Hey guys, my name is Tom and I have been lurking here the past month and finally decided to get some questions out of the way. I really like what I have found here at countryplans and it has inspired me to do something, but really don't know where to start.
Me and my wife have about 30 acres, paid for, in Hoenwald TN and we have always thought we would build a retirement home or summer home there. We currently live in a 1200 sq. ft. ranch style home and our kids have grown up and moved on, so we are free to move now. I was searching the internet for cabin ideas when I found this site. With the current economy, realizing that we don't need this much room, and deciding we want away from the city because people are just mean these days!
So, I was thinking of something like a 20' x 30' house, maybe with a loft. I told my wife to get me a list of building tools for Christmas and I traded my blazer for a pickup truck, that's also paid for. We have no debt and we do the Dave Ramsey thing, so we don't finance anything. I am a web designer/IT tech by trade and have only built a few decks and helped build a shed once. I will admit I am lazy, since I sit at a desk all day long, but I am a hard worker once I get started.
Now, after reading through alot of threads here, the only thing that I feel uncomfortable about doing my self is the foundation. It actually keeps me up at night trying to decide how to acomplish this myself! I feel pretty confident that I can frame the house once the foundation is started.
Another thing I am trying to decide on is utilities. I want to be off grid, but solar and wind power costs alot! You would think that helping the enviroment would be cheaper? :)
We have considered a well and septic tank. I really don't want a composting toilette. Wood stove for heat sounds very nice. Does well water taste good, and is it sanitary? I looked into gray water systems and rainwater collection, but can't find enough info to make me think it's safe. There is power in the area, so we could start out with that until we can convert to our own power.
Ok, so I am rambling. My frineds and relatives think I am nuts for wanting to move into the woods, but I am very serious about doing this. Me and my wife are 40 and we want to get out of front of the tv and away from the propaganda and commercialization that we have been grown accustomed to!
I also signed up to volunteer to help habitat for humanity to get some building skills under my belt. So, I am pleading for some advice, encouragement and talk me out of this if I have lost my darn mind! :)
Well you came to the right place. Several folks around here out of their minds by your definition, w*
You can do whatever you set your mind to. Figure out what you want to build and i'm sure you can get questions answered on ways to do it.
Thank you Scott. Do you have pics up of your home?
I am considering building a pier foundation. We have tornados here in the south east, so didn't know if it would be a good idea.
I was going to go look at some of the other houses in the area to see if anyone else uses this type.
Our land sits in the middle of 400 acres that my wife's family owns, which sits in Natchez Trace off a park access road. There is a small tunnel going under a bridge that you have to go through to get to our property, so a cement truck will not be able to get back there!
You can see my project here. http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=3419.0 (http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=3419.0)
Crazy yes but probably in a good way. If you have the desire and some knowledge about building you will probably do just fine. I was called crazy by my family when I first started my cabin project but now everyone seems interested and often want to see the progress. So after 2-1/2 years I think if I wasn't I will be. Mine is at the bottom of the page.
Oh Yea w* xecutech
w* to the forum xecutech.
First thing we should get squared away before we all start throwing ideas and advice your way is to know whether or not you are subject to any zoning or development regulations. That might influence your choice of foundation and perhaps a few other things like well, septic, and so on. If you are not sure the county or municipality offices would be a likely place to ask.
As for how does well water taste, most I've tasted is fine. Sometimes there is a difference from what you are used to, but you acclimatize. As for safety that's usually not a problem, but annual testing may be a good idea. Proper septic placement and installation can influence that.
Rain water collection can provide good water with a little treatment. The big thing is having enough storage, and of course rainfall.
Power; solar and wind do require an large initial investment. If there's a power grid connection available at reasonable cost that might be a good place to start.
Wood stoves work well enough for heat; especially nice if your land has enough woods to provide the fuel. Of course that means work. One thing to keep in mind during your planning is that some zoning departments and most insurance companies will insist on a more standard type of heat as the primary. You may use the wood stove as primary, but the insurance will MTL want to see a gas, electric, or oil furnace.
