Small budget, small home, for one, built by one

Started by paul s, November 23, 2018, 09:19:26 PM

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paul s

I have found a place to build and retire to.  I am now 62 years old and in decent health.  In the past I have built two houses, worked a lot  on several that I  or my sister owned.  I make my living as a handyman, specilizing in small jobs mostly.  I just started drawing my Sociall Security.

I am thinking about 12 x 12 to 12 x 16 or even the award winning 10 x20 from the designs 200 sq ft or less on this site.  16 x 16  is also a possibility, this is likely to have trusses for a gable roof, or a post  dead center of house  for some type of roof.  Remember I am alone in building this.  May have some  muscle guys to help once in a while.  The build will be in the middle of Pennsylvania.  Will have 220 volts at 30 amps.  Will be tying into existing  water and septic.

I can figure out the general layout of a floor plan, my main question is  considering  cost, ease of building and factors below what is the best building method.

Like what type of foundation, stick build , post/beam/ posts embed in grtound, or what.  I am thinking about some of the things Alex Wade wrote in his books.

perhaps the best is to spend more money in one area to achieve all goals.



Must have list:

1.  well insulated
2.  sleep on 1st floor,  any loft would be storage or grand kid stay over.
3.  3' x 3' shower and a flush toilet
4.  is ok for kitchen sink to be the only sink.
5.  roof pitch from 3/12 to 5/12
6.  Add porch on in the future and perhaps  a small addition.

All thoughts are welcome.

Thank you

Paul





paul s

Just posting this has got me thnking, I am going to need a bit more space,.

I think the homedepot 2 story 16 x 16 shed will fit the bill,

https://adotablueprintpack.review/home-depot-outdoor-storage-barn-summer-wind-16-x-16-sku-624-043/


Don_P

Some friends and I are drawing up plans for a small house for another friend who's recently burned. His cabin was 16x16 but had morphed to include a trailer and camper. In other words those tiny sizes sound ok but don't actually work very well for most people long term. He is also single and on SS so no big wants or needs.

We went the other day from 16x24 up to 16x28. Can you live in less, sure, but at a certain point it begins to depress most of us. We have drawn in a 3x4 shower... will you need to sit at some point, probably. the bath has a lavatory, basic sanitation will keep you living alone longer. We looked at several foundation types, just a stemwall of 12" thick concrete, permanent wood foundation, but have probably decided on 8" block on a poured footing. Trussed roof with cantilevered porches on each side.

paul s

thank you for your input, yes a full bath wth a sink and a tub i am thinking that now.  so, that is about 5' x 8'. 

Again I just need to get in and have been living in 18 x 18 for a year, the second floor will be  great.

I am thinking  in the future a 8 x 12 addition for  more room on the first floor

paul

akwoodchuck

#4
Alex Wade designed some pretty houses, but his construction methods were cockamamie.....if I were to do what you are doing,  it would involve helical piers on a gravel pad, insulated skirting, T-111 siding, trusses with a metal roof.....pretty simple, fast, and easy.
"The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne."


azgreg

I think the 14x24 would be the absolute minimum.

the Nash cabin for reference.

https://countryplans.com/nash.html

paul s

I agree with you akwoodchuck, but  i have to keep the budget in mind.  I agree Alex Wade had some 'different' methods, installed properly likely ok but not the longest lasting.

Currently I am living in a 18 x 18 studio apt,  the bath and  walk in closet are both 5 x 9, the main room is 12 x 18..  about the same as a 14  x 24.  the  home depot , two story  16 x 16 with stairs will be roomy to what I have now.

I feel a bit better about stairs than a ladder with 2.5 grand kids, 3rd one due in  march.

the site is level so building on skids is possible.

not that I want to but I may have to due to costs.

it is good to keep thinking about this. I, we, us will find a solution.

Paul

ps  i am still open to other options


paul s

You know akwoodchuck i think  that helical pier foundation would be a real humdinger.  been reading a  bit, lthey would come to a clear level site put in right  number of piers and  then  if i get this on go the girders/beams then the floor joists.  would make it pretty easy to get off to a fast start,

I am keeping an open mind to everything.

paul

Don_P

What is the frost depth there? If its level and less than about 4' I imagine block is going to be no more than those and will be a good bit better.
Also look at the construction on the home despot building. I've not looked at one that size but the smaller buildings are not much and are sure not to code.


Alan Gage

Just a few thoughts from someone who designed and built their own super insulated and semi-small (just under 1000 sq ft) house.

I started off designing a much smaller single bedroom house but the more time I spent planning the larger it got. I ended up being very happy with the size. Enough room so there could be separation if more than one person was in the house and enough space for the dog to chase her ball, to lay out large maps for trip planning or fabric for marking patterns. The larger size was also a big benefit when I went to sell the house. Of course when I was building the house I didn't ever plan on selling it but 5 years later that's exactly what happened.

I originally planned on a basement to use as a shop but the stairs, if built to code, ate up a crazy amount of floor space. I ended up building on an insulated slab with exposed concrete floors and couldn't have been happier. Two years later I built myself a nice (and separate) work shop.

