in the center, it's all on the outside walls. If I had a basement, and there was need for center support beams for the roof of the building, I would need a seamless beam from roof truss to a concrete lolly pocket in the basement. I have not ever seen a shop building (all metal building) with a basement. Ideally the width would not be too big of span to need center support. You see what I am saying here?

My question is basic about the foundation wall, yes. Since all steel buildings I have seen are on solid concrete slabs I questioned what it would be like on a thin basement wall instead. The outside lateral force from expansive dirt would be in affect unlike for solid concrete slabs.

Would you consider the 15k for well & septic then 35k for metal building, and 20k for foundation and flooring to be an under estimate? Especially if I ended up doing a block wall with rebar and concrete on my own rather than hire it done for the foundation?

Cheers.
 
#35 ·
I had a thread from a week or two ago, here about estimating the cost of a build.

Here is a spreadsheet that I have created trying to break the costs down. LINK


Those figures are ones that I know will be similar situations for each house. As you can tell I left out any finish materials other than what it takes to seal a house up.

I'm not necessarily asking if my figures seem realistic, but I am open to opinions.

I'd like to know what areas I have missed, and then a whole hearted opinion on the options of building my own house, or buying the fixer-upper and reworking a few things. It's a heck of a lot of work to renovate down to the walls in old lath and plaster places. It's also a lot of work to build a modest house :laughing:
Your not even being realistic with those numbers! you need structual engineering to sign off on prints. a architect to draw up the plans that is cost around 4 dollars per square foot. a well that is crap shoot as well. Bringing utilites in is way off what ought wire number are you using for your primary feed line are you running 200 amp or 340 amp service? surveying around here cost 150 a hour with a 4 hour min. When I went through for building my dream home it was five years of planing! I had volumes of notes on every thing elcetrical load calcs to how many sheetrock screws I would need. leagal help had lawyers on retainer for any legal problem that migh an did arise. had to sit dow with a truss engiener and go over the load clacs and truss engiering sevral times. at 100 dollars per hour. Inspection fees and whe they call out violations what is your plan to fix them? Here is a night mare Sanrio my dream home. This happened to me. Building is up dried in called for a framing inspection. Inspector comes out and inspects asks for my truss spects walks around making notes. says have a problem. your in a wind zone for 100 MPH your trusses are rated for 85 MPH. Holy crap your pants bat man!:eek: what to do? truss company folded a few months after I had my house up. 10,000 dollars later two structural engineers later I got my truss rated for 125 MPH. things go wrong. Always plan for 30% over run of all your costs then add 10% more to that. I wish you luck. But I think 1 you have zero building knowledge 2 can't be more then 18 and 3 you will be way over your head in this project. my advice to you also never ever barrow money from family! or friends go to a bank and get the money. Best of luck.
 
#37 ·
To me, it sounds like you had a lot of personal problems. Your grammar was sloppy and your points were too. If you honestly spent 5 years making plans you either built a mansion or were way too preoccupied. Your figures are also difference on location, including hourly rates. If you spent 5 years planning why would you have so many issues, needing lawyers, and getting the wrong trusses. I guess this will be the first post that I am saying I don't like what I hear because I don't see how it went that way. Also..if you read through the thread I have changed towards a metal kit instead. So...I would make a new post but I don't dare do that after being criticized for starting a new one.
 
#39 · (Edited)
Well I can tell you are not even listing to the advice given. Go do what you want I know I don't care. Neither does those of us who gave some very sage advice. Go buy a general steel building advertised durning late night TV. Go barrow money from Mom and dad. I can tell one thing your 18 and have zero clue what life is about. best of luck your going to need it when the 2x4 of reality smacks you hard upside the head.
 
#40 · (Edited)
You seem heavily presumptuous. Maybe you have an honest point, but I think you assume too much about me or possibly stereotype me for my generation.

I did not say anything about buildings advertised on tv. I talked about shops I have seen in reality. Money wouldn't be borrowed* from mom and pop. I don't see how "knowing what life is about" has any valid argument for your response to me, haha. Knowing things about construction may be pertinent to this post, nothing philosophical was being discussed. And thanks for the luck wish, I guess.
 
