24'x40' First-Timers in Louisiana

[jspalmer]

I've been reading this forum for a long time and admiring the work of others' building projects.  Being newly married my husband and I were looking to purchase a home, but gave up defeated.  The prices were outrageous and we knew we could never afford something we really liked.  So...we got inspired by you all and decided to build on an acre we purchased.  And we decided to pay for it with all cash so that we would have no debt on our home. That was one year ago.
I was 23 and my husband was 22 and we had absolutely know building know-how.  We literally checked a book out from the library called "How to Build a House"
So far so good.  We will be hanging sheetrock and insulating this weekend.    We hope to be finished and living in it by this summer.  All in all, a year and a half is not too long of a wait to have a brand new house that we designed.

Here are some pictures if anyone is interested. <a href="https://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh4/jspalmer/?action=view&current=100_1377.jpg" target="_blank">Click Here.</a>

From Dec. 2006:
To Dec. 2007:



Just a few details:
Up to this point we've spent approx.  $11,000 on materials.
Labor only costs us our sore muscles.

The concrete piers were given to us, so we did not pour a slab.
The 2x6 roof trusses were purchased at a steal ($44 each!) They were accidentally built to the wrong size for another project.  Their loss, our gain.

We chose Hardie smooth lap siding for the exterior, 30yr architectural shingles, bought all doors and windows at Lowes/Home Depot, did the plumbing ourselves, my husband is an electrician so wiring is a given.

A family member is going to build my solid oak kitchen cabinets for free.  We bought the lumber this weekend for $1000.

I would appreciate any comments, questions, or suggestions.   And also a little constructive criticism if you see that we're doing something wrong.   We only know how to do what the books tell us to do.

[MountainDon]

  and good to hear from you. Congratulations on building your own home. 

And yes, we love to see photos of projects under way as well as completed.

If you're unsure of how to upload/display photos here we have a tutorial here.

[John Raabe]

Welcome to the forum.

Nice work... a year can make a big difference!

[glenn kangiser]

Great job.  Much better than going into debt for the rest of your lives.

[Sassy]

Congratulations!  What an inspiration you 2 are!  I bet your friends & family are quite impressed 

[jspalmer]

It's been a lot of work, but worth it.  Friends & Family are scarce right now because they think we'll make them work.  And we would!!   The debt free part is the best part.

Would you believe that more people comment on how "small" our house is than anything.  It's only 960sqft and I think it is perfect.  It is two bed/one bath and we have a place to add on another bed and bath if we absolutely have to down the road.  So much better than the run-down mobile home we are living in. We've spent a lot of time getting every sq inch of space to work for us, so I think storage won't be a problem and its just less I have to clean! Thanks for taking the time to look.

[ScottA]

Great job. It's good to see people beating the bankers. Keep at it.

[n74tg]

Very impressive, congratulations.  I wish I had gotten as far along in one year as you have. 

As for others thinking your house is too "small"; I'll bet they are the same people who will never consider building their own house, nor are they the ones who will ever see any benefit to not having a 30 year mortgage. 

Here, on this forum, is where you are going to find the people you are looking for; the people who will be impressed with your effort.  And I'll bet, no one here will tell you your house is too small.   

[Sassy]

Most people with huge, mortgaged houses never get a chance to enjoy them much, they are working all the time!   

[glenn kangiser]

I am so impressed, I have to comment again --

Not often a young couple has enough drive to do a project like this and even keep family and friends away with the threat of work. 

[jspalmer]

Did I mention this has been Marriage Boot Camp 101?  The couple who builds together and survives will be together forever.  You can quote me on that one.
And as far as the people who want to be a slave to a mortgage... They can go for it.   I'll be sitting on my future back deck enjoying my "little" house while they work three jobs. 

[Willy]

Great start! I did the same 10 years ago and now have a paid for home. It can be done doing most of the work yourself. I am not sure I can repeat this effort again since I am wore out doing construction all my life. The knees and hands don't work as good as they used to. I also was a electrician for over 34 years and it saved big bucks on this place. Here is a picture of my home after 10 years working with raw land. Mark

[jspalmer]

Willy - You have a very nice place.   The land is beautiful and it looks so peaceful.  I don't know if we'll ever repeat either.  Its a lot to take on and would be more stressful once we have children.


