What is new in alternative/selfbuilt housing methods?

[Aerindel]

How about timber frame?



Ben

Yes, that is where I am leaning.

 

[LadyLocust]

So rather than stick frame, if you decide to go with wood- might consider timber frame as a better option. Short 6 minute vid.

There is a fascinating Norwegian channel that is a great resource. If I can find it, I will share.
As far as hippy mode, Narings used stone and concrete and built their own homes.

 

[Neb]

Yes, that is where I am leaning.

Well check out that channel. He brought in experienced timber framing crew and documented the process and techniques.

We keep up on his projects.

Ben

 

[Hooch]

I like the earthship homes ..

 

[Aerindel]

So rather than stick frame, if you decide to go with wood- might consider timber frame as a better option. Short 6 minute vid.

There is a fascinating Norwegian channel that is a great resource. If I can find it, I will share.
As far as hippy mode, Narings used stone and concrete and built their own homes.

Yeah, I've seen that video. A lot of others. Its the style I'm most interested in.

What I haven't figured out yet though, is how to fill the spaces between timbers in the year of our lord 2025. Wattle and dab isn't feasible for my place, I have neither the wattle, nor the daub.

 

[LadyLocust]

Yeah, I've seen that video. A lot of others. Its the style I'm most interested in.

What I haven't figured out yet though, is how to fill the spaces between timbers in the year of our lord 2025. Wattle and dab isn't feasible for my place, I have neither the wattle, nor the daub.

Might contact your local 4H sheep leader and ask if when the kids shear their sheep for fair, if you could salvage the wool. Lamb’s wool is virtually worthless and often goes into the garbage or compost at best. It’s great for a dab sort of compound.

 

[Weedygarden]

There is a school in Montana, where they have built alternative homes.
Here is one of a house made of stones. I'm not sure if this was made at the school or not.

 

[Magus]

I looked at one of these about 5 years ago, a decent shell is 10,000 dollars.
https://www.newhomesource.com/learn/best-tiny-home-builders-in-georgia/

I still say look up a solid trailer and make it match your current home.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Sounds like a raging case of confirmation bias to me. We all suffer from it to some degree. Anyway, instead of pointless arguing, maybe point out a way to build stick houses that AREN'T junk. Because, I might just have to hold my nose and build the addition that way anyway. Maybe there is something I haven't thought of that transforms them.

I welcome you to come out and look at my house, barn, shop and all my other outbuildings. Every building that I have here is well built and out of lumber.
I have no problem with people building by unconventional methods. I would love to have a house built out of stone. The reality is, I wouldn't live long enough to finish it.
Wood houses can and do burn. That's why I keep the area cleaned up around the house and keep the grass grazed down on the rest of the property.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Yes, that is where I am leaning.

I'd like to have a timber frame house too. But remember, they are made out of wood, lots of wood.
Several years ago I had a timber frame house designed by an architect. The reason I didn't build it was the cost and the manpower to put it up. Even though I had a saw mill at the time I couldn't build it by myself.

 

[Magus]

If you're not above using recycled material, lots of places will give away pallets, sheet tin can be had for the cost of tearing down an old building or demolishing a trailer, and used carpet makes A1 insulation! My neighbor has a tin shack man cave built out of such junk that has stood thirty years with very little upkeep, and with his recycled propane bottle wood stove, it is quite warm, even down in the teens!

 

[Haertig]

 

[montanabill]

There is a school in Montana, where they have built alternative homes.
Here is one of a house made of stones. I'm not sure if this was made at the school or not.

Way back in the late 90's or so we took a one day class from this guy...At the time he had built his own home from stone and it was quite nice...
We spent the day doing primative hunting and gathering and learning many things...
He at the time was very skilled in primative living...a sharp rock and he could live in the wild....

 

[montanabill]

I'm going to start building the other half of my house this spring, hell or hyperinflation.....the alternative is to lose my mind being in my small house with a rapidly growing child.

Some 15+ years ago, I built my house using strawbale construction, as it was cheap, strong and I could do it by myself.

However, NOW, I'm not sure I can get bales anymore, and frankly, its SLOOWWW.....I think I have more money than time at this point in my life.

Before I give up and just go stick built for the rest of my house, I thought I would see what other building methods are out there right now.

Requirements are that I can do it all myself. Not just because of cost, but because I have come to realize that even if something takes me 10 times longer and costs twice as much as someone else could do it....that is ten times faster than not doing it, which is what happens if I have to have someone else do it. I just can't lower myself to have somebody else's filthy hands working on MY house.

So what is out there in 'hippie' building methods that I might not have heard of?

