VC easy to build?

[GW]

Hi, Ive been lurking on these forums for a few months but this is my first post. I want to build a summer cottage on some land that I own. I was thinking of something simple as I have limited building experience, anyway my wife liked the Victoria's cottage so I bought those plans. After reviewing them I think they might be a bit advanced for me, I will be pretty much working alone or with my wife as helper. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this, should I buy one of the other plans? Which would be easiest to build? Maybe I should have bought the enchilada plans, I can't stop second guessing myself help...

[glenn-k]

The Enchilada has a nice mix of simple plans that can be combined to make something more complex.  I think you would like them.

BTW, welcome to the forum.

[MikeT]

I am in the framing stage of the VC, and I am doing it mostly myself with the help of my father and my wife and kids.  In my opinion, the challenge of the VC and for that matter most any of the other fine plans on this site is the time it takes to do these project when you have another job.  I am not an experienced builder with all the fancy tools.  I am your basic DIYer who wants to do this as a challenge.   My sense is you are looking at the VC and thinking it is much more difficult, but in reality, many, if not most, of the steps are the same no matter what design you choose.  To be sure, with the VC, there is the element of making one wall a shared wall, but I think once you get beyond building a shed and step up to a small house where you have plumbing, electricity, blah, blah, blah, then you are talking about lots of elements to juggle and learn.  All of these are do-able, but they all take time.  The framing is only slightly more of a challenge with the VC and the design might be much more to your liking, so go for it.  The other elements are the same.  So I guess you could say it is arguably slightly more difficult, but not a quantum leap more difficult.  

What is a quantum leap more difficult is making sense of what I just wrote.

mt

[glenn-k]

That was good, Mike -- and I agree -- taken slowly one thing at a time, the Victoria is doable by anyone who wants to expend a little extra time and effort.

[jraabe]

It is true that the Victoria Cottage is a bit more complex with the beam and deck floors, the different roofs coming together and the ridge beams. A simpler place like the Builder's Cottage (in the Enchilada plans) or the 2 story Universal will likely go up faster per SF of usable space.

That said, we make our choices based more on the final product we want rather than a pure calculation of efficiency.

And, Mike is right, taken one step at a time most of these projects evolve and come together with our increasing experience. Looking back, I'd expect, the place will seem more straightforward than it did before you started.

[GW]

Thanks for the encouragement. I've decided to build the main house only and add the bedroom later. Now I just have to decide on which foundation.

[guyromano]

Check out u-bild.com's Rigid Frame Cabin, plan no. 370, $9.95..... 20feet wide and as long as you want it to be and pretty much fool-proof.  It's an old design up-dated for current loads and codes: the easiest, least expensive and quickest build I've ever seen and I've seen several of these around the country, built as long as 40 years ago, one by folks of little or no experience.  One unit in my vacation neighborhood up near Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park at nearly 9000 feet has 30" of snow on its roof at times.  Also consider the "Truss Frame House" which is an easy concept similar to the Rigid Frame Cabin only a little more modern styling. You can find it at freepattents.com ---  I'd go with the Rigid Frame Cabin for a vacation unit because it is cheaper and its looks fit well in vacation settings and kinda sets the mood.  Since the 20' width is a clear span with sloped ceiling to center, you can put the interior walls where you please...and add to the length later or link it with another middle unit on the perpendicular, and then another on the other side on the paralell (would have a U or H shape viewed from above).  I think I'd try painted and stained OSB for variety  wall covering instead of alot of sheet rock because OSB requires no floating skill/cost and is about $5 a 4x8 sheet at Home Depot right now -- way cheaper than finished gypsum/drywall.  Also you can stain OSB on accent walls to add some visual interest.  Check out the  "Sheetrock Alternatives" forum note at this site for ideas on adding fence/pallet boards on the horizontal for a more rustic interior look.  Finally, there's an entry under Owner/Builder about a lady who built her own 4x8 wall  panels (2x4 studs and headers, sheathing, etc.)  in her garage/barn and then hauled/assembled by her and pals at the site. There's an old plan I have around here somewhere from the 70s with similar approach and using a shed roof to make construction at site easy and cheap.  There's also a cottage built by a 17 year old girl at this site either in this forum or one of the others.  Might take a half hour to find. Good luck.

[glenn kangiser]

Heather's house is in the Gallery section - accessed from the front page of Countryplans.  Not a comment area though.  View only.  A few refs to here in this forum.

[travcojim]

The rigid frame cabin would be a lot better if there was a way to put windows in.  From the pics on the web site it looks like adding windows would be very hard to do with the way the sides are designed.