14 X 24 Builder's Cottage in upstate South Carolina

[roadtripray]

I got my Big Enchilada plans kit several weeks ago, and I'm making progress in preparing my site for a build.  I purchased a little over 3 acres in South Carolina in an area of rolling hills.  The property has three abandoned homes on it -- two single wide mobile homes, and a third home that we thought was a brick house.  Well, it is sort of a brick house -- it's really two single wides with brick walls all around and rafters and joists over the top.  They sort of built a brick house around the two trailers.

After much debate and staking out multiple places on the lot, I think I have decided that the location I want to build is the location where one of the existing single wide trailers is located.  The whole site was vandalized, all the metal siding is gone from the two trailers, and all three homes were abandoned with everything inside -- clothes, food, furniture -- everything!  So the cleanup is significant.

I'll add pictures later showing the progress a helper I hired and I have made so far.  We almost have that one trailer stripped down to the frame.  Once the frame is stripped we are going to scrap the frame to get some value out of the metal.

Once that old trailer is gone I will go to the building department to get my plans approved and then with permit in hand will go to the electrical cooperative to get power run to the property (again).  With power on the property I will live in my camper on site while the project is ongoing. 

Haven't even started building yet and I've already spent a fortune in labor and incidentals :-(.

[Steve_B]

Greetings Ray...

There are actually several builds going on right now in SC and mine is about to start in a month or so In Georgia across from the Greenville SC area

Post questions and pictures and progress as much as you can as there is incredible help and insight given in this forum

I actually looked at a piece of property myself at a very good price with an abandoned double wide on it, but the cost of getting it removed was high, as yours is I imagine

Welcome again, and show and post all you can!

[MushCreek]

Welcome to the forum, Ray. I'm currently building outside of Travelers Rest, up the road from Greenville. I look forward to following your progress. Pictures are always especially welcome!

[roadtripray]

I've been following the Mushcreek build thread, I would be happy to do half as well.

Here are some pictures of the lot I'm dealing with.  First, we have the way the entrance looked in October when I first looked at it.  There were trees fallen over the driveway, and a lot of weeds and vines grown up.  Back then I had to walk onto the property.




From https://picasaweb.google.com/101618879389351261247/RaySPropertyTheBeginning?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCM_ikuCqoojgSA&feat=embedwebsite

As I mentioned, the lot has three homes on it -- two mobile homes and a brick house that is really two single-wides with brick around them.  One feature I fell in love with is the huge oak tree on the lot.  This picture was taken just today (January 5th, 2013) so there are no leaves on it in this picture, but it's a nice tree and hope it is healthy and remains a focal point of the property for years to come.


From https://picasaweb.google.com/101618879389351261247/ProgressInClearingThePropertyJanuary5th2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLqLuZOcw7ercg&feat=embedwebsite"

I've hired some laborer help with doing some of the work, but still spend every available moment at the property.  Right now that pretty much limits me to Saturdays, so I spent all day on the property bagging debris and burning scrapped building materials from the 12 X 60 mobile home that sits approximately where I want to build the Builder's Cottage.  It's a slow process, but I am getting there.  The three homesites are all trashed.  Nobody moved out, they simply left.  They left food in the kitchens, clothes in the closets, furniture in the rooms.  Then vandals stole the metal siding from the trailers and the wiring from all three homes, leaving a mess with much open to the elements.  You can see to the right of the big oak tree is a small shed that used to have metal siding and a metal roof -- now it's just a skeleton.  Oh well, I don't want it right under the tree anyway -- it can't be good for its roots.

Blessings,
Ray

[roadtripray]

I moved my camper to the property two weeks ago.  I moved just in time for the worst ice storm in years and then last night we were under tornado warnings and flash flood warnings.  My timing isn't always too good, but I have at least made some progress doing some demolition of the old mobile homes and clearing the land.

In the morning I'm headed the the DHEC (Dept of Health and Environmental Control) to get my septic tank permits.  I have septic already installed, but they told me I have to go fill out paperwork that states that the home I intend to build has the same or fewer bedrooms than the house that the septic tank previously supported.

Then I'm headed over the the registrar of deeds and get a copy of the most recent survey.  Once I have the septic permit and the site survey I will be ready to submit plans to get my actual permits so I can get power.  Wish me luck!

Peace,
Ray

[MushCreek]

The weather has been really something lately, hasn't it? I've measured about 8" of rain this month at my place! I really should have pushed more to be dried in before winter got here. Let that be a lesson to you- You want to be dried in by December!

I look forward to seeing your progress. Hopefully, I'll have an update on my build thread soon- as soon as I get something done, that is.

[roadtripray]

Good news - bad news ...

