Getting started.....just need to decide:)

[RoxyRocks]

Well I found this site about 2 yrs ago and have been stalking it and FirstDay along with tons of house plan books and after looking we think this is something we can do. We started to look at home plan books but realized they might be alittle "complexed" for us beginners. 

We have land out in Eastern Washington and it already has a well on it and a "shack" of a house....that we are planning on just getting rid of. We are wanting to build as MUCH of the house ourselves as we can. We have 2 young boys so we are hoping they can take part in building the family home too!

The thing we are debating with is if we want to go with something like Firstday or the Universal Cottage. For some reason I keep coming back to the Universal Cottage for some reason. We are planning on building our house with Cash(savings) and not going into any debt when it comes to building it.

We can take our time building because we able to stay at my Mom's house that is near by(she has a large home and we all get along very well and actually lived there 10yrs ago or so  ) that is one reason I think I keep going back to the the Universal because we could by supplies as we go instead of having them all shipped in at once.

I am just trying to figure out what is the "best" deal and is the best for a couple of novice builders. I have considered just buying the Universal Cottage plans/material list to look it over because it is not too $$

[MountainDon]

OK, I am prejudiced towards John's plans. They are good, modifiable, and the price is more than fair. I'll be looking for the check in the mail, John.     No, seriously I get nothing for being here. I'm here because I like to be here.

We have at least one member who built a First Day; daddymem. There are a couple of threads...
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=5197.msg65433#msg65433
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=792.msg5877#msg5877


A big factor with First Day is the shipping cost. If you are close to them it's no big deal, IITC it's free within a hundred miles of their location.

[RoxyRocks]

His plans are more the fair I haven't found anything even close and they look user friendly. We would definitely be more the 100 miles away and I think that is one of the bigger issues. I have heard they have great quality stuff but I think with the shipping cost we could do better buying locally

[John Raabe]

Thanks for the plugs guys!

First Day projects look good and are well designed. But the problem with all kits is shipping cost. When you use standard materials and construction techniques you are tapping into the very efficient and huge product delivery system of the building materials infrastructure. Also there will be lots of local folks that will have the knowledge and skills to help figure out things during construction. Kits always have kinks. Of course, no builder ever totally eliminates kinks.

[RoxyRocks]

I have to say John as corney as it may sound I like to buy things from people from the Pacific Northwest and I notice you are in Washington  I have lived in Colorado for over 5 yrs and I get excited when I see someone with WA plates on there car