#48 ·
Alpha, the best advice I can give you is to simply ignore every post/rebuttal that get's into your personal life, and isn't a direct answer to your construction questions. No one on this forum has a good read on your personal life, that's not what any of us are here (or should be here) for.

As for your idea about a steel building, I'd pass. There's a ton of complications with the floor system, and to put it simple, it's far too non-conventional to be cost effective.

Also, as a mason, I wouldn't even build a block house. Too many downsides. If you want to keep it simple, stick to something conventional like wood framing. The code for your area should be very helpful in giving you the requirements for both a block foundation and a wood framed first floor.

As for the 8" block foundation, I'd undoubtedly go with at least a 10" wide foundation. It's far easier to lay, and far stronger in terms of deflection. This won't be completely accurate for Nebraska, but here's an example of how foundation wall width, height, and re-enforcement works here in WI. Go to page 34 and take a look at the tables:

https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/co...and_buildings_and_environment/320_325/321.pdf
 
#49 ·
Thanks for the suggestion and block code. I guess I have underestimated metal buildings! Have you built a block house (concrete block not decor brick) or always done wood framing for the next floor up? If I were to frame the inside of the house with lumber after it is blocked externally, would that work out better or be a waste of labor/material rather than just wood framing in your opinion? (I like how block could be done in chunks...like start at the corner and work out one wall side gradually... and not get blown over if a storm were to come compared to an unbraced timber wall)

Thanks again.
 
#51 ·
It's possible to build it without prior experience but lot's can go wrong. My son had a desire to build a post and beam cabin. He logged all the beams and siding and milled it all. His own design. He has a sleeping loft over the front door but the rest is open space. It looks like an old country church with a wood ceiling and exposed beams, 25' from the floor to the ridge line. Very beautiful inside.

He bought land that had a single wide on it so he had electric, septic and a well which gave him a start.

Just as he was finishing it, a windstorm blew the roof 800' away. If he had properly attached the roof, he would have lost everything. Settling in at night, he could hear millions of powder post beetles munching on his creation. Fumigation. When the wind blew at night the cabin shook so much that he had to sleep in his truck. He had to open the walls and stiffen the structure.
 

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#54 ·
The first thing you need to find out is exactly what your county is going to demand. This can vary so much from place to place that input from others outside your county are worthless. In some rural areas they literally don't care what you do. Other places they have gotten way out of control and require you to jump through a million hoops.

The basic prerequisites are things that make sense. Like is the area in a flood plain? How deep is the water table? Has a percolation test been done so the septic system can be designed accordingly?

Knowing these things up front will keep you from trading the cow for magic beans right out of the gate. The county can also tell you what building codes they follow and that will go a long way toward helping you design the place. For instance, I have a friend in Michigan that had to replace several brand new windows in his addition because they weren't big enough to accommodate the fattest fire fighter in the county. The closest fire company would have taken an hour to get there anyway but rules is rules.

The more you know before you start, the more land mines you ain't gonna step on.
 
#55 · (Edited)
So it seems that the impact fees are significantly lower than the 13,000 number here.

I spoke with a concrete fella, got an estimate for a 34 x 36 basement, 8' tall, 2 standard window bucks, and 2 egress window bucks, he does block only, no excavation or water plumbing figured...he guessed around 24,000. WELL. That's a pretty penny to me. Maybe sounds reasonable to you all. I think I want to really learn how to lay concrete block and do my own foundation. Even if the idea is far fetched, if I can save 16-18 grand...I think it is worth every bit of hassle.

For Jomama...or someone who has worked with block : Why is the 10" easier to work with? Just because there is more real estate for mortar or something else that I am missing? When working on the dimension of the house, would I kill myself for going 34 x 36 rather than the initial smaller house of 32 x 34...it would be an extra 64 square feet of block...I certainly don't think that'd be too noticeable after doing the previous 1056 square feet of walls?
 
#61 ·
To add onto my ongoing thread here, would anyone be interested in reviewing my floor plan / dimensions and commenting or critiquing it before I were to try submitting it to an engineer? Not really to save money, just to save me from having my mind really set on an idea that turns out to be not so great. In addition, I really want to figure out my true foundation dimensions to get an estimate for a solid pour just to double check prices. So, I need to have my floor plan designed no matter what I do next, just to know how the foundation would be sized. Any takers? I will just post a screenshot of the layout I have online.
 
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