If the foundation is a worry to you there's no shame in considering hiring that aspect out. Dry stacked concrete block can be used for a crawlspace foundation. There are serveal members who have built that way. It seems to be well suited to a DIY. You'd till need to mix a fair amount of concrete for the footings and cell reinforcing though. That reduced amount of concrete needed for a pier and beam foundation is attractive. Check out that with the P&Z.
So if other think you're crazy for wanting to do this, welcome to the looney bin; ;D you are in good company.
Click on the little globe under my sidebar info for my cabin topic. Careful, it's a little long and wanders.
Hi Tom, w* I'm a troglodyte and I am crazy - just ask anybody here. [crz]
Here's my house. Probably not a lot of help to your way of thinking as you are likely not as crazy as me.
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0
The real crazy's are the ones who want to stay in the cities.
Thanks guys. I just got finished looking through Scott's home build thread and all I can say is DAMN!!!! That is a very nice project you have there!
I am hoping to find out what zoning regulations apply. If I do use the electric company, I may use a central heat and air unit, but a very small one.
Still doing alot of research. As far as well water, I doubt I will drink it, but use it for bathing and cooking. I only drink bottled water, but there is spring water on the property!
I am trying to determine just how much room I can get by with. I also have to decide if I want to commute to work from there or work from home. It's an hour and forty five minute drive to my office from the property.
I think I am going to like being crazy! d*
I don't know about where you are at but generally well water is some of the best water you can get if proper procedures are followed, and bottle water is not what it's cracked up to be.
I love well water! Doesn't it have lots of good stuff in it too? Like minerals - magnesium, calcium or something like that? Maybe even a few bugs and twigs! Kind of like drinking grape nuts. d* Okay, yeah. I'm one of those crazy people too.
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=5513.0
Here is a link to my project in Alaska. It's built on concrete piers but could be built on just about any foundation. Don't let the foundation spook you---you could always contract that part out if it seems to be a real roadblock for you. I would advise, if you decide on a steep roof such as the 12/12 pitch on mine, to find an experienced framer/roofer to help you do it safely.
Welcome to the forums and enjoy the adventure of building your home!
Generally speaking, I believe well water is what water really should be. It's better than surface water that is exposed to all sorts of contamination sources. Unless the well is located in a "bad" spot, like in the way of an underground plume from a man made contamination site, well water is great water. It tastes different from place to place but that's just different, not bad.
Bottled water is, in many cases, tap water that might have been passed through some filters to remove visible solid matter and chlorine, etc. and then packaged for sale. Bottled water may be convenient; I sometimes buy a bottle of water rather than a Coke, for example. Bottled water may taste better than some municipal water supplies, due to the differences in chlorine content. I just don't think it's better water, it's just convenient water. That's my spin on it, FWIW.
Quote from: Flutterby on December 03, 2008, 01:38:10 AM
I love well water! Doesn't it have lots of good stuff in it too? Like minerals - magnesium, calcium or something like that? Maybe even a few bugs and twigs! Kind of like drinking grape nuts. d* Okay, yeah. I'm one of those crazy people too.
Hard water especially can have minerals in it -- and maybe even some gold as carried by the small quantity of cyanide that occurs naturally in our water. I was thinking of hooking battery terminals to my ears and using the gold in our water to re-plate my tooth... [crz]
hmm Shouldn't be many bugs in well water if the well seal is good. We once got a salamander in our water when I was a kid, from an unscreened spring though. It took us 5 minutes to fill a drinking glass with water until after several weeks, we finally got tired of it, pulled the pipe apart and got that poor little lost soul out of there....may he rest in pieces.... [scared]
I've had wonderful, sweet well water-----and also well water that smelled like rotten eggs. Talk to neighbors and taste their water. You can also talk to the well drillers in the area----they can usually give you a pretty good idea of what to expect for quality as well as quantity and usual depth of wells in your area. Good well water is like gold-------it's where you find it.