Just as an example i built a 600 sq ft cabin of sorts. We had just sold everything and moved to montana in a old travel trailer. My wife the nurse got a job immediately so I started work on the 20 acres in the woods we found for sale with a owner carry contract..
The property was 13 miles outside of townsend MT which has a couple thousand inhabitants and no traffic lights... I knew no one and didn't want to hire any help at the time..
I ended up building a ten sided structure based on treated posts and each side was eight feet. I built in place my simple 18 inch thick trusses with 2X4's so I could handle all the wood myself..
Hammer and nails and a skill saw...
I built it with no eves and ran the roofing part way down the outside walls..Simple craft backed fiberglass insulation.
It was a cozy home till the forest fire came thru and burned all the trees and we walked away.. Due to the design my one sprinkler on the roof saved the cabin..
That was 25 years ago and it is still standing and probably being used as a storage building...
A simple structure designed to withstand high winds, earth quakes and fire (we were into earth changes back then).

"I just can't lower myself to have somebody else's filthy hands working on MY house."

I know some really fine craftsmen that I would love to have build me a house if I could afford it.
Children are the hope of the world.. We house share with a family and sometimes the kids cry but the laughter and wonderment of a 2 1/2 year old makes my day.

 

[Weedygarden]

Way back in the late 90's or so we took a one day class from this guy...At the time he had built his own home from stone and it was quite nice...
We spent the day doing primative hunting and gathering and learning many things...
He at the time was very skilled in primative living...a sharp rock and he could live in the wild....

You can see his house built from stone on his Youtube channel. I have seen houses built from stone and think it is an interesting way to build.

 

[montanabill]

Rocks be really heavy....and i be getting older. I did know a guy who encased a single wide trailer in a rock wall...mainly just labor...

 

[Weedygarden]

Rocks be really heavy....and i be getting older. I did know a guy who encased a single wide trailer in a rock wall...mainly just labor...

Oh yes, rocks are heavy, but they can sometimes be found for free. They are fireproof and can outlast almost any other building material. But, moving them and working with them is problematic.

Ever read Scott and Helen Nearing's books or articles in Mother Earth News? They did lots of building with stone in New England.

When I see period movies, such as Far and Away, part of it being in Ireland, we see stone fences. Stone fences were common in parts of Europe.

I live in a brick Victorian house. I have done some tuckpointing on it as well as some wall repairs. Every time I work on these kinds of things I can be guaranteed of barely being able to walk due to the pain afterwards. I've had times of spending about a week on the couch while I healed.

I knocked down the plaster in a bedroom because it needed to be redone. Dry wall was put up in place of the plaster. Oh the pain. And then finishing the dry wall, especially the ceiling caused me so much pain. I had a few months of trying to finish the dry wall and healing up between times I could work on it.

 

[Aerindel]

2 1/2 year old makes my day.

My 800 square foot house was fine with a 2 year old.....a nine year old....not so much. One of us is going to kill the other if I don't do something.

 

[Aerindel]

So I realize, it has been long enough, that some of you probably don't know, or remember, what it is I have CURRENTLY, which would help understand where I am coming from.

Long story short.....I live in a three story, straw bale and stucco round tower and have since about 2008.

Each floor is 200 square feet, with another 200 addition connecting the second story, with the hillside behind it. Its off the end of this addition that I will build phase 3

My walls are 2' thick, R55...with timber framed internal skeleton.

 

[Mountain trapper]

My 800 square foot house was fine with a 2 year old.....a nine year old....not so much. One of us is going to kill the other if I don't do something.

The first cabin that I built was 300 sqft with a loft. We lived in it with our teenage son. It was hard. I had built a large barn too. The boy spent a lot of time in that barn.

 

[Aerindel]

These two quotes beg the question, why don't you hire others to help you with the construction? I realize you said you couldn't stand to have someone else work on your house. Have you asked yourself why that is, the real reason?

So, as I said, this a good question. I've struggled for years with it....and I have no good answer....just that I can't seem to force myself to trust anyone enough to actually make the phone call to any type of contractor type person.

Literally years have gone by, with me thinking "I should really just call up such and such and tell them what I want to do and get a quote" And I will say that everyday, and never do it.....for years. I have probably had this thought for thousands of cumulative days over my life. If I had spent the time I spent thinking about calling someone up, just working on it myself, it would be done by now.

The bottom line I have to accept is that I just can't tolerate other people working on 'my' stuff. I don't have a doctor, a mechanic, a plumber, an electrician, etc. I just can't seem to deal with other people that way. It's probably reached the point where its a real full blown phobia. I haven't even trusted a stranger to cook food for me in years. The idea of trying to hire a concrete truck just makes my stomach knot up. I'd rather make the foundation the way I did my first one....one 80lb sack of concrete at a time...

Is what it is. Everyone in the world seems to struggle with some disability.....I guess this just mine.

