Has anyone here ever built there own house, cabin, living quarters....

[CountryKat]

Sure would like to learn from others. This is kind of a part 2 question of one that I had posted before. I am kind of new here so I hope I am in the right forum.

Thanks,
CK

 

[Andy J]

I built my own house,CountryKat.What questions do you have?

Andy J

 

[Joel_BC]

I've built small shelters, built additions, done remodelling, and been a house framer and assistant mason who has worked, for money, on aspects of new houses.

Because I'm living in a house that I remodelled & upgraded, rather than built from the dirt up, I was initially reluctant to answer your lead question as, "Yes, I have". But if I can help by way of response I will.

 

[Beekissed]

I've assisted in three log cabin builds and built various lean to's and such.

 

[CountryKat]

First thanks for coming in. My dh and I want to eventually build our own house. To start we are going to start out with a small cabin maybe around 20x20. We will do a stick built that has a crawl space. I am emersing myself in every type of material I can get my hands on to learn about building a house from the ground up. I am reading books and watching instructionals online in my free time. Dh and I did do a large project before that the shell of the house was already up and it was on a slab. I just have never done one from scratch so to speak. One of best you tube videos is showing Larry Haun and his brother Joe teaming up and showing thier amazing skills. This man makes it easy to understand. One of the things that I noticed though was the house that they were building with a crawl space doesnt show any kind of vapor barrier being done before floor joist are in. As I said I am still learning so maybe I am not far enough in his videos yet. I just thought it would of already gone in.

Now this has nothing to do with the Larry Haun videos but on some other sites the spray faom application is shown under the floors of raised homes. My question is why does one builder say open cell is o.k. to use over closed cell. I thought closed cell was the better application in this use? Kind of confusing. Any thoughts?

Thats just a few thoughts for now. Thanks ahead for any advice. I welcome any advice on books for learning or sites to watch in better educating myself.

CK

 

[Andy J]

CK,it's been about 13 yrs since I worked for a home builder,having gone into custom cabinetry.I'll tell you what I'm familiar with,however.
Here in Mississippi we would spread plastic sheeting on the ground under the floor for a vapor barrier.We cut it as close to the foundation's block walls and piers as possible.This was done after all carpentry,plumbing,wiring and HVAC duct work was completed,to prevent it from being punctured or torn by workers crawling on it.It was a lousy job;but it had to be done.

As for the blown in foam,I'm not familiar with this because it wasn't in use in this area when I was doing carpentry.Maybe it doubles as insulation and a vapor barrier.

I'll try to answer any questions you may have,so keep 'em coming.

Andy J

 

[Marianne]

We built (still building!) our own house. Both of us were pretty knowledgeable before we got started, but having a good manual on home building sure was handy when disagreements arose.

We used heavy plastic on the ground in our crawlspace, just like Andy said.

The only thing we did different was NOT put vents in the crawlspace. At the time we did that part of the construction, the latest info out here was that the vents let in more moisture than to vent it out. We check it every so often and it's bone dry.

But that's OUR area.

 

[Mr.Andersson]

Best book currently IMHO is: "Green from the ground up" David Johnston & Scott Gibson 2008. I do all my own work, except rebuilding transmissions, not yet anyways. The book should cover bout evertin, bout houses dat is. Great starter book! There is this too:
http://www.mikeholmesfanforum.com/phpbb3/
http://www.greenbuilding.com/

 

[IW]

We built our own homes. They are concrete dome homes. There are two large ones and one for storage.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Yes and no....My father is a jack of all trades and he has built several houses over the years, including the one I am now living in. As we were growing up, we would help with whatever needed doing. He'd be the carpenter and we'd be his assistants, therefore when this house was erected, as a bunkhouse, origionally, we were all there hammering away. We'd assist him when he was building boats, sheds and once a log cabin. We had an awesome childhood....for that and many other reasons.
When DH and I married, my parents gave me half of the house I live in, which I eventually bought out my sister's half as well. Daddy taught DH about electricity, plumbing and basic carpentry, so when we need to build something we get together and fight it out and it gets done. We've made repairs, additions and improvements on our home and we've built a couple of sheds and coops.
I learned in home-ec that a guide sheet was like a blue print, therefore a man who could make a house, could also make a dress. The teacher didn't say, but I therefore deduced that a seamstress could, if necessary make a dwelling, of some sort. In my experience, that is true. When we run into a problem, I can usually figure it out, if not from seeing Daddy doing it, then from knowing how a seamstress would attack a similar problem.
I'm not afraid to start over and make a house if I need to. I'm not about contractors, unless absolutely necesssary. I usually try to stay under the radar.