Quote from: rwanders on December 03, 2008, 04:14:46 AM
I've had wonderful, sweet well water-----and also well water that smelled like rotten eggs. Talk to neighbors and taste their water. You can also talk to the well drillers in the area----they can usually give you a pretty good idea of what to expect for quality as well as quantity and usual depth of wells in your area. Good well water is like gold-------it's where you find it.
rwanders has it right. I live about 40 miles from your place Tom. I'm on a well and generally love it. Be sure to follow rwanders advice talk to neighbors and if there is both good and bad water notice Geographically where the good water is(well locations).
Some off the wall advice..My neighborhood has hard water but I got it right the first time by using an old witcher who knew what he was doing. Dunno if you have heard of water witching but I wish it had a different name because it does work. There was a guy in a local town that worked for the water dept. they called "Stick". When they needed to know the location of water lines he would arrive and get out his two metal rods and "witch out?" the locations. I have watched this done and after he marks out all the lines they start digging. It is always as he said.
The old man who did my well "said" he could tell if the water was hard. He told me it would be sweet in this spot and behold it was! Last month a neigbor adjoining my farm drilled three holes to finally get good water. He did not use a witcher until the last hole.
Mark
As far as the foundation goes, I bought the book "Do it Yourself Homebuilding" which is linked off the suggested books section of this site. The section on foundations gave me a lot more confidence and understanding of how they work. I had to read some parts about 5 times (like how to use strings to make sure your footing is square) but eventually I got it. They go over different options you have and the pros and cons of different building types. I decided that a crawl space was a good balance for me in terms of do it yourselfability, structural integrity, and resale value. I'm glad I bought the book and I think it will be a great asset when (if ever) I build.
alot of fancy bottled water comes right from taps. well water, after testing for safety is much safer and healthier. well water tastes you get used to. i have had some that were sweeter tasting than anything in the city. sometimes you can get an iron tast but again after awhile of use you don't even notice. well water can be filtered(no elec.), softened(need elec./or don't), and hooked up to a reverse osmosis set up for an initial cost of between $250.00 and as much as you want to pay(some are elec. and some are not). don't be afraid of well water.
that's funny flutterby. ;D
I grew up on well water. (Could explain why I am so looney!)
No, IMHO well water is much better for you and tastes oh so much better. No chemicals to deal with as in the municipality water. If you do go with well water be sure to have it capped as you don't want critters to get into it -bleck! All kidding aside I would rather have well water over city water but you do have to consider dry spells. Here in the south in the past 2-3 years there has been a rash of wells drying up due to the drought. Not have heard this in the past year so I guess things have gotten better.
Tom,
You are in the right place with the right people. You can build the house and you'll love doing it. Remember, it's hard work, but the work is not hard.
Here is a link to my home in progress.
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2525.0
Scott
desimulacra the person who uses a peach fork or brass rods is a "dowser". The process is known as "dowsing". I did my own location for the well at the cabin and a couple others in the neighborhood. I hit water at 193' at 10 gpm. When I bought my property I witched or dowsed which ever you prefer and found 2 locations on 5 acs. Luckily the one that I drilled was only about 70 feet from the cabin. My well driller used my rods and hit the same place ( just a little double checking) and said that is where he would drill it also. Fasinating how it works but it does work, I showed my son (13) how and he found every culvert on the mountain with it.
Some people just flat out can't get them to work. I tried to show them but they were unable to get any pull or swing. I haven't perfected it as to the depth or GPM. ;D
Wow, you guys are great! I love the community feel here, especially when everyone else thinks I have lost my mind!
I grew up on a tobacco farm when I was 8 and we had well water, but I don't remember it much. I have just been to some homes in the country and the water had a sulfer/egg smell, so I was concerned of course.
I looked into dry stacking as an option for the foundation, isn't google amazing? I also found out there is an alternate route to the property that a cement truck can get to, and pumping is an option as well. I have been doing alot of research. I am going to contact the city about permits and restrictions this Friday.
