"One-room school house" small building for home therapy business in MI

Rusnakes · January 20, 2013, 09:54:04 PM

Hi everyone--

Like many others that have posted before me, I have been lurking on this site for quite a while, trying to learn as best as I can how to tackle a small building construction project from the ground up. We are at the planning stages right now, but would really like to have this entire project finished by fall of this year.

Background info that lead to this project:

I am a speech-language pathologist, who has been working in higher education for some time, commuting 75 miles one way from my home in SE Michigan. My husband and I recently (2010) adopted a young girl from foster care here in Michigan (now 8 1/2 years old). She is a great little kiddo, but has her share of needs, which calls on us to be much more available than what my long-distance commuting, high-stress job would allow me. So, I'm on a year's leave this year to help settle things around the home and plan for the future. My husband and I like to live simply (no TV, try to stay home as much as we can, garden, cook, spin/knit, build or make as many things as we can, etc.), so we decided it would be best for me to work close to home to be around more and keep the house as settled as possible with the wee one.

Well, we decided that working literally "in our backyard" was about as close as one could get to the home.

So, we now plan to build a small building for me to see clients right here on our gorgeous little 2-acre plot in farm country.

Right now, we are in the planning stages for this small home-based clinic. Here are current considerations:

1. We have always loved the architectural features of the farms and other buildings around us. Of particular interest are the one-room school houses still holding strong around the area. We would like to build something that emulates the structure of a one-room school house, for the space and for the aesthetics/architecture/nostalgia. One basic visual/design we've really fallen in love with is here: http://www.amishbarnco.com/outdoor-structures/2-story-barnshousing.html# (it's the small brown building on the right of the top picture, or picture number 4 in the slide show at the bottom of the page)

The building shown is 14 x 24, with what looks like a 12 pitch roof; we were considering 16 x 24, with a 12 pitch roof, to give a couple of extra feet to the building width.

2. One of the biggest considerations for our project--we are fairly new to start-to-finish new construction of a small building. Between my husband and me, we've built nearly everything at one point and time or another, but always as part of another renovation project, or in much smaller form with very small outbuildings, etc. I was trained in hardwood flooring installation in the 90s and have very good skills working with wood. I also worked on a LOT of new construction sites, so new construction as a passive consumer is not new to me. My husband has already renovated one house (including moving a portion of the house to a new site) and we are currently renovating the interior and exterior of our 1832 Greek Revival/Federal timber frame farmhouse. The big issues for us though are 1) we are working on an entirely new piece of land for this building, which means there are parts of the construction process that we've never dealt with; 2) we are as frugal as they come and know that if we understand the process enough, we should be able to save a lot on construction costs by doing a lot ourselves; and 3) we live in an area known for high prices (and sometimes mixed performance on those hired in).

Another consideration for us is that we have often only ever done as-needed consultations with professionals for construction or renovation projects. We've had very little new construction experience with site surveying, construction of plans, etc. So, now we have to follow codes that are new to us, get permits, get the plans draw up, get the plans approved by the township (not a huge deal, just way more expensive and outside of what we know well). Here in our area, if you are renovating and not covering new land, you can pretty much just go ahead and renovate as needed (so for our home renovation, we've needed no new plans, permits, etc. thus far).

3) Things we'd like to do, trying to balance cost savings, aesthetics, and a quick turn around for the site (gotta get back to work sometime!)...from the ground up:

a. We have not had the site surveyed for this project (we have the original survey for the deed, etc.). I personally am at a loss as to how much one needs to do at this point and who is best to consult. I just don't want to spend a fortune on fairly unnecessary consultations, but am always VERY happy to pay for any services that are necessary and customary.

b. We've considered pier foundation construction for this project. I've read scads of info online (a lot on this forum!) and it seems like it's such a toss up decision-wise whether to do piers or not. We are very interested in not disturbing the site so much that it will be a mud pit for a good season or two when I start to see clients (and I really don't want to sod!) and we'd like to do the foundation work ourselves, if possible. If we did piers, we've found the Footing Tubes (http://www.foottube.com/testimonials) to appear to be a good fit (frost heaving issues--we are at 48" frost depth here). However, I just read on a forum here that someone put in concrete block walls instead of pouring the walls and it was both economical and newbie-friendly. We have also considered using ICFs and just pouring the foundation. Again, cost, site disturbance, and owner-completed are our considerations.