Good News
Getting the Septic Tank Assessment was as easy as going by the DHEC (Dept of Health and Environmental Control) office and affirming that there is existing septic installed prior to when the state began tracking permits (1979, I think), and that the home I'm building has fewer bedrooms than the home that was hooked up to the septic tank.  I signed in a couple of places, and then the official signed it and handed me the form. 

Bad News
The registrar of deeds in my county didn't have record of any survey.  So I contacted a surveyor today and he is supposed to get back with me Monday on a price to survey my land.  I'm hoping this isn't going to cost an arm and a leg, but this is all necessary to get the permits.

Stay tuned,
Ray

[Steve_B]

Ray,

Where is the property again? How many acres was it?

Making nice progress so far, do not give up your will to complete it!

After those abandoned double wides are gone you got a nice open canvas to start working with

Steve

[cholland]

Good luck with your survey.
I had to get my 1.5 acres surveyed. I got an estimate of $1400-1800. In the end I paid a little over $4000.
My parcel was not recorded and sat in between two recorded lots. There was a 25-30 ft discrepancy on my west side. The cost was more to research the other surveys and have them come out a second time to measure and mark the correct corners. I ended up with the extra land, about a 1/4 acre. Not too bad of a deal. Included in that price was $400 to the county to register my new parcel map.
I also had them put 1' topography on my map since I'm on a slope. And they shared the files with the guy who designed my septic so putting together the final plot map for permits was easy.
I think they were charging me $120 an hour plus another $60-80 when in the field for the stick man.
If your land is really brushy it takes them longer and therefore costs more.

[roadtripray]

Friday afternoon the assistant at the surveyor's office called saying she located a plat of my property.  The survey was done for the power and gas companies who were putting in rights-of-way nearby and they had all my monuments plotted.  She faxed it to me for free, so I came out on the cheap as long as the building department accepts it.  She says that the only thing that may cause problems is if the building department requires the survey to be stamped.  If it has to be stamped the surveyor will have to do it again and will have to charge.  But I was so very thankful that she was willing to give that to me, so I'm going to give it a whirl.

Saturday my big goal was to get a cleanout installed on one of the septic tanks.  Should be a simple job, right?  EVERYTHING I do seems to take all day, which doesn't bode well for the future of my project.  The demolition of one of the mobile homes had piled debris on top of the waste lines below the trailer, so when i dug out the pipe going to the septic tank, before I could cut off the part going to the mobile home so I could put a 45 and a cleanout, I had to get the tension off the pipe because the PVC pipe was being bent down by the compression of the debris and it was under extreme tension.  So I had to put a floor jack under the beam of the trailer to jack it up so I could cut off the pipe without a cartoon-like reaction from the pipe springing back in place.  Three hacksaw blades later, I got the pipes in half.

Yes, I said pipe(s) as in plural.  Apparently there was one pipe sleeved inside another pipe.  It was wreaking havoc on my hacksaw blades because as I was getting through the first wall the blade wanted to follow the curve of the outside of the next pipe.  Anyways, a mere $35 worth of fittings and couplers and such and I have a cleanout plug installed coming out of the ground from my septic tank from my camper.  I just didn't have time before dark to move the camper, so I won't get to use it for a little bit.

Slow process.  But it's progress.

peace,
Ray

[Don_P]

I love plumbing 
A friend and I were heading out to go under their crawlspace to curse the pipes. As we were heading for the door we passed his son playing on his nofriendo. "Come with us son, let me teach you another verse of the I hate plumbing song"... he got that about right   

Those trailer frames do contain some good steel, flitch plates, bracing, bolted connector plates, straps. On the last job I took some scrap 1/8x3" plates about 18" long and welded 90 degree corners. We drilled and nailed these in the corners to the first top plate of the balcony surround kneewall. Then took a couple of swipes with the power planer to dap for the plate thickness on the underside of the upper top plate, drilled and nailed it over the steel and down the wall. Here nor there to the code but it sure locked those corners. It's nice to have some steel around while you're building, you can always scrap the rest when the framing is done.

[cholland]

If you can find your corners and have a plot map that matches, the building dept should only be interested in setbacks. That should not require a stamped map. The stamp is required to register the parcel.
I had to have mine surveyed because only two corners were pinned and that distance did not match the written description on the deed. On an acre and a half lot with 30' building setbacks, you've got to know exactly where your lines are.

[MushCreek]

If there's an existing map, it shouldn't cost too much to have it surveyed. I think ours was about $400 for seven acres. All they have to do is find the corner pins and corroborate the old plat. If the old plat is off significantly, I suppose that raises the cost considerably. They must use GPS these days, as one of my property lines is 750' through dense woods. They certainly didn't sight that!

