PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Two people living in less than 700 square feet would get old...

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I don't have a budget yet, and this is an outdated design because it has 8-foot ceilings on the 1st and 2nd floors, and the master bedroom doesn't have even one walk-in closet; I could care less about walk-in closets, but most people buying a house of this size (and price) expect walk-in closets, and I've gotta think about resale value!

 

Insulation, clear ceramic tint on the windows, and a variable-speed central air-conditioning system should make short work of that! It's also got 2x6 exterior wall framing!

 

700 SF is larger than you think especially if you have minimal stuff, about as large as an old 12 X 60 mobile home for example.

It really helps if you like the person you live with.

 

Are you buying to sell it or live in it...

Well constructed, well cared for homes in good neighborhoods always sell.

 

Not a bad thing actually, once you get older you wouldn't have to remodel or sell for that reason. My brother in law's parents lived in the same house for 50 plus years and it got to where it was more a risk than anything else for similar reasons.

Not the same thing but my folks are in a townhouse in a 55 plus and they're built so you can live on one floor.

This. Need a higher ceiling perhaps but many more uses. A friend of mine had one and among other things used it in winter to maximize out of season vehicle storage.

 

Just got into work, with 150 miles to go until 168K!

 

@Just_A_Guy

You never know what is going to happen down the road that requires you to sell a house. It can be something good like a new baby that requires you to buy something bigger, or a new job that requires you to relocate. Very few first-time homebuyers I've met buy a house with the intention of it being their forever home.

My cousin and her husband met in college back in 2009 and due to college and their careers rarely lived together until after getting married. They married in 2016, but at one point he was living in West Virginia because of his job, while my cousin remained in Pennsylvania and went to visit him on weekends. When my cousin's husband took a job in Rhode Island, they moved there and rented a place, but they lived there for mere months before he got yet another even better job offer back in PA. My cousin's husband is an athletic trainer for a minor hockey team. He has worked for the Wheeling Nailers (West Virginia), the Providence Bruins (Rhode Island), and I believe the team he works for now is the Wilkes-Barre Pirates (Obviously PA).

My cousin and her husband rented until 2018, when they bought a brand new duplex townhouse in the Wilkes-Barre area. They paid $205K for a 3-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom townhouse with central air, gas heat, hardwood floors, and granite countertops in the kitchen. Their monthly mortgage payment for that 3-bedroom townhouse is less than half the cost of some 1-bedroom apartments here in Bucks County. They never planned on this being a forever home, and it is now very cramped because my cousin just had her second daughter, but they are extremely hesitant to upgrade to a larger house because their mortgage rate is really good and they are shuddering at the thought of a 5%+ interest rate...

 

I've liked this one for years. The split-level plan is a wee bit dated, but it has great curb appeal...

Ranch Style House Plan - 4 Beds 3.5 Baths 2232 Sq/Ft Plan #72-345 - Eplans.com

 

Main level...

 

Basement...

 

I also combined this plan with the split-level plan above in Microsoft Paint to create a 1-level mansion (a "Ranchion" or "Ransion"), which I haven't worked on in a while, but will post soon...

Ranch Style House Plan - 5 Beds 3 Baths 3436 Sq/Ft Plan #72-447 - Eplans.com

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@RustyGreen
@shakerhood
@StandardTaco
@steelcity2
@Taco critter
@TnShooter
@wilcam47

In everybody's opinion, does 2x6 exterior wall framing really make a huge difference over 2x4? I've been told that it results in a sturdier and better-insulated house; I highly doubt that my parents' overpriced tract home has 2x6 framing, but it is very well insulated. Aside from the fact that my bedroom gets really hot in both summer and winter for reasons that have not quite been figured out yet (I use a portable A/C unit year-round to deal with this, and it works great), the house stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter; I think that good insulation is far more important than the framing, but if I were building a house, I would take every measure that I could to make the house as energy efficient as possible.

 

Funny u bring the 2x4 vs the 2x6. I thought it was for insulation value but spray foam insulation is a game changer. I'm thinking all u need is 2x4.

 

Some of the plans I've looked at call for 2x4, some of the plans have 2x4 or 2x6 for no extra cost, some have 2x4 with 2x6 at an extra cost, and some are only available in 2x5. If I buy a house that happens to have 2x6 exterior wall framing, I'll consider that a bonus!

 

Not including Pennsylvania (where I have resided for nearly 18 consecutive years as of this post) and New Jersey, I have driven my truck to or through the following states (listed in alphabetical order)...

• Delaware
• Maryland
• New York
• Virginia

I might be adding West Virginia to that list in a couple weeks, depending on my friend's schedule!

 

Once again not including Pennsylvania or New Jersey or the states listed above, I have driven in the following states (albeit not in my Tacoma)...

• California
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Texas