At some point I think going crazy with insulation and sealing has diminishing returns on a small house.  I heated exclusively with wood with electric baseboard as backup in case I went on a trip during the winter. The wood stove was very small and it was a pain to split wood so small and also a pain trying to load it for a long overnight burn so you could still have coals in the morning. It was perfectly sized for the house but sometimes I wished I had a draftier and less insulated house so that I could have run a larger stove.  A small house uses so much less energy than a large house, simply because of the smaller size, that there seems to be less benefit from insulating and sealing to the Nth degree.  I'm not suggesting you skimp on insulation and sealing but you could save quite a bit of time and money by not going crazy with it.

With a small well insulated house I'd worry about the upper level getting too hot in the winter. But maybe that isn't a problem.

If there's any possible way you can swing it build it larger now rather than adding an addition later. In the end it will be a lot more work and expense to add-on later. There's no extra plumbing and not much electrical involved with an extra bedroom or larger living room. Pretty cheap square footage if done at the beginning.

Alan

paul s

Thanks Alan,  you know I was just thinking this afternoon of going back to the design board and design what is best for me and the best way for me to  acomplish it.

There are a lot of reasons for every design consideration, I like to write the reasons down so later when i think I hve a better idea I can remember why  I am doing it this or that way..

So let me get started.

ROOF.

no less than 3 in 12 pitch no greater than 5 in 12 pitch.  Shed roof, mono-plane simple.  I have done this roof before with great sucess, my diagionals were plus or minus  1/8 th inch. 

I can walk this roof now with ease and  hope to be able to walk it in the future for some time. 

easy for anyone to care for.

ok the roof is done.

Next up, the size of the house.

First I have to say this to my now passed dad,  he wuld have been 97 this last September.   know dad, only build to sizes divisible by 4, like 12 x12 or 16x24 or 24 x36.  Great advice. thanks dad.  but every square foot counts when you get small , and as I recall your last build was 14 x 20.  ok  that is done.

Beavers

Paul,

A 12x16 would be very doable for one person. 
With my 12x16 I went with 10' walls and a 12:12 pitch on the roof along with two dormers.  This gave room for a full loft to use for sleeping.  Obviously going with a shed roof will cut down on usable loft space but I would think you'd still have plenty of room for the grandkids to sleep when visiting.

I have a full size bath with shower downstairs and a small but functional kitchen.  The "living room" area downstairs would have plenty of room for a twin size bed and a chair. (We used to move our queen size bed downstairs in the summer for cooler sleeping.  It fit but didn't leave room for much else.)

You also might want to take a look at Jefferson Stairs.  They don't take up much more room than a ladder and much easier to go up and down.  I can walk down ours comfortably facing out like a normal set of stairs.

paul s

i wrote and update and reply of some length then poof it eas gone i am a bit tired
will respond another day supposed to snow here in carolina
paul

DaveOrr

I will be retiring in 8 1\2 years and am building my retirement abode now.
I went with a 24x36 with a half loft that I have designed myself.
It is located off the road and is off grid. And importantly on a beautiful lake shore in the Canadian Arctic.  :)





Dave's Arctic Cabin: www.anglersparadise.ca


Dave Sparks

SssPea actacular! Nice job Dave! Really like the shots of the lights!  Question, what are you using to finish the outside wood in those temps please?

I have 2 clients in Yellowknife that are still doing really well. Have Fun!
"we go where the power lines don't"

paul s

Beavers, thank you, i have studied your  posts alot.

So my situation is this.

I  likely will not be building as the land owner and I are too far apart on terms.

I have 3 older kids, 35 girl, two boys 33 and 27, the two oldest live in philadelphia, PA married and my daughter has almost 3 kids, march is due date for number 3.  The youngest just got married and lives in Charlotte, NC

I live in wetern NC , am drawing  my SS and have a small handyman business.  Nothing big, I am the small job specialist, I have few friends and no family where I live now,

Guess where I want to be, much closser to my grand children.

So my plan is to move to  Eastern PA,

A few years ago I had the same thought.

Now I am going thru  with it.

Have just started looking and am first focusing on twns that have rail service  to  Philly, my two kids live like one mile from the train station there.

btw I am 62 and think the train might be handy  to get into philly.

there are two trains that go from  new york city to  pittsburg every day and stop at various towns along the way.  these are not  philly commuter trains but more like Amtrack

PA is not doing well, not much coal mining and of the 6 counties  welll over 50 are well below the average USA income.  Many homes available, and hunderes if not thousands of fixer uppers, so maybe a good fit have to investigate more,

So the search begns, not so much a build as a  rehab or what ever  one may call it

Paul

jsahara24

Quote from: paul s on December 08, 2018, 08:17:19 PM

So my plan is to move to  Eastern PA,

PA is not doing well, not much coal mining and of the 6 counties  welll over 50 are well below the average USA income.  Many homes available, and hunderes if not thousands of fixer uppers, so maybe a good fit have to investigate more,


If you have any questions about Eastern PA let me know.  I live here and know most of the areas pretty well.  If you want rail service to Philly you are going to be in the more expensive areas!  However if you're willing to travel you can find some really good deals.  Good Luck!

paul s

In two weeks, me, my Toyota 1998 Tacoma xtra cab truck and 44 plastic storage will totes will depart Hickory, North Carolina and be headed to some where in eastern Pennsylvania.  Been 4 long weeks of sort, pack and down sizing.  Should finish packing subday evening!!!!!!  do not have a specific place in mind, will finish the packthen start looking on line.

Paul