[pocono_couple]

Hi Jay,
  i bought a set of the builder's cottage plans a number of years ago..  they are still in my drawer, but  I hope to build one someday.  in the meantime, i am currently building a two story 20 x 26 house.   i have been working on it for 4 years ( off and on)  .. should have gone with the builder's cottage - i would be done by now! 
  are you planning any modifications or will you be building it as designed?   I am looking forward to seeing pics of your project.    good luck with getting all the permits -  are you ready to build now, or will you wait for warmer weather?   jt

[roadtripray]

I am making a couple of modifcations to the standard builder's cottage:

1)  First, I'm using the tall wall option to use 10' sidewalls with the loft balloon framed in where the loft floor will be at about 7'6".

2)  I'm lengthening the plan to 28' long rather than 24' long.  This allows me to add a washer and dryer to the bathroom.  I'm going with a shower rather than a full tub/shower combination in order to save some space, and rearranging it a bit to I can have the washer dryer connections along the outside side wall of the house, and moving the doorway from the bathroom to enter from the side rather than at the end directly into the living room.

3)  I'm going to extend the loft to 11' so that it is over the extended bathroom.

Here is a quick floorplan that I did using Autodesk Homestyler:  http://www.homestyler.com/designprofile/900349e6-557e-4056-97e0-ab8bfa817961

The appliances, furniture, etc. really were quick choices just to get a feel for the size of the space.  the shower, for instance, probably isn't the final size I want to use, but is a good stand-in (no pun intended) to design the space around.

Thanks,
Ray

[pocono_couple]

Sounds great.   I like the changes that you have in mind.   I was thinking of adding a side porch which would be partially enclosed in order to include a small dining area for four.   Not sure of the details on that just yet.   I think that the 10 foot walls make a lot of sense.   Significantly improved space for very little additional effort or cost.    The washer and dryer..  Hadn't given much thought to that one.  Great idea..  Can't  wait to see some pics..   Jt

[roadtripray]

I just realized I never answered Steve_B's question.  The property is about 3 acres and is in York County, SC just south of Kings Mountain National Military Park and King's Mountain State Park, right on the border of NC and SC.

Change Alert!
Okay, I haven't sent the plans to the building department, yet.  I was thinking about the whole rafter tie thing, and I'm worried that having the loft floor below the top of the wall top plate won't pass the prescriptive code standard.  I'm wanting to do 10' side walls ( the max in our seismic zone according to the bldg dept), with the top of the loft floor at about the 7'6" level.  I was planning on using something like 6X8 beams 48" oc to support the loft, and continue the beams all the way to the front mainly for looks.

I realize that technically this would still tend to keep the walls from spreading, but I don't want to get into a situation where I'll need to pay an engineer to review the plans because i just can't afford it with only 6 weeks left on my employment contract.  So now I'm thinking about using a ridge BEAM instead of a ridge BOARD, and I've read many debates and discussion on this site about such differences.  But then doing that I don't think I could keep the door in the center of the front wall because I'd need the beam there to support the ridge.

So change #1 is to plan on a double window on one side of the front of the cottage and the entrance door on the other side, rather than having the symmetrical door in the center and window on either side.

Change #2 is to go ahead and call the loft a bedroom.  It will cost me more in permit fees, but I would actually like to go ahead and create the bedroom up there, although it will still be a loft because I only intend to have a railing overlooking the living room -- no wall.  And I'm thinking about building a spiral staircase at the 60" code minimum to get to the loft.

Since I already stretched my plan to 28' long to accomodate the washer/dryer in the bathroom, and was planning on having the loft span that distance anyway, it's not hard to make code minimums for a sleeping room (I think).  My interior dimensions will be 11' from the back wall to the loft edge, and about 13' in width overall.

With a 12:12 roof pitch and the floor at 7'6" of the 10' wall, that means I'll have the area with ceilings of 5' or greater will be about 8' wide.  So I'll have the floorspace, but then I'll have to have an egress-size window if I call it a bedroom.  ARGHH.  Maybe I can call it my bedroom in private, but continue to call it a loft to avoid some code headaches.

Thoughts?

[MountainDon]

1)  Ridge beam: With what you want that is the best route.  Ridge beam support does not have to be a single continuous path tp the foundation. It can be split to go around a door or a window opening. 

Q?  Does the end wall layout as described give you space for a code brace wall section? Either a 4 foot complete panel of plywood or osb exterior sheathing somewhere in that 14 foor width, or IIRC it can be split into two panels.

2)  No matter what you call it think carefully about trying to circumvent the egress rule. You don't want to be sleeping up there with a file blocking the stairs, nor do you want to put unecessary obstacles in the path of a fireman who is trying to rescue someone in that loft space.

