[Demlockian]

I would love to build my own home and time may be right for me, but I have some questions first (wouldn't start for about six months).

Location - Somewhere in the country of Arizona near Phoenix. One of my concerns is lack of water if SHTF, is there a way to store water / make a "underground well" that would provide water for many years?

Type of home - I would like Brick due to the stronger material and better insulation. However, wood is alot cheaper. Would it make a difference being Arizona as we do not have major storms really?

And most importantly the cost of the home building... For what its worth my father has built bathrooms, interior walls, barns, and sheds for about twenty years on the side for our homes. I am confident we can do alot of the stuff ourselves without contractors. For example I know we can frame the house and do the dry wall, insulation, siding, etc... I am looking for about 1,700 square feet single story. I will have about 15,000 to 20,000 cash and got approved via Chase for a regular pre-built home at 80,000 (didnt request more).

Think its possible?

 

[plankeye]

water: I would consider putting in an underground cistern, probably concrete.

in traditional construction even brick houses are wood framed with a brick "siding", so wood would be your best bet unless you use concrete or sips panels.

get estimates on your electric, plumbing, excavating etc...everything you know you wont be doing yourself then figure it will cost an extra 10% and you will have a general idea how much money you will need for contractors

 

[sharkeater]

When I was a kid... (some 27 years ago..) my grandfather had a ranch in the foothills of Dos Casabas (about 45 minutes south of Wilcox)

There was a well, which was quite deep. (the water was COLD) I'm going to assume that area is still on an aquifer, although I'd put some serious looking into the USGS and what the state of the aquifer looks like.

The plots were 40 acre lots and pretty cheap... you could gobble up 3 of them without much of a cost, my grandpa wasn't rich. He had a few. There weren't alot of people out in those parts either.

Back on point, one of his neighbors was a guy who wanted "to owe no one anything" he built a circular house, out of earth and concrete mix, I think about 2/3 of it underground. Given the desert enviroment, the fact in the foothills the rains drained right off into the warshes, and he built it sorta in a hill, flooding was never an issue.

The man kept a few chickens, a bit of livestock, and grew a garden, as well as a "crop" of prickly pears.

This was my first interaction with a "prepper" back about 1983-1985.

As for your questions OP, I dont' really know, but I wanted to share this, and perhaps spark some ideas for you.

 

[charliemeyer007]

In todays market you would get the best bang for your $ buying a repo and up grading its insulation. Pool.

 

[Jerry D Young]

I would suggest you look into using ICF (insulated concrete forms) construction for the exterior of the home. http://www.rewardwalls.com/insulated-concrete-forms-resources/iform-insulated-concrete-forms.php

For the water storage, you can go with a series of poly tanks, several cast in place concrete cisterns, or for really large quantities of water, Invisible Structures Rainstore3 water run off collection system. An advantage to the Rainstore3 is that when properly installed, it can support the weight of vehicles so you don't lose valuable square footage. You will want a filter/purification system on all the systems if you are collecting rainwater.

http://www.invisiblestructures.com/index.html
http://tahoercd.org/linkeddocs/Rainstore3_new tip sheet.pdf
http://www.drainagecell.com/

What ever system you use for storage, be sure you have a good collection system on all the buildings, with guttering and collection piping sized right and installed right, and kept maintained.

If a well is an option at all, I would certainly have one to supplement rainfall and purchased water.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

 

[corndogggy]

Type of home - I would like Brick due to the stronger material and better insulation. However, wood is alot cheaper. Would it make a difference being Arizona as we do not have major storms really?

With wood, the problem isn't storms as much as sun damage. You get a wood exterior in Arizona and you're looking at a maintenance nightmare. Use vinyl or metal if you want a cheaper alternative exterior.

And most importantly the cost of the home building... For what its worth my father has built bathrooms, interior walls, barns, and sheds for about twenty years on the side for our homes. I am confident we can do alot of the stuff ourselves without contractors. For example I know we can frame the house and do the dry wall, insulation, siding, etc... I am looking for about 1,700 square feet single story. I will have about 15,000 to 20,000 cash and got approved via Chase for a regular pre-built home at 80,000 (didnt request more).

Think its possible?

