alt-house

a bit more

2010-04-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, the house did make it past the Sheetrock stage. As a matter of fact, I've been living in this house for quite a while. I just stopped blogging it for a while. let me try to bring it more up to date.
last week on Alt-house, our heroes had just put up sheetrock. then we taped the whole house, and started slapping the mud on. we talked a lot about different methods, and how we could finish this up, paint, the find a way to do texture later that would help hide any imperfections we might have left. however, this all sounded very complicated, and after consulting amongst ourselves, and with our friendly neighborhood experts at Lowe's several times, we decided to just use an extra layer of mud for the texture before we painted. so we did that. by and large, I quite liked the result. there were a few spots I wish we'd added more, but I think it came out well. in a future version, I think I'd save myself $1000 and a day of labor by using something other then sheetrock, but that's a different blog post. someone remind me to write that later.

next step was painting. or at least, that was the next logical step in my mind, so we wouldn't have to protect the floor. when you don't have a floor, you don't worry about splatters. there was a bit of debate of the color. Mary-Beth said she was thinking white for the walls, and blue for the bathroom. I was concerned about the white, considering how many windows are in this place, I didn't want it too bright. that seems a bit silly now, but at the time I was concerned I'd be waking up at 6am everyday because my house was so bright. so on the day I go to get paint, Mary-Beth is busy at work. Off I go to home depot anyway, I pick up some grayish-whitish pain samples, and some blue ones, and take them to Logan's to show MB. she was busy, but picked several, and said "one of those." so that's what I did. took a gray, and a blue, bought a bunch, took it home, began painting. fast forward, Mary-beth sees it, been sees it, everyone asked what on earth I was thinking. apparently the gray is too boring, the blue TOO blue. I tried to remind everyone I DID consult Mary-Beth on them, but it was all my fault, and no one listened. still, we painted on.

In the mean time, we build a porch, and attach it to the old porch that was there from when we had a travel trailer parked there. looks fabulous.

Next post is putting in the floor. that was a bit of silliness on my part.

Oh Man

2009-08-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

We have made progress people! you want proof? fine.

Finish Siding & Insulation

2009-07-29T12:33:00.001-07:00

Sadly, all I have at the moment is this set of rather blurry pictures of the current state of things. The tin siding is done, the insulators have come and gone. speaking of that, I decided on spray-foam insulation, also called Icynene. The company I used is called Profoam Insulators, and it's here out of Lufkin, TX. I really enjoyed working with them, they came out and finished the house in about 6 hours. It looks very professional. When we combined the high R-factor of the foam insulation with the Low-E windows, and energy efficient appliances, I expect to see a sizable dent in my electrical bill. I'll have a good comparison too, as this month's bill came today for $210. The house is about the same square feet as this apartment, so we'll see when we got out bill there and I'll post the results.

Next is the drywall. we'll be working on it this weekend. After that the flooring.

Last Lap

2009-07-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit too busy to update, so here goes.

We've finished the tin siding, mostly thanks to the extremely hard work of my brother Sam before he left for Canada. The electrician (Scott, a guy Sam had worked with,) also finished the rough-in, as did the plumber, (other brother Phil.) The insulation company is supposed to be out tomorrow to do their part. After that I'm hoping to put Sheetrock on by the end of the week. We've got just over 2 weeks left in my apartment, which obviously means I have 2 weeks to finish the house and move in.

I added links to 2 of my favorite blogs, ones there have been very helpful in the design and thought processes that have gone into this house. Tiny House Blog keeps track of other people and companies around the world working on smaller living spaces. 100k House is a blog chronicling the building of a modern, energy efficient space in Philadelphia. Although $100,000 sounds huge compared to my budget, I've found that in many ways they were on as tight of a budget as I was. With that in mind, their decisions and thoughts on design, appliances, usage of space, etc was very helpful in my own work.

Speaking of appliances, I've bought most of the ones for the house. That reminds me, I also secured the loan I needed to finish the house. Obviously that was huge news, though I didn't post it. Anyway, I've bought the appliances, figured out some of the flooring decisions, and figured out most of the rest of the project. I'm still lacking the fixtures in the bathroom, and the counter/cabinets for the kitchen. Those things I haven't figured out yet.

