Universal Cottage can we really do this?

[RoxyRocks]

I just wanted to 1st say hi and that I am soooo glad to have found this message board it is really refreshing finding a "real" board about home building!!!!

So here  is my question and I hope I have this in the right place....

We have 8 acres of land and we have been looking at what has seemed like 1000's of plans not finding what we wanted then we really sat down and realized what we wanted to do was build a home ourselves that we could be proud to say was ours!

We were orignally looking at going with a kit like "firstday" but then found this site and have been more leaning towards not.

I was wondering if it really is possible for "average" people to build there own homes? We are lucky to have a place to stay that is free(my Mom happens to have a pretty large home) and the land is completely owned outright so we dont have to worry about anything other then building.

We really want to do as much as possible other then the things like plumbing, HVAC, foundation....

Any advice would be welcomed!
Thanks in advance

[glenn kangiser]

John designs his plans so they will be especially easy for first time builders to build.

They can be as plain and simple as you want or you can dress them up like the fanciest house you see anywhere and you don't spend a lot of money on overpriced plans.

Our forum is, as you know, a group of people from around the world sharing ideas so that you can have the best ideas to think over and see how they fit into you plans, allowing you to make the best decision for yourself.

You can build your own house if you want to bad enough, are willing to learn and invest some time and some resources. Look through the owner builder section -- most started out as you.

Welcome to the forum.

[John Raabe]

Read the story of my dad... who is a pretty ordinary guy!

http://www.countryplans.com/thought-ex.html

Building a simple house (my dad's was much more complex than the 20' wide Universal) takes planning and a willingness to learn some basic skills. And then you need follow-through with careful, thoughtful execution. So this is not rocket science.

A good place for help with the non-plan stuff (or what the plans assume you know how to do ) is the book review list - http://www.countryplans.com/books.html (Get the first three to start!)

[MikeT]

Yes you can.  Below is a picture of the Victoria's Cottage plan with a full basement below which may family and I have been building on the Oregon Coast for the past year.  We broke ground one year ago this month.  We have done most everything ourselves.  I have outsourced some help with the concrete pours and backfilling, septic installation, and with raising the beam on the roof and with framing the 12:12 roof.  But the rest has been us.  

[RoxyRocks]

I have to say I really feel like in some way I hit the lottery as silly as that sounds finding this message board I have been looking and spending what feels like and has been so many wasted hours attempting to find something even semi close to this. Not to meniton the 100's of dollars(yhea I'm serious) on home plan books....

I am goign to look for those books at Barnes & Noble when I go into town to see if they are there. I have to say I am really excited to get started! I spent a big part of today trying to design a inside layout.

Both the story & the pic of the house on the Oregon coast are amazing!!! I use to live on the Oregon coast a few years back. I am a Pacific Northwest girl!

[glenn kangiser]

You can also order the books directly from the Amazon link at the bottom of the book page and our site gets a small bit of credit to help keep it free, without costing you more.

Another thing is the used book bargains there.  Currently the framing book is available for $3.91.  Check the rest also.

http://www.countryplans.com/books.html

I was also PNW - Lincoln City, Oregon.

[RoxyRocks]

Yhea I am a grew up in a really really small town outside of Spokane (fairfield) not many people know of it We are planning on building out that way too. We lived Seaside and Chad's family all lives in Oregon and both of his Grandma's live on the coast one in Rockway & the other Pacific City

I am going to go to Amazon right now....

[glenn kangiser]

I had a buddy in Cloverdale and we used to drop into PC every once in a while.

[tanya]

Nice to see another NW person here Roxy.  I to live in the NW all of my life my new land where I plan to build a cottageis in Douglas County and I live in Ferry county now.  Harsh winters, but it has been HOT and right now we are having some big thunder storms in dry weather.  I'm still not looking forward to witner though.