My wife seems to be fully on board with me, so it looks like things are lining up for us to make this happen. I am still looking over the different plans to decide on. I showed her Scott's project and she was grinning from ear to ear! I could tell that her gears where turning. I am excited and you guys really inspire me the more I read the threads.
I am trying to figure out what to budget for this project. I am hoping to stay under $20,000 and will be doing a little at a time. I am thinking it may take me 1-2 years to do it. I have some equity in my current home that we can use after it's dried in to where we can maybe live in it as we finish the insides. We have family in the area, so we may be able to eat with them, so as long as we have a bathroom and water, we could do this quicker. I do alot of freelance web development projects that I plan to use the money from that to buy materials.
What would you say was the hardest part of building your own house? Are the plans very detailed?
The plans contain everything you need to know pretty well to make a simple owner built home, and you can expand on them and add gingerbread as you wish. Christina has gone way out to doll hers up.
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2991.0
Sulfur- Hydrogen sulfide gas can be caused from a few things - natural or problems. We have another thread that goes into it. A search should bring it up.
I think you can get past the dried in stage for that if you do most of it yourself and shop well. Many others have.
QuoteWhat would you say was the hardest part of building your own house?
Earning the money to pay for it.
QuoteAre the plans very detailed?
I didn't use plans for mine. The whole thing's in my head.
Quote from: xecutech on December 03, 2008, 10:27:33 PM
What would you say was the hardest part of building your own house?
Recognizing that you can actually do it. You CAN do it. With this forum and John's plans, you already know how to do it. You just need to recognize that you can.
QuoteAre the plans very detailed?
John's plans had all of the necessary details to build the homes in base form. His plans are very modifiable to build the way you want. The only thing he doesn't include is a framing detail. That is something you'll create as you modify his plans for your needs and your area's codes etc.. He does recommend a few books and they are well worth it.
Quote from: Redoverfarm on December 03, 2008, 06:12:08 PM
desimulacra the person who uses a peach fork or brass rods is a "dowser". The process is known as "dowsing". I did my own location for the well at the cabin and a couple others in the neighborhood. I hit water at 193' at 10 gpm. When I bought my property I witched or dowsed which ever you prefer and found 2 locations on 5 acs. Luckily the one that I drilled was only about 70 feet from the cabin. My well driller used my rods and hit the same place ( just a little double checking) and said that is where he would drill it also. Fasinating how it works but it does work, I showed my son (13) how and he found every culvert on the mountain with it.
Some people just flat out can't get them to work. I tried to show them but they were unable to get any pull or swing. I haven't perfected it as to the depth or GPM. ;D
We have always called it "wiching" and I use two cut off coat hangers bent in an "L", When they cross you are over water! I used to locate utilities the same way when records were not available and these new fangled devices weren't around ;)
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing
.
http://skepdic.com/dowsing.html
I believe more in James Randi, than in dowsing.
http://www.randi.org/library/dowsing/
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/encyclopedia.html
Tom,
Your post sounds like I could have written it 7-8 years ago when I had the same disillusions with city/suburban living and all of the 'trappings' of a mainstream life of just working and paying the bills.
I built a 20x30 story and a half. I did the foundation, a frost protected slab here in northern VT, myself with the help of a friend with construction experience. The cost and difficulty of a slab is not much more than the cost of piers and a framed first floor. I did the slab in two stages: first was a 2 foot tall 18 inch wide perimeter wall which was then filled with compacted gravel on top of which the radiant tubing and a concrete slab was poured.
I wish I went ahead and just did a full second story instead of the cape style. The cost would not have been that much more than the cape style I did and I would have full height walls for furniture and windows.
Septic was done by myself - dug trenches with a rented mini excavator and used Infiltrator chambers for the leachfield. Digging the hole for the septic tank tested the limits of the small mini excavator. It was getting difficult to dig deep enough so I opted to go with a shallow septic tank which required less depth to the hole than a standard tank. Tank was delivered and placed in the hole and I backfilled with the mini excavator.
I was fortunate to have a good spring which gravity feeds to the house. This I hired out. I don't think there is any better way than to have someone else do it. Bringing spring tiles and stone to the spring site and laying 400 feet of tubing 4 to 5 feet deep is not a job for a rental machine.
