new member

[jstig]

Hi all.  I just registered as a forum member.  I figured that I have been reading the posts too long without participating.  The posts of all of you building your own houses is inspirational.  I have had the fantasy of building my cabin in the woods for too long now and you guys are making me realize that I can do it.  Actually the only thing I ever built was a 8x8 storage shed in my back yard - but I did build it from scratch and it turned out pretty good ( I think)!  that was about 24 years ago - its still standing.  I own 3 acres of woods in western Maryland (Garrett County) in the middle of the Savage River State Forest.  The land is at the end of a 2 mile dirt road and is off the grid.  There are several other cabins around it - I bought the land from the owner of 99 acres - he sold off 9 parcels ranging in size from 1 acre to 10 acres (keeping 73 acres for himself).  Surrounding the 99 acres is the state forest - so its pretty isolated.   I discovered the 200 sq ft contest after it was over but I have been designing (in my head) various cabins most 200sq ft or less.  Maybe I should post some anyway.  That would mean actually drawing them up, hooking up my scanner, scanning them in, and posting them. I did buy Punch Super Home Suite but its very frustrating to use and the Help section is not much help at all.  I cant decide if I actually want to build something that small (200 sq ft) or graduate to the 14 x 24 mansion.  I have been loving this site and getting so many good ideas from it and will eventually post my designs for your critiques ( please go easy on me!!)

Jim

[Mommymem]

Welcome aboard Jim!
I know I don't post much but my better half, Daddymem does enough for us both. I think its safe to say everyone would enjoy seeing your plan ideas and whatever you have to offer. Building your own place is entirely possible and don't let anyone tell ya otherwise! I'm looking foward to swinging a hammer and complaining about sore hands at the end of the day.

[Jimmy C.]

Welcome Jim,

It is a great feeling once you start to build.
Until I found this forum, My building experience was limited to a couple of 10x 20 patio decks.
I have the Punch Super Home software as well.
I start to work with it get frustrated then stop and I don't open it again for weeks.
I like the fact that it will give you the framing view of the house.
Because I could not see the framing in my minds eye, this helped alot.



So far I've figured out how to do single floors but the stairways are a pain to locate.
The program is not very user friendly.
Luckly I have access to Autocad.
It is pretty much just a high priced Etch-O-Scetch.
But it lets me know in advance if something will not work the way I want.
I've been thinking about trying out the 3d home architect program that a lot of people are using here. It must be easy if so many different people can use it.
Please post your drawing ideas I am looking forward to seeing them.

[glenn kangiser]

Glad to see you here, Jim and looking forward to seeing your project take shape.

[Epiphany]

Your land sounds awesome, and we'd love to see your plans and drawings.

[jstig]

Thanks for your kind welcomes.  I just spent several frustrating hours on Punch Super Home Suite trying to get my version of the 14 x 24 house drawn - well I am almost there - hopefully can share the results with you soon.  In the meantime I am attaching some photos of my land and the surrounding area.  One is of the view to the north from the front of my lot.  The other 2 are views from the access road (Peapatch Lane)  to my lot - a panoramic view and a view of an old family cemetery plot.  Its beautiful country - so far I've only camped there - would be great to have a little cabin - especially when the black bears come around....

Hope you enjoy.

Jim

[jstig]

Guess I can only attach one photo at a time so here is the second.

Jim

[jstig]

and the third

[Mommymem]

Wow, nice piece of land you have there. Can we have some? I love the view!

[JRR]

Ditto on "Welcome".

We drove thru that area of Maryland this past summer.  ... could of just stopped and stayed.

I have also bought and tried Punch.  Given up.  I'm now back to pencil and paper.  Just too old, I suppose.

[Doug Martin]

I have also bought and tried Punch.  Given up.  I'm now back to pencil and paper.  Just too old, I suppose.

Punch is just bad.  They spent all their money marketing and buying shelf space instead of investing in good code.  I bought a copy.  I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Manufacturing Engineering where I taught Autocad labs and did research into automated cut/part planning using advanced CAD tools.  With that all said I can't figure out/use the software.  It sits on my self reminding me of the money I flushed down the toilet.

For what its worth I use Corel Draw to design in.  In version 11 you can set the "page" to any size you want and select the units of measure.  Its vector based and using layers you can quickly design just about anything.  It doesn't have autodimensioning arrows (that I know of) so calling out the dimensions is a bit of a pain.  Corel has a huge userbase which is reflected in the usability of the software.