 

[Neb]

So, as I said, this a good question. I've struggled for years with it....and I have no good answer....just that I can't seem to force myself to trust anyone enough to actually make the phone call to any type of contractor type person.

Literally years have gone by, with me thinking "I should really just call up such and such and tell them what I want to do and get a quote" And I will say that everyday, and never do it.....for years. I have probably had this thought for thousands of cumulative days over my life. If I had spent the time I spent thinking about calling someone up, just working on it myself, it would be done by now.

The bottom line I have to accept is that I just can't tolerate other people working on 'my' stuff. I don't have a doctor, a mechanic, a plumber, an electrician, etc. I just can't seem to deal with other people that way. It's probably reached the point where its a real full blown phobia. I haven't even trusted a stranger to cook food for me in years. The idea of trying to hire a concrete truck just makes my stomach knot up. I'd rather make the foundation the way I did my first one....one 80lb sack of concrete at a time...

Is what it is. Everyone in the world seems to struggle with some disability.....I guess this just mine.

Why not use straw bale for an addition?

Ben

 

[montanabill]

Where I am in montana straw bales are expensive and hard to find......

just outside of Butte montana is this place that even in the past has held classes on cordwood and rock construction and probably hay bale construction entirely off grid.
https://sagemountain.org/

If your mental condition profoundly affects your day to day life it is not normal and just your burden to bear..

Things are not your fault....

Others deal with disabilities and have found a way or gotten help from friends or professionals in dealing with their disability. These other folks noted a profound enrichment in their life and their interactions with family and friends became much easier and rewarding.. (yes I have worked in mental health).

Weedygarden is a hero in my book, I thought I have aches and pains........

Here is my solution for lazy teenagers/non working young adults.

 

[Mountain trapper]

So, as I said, this a good question. I've struggled for years with it....and I have no good answer....just that I can't seem to force myself to trust anyone enough to actually make the phone call to any type of contractor type person.

Literally years have gone by, with me thinking "I should really just call up such and such and tell them what I want to do and get a quote" And I will say that everyday, and never do it.....for years. I have probably had this thought for thousands of cumulative days over my life. If I had spent the time I spent thinking about calling someone up, just working on it myself, it would be done by now.

The bottom line I have to accept is that I just can't tolerate other people working on 'my' stuff. I don't have a doctor, a mechanic, a plumber, an electrician, etc. I just can't seem to deal with other people that way. It's probably reached the point where its a real full blown phobia. I haven't even trusted a stranger to cook food for me in years. The idea of trying to hire a concrete truck just makes my stomach knot up. I'd rather make the foundation the way I did my first one....one 80lb sack of concrete at a time...

Is what it is. Everyone in the world seems to struggle with some disability.....I guess this just mine.

I can understand not wanting help, and good luck building it yourself. But the reality for me is, I can't lay carpet, I can't install hard wood floors, can't do tile work, can't install granite counter tops, not a plumber or electrician. My roof is too steep for me to put the roofing down, couldn't handle the 6×12" beams by myself, no way could I figure out the angles of the dormers etc. No way could I have done the concrete work either. That took a specialized crew. I think it took 7 or 8 concrete trucks and a pumper truck. And that was just for the house. Then there was the barn and the shop. After that I could build everything myself.
I did not like keeping my road open all winter for the construction crew. These flatlanders were always getting stuck. I didn't like any of these guys.
Even with all these issues we got the house we wanted built, and I didn't have to do all of it. I'm too old to spend 10 years building a house. Plus I learned a long time ago that I will never live in a house that's under construction.

 

[Aerindel]

Why not use straw bale for an addition?

Ben

I might....but times have changed. Nobody seems to make straw square bales anymore, and the ones I have found, when I needed a few to finish the existing wall tops, where low quality and six times more expensive than the original ones. I'm going to look into it more however.

But the reality for me is, I can't lay carpet, I can't install hard wood floors, can't do tile work, can't install granite counter tops, not a plumber or electrician. My roof is too steep for me to put the roofing down, couldn't handle the 6×12" beams by myself, no way could I figure out the angles of the dormers etc. No way could I have done the concrete work either.

I can/have.

Presumably part of my problem, is that I have zero experience with other people doing work on my stuff, because I always do it myself.

If your mental condition profoundly affects your day to day life it is not normal and just your burden to bear..

Words cannot express my desire to not be normal.

Others deal with disabilities and have found a way or gotten help from friends or professionals in dealing with their disability. These other folks noted a profound enrichment in their life and their interactions with family and friends became much easier and rewarding.. (yes I have worked in mental health).

Perhaps, but even if true, its irrelevant as my 'phobia' is specifically against getting help so it's the one thing I can never do.