The site is sloping slightly, comes off of a very small 2 foot hill/incline (I think it was where one of the fields with this farm used to start on that side of our property, if that makes sense), gray and yellow clay under shallow topsoil (info from our well site drilling, which is about 30 feet away).

c. After the girders are set, then we'd like to find the best way to protect the bottom side of the structure (if we do piers) and get in a lot of insulation (it gets pretty cold here!). I thought sheets of treated OSB nailed to the girders, then the joists (my guess would be 2x10 or 2x12, for both support and insulation space), then the underlayment. For floor insulation, we originally were crazy about using SIPs, but found out the darn things are very (VERY) heavy (200 lbs for a 4 x 8 sheet), and might be too unwieldy for a 2-person crew (us) without a crane (added expense).

d. Next, we would like to do 2x6 8' walls and a vaulted ceiling (at 12 pitch). Windows on the 24' walls would probably be double hung (3 of them each, about 3'x4'), 2 fixed skylights on one side of the roof, and some decorative windows on each gable end. The front door would be double french-door-style steel doors. The interior would be very minimal--a bathroom, a sink/counter/cabinets area, and a closet. The bathroom would be just a composting toilet and possibly a changing table (I work with young children). Handwashing would be in the main sink area (includes a small counter, undercounter and overcounter cabinets). We are also thinking of putting built-in window seats with storage shelves under them on one of the walls under the windows. The front entry would include a movable partition for a waiting area, chairs, and a play area for the kids.

e. We would like to run water and electric service from our house to the building, which is about 100 feet away from the electric box access in the basement of the main house. We wonder if this is even possible code-wise. We would run interior/exterior lights and a 6-gallon water heater off of it; we are also considering electric heating here. We'd love to do solar for electric, but the solar insolation is not great here in our area in general, and is made much worse by the site itself, so unless we hack down trees, it will be electric for us. Water will only be for the sink.

f. Heating is a toss up right now. We originally wanted to put a wood stove in there, but the liability is too great with young clients. We then switched to a gas heater (e.g., like a Rinnai direct venting heater, run from propane, which is what we use in our home...like this: http://www.myplumbingstuff.com/rinnai-ex17c-direct-vent-propane-furnace/). However, getting propane service to this part of the yard would probably not work. It is about 100 feet off of the main driveway and would be at least 70 feet away once we put in parking spots, etc. We also considered radiant heat flooring (pex tubing in lightweight concrete, then covered by underlayment and flooring), which would be run by an obviously larger water heater than the 6-gallon baby. We are finally considering the idea of just using either electric baseboard heaters (don't love) or plug-in oil heaters (don't mind, but the safety piece is a concern and may not follow code).

g. Cooling is rarely an issue in our area, so we might keep a small A/C unit around if it ever got hot here. Mostly we'll use thermal properties of the
building to cool it down (i.e., open the windows at night when it is cool, then shut everything up once it gets warm, including shade on the sunny side of the building.

Okay, I think that is it. I scanned my rough drawings of the building, but darn it if I don't know exactly how to upload those yet to this forum. I also tried to put an image in above, but that didn't work either.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you all might have. It is greatly appreciated.

Emily
SE MI

Rusnakes · January 20, 2013, 10:18:44 PM

Okay, read up on how to post images. Here goes!

First, here's a screenshot of the cabin design that we like so much from Amish Barn Company:

Next, here are the (very) rough plans that I sketched out today. I am no architect!

I'll get a picture of the site itself posted tomorrow.

Emily

January 20, 2013, 10:32:06 PM

Permits: You mentioned building permits. Before getting too much farther along in planning I believe you should ask the township some pertinent questions such as what codes they follow, whether or not you can add the building and what setbacks from the boundaries, well and other structures are required. Then also whether or not the building code followed allows pier foundations. The IRC does not. Local officials can make their own exceptions, but often do not.

They could also answer the question about the electrical service. I'd also ask if a compost toilet is okay. What about septic or is the sink effluent considered gray water and what needs to be done about that.