I have a question about insulating if anyone can answer....

We just finished insulating yesterday and we used R-19 batts in the ceiling, R-13 batts in the walls. 
(Plus we already had the 1" polystyrene panels on the exterior)

We saw on DIY network that they didn't recommend using GreatStuff or other spray foam insulators beside windows because they said if you spray too much it can hinder the working of the window or compromise the frame.   They suggested using a putty knife to shove torn batt insulation into the gap.   I did this yesterday around all of our windows.
Does anyone know if this will be enough???
We are still going to put up poplar trim on the interior and caulk the joints with paintable caulk.    The exterior actually has a brick mold because we had the extra 1" of insulation to account for. So the "flap" of the window exterior was taped with foil tape and tar paper, covered with siding and caulked.   If I'm not clear, I can get a picture for you.
I'm just paranoid that we will not have our windows insulated enough.

[Willy]

""We saw on DIY network that they didn't recommend using GreatStuff or other spray foam insulators beside windows because they said if you spray too much it can hinder the working of the window or compromise the frame.   They suggested using a putty knife to shove torn batt insulation into the gap.   I did this yesterday around all of our windows.""

Use the Non/Expanding Foam and you won't have a problem. I belive what they are saying is that when the foam expands it can cause problems. The non/expanding can fill all the voids and help with insulating the windows. Mark

[jspalmer]

Thanks.  Could I spray it in now after I've put in the batting or should I pick it out first?

[glenn kangiser]

I think the insulation in the gaps will do the trick if done well enough.  Possibly you would want to put the non-expanding foam in any gaps left.  The gap is so small that if all air movement is stopped through it, the difference in insulation value probably won't have much effect.  Tightly packed insulation doesn't insulate as well as loose normal packed insulation, but the main issue around the windows is to stop air from moving freely between inside and outside.  The entire insulating value of the wall is the sum of all of its parts.  Small variations here and there don't have a great effect on the whole as long as movement of air is stopped.

[jspalmer]

Thanks.  That works for me.   I just didn't want to cover with sheetrock and trim and then wish I had done something different.  An ounce of prevention and all...

[glenn kangiser]

You two are doing a great job.  Please keep us posted.

Some of the new houses are so tightly sealed they create problems and you have to open a window.  The FEMA trailers have so much pollution in them that the FEMA people have to were respirators  to go in them.

Formaldehyde, an embalming fluid, was used in the glues and pressed wood used to make the travel trailers that FEMA purchased to house tens of thousands displaced by the storms. Complaints about fumes first surfaced in early 2006. The Sierra Club, an environmental group, tested dozens of trailers in summer 2006 and found that 83% had levels above the point at which federal workers would be required to use respirators if exposed all day to fumes. Residents complained of headaches, burning eyes, running noses and asthma.

FEMA officials responded that residents could reduce their exposure to formaldehyde by airing out their trailers. Paulison said the same thing to a different House committee two months ago.

He said he realizes that "probably is not a practical solution."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-19-trailers_N.htm

Too much air moving through is not energy efficient though.

[jspalmer]

UPDATE on the progress...
We've finished hanging the sheetrock on the ceilings and we'll be starting on the walls every day after work this week.
Thank goodness for sheetrock jacks!  We bought 12ft sheets because our house is sort of divided in two with 11ft 6in rooms on each side.  So we thought we would save a lot of seams by just cutting the sheets and laying them across the whole width of the room.  Boy were we wrong!!! Because the middle wall is all the way down the house, we couldn't get the sheet to turn without jamming the corners.  No matter how we tried we couldn't make it fit.   And holding 12ft sheets of 1/2" is no picnic and you don't want to spend 30min figuring it out while you've got it above your head.
So plan B was to use the 8ft on the ceilings and the 12ft on the walls.  But we ran into a big problem.  When we tried to run it the logical way, our 1/4 stripping on the ceiling was spaced wrong!!!  We had them on 16in centers, BUT we had a board butted agains the wall on each side of the room and we calculated from the center of those instead of the edge.  So an 8ft piece would not reach a board.  Ahhh!!!
So on to Plan C.  We had to cut every single piece that we put up.  The scrap wasn't that big of a deal because we have closet, hallway, and bathroom that have small spaces to use them up.