I hope to get some pictures of the finished siding up ASAP, I just have to get out there with my camera and take them.

update

2009-07-08T23:16:00.000-07:00

sorry I haven't bogged in a while. I've been working a lot, and the house has been waiting on a few things to come in. right now current progress is waiting on my brother phil to have time to plumb it, and for the tin siding I ordered to come in. obviously the 4th of July also slowed us down, as we didn't do any work that weekend. anyway, I'm back now. the tin came in Monday, and with the David, (Ben's Father-in-law,) and his trailer, I picked it up today. haven't had time to do any work though. we're going to work on it this weekend. budget's still looking ok.. most of the things we budgeted are coming in close to budget, but it's the things we didn't write down that are killing us. flooring and ceiling were never included, but I'm working on them now.
had to buy some more lumber, to go under the tin siding, so that number will change a bit. everything else is looking fine.
also, while things are on budget, I have run short of funds. I'm $2k short on cash to pay the insulation man. currently researching my options there. I'm not worried, just something I'm working on. everything else has gone on credit cards, but this one can't. I won't take the ridiculous interest rate that comes with a cash advance fee on the credit card, so I'm left talking to banks, and people I know over personal loans. banks are generally telling me there's no chance, as they did at the beginning, but I'm trying anyway. like I said, just something I'm working on.
I recently found a great blog that's been helping me plan things. it's a bit old now, but that archives are giving me a ton of great ideas. here's the linkamalink.

here's a few crew pictures for the time being. they aren't in order because I'm too tired to take the time. enjoy.

a few more

2009-06-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

last few pictures I have. at least so far. enjoy.

Prices update.

2009-06-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

I tallied up receipts today. is it possible I missed any? yes, it is. they may have been misplaced or something, who knows. however, to my knowledge, I've kept every receipt, so these totals are as accurate as I know to make them. including tax.

Lumber. $1636.37
*that means we're $163.63 under budget from our last estimate of $1800.

Doors. $647.34
*$47.34 over budget.(it's actually just the taxes on the doors, but it still counts.)

Windows $1303.33
*oops. $303.33 over budget. and I even compromised on 2 of the windows to save $250.)

AC unit. $324.74
*once again, just the tax. even so, $24.74 over budget.

All the other figures aren't completed yet. I've still got more to buy. for example, on the Tin, I've finished the roof, but am going Tuesday to buy the siding. we won't have that figure until after Tuesday. however, these figures at least give me some idea on how we're doing. so far we're $211.78 over budget. considering the material listed on this page is worth $3911.78, I think $200 over is good so far.

another day down

2009-06-20T23:29:00.000-07:00

I spent most the day in the house helping electricize it. or that's the work I made up for what we're doing. electrocuting the house and all. anyway, I was helping the electrician I hired to run all the wires. since I still haven't quite gotten caught up on photos, here's some more.

pic dump

2009-06-19T00:45:00.000-07:00

These were taken by Sarah

more costs

2009-06-17T01:58:00.000-07:00

this doesn't worry me at all. as a matter of fact, the reason I posted those estimates is to show how silly they were. however, I'm just going to point out here that no where in my figures did I include costs for sheetrock. why didn't anyone remind me?

first day of work

2009-06-15T23:33:00.000-07:00

the job site, before anything had been done.

the supplies. I spent all day thursday with a guy some works for as we went around from store to store picking it up.

first picture is obvious the genius of this whole thing, the only man who knows what he's doing. second is the just family crew that got out friday to do the slow leveling work in preparation for the big work day saturday.

it may have taken most the evening, but it was pretty exact at the end. looked good if I do say so myself. which I do.

finances

2009-06-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

now this gets personal. not too personal though. I just think it's important for me to make y'all aware of my financial state during all this and how it relates to the building process.