Good luck with all of it.
Tom
Thanks Tom.
Well, I haven't scared myself away yet! I am still doing some research. I may pay to do the foundation, so it may be a piece of property with a foundation for a few months to get the money together to start everything else.
My child support ends soon, so that should free up some more money for the project. I am considering a 2 story, so we can have some extra room. I was thinking of making the upstairs a large master bedroom, with a master bath and large closet. Then the downstairs can be the living room, kitchen, dining room and another small bathroom.
We don't need extra bedrooms, but have considered an additional small cottage/cabin so when we do have guests, they can have their own privacy. Could rent it out on the weekends as a private retreat for anyone considering getting out of the city. Supplemental income! :)
Tom,
The other thing I did which I am very happy that I chose to do was to use I-joists for the second floor and trusses for the roof. The clear spans they give you with no interior bearing walls will give you flexibility as to where you put your interior walls. If you go with I-joists, go big on them or go closer than 16 on center if they are going to go the full 20 foot span. I have Boise All-Joist AJS-20 joists which are about maxed out at 20ft. They haven't sagged at all but in that section of the floor you can feel someone walking, ie. - it's bouncy. I am going to add a midspan beam (any day now, finally, after thinking about it for a long time) of three 2x6s or 2x8s nailed together to stiffen it. The I-joists and trusses are lightweight and easy to handle, too.
Tom
Thanks for the additional tips Tom. I understand what the trusses are, but not much on the ijoists. Time to google it again!
Me and my wife have been talking more about the property. It has a creek that never dries up and there are springs on the property that most of the family gets their water. How do you pump spring water into the home? I will be visiting them this next weekend and will be asking them a ton of questions about the property.
Generally a spring box at the source of the spring to keep it clean then a pump as required, or gravity if there is sufficient elevation.
So, it's cheaper than having a well? Sounds promising. Any filtration requirements or permits required?
It should be a lot cheaper. Use proper precautions against contamination, filtering etc if needed and keeping animals fenced away etc. no runoff from above - lots to think about.
Permits depend on where, but I would think only on the plumbing if you are in a permit area.
You can get purification equipment that uses UV light to kill the gremlins without chemicals.
here's one...
http://www.home-water-purifiers-and-filters.com/ultraviolet-filter.php
and another...
http://www.ultraviolet.com/products.htm?gclid=CJ-Ahfa4rJcCFQ8QagodL1nKjw
Again, thank you for the information. Hopefully soon I will have something to contribute back to the forum as I learn how to build my house. Maybe some pics of the building site after next weekend!
Many times asking your questions answers questions for others or generates other questions and answers. It's all good. :)
howdy,executech.i couldn't believe you are planning to build in hohenwald.we moved here 3 years ago from nc and friends still have trouble finding us on the map!i am into diy construction,woodworking,chickens,tractors,and other self-sufficient stuff.i also just finished enclosing my carport!shoot me an e-mail and perhaps i can help you in your endeavours.fritzsaw.
QuoteNow, after reading through alot of threads here, the only thing that I feel uncomfortable about doing my self is the foundation. It actually keeps me up at night trying to decide how to accomplish this myself! I feel pretty confident that I can frame the house once the foundation is started.
Welcome Eecutech :)
I felt the same exact way. That's why I wanted to take a lot of pictures chronicling my progress so that It could help others. It wasn't easy but looking back, the single hardest and most important thing was getting it completely level. The rest went relatively smoothly.
Good luck, I look forward to seeing your projects in the future.
Welcome xecutech to a site for creative and independent thinking minds in a time which we need for our
country to survive into. A strong hardworking self sufficient thinking Americans as our forefathers were in
building our nation. Your are not the crazies but the enlightened!
Hey xecutech and fritzsaw; do you live close to the Elephant Sanctuary for I really want to visit the place
to see them free. As I understand; they are elephants that have come from abusive situations such as
run down zoos and circuses where they were abused.