The problem is that it is going to take you forever, and you don't have that amount of time when financing it, you have to be done within a year. That's a year of major suckage even if you have a lot of help. I would say that you need to be honest with yourself and figure out what you can do efficiently in order to save the most amount of money. For you and your dad to build an entire house by yourself within a year... no, probably not possible.

 

[Demlockian]

I know time is a huge factor to consider, considering I can only dedicate about 50 hours a week to building to it...I expect it to take more than a year easily. My team would consist of my father, fiance, four sisters (they love building things...), and myself. Not a lot..I know.

I want to keep the home simple stupid, I don't want anything elaborate. Just basic square or rectangle rooms with flat roof with water drain offs (arizona don't snow).

I was thinking about using concrete block as it looks to be more cost effective over brick. From what I just saw briefly online it only requries the concrete block, mortar, and rebar for the walls (according to an article I read). But if that is the case what is insulating the house? Also on multiple occasions after a monsoon I see multiple cinder block walls with huge holes in them. Any thoughts?

EDIT - changed cinder block to concrete block

 

[corndogggy]

I know time is a huge factor to consider, considering I can only dedicate about 50 hours a week to building to it...I expect it to take more than a year easily. My team would consist of my father, fiance, four sisters (they love building things...), and myself. Not a lot..I know.

Call me a sexist, but no way would I depend on five women relatives to build my house. Even if they can physically do it, family ties will be greatly strained.

I want to keep the home simple stupid, I don't want anything elaborate. Just basic square or rectangle rooms with flat roof with water drain offs (arizona don't snow).

I've been through this recently and just something to think about, the cheapest thing to build is a long narrow rectangular ranch house with short one-piece trusses and gable ends. Of course those don't look all that great, but you'll save money on the roof.

I was thinking about using concrete block as it looks to be more cost effective over brick. From what I just saw briefly online it only requries the concrete block, mortar, and rebar for the walls (according to an article I read). But if that is the case what is insulating the house? Also on multiple occasions after a monsoon I see multiple cinder block walls with huge holes in them. Any thoughts?

If you're talking about ICF's, the forms themselves are insulated foam, plus you put up foam sheets on the inside I believe.

 

[Demlockian]

I am not "relying" on them as they will not be able to do much besides make the lemonade and bring sandwhiches... The person I am relying on is my father, so if anything happens with that it kinda puts me in a bad spot...

I am also looking at cheaper homes (below 80,000) that I can rebuild over time.

 

[suburbanite]

shouldn't take a year to build, if you have the funding to start with.
lets assume you are building on a slab foundation.
get the excavating work done, build your forms, and rough in all your plumbing. this is where you have to know exactly where everything is going to be. moving a toilet 6 inches is easy if you have a basement or block foundation and a crawl space, not so easy once you have your drains set in cement.

2 people who know what they are doing and have a good plan to follow should be able to frame the walls and have them standing in a weekend. if using prebuilt trusses, you could have them all set and half of the roof sheathed in a second weekend. the next weekend, the roof could be completely blacked in and the exterior walls sheathed.

consider the first week or weekend to have the foundation done by a contractor, and there, you have the shell complete in a month.

after that, even if it's only an hour a day throughout the week, then on the weekends, you could be roughing in the wiring, once its inspected, move on to insulation, once it is done, start installing doors and windows, then on to drywall

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

I built our current house mostly by myself. I hired out the well and foundation, and a guy with a crane for 3-hours.

I chose steel. A pre-engineered warehouse, 40' X 60'. At the time steel ran about half the price of stick-built. It is engineered to exceed our snow-load, it is hurricane proof and tornado proof. It is a partial faraday cage [EMP proof].

I insulated it to R60, and we are now in the process of setting up solar panels to be off-grid.

Steel buildings arrive on a truck. Every piece is the right shape, all holes are predrilled, etc. You just follow the directions. Move one piece at a time, to align the holes and bolt them together.

We have a high ceiling [12']. It is one large room, which we like. It is much easier for us to heat this way. I have made a bunch of free standing closets, book shelves and cabinets. They are arranged in partitions to wall-off each bedroom. When my wife decides to 'move the furniture', she has the option to move the 'walls'.

Currently we heat with a woodstove. It heats our water, and heated water flows through PEX in the floors as 'radiant heat'. Next year we plan to install solar heating panels, so our winter heating will be provided without anymore wood.