It was crazy to say the least.  But you live and learn.  And we love our Rotozip for lighting and duct boxes!

Now we are facing another dilemma.  For some odd reason after we hung the ceiling sheetrock, we thought that to hang the wall boards you just set the bottom piece on a scrap of 1/2" to leave a gap off the floor.  Then set your top piece on that one and it should meet up with the ceiling.   

But, it doesn't fit!!!  We are coming up with it 3/4" too tall after the bottom piece is up.  What did we do wrong??  Anyone??  We thought that studs, double-out, bottom plate and all were supposed to leave just the right amount of space for ceiling, and two pieces on the wall with a 1/2" gap on the floor.   

[fishing_guy]

As a somewhat experienced drywaller, I read of your exploits with a slight grin.  Back when I was hanging, there was no such thing as a drywall jack.  A stocking cap to protect the noggin and pure grunt force.  Probably why I didn't stay in it for that long.

Too bad the 12' boards didn't work.  Usually, they bring them in through the wall before the outside sheathing is put on if space is going to be an issue.

I was always taught to put the top sheet up first to help support the edges of the ceiling pieces.  Then the bottom sheet is lifted to fit snugly against that piece.  The only time that didn't work was on a nursing home we did.  They poured the cement floor after building the walls.  The wall height ranged from 7 ' 11 1/2" to 7' 9"  Every piece had to be cut.  We did that one by the hour.

One of my uncles owned his own drywall firm, so he did a lot of bidding.  He gave me the rule of thumb that you count the number of sheets, then add 10%.  It'll get you within 1 sheet.

[jspalmer]

We could never have done it without the jack.  It was just me and my husband and I didn't think I was going to get out of bed this morning after lifting all those sheets.
Any idea why our pieces aren't fitting?

Were we not supposed to add 1x4 stripping to our roof trusses?

That would account for the 3/4" shortness.

[glenn kangiser]

I don't do a lot of this but it seems I have always seen the sheetrock right on the bottom chord of the trusses.  Also - the walls could have gone up first --unless they are not under the ceiling sheetrock -- ie: left a gap -- but that would only have been 1/2"  --just thoughts --- you are still doing good in my opinion.

[deertracks]

To The Palmers... and Willy....
Great job on your places. No sense in making the bankers rich. Our house we are building is 1,000 sf and I can't tell you how many horrored looks I've gotten when I tell people that. They look at you like you are going to be living in a tent. Because our house is small we can afford to put hardwood floors in and other extras.

We will all be looking forward to interior pics from the Palmers.
Good luck with the sheetrock.

[Woodswalker]

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your building project.  I lived in an older house about the size of yours for 26 years, and am still sane.  More folks in this country who whine about the high cost of housing should follow your lead.  I've had some experience with Hardiplank siding, and am very impressed.  Think you'll like it's durability over time.  Only thing I noticed in your description that I have a comment on is the use of 1/2" sheetrock on the ceiling.  I've always read and been told that 1/2" goes on walls, but 5/8" goes on ceilings.  Reasoning, I think, is better resistance to heat during a fire.  Since yours is about done, I wouldn't worry about it.

Come spring I'll be renting a rock jack to do the vaulted ceiling in my cabin.  Once did the entire ceiling of a new house by myself with a lift - great device.

Keep us posted, and keep on build'n!

Steve

[jspalmer]

Yikes on the 5/8" sheetrock comment.  Its too late now since we already have it on the ceiling everywhere.  I guess it will still be OK.
We're still scratching our heads on having to trim every top wall piece, but my husband has invented a trick that makes it go faster.
He uses a speed square set to 3/4" and holds the utility knife on the edge as he runs it down.   Much, much easier on 12ft long pieces than trying to use a 2x4 straight edge.

I will definately post the interior pics as soon as there is something interesting to look at.  I will also create a walk-through video that will show the layout better than pics.
All of my upper cabinets for the kitchen are finished now, so it won't be too much longer and we'll be hanging them for all to admire.  They are solid oak with a recessed panel custom made by my dear old dad.

-deertracks - Do you have pics of your project?  I would love to see it.