Building a house.

Thanks for the help. Yeah I'm definately going to have to have a mancave detached from the house. Her dad has actually been looking into different shop layouts for me. I'd say I'll have to build it a few years after the house itself.

 

Just an update. We've looked at hundreds of plans and this is our favorite by a landslide so far, and affordable. Another plus is that the supplier isnt far from here so we wouldnt have to ship much of the supply.

http://goldeneagleloghomes.com/log_home_plans_pricing/view_plan.asp?Plan_ID=DoubleEagleDeluxe

 

Wow, I don't think that's considered affordable by West Coast standards. I thought you could get a mansion in the South for under $500k?

I could do a very high end stick built with a lot over here for under $300K.

 

Buy a trailer (used) and live on the land for a few years and see where that takes you..............life after college changes allot...........................

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6892772083899039271&ei=jnW2SqeABY7EqgKrz5i6Bw&q=trailer+park+boys&hl=en&client=safari#

 

Hey yall just an update and didn't want to start a new thread... I think we are taking a completely different approach. Building the house right off the bat is outta the question financially. What we are looking into now is building a 3car garage with an apartment in the top of it. Live in it and pay it off until we have enough money to build a house. It will be nice because I will have somewhere to keep my boat and everything. Just wandering if yall had suggestions for this type of garages. If you knew of a company that has kits or floor plans. All I've been doing is checkin out random sites I've found on google. Thanks again

 

I worked with one of my buddies whose a contractor and certified to build log cabins. they're a piece of cake, they really are just like lincoln logs. you buy the package and everythin arrives on trucks, then you just set up on the foundation and your exterior is complete. I don't know about the pricing of them, but they definetly look good and are quite simple.

 

There is alot of stick frame roofs in the midwest and south but on the west coast roof trusses are more prevalent. I work for a roof truss manufacturer. Our most common design for this situation are attic trusses. The truss basically has a room in the center. You can do some pretty neat stuff with dormers, etc. etc. I just went to a jobsite that we did trusses for and the customer had a 36x50 shop with attic trusses and 4 dormers and it was huge.

There are definitely options out there and you are very smart to go this route.

 

if you need a design of the house itself please let me know, im an architect i can hook you up with some plan and drawings

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate it. I've found a lot of plans, but none of them have even a ballpark price.

 

do you have a near by sewer line? or you gonna go with a septic system? are there any near by power lines? and remember lowes and home depot both do price matching... so price match one price, and then go back to the other place, and have them price match the price match...

are you gonna do this yourself, or sub it out?

 

i will do them for el cheapo, if you wan any samples or a portfolio pm me

 

Is it normal to have a small crack in the floor of the basement (concrete) in a new house?

 

depends on what kind of crack.... usually you can have temperature cracks on concrete, if the concrete doesnt have fiber or steel, or isnt divided enough...

 

Yes... If concrete is over 400sqft. it is almost always going to crack due concrete having no tensile strength..... since it is in a new house the crack may have came from the house settling a little too.... small cracks are common and not an issue with concrete....

 

Thanks for the responses! I feel much better now. This is my first house, so I was a little worried that the construction was done poorly.

 

get married first. Then build the house.

 

Keep an eye on it. If it starts to get wider, or if one side starts to sink or heave up - then you've got a real problem. If it stays the same, no worries.

I had a crack in my foundation slab, within a year it was an inch and a half wide, and one side of the house sank down almost 3 inches. I had to hire a structural engineer, then have helical piers installed under the foundation. Since the house was 30 years old, and the builder long gone I had to pay for the repairs.

 

And stay married a few years before doing the house! My wife and I were together 2 years (married for 1) when we bought a house. After another 2 years she cheated and said she wanted a divorce. Now we have a 30yr mortgage to deal with if we split. We have kids too, so that's another issue, but the 30 yr debt is a serious issue.

If we split whoever keeps the house has to "buy out" the other person's half in this state (NY) due to divorce laws. Or we'd have to sell it and split the profit.

Just something to think about if you haven't been together long. Things change after you get married. At least they do if you ask my wife.

Me, I think it was the added pressure of a mortgage payment, working on home repairs before and after work, and trying to pay all the other bills on time just made me more serious/mature (not care free like I didn't have any responsibilities to worry about). If that makes sense. Basically, all the shit that came along with owning a house made life more stressful and our relationship suffered. Hate to see someone else go through that.

 

Were going with a septic tank. The power line will be roughly 500 yards away. Thanks for the heads up on the price matching.

I will probably be in contact with you in the near future!