a month or so a go Mary-Beth and I got back from a 2 week trip in London. (it's all written about over at VaguelyVagabonds.) for those of you who haven't made it there yet, London is expensive. we did it as cheap as we could, but still. it's expensive. so we came back with no money. before we we left we had worked on a lot of possibilities, like bank loans, personal loans, etc. we were actually talking seriously to a few people about a personal loan, and that's when we left. I left fairly confident that when we got back we'd start building, and even set a goal of moving in on our anniversary, July 12th. however, when we got back we learned that no personal loan was coming. it didn't bother me much. this still seemed like a good time to build a house. even so, there wasn't anyone to loan me money, the banks wouldn't give it because I have no collateral. no land, no car, (just cheap mopeds,) and even the house is unconventional, and banks don't like that. so no money. and no capital to start the house. since we'd taken the trips, our bank account was mostly empty besides rent money, and our credit cards mostly full. I still wanted to build, even with no real capital. so I went to Lowe's and applied for a Lowe's Project Credit Card, which I received with a credit limit of $4500. (just so you know, I asked for $9000.) I also went to Home Depot, though they didn't have a card that compared to the Lowe's card. the Lowe's one was much better in terms and such. even so, I procured a card from Home Depot for $1200. with this, and the money Mary-Beth and I had saved in the 2 weeks since getting back, we started building on the 5th. or rather, we leveled the ground and placed the concrete blocks on the 5th, and had an old fashion barn raising on the 6th. more on that later. anyway, most of our supplies we bought from Lowe's, unless they didn't have it, then we went to Home Depot. however, sometimes neither place would have it, (ie: lumber over 12ft.) or the price difference would be such that I'd have to go somewhere else. for instance the tin roofing was $500+ at Lowe's and approx $250 at a local metal shop. so we paid cash there. all in all, we probably spent around $1500-$2000 in the first two days. I'll get around to counting up the receipts soon, so as to compare estimates to actual costs.

updated numbers

2009-06-13T05:24:00.000-07:00

at one point, when I was still wondering how I was going to afford this house, we talked to a few people about a personal load, with guaranteed interest, and firm repayment structure, and so on. banks weren't much of an option for me, as I have no collateral for a loan, no land, (the house is being built on my parents, and will be moved later,) no car, (2 mopeds that aren't worth enough,) etc. so personal loans seemed like a good option. in putting this all down on paper, we wanted to have as accurate figures as possible. so, we called around, and got more exact prices. Ben and I met with Sam to actually firm up the design of the house. how many windows? what kind of doors? what's the siding going to be made of? how many 2x4s, 2x6s, and 2x8s do we need? and what do those cost? after those meetings and calls, we came to this updated price list.

Initial Costs:

Lumber: $1800
Windows: $1000
Insulation: $2100
Tin Siding: $1400
Doors: $600

Electric/Lights: $700

Toilets/Sinks: $250
Shower: $400
Plumbing Supplies: $200

Air C: $300
Fridge: $1000
Stove: $650
Water Heater: $300
Nails/Misc: $300
_______________________________________
Total: $11,000

as you can see, we've jumped $1850. here's some of what we changed.

***lumber and tin are around the same, nor would they change, as we had those costs semi-figured out. (or so we thought.)
***doors had not changed price, but as seen in the sketch, we'd changed from one pair of french doors, to two pair of sliding glass doors. these have low-e glass in them, are as energy efficient as they come, and I just thought the more glass the better. hurts the energy rating of the house, but makes it feel much more spacious and open. which brings us to the next item.
***windows. we jumped $700 here. our previous 3 windows were basic size, one on the side where the kitchen is, one in the living room, and a small venting window in the bathroom. that's fine for basics, but we wanted this house to look nice, and be nice to live in. as I said before, windows, (even with the best glass,) will cut down on energy efficiency, but in this case, I think it's worth it. how much fun is it to live in a box with no light? be great for the energy bill, because you're living in an igloo cooler, but not much fun.
***water heater. this wasn't in the first estimate at all. another thing we forgot.
***electricity, wiring, lights, etc. Sam pulled the $700 number out of the air, we have no idea where he got it. even so, we wrote it down anyway. notice however, we still haven't listed concrete blocks or plumbing. more costs that aren't yet in our figures.
obviously, we're a long way off still. more to come.