[MountainDon]

I was thinking of this while typing earlier and forgot...

It is an easy matter to have the ridge beam sized; any place that sells glulams will do that and supply the engineering paper the inspectors will want to see with the plans.  What they may not be able to provide is the engineered solution for the column(s) and foundation that support the beam. Find out what they will want as proof that the solution you provide will be accepted. Don_P can most likely supply a solution but he's not an engineer. The inspectors may want to see how the solution was arrived at, not just the result of running numbers through a calculator.

[roadtripray]

Thanks MD.  I agree on your point on the egress.  I would definitely design it so someone could get out, but I just worry about the nitpicking like if I was off my just an inch on width or height it wouldn't necessarily mean life or death for someone (you can always squeeze fat rolls through the hole a little) but it would tick me off if I failed inspection over an inch.  But I guess that's all in the fun of building, right?

That's great info about being able to split the ridge support, btw.  Although after thinking about it I'm not sure it's such a bad thing to change the front elevation -- maybe having the door offset to one side may work even better.  I'm going to play with that a bit to see.

I was totally clueless about the code brace wall section, so I googled it.  I found this link from Pennsylvania that I found very easy to understand,  however it mentions the width being specified in a table that they didn't include.  I guess I'll have to look at the code book to find that.

The front of the builders' cottage is 14' wide.  Allowing (rough numbers) 3+ feet each for a door and two windows, I'm not so sure you'd really have a single four foot section left for a code brace wall.  However, if I used only one window and one door, or maybe a double-window and an entrance door that may break it up enough to do so.  From reading that information I linked to earlier I take that it doesn't matter on a 14' wall where I put the section, so i could even stick that section all the way to one side, correct?

Thanks for all the great pointers!

Ray

[MountainDon]

Personally I like the entrance door off to one side. That way it opens against the wall in the corner where it is out of the way.

You can also get exterior doors that are built to open outwards; special hinges and the threshhold slanted correctly.

The simplest way to brace the end wall is to place the door off to one side corner, install a 4 foot wide brace panel on the opposite corner and a window in between.

[roadtripray]

I took my plans to Lowe's in York, SC.  The people there are very helpful and even downright enthusiastic about my project.  They are very nice with suggestions, and they are going to do a take-off sheet for my project, as well as helping me spec the ridge beam and some other components so that I can have manufacturer's specs for meeting prescriptive code requirements.

Right now we've had a lot of rain, with more due Wednesday.  I made further progress cleaning trees, vines, and briars this past weekend.  I have a HUGE burn pile to take care of if it ever dries enough to burn!

Peace,
Ray

[John Raabe]

This should be an interesting project, and the ridge beam will give you a lot of options for an open interior and larger loft.
It's always good to hear of a helpful supplier. You don't often hear about the big box stores doing that.

[roadtripray]

I haven't posted anything in awhile so I thought I'd share an update.  I debated whether to include all the bureaucratic hoo-ha in my build thread.  I decided that all the bureaucratic hoo-ha is definitely a part of the project that most of us must deal with, so maybe hearing my story will benefit others.

I submitted my plans to the building department.  They said that upon reviewing the records they see there are already two dwelling units on the property.  My zone allows only one DU per plat, so they needed to know what my plans were with the existing DUs.

I informed her that they were abandoned homes, and they would be demolished.  I was told that I needed to get a demolition permit for each of the structures, and the helpful employee emailed me scanned documents to get those permits (@ $50 each). 

I ran into the problem because one home is a mobile home, and a demo permit for a MH requires the title.  In SC mobile homes are titled more like a car, not attached to the deed of a property.  There's a long process that involves filing court papers with a magistrate, etc., but when I explained the trailer was almost a pile of dust and wasn't recognizable, the lady at the building department looked up the tax card from 1970 when the MH was purchased and emailed that to me.  She said I need to go to the tax assessor's office and ask them to write me a bill for 2013 taxes for the mobile home, pay it, and bring the paid receipt to the building department as proof of ownership so that I can pay them $50 for the privilege of tearing the piece of blight off my property (my words, not hers  ).

I haven't done this because I have been busy at work and I'm a long way from the government offices.  I'll have to take off some time to get this paper work done.  Maybe in the morning I will be able to.

I'm going tonight to purchase pipe and fittings to install my well pump.  It's an above the surface jet pump.  My water level is 59' from the surface, and the bottom of the well is 98' down from the surface.  Hopefully that's enough water level.

Peace,
Ray

[Checi]

Too bad you couldn't have just 'disappeared' the trailer and told her that you didn't know where it was. Can't tax what doesn't exist, right?