I would think that there would be no need for a new survey, since you already own the property.

Anyhow I believe that getting those things clarified should be done before getting any further along. It can saved you from wasted effort. There are also valid reasons for not building on piers, not just because code may not permit them, but potential stability issues.

Rusnakes · January 20, 2013, 10:55:36 PM

Hi MountainDon...thanks for your thoughts. We have actually talked with our township about the building in some detail. They follow our county's code, which is Michigan's 2009 building code. The building can be added as an accessory building (under a special use permit for the therapy clinic), and we already have the info regarding setbacks from the boundary and other structures. Strangely, we didn't read nor hear anything about distance from the wellhead...we will definitely ask that. They told us to get some plans together and then we'll discuss specifics. So, we're sort of stuck in limbo a bit b/c they want us to know a bit about what we are proposing, but I don't want to go to the expense yet of consulting (or getting plans drawn up) for a building that might get poopoo'd.

We mentioned the piers to the township and there was not opposition to their use. However, your comment highlights the reservations that we have about them (structural stability in the short and long term). Composting toilets are fine here...not too uncommon in our area; we would have to adjust to whatever models/types are readily accepted here, but that is not known to us at this time. The sink effluent would be gray water for us; still dickering as to how to best deal with that.

A couple of basic siting questions--who do you consult to determine how the soil would react to the foundation (compaction, etc.)? I have read on other people's posts that they have gotten this information from "an engineer", but not sure who that would be in all reality. Second, do you need to have someone tell you what the slope/grade of the site is and if so, which professional does that service? I feel like a total newb when I talk about this stuff; it is just two steps outside of what I know about construction. Once the foundation is in, then we feel at least semi-competent to put up a basic shell of a building.

Oh yes, we are probably going to hire out the framing to the local Amish here. We'd love to do it all ourselves, but we are still hacking away at our main house.

Emily

SouthernTier · January 21, 2013, 09:00:05 AM

Quote from: Rusnakes on January 20, 2013, 10:55:36 PM
A couple of basic siting questions--who do you consult to determine how the soil would react to the foundation (compaction, etc.)? I have read on other people's posts that they have gotten this information from "an engineer", but not sure who that would be in all reality. Second, do you need to have someone tell you what the slope/grade of the site is and if so, which professional does that service? I feel like a total newb when I talk about this stuff; it is just two steps outside of what I know about construction. Once the foundation is in, then we feel at least semi-competent to put up a basic shell of a building.

I am sure there are plenty of engineers in your neighborhood that would gladly do this (for a fee). Either a local civil engineering firm or a freelancer. Smaller outfits would probably be cheaper.

Basically, the engineer would look at what kind of soil there was present and determine the bearing capacity. The NY code, which is probably similar or the same as what you have in MI would be here: http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/st/ny/st/b400v10/st_ny_st_b400v10_4_sec001.htm

You or the engineer would have to look at the soil map (your county's should be in the library or maybe you can find on line), and see what engineering classification the soil is. The soil map will probably say something like such-n-such silt loam or whatever, but elsewhere, the engineering properties (e.g. SW, SP, SM, etc.) will be listed for that type of soil.

The weight of the building divided by the area of the foundation (which for piers, is pretty small) will give you the actual bearing pressure. The actual pressure has to be less than the maximum bearing pressure.

Note, if you don't use piers and go with a continuous foundation, then you don't need an engineer since continuous foundations are prescribed in the code. The code indicates the size of the footer (and other aspects of the foundation) depending on the soil type.

January 21, 2013, 09:00:46 PM

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Rusnakes · January 22, 2013, 06:18:28 AM

Thanks for the info, SouthernTier and Builder Brian.

SouthernTier, I also really like the cabin you are putting together. We've spent a while looking at your CAD drawings here.

mountainlady1956 · January 22, 2013, 06:50:59 PM

I just love the building you are considering.

We built ours (for a 2 story log home) using concrete blocks and it was economical. We did everything ourselves. Hard work but doable. We had quite a bit of clay in our soil so the hard part was digging the footers. We dug them all by hand-now that was ALOT of work but saved alot too. Of course, it would have been easier with some equipment but we had budget constraints-LOL. Does the inside have exposed beams?