design pictures

2009-06-13T05:17:00.000-07:00

here are some sketches I had phil draw up based on verbal designs we had talked about at the time. as should be obvious, the scanner doesn't do them justice.

estimates

2009-06-11T23:48:00.001-07:00

now, to start out, I'm going to list the original estimates we, (my brothers ben, sam and I,) put together. there were just random guesses, with little basis in fact. some of the prices, like the appliences, came from Lowes.

Lumber $1850
Tin Roofing and Siding $1400
Doors $600
Windows $300
Insulation $2100
Fridge $1000
Stove $650
Toilet $50
Sinks $200
Shower $400
Air Conditioners $300
Nails $100
Misc $200
____________________________________________
Total =$9150

now, a couple of notes. firstly, you may notice this is missing a few things. most importantly, cement blocks for the house to be built on. also, house wrap, kitchen sink, etc. I'm going to go over some items that need clarifying.

***Tin Roofing and Siding $1400. The roof being tin just made sense. the siding however was something we thought about for a while. Hardi-board is a common choice, or vinyl siding. however, we dislike the look of most vinyl siding, and there's a chance that the hardi-board would break in transit. (this house is meant to be moved, remember?) tin seemed the logical choice, and ben found some really cool pictures of some tin sided houses in Dwell magazine.
***Doors $600. These were french doors at the beginning of the planning.
***Windows $300. This was for 2-3 windows, I can't remember now. standard size, maybe 3'x4' or something. not insulated though.
***Insulation $2100. This is Icynene insulation. it's generally 3x more expensive then standard insulation, but 5 times more efficient. or that's what we've heard. my cousin installs it, and he's who we learned about it from. he put it into his tiny house, and an energy auditor said the heating and cooling AC bill shouldn't be more the $20 a month. that was with a solid wood door, and 3 small windows. part of the reason for moving is the price I pay every month to live, and getting the electricity bill from $150 to $20-$50 is a huge start.
***Fridge, Stove, AC, Toilet, Sinks. Average prices from Lowes.
***Shower $400. this was the price of a prefab unit from Lowes.

so, at the beginning, we were looking at $9150, a nice good bit from $10,000. however it's missing some major things we need for a house, and also these prices weren't real accurate. so, moving on.

alt.house

2009-06-11T22:50:00.001-07:00

I'm building a house. I'm tired of paying $550 in rent for a small, one bedroom apartment, $150 for electricity, for a total of $700+ to live. I believe a house can be built for under $15,000. it may be an alternative type housing but it can be done. personally, I think it could be done for under $10,000. However, as I'm building and designing, I am realizing that I want it to look a certain way, and for that, I have to push the $10,000 number a bit higher. anyway, I'm think it can be done cheap, and I'm setting out to prove it. this blog will chronicle the project.

I am starting this blog a bit late, as the project is well under way, but I'll get you up to speed. I have some sketches I had my brother phil draw when we designed the basic plan and I'll get those uploaded as soon as I can. until then I'll describe it. it's a rectangle, 24x16. it's so small, we can actually move it from site to site if needed. we actually saw one my cousins had built that was the same size, though theirs included a 4 foot porch. I didn't think this porch needed to be attached to the house. I'd rather use the whole 24' and add a porch later. also, theirs had a traditional type roof, with 2 angles pitching up and meeting in the middle of a house, like a normal cottage looking house. we decided to go with a more shed type approach, one angle with a 2' pitch. this saves a small amount of material but also makes it look a bit more modern in my opinion. not for everyone, but I like it. also, because it's such a small space, any attempt to make it feel spacious is not only helpful, but perhaps necessary. so we have one wall at 10' and the higher wall at 12'. as I said, our sketches will illustrate this later on.

one last note. I did look at making this a 12' by 24' house, but decided it really wasn't saving me much money, and was more cost effective and comfortable to stay with the 16' number.