[Hydroman]

Hi Roxy,

I know where Fairfield is.  We live between Spokane and CDA. We plan to build a modified Victoria on our 20 acres above Sandpoint, Idaho. It is off the grid, but we will be installing hydro on a year round creek. Sometimes we have thought of buying some land on the Palouse, since it is better for growing a garden and there is less worry about forest fire. Welcome to the board.

--Dave

[RoxyRocks]

I have to say I am pretty excited to fellow Northwest people in here I dont know if you guys do it but I tend to love talking to people from this area....I hands down think it has the nicest people in the world!

[PEG688]

Nice to see another NW person here Roxy.  I to live in the NW all of my life my new land where I plan to build a cottageis in Douglas County and I live in Ferry county now.  Harsh winters, but it has been HOT and right now we are having some big thunder storms in dry weather.  I'm still not looking forward to witner though.

Odd Ferry county's about as far from the Washington State Ferry system as it could be   Of course lokked what they named the nuc. power plant system eh

Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) "whoops"
HistoryLink.org Essay 5482
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The Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) was started in the 1950s as a means to guarantee electric power to homes and industry in the Northwest. Well-meaning officials believed that building nuclear power plants was the best way to supply clean and cheap electricity to customers. Events and human inadequacies produced the largest municipal bond default in U.S. history. The system's acronym, pronounced "whoops," came to represent how not to run a public works project.


Then of course we have Island county , made up of two islands , not connected by any bridge or ferry system , so it's a 1 hour drive to go to the "other side " of the county, where you have to drive thru another county to get there  

 That being said I've been a lot of places ,but I'd rather live here , Whidbey Island , than any other place I've visited.  

There's a bunch of PNW folks here, welcome onboard the board eh  

[tanya]

Well there is a little ferry on the columbia river here in Ferry Co but the county is actually named for the states first govenor.  It's remote and cold most of the time.  We have tons of wildlife I even had a big bear out in my yard the other day and I live right on the city limits line.  Wild turkeys and lots of deer every day.  Eagles and big hawks all the time too.  I am  alittle surprised my cats are surviving as well as they do and of course there are the coyotes too.  It is very wild contry here.  I love it but there is not much employment and I am getting to old to keep up with all this cold weather wood chopping, snow shoveling, horse feeding and car repairs that go a long with the cold weather.  Some of that nice warm central WA weather is sounding pretty good.  I lived over there on the west side of the state for awhile and tht wet cold gray weather doesn't set to well with me either it gets dampnes in your bones nad it takes foreve to get warm again.  I do love it in spring and fall there though.  Absolutely beautiful and the blackberries are my favorite.  Never to hot either but the water int hat puget sound is freezing cold to cold for me to swim in and I like the swimming in the summer beach living that is what life is all about.  

[PEG688]

#1: Well there is a little ferry on the columbia river here in Ferry Co but the county is actually named for the states first govenor.  

#2:  Absolutely beautiful and the blackberries are my favorite.  Never to hot either but the water int hat puget sound is freezing cold to cold for me to swim in and I like the swimming in the summer beach living that is what life is all about.  

#1: Ah I  guessed it was ferry on the river that they named it after , didn't think about the Gov. Yanno now they make Senator's and such step down if they find out they are closet Ferry's    Opps ah that Fairys ain't it , opps and thats not very PC eh

#2: The water not freezing  ::)it's a balmy 54 deg. pretty much year round   A natural "heater" in winter and a "air conditioner/ Cooler" in summer , dang near perfection!

 The winter cloudyness does get to some folks , I work ouside a lot and that helps I'd think , fresh air and at least being outside , not cooped up in a building most of the time where that cloudy , need the lights on all the time , etc , might make it a issue.

 Your in a hunters paridise  in Ferry county thats for sure .  8-)   We have al the critters but the bear's  , couger's, and no skunks , at least that I've seen or smelled here on Whidbey, we do a have the odd porkie pine( sp) I'll see one or two a year maybe less dead beside the road  :'( not very fast and , I'd think,  hard to see at night to avoid with a car.