What are some cheap, easy ways to build a home yourself?
Question:the place i'm going to be living [kauai] is too moist for a straw bale or cob house...any idears? i'm pretty open to everything as long as
1. running water&& electric! =]
2. it's not gonna topple over in a tropical storm or something =]
Answers:
Research area businesses before you start. Look at how other's build their houses and what it will take.
It will probably take years upon years, and you'll have to deal with costly mistakes if you don't know what you're doing.
I suggest if you are big into building your own house, look into a steel framed house.
six garage doors and a lot of duct tape
try a tent and a out house to start
There is nothing cheap in Hawaii and building a home is not easy anywhere. I would talk to someone who has done something similar to what you want to do and see how they did it. Be prepared to part with major money to get land in Hawaii.
concrete block is the cheapest, if you have more money there are prefab steel structures where all you do is bolt the pieces together, after you have a foundation.
We are currently owner/.builder building dry stack concrete block with fiberglas reinforced stucco. I prefer this because of the passive solar aspect. The house cost us nothing compared to the well, septic and solar.
You could look into SIPs Structural Insulated Panels. It comes precut from the factory in a kit. You can request that no panel be more than an 4' x 8' sheet. Two people can build them. Just type in SIPs on the internet. This style of home may fit in Hawaii because you can put any outer covering you want.
I would start off with a small 16 ft by 8 ft trailer. You and one other person can live in this for an extended length of time.
You will need a building permit, so take a trip to the county
court house and find out the restrictions, codes and such
You will have already built your septic tank, sunk a well and installed a pole for the power that services the small trailer
Remember to have the bathroom nearest to the septic tank
so plot out the plumbing with this in mind. (Remember that in plumbing, solid waste runs downhill and you are half way through the plumbing class)
The following is for a frame house on a concrete slab
Make a visit to your local cement place and ask about preparing your work site for the first pour. They should be helpful in showing you pointers in building a reinforced frame to contain the pour
Layout the corners, using a rented transit for accuracy and dig the foundation, at least two cinder blocks deep. The cinder block run should reach at least 18" above ground or whatever the local code dictates.
Make a drawing of your floor plan. You can Google for some free floor plans. Plot out the plumbing for the kitchen and the bath. Decide where you want the water heater.
Run the plumbing atop the fill dirt and make stable with short lengths of rebar driven into the fill and tie wire
You will have by this time brought in all the fill dirt and you can start laying out the plumbing atop the compacted dirt which will be covered in heavy gauge plastic sheeting.
The placement of the toilet outlet is very important at this point for it has to accept the toilet and be at a level that clears the cement pour and is the correct distant from the wall Plan for all the plumbing to pert rude above the pour by six inches and protect the plumbing by covering the ends with plastic and duct tape
Make the pour with some help from friends and be prepared for some back breaking laborious cement work
You have already decided where the entry doors will be so make arraignments for wall supporting bolts to be embedded along the outer perimeters with clearance above the studs for bolting down the walls
This project thus far could have been achieved in one day with a professional crew, but you can save tons of money by doing most of the work yourself. This may take months, according to your finances
You have finished the hardest part of building your own home. You may decide on framing the walls and installing the rafters.
This will take some planning as you will not want the frame exposed to the weather for a long period of time.
The pros like to do the framing and drying in the roof all in one day. You may want to save up enough for a crew to come in or have a local carpenter give you a hand. I would opt for the later. Remember to use as many hurricane clips as the law allows
Finish off the roof with shingles (Never use staples to install shingles) or tin and plan out the wiring.
Take a weekend or two for the siding and trim work
Install windows and exterior doors.
With the high cost of energy, I would invest heavily with insulation and use window units to cool with.
Seal the concrete with a heavy a coating of sealer until you can decide on the flooring
Finish off the bath and kitchen.
Finish up with all the wiring
Learn to install sheet rock.
Install the interior doors
Finish off the trim work
Paint and clean up the mess
Enjoy your new home
Build an adobe house...very affordable and stay cool in summer and warm in winter..however you wont see much winter there..
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