 

[wasniper]

I have 2 guys that work with me and we build homes complete in 6 months, at a 40 hour work week, it can be done. JT

 

[Demlockian]

I chose steel. A pre-engineered warehouse, 40' X 60'. At the time steel ran about half the price of stick-built. It is engineered to exceed our snow-load, it is hurricane proof and tornado proof. It is a partial faraday cage [EMP proof].

What did this cost you roughly? I kinda like the idea of going with a steel frame / shell and then putting up my own interior walls and maybe exterior walls pending cost. Plus will banks finanace this type of dwelling?

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

What did this cost you roughly? I kinda like the idea of going with a steel frame / shell and then putting up my own interior walls and maybe exterior walls pending cost.

The shell goes up fast. [faster if you had a second person helping]

I started in May '05, we moved into our house the following May '06. It is not 'finished' yet. Some of the features we thought of as we go along, things change. Hopefully I will be 'done' next year.

Well = $3k
foundation = $10k
building = $20k

insulation, floor, interior, heat, plumbing, electrical, windows, ...
Last fall a wrap-round porch and attached 3 car garage,
this year off-grid solar electric,
next year solar heat.

I hope to finish under $100k.

... Plus will banks finanace this type of dwelling?

I have no idea.

We used up our investments portfolio, and are now going along on each paycheck. No debt.

 

[Demlockian]

No debt.

That is my goal, hence why I want a cheaper home I can fully payoff within ten years. I hate carrying debt like most Americans who embrace it with both arms. I wont even go get a school loan, I am paying the whole thing up front per semester (just about $3,000 per six months).

 

[MattB4]

I built my last two homes, just my Dad (now deceased) and me. One of those homes was in the Communist State of Washington where even the windows had code requirements and you could not spit without permission. My present one (home) there was no requirements to have to live to except my own and the electric company to provide power. I love living in a area without constant government intrusion. IIRC the permits for my house in Wa. was over $3000!! Here was $0.00

You are also proposing another limitation that is getting a construction loan. So you need to find out what the building permits might be, what the building code is and what the Bank requires in the way of proof of construction before it pays for that construction. Only than can you decide what your requirements are and what work you can and are allowed to perform.

You might not be able to do what you like. Find out the requirements first.

 

[Bojak]

Build it using grout filled block. build it into the earth on three sides at least up to the windows to get the free insulation (and cover) effects from the earth. Install a seperate septic system and plumb your grey water to it for general use. Plumb the other system for sewage only. Grey water can also include piping the gutters to catch the rain as well. Great for irragation and general use. Could be filtered and treated for consumption if the SHTF. In that region make sure you have extra large overhang on your soffets to shade your windows. Lots of good info if you google Earthcraft Homes. Lots of good info on small homes design out there as well.

 

[Rmart30]

My vote would be a poured slab with grout filled concrete block and a well insulated spray foamed metal roof.

I have a small 1000 ish Sq ft wood framed house. In 07 before the economy went down I had gotten estimates for bricking and also vinyl. If im not mistaken it was 8k for bricking and 5k for vinyl. I talked to a out of work brickmason 2 months ago who quoted me $5500 for bricking it now so prices are down.

If you could find someone to do the slab work (i paid $20 a yard for labor to form and finish) and do the block work you can easily do the rebar and block filling with grout yourself with a pump truck and a concrete vibrator to save $.

 

[delta27]

to the OP...

have you heard of earthbag building?

I'd like to build a home myself and that's one method I'm looking into...

if you do a google search you can find a lot of info and the same with youtube.

 

[nateb35]

For you and your dad to build an entire house by yourself within a year... no, probably not possible.[/QUOTE]

Me and my father in law built my 2800sq ft house in a year. The only thing we contracted out was the drywall and shingles (that's because the contractors could get it done a lot faster than us). My father in law does build houses for a living, but he is also 67 yo and I work shift work so it was a struggle a lot to get things done. It does take a lot of time and dedication to do build your own home exspecially while you work full time. I can tell you this the hardest part of building it was not the work itself but actually making yourself go do it day after day after day.

I just moved in a month 1/2 ago and I don't regret any of what I went thru in the last year, it was well worth it!!