anyone ever do a Barn/Cabin Kit? im looking to buy land and just want to plop a prefab or a kit down and call it a day.
DIY Barn Kit
anyone ever do a Barn/Cabin Kit? im looking to buy land and just want to plop a prefab or a kit down and call it a day.
I did a Costco shed, and I can honestly say, if you have the skills to do a prefab, you can do it from scratch just as well.
That's a big if, though. Take a long hard think about how much of a frickup you are.
It's one thing to know how to put everything together. It's another to know how to budget for materials. The nice thing about home kits is that you buy it all for a flat price.
There's plenty of plans online that will give you a build of materials.
>build of materials.
Is that what you use to make a Hall of Cost?
There are decent ways to cheat with this depending on the complexity of the structure. Menards has a series of 'Design and Buy' tools on their website for doing pole barns, garages, etc. Just do your design it in there (can even set things like the size of the studs, insulation type, roof trim style, etc) and it spits out a complete materials list ready to order.
Imo, the most unavoidable problem with all of them is that no matter how well put together/high quality/properly packed anything is or isn't, none of them are meant for one person to do regardless of how handy he is. If you can afford a crew, or have family and friends you trust enough to do what you need them to, then it's worth investigating if you're dead set on it. If not, strongly reconsider.
One person can do it fine if they have 2-3 months completely uninterrupted. They need good plans and a full set of tools and materials beforehand though.
If they're doing it off the cuff without complete preparation, they are fricked.
maybe if they have their foundations, rough ins and hook ups completed first. A good scaffold and a helper would make it possible, alone, I don't think you can get alot done without a second hand.
t. guy who builds a lot with his brother and it fricking sucks trying to get meaningful work done alone.
It's not a simple process so make sure you do exhaustive homework, first to know what questions need answering and second so you know all those answers based on information applicable to your specific situation. These threads always leave out details like location which are key.
Your first project should be your supporting workshop, not the home. That will educate and equip you so you're not going in blind and you can live in the shop while erecting the house.
While I didn't need to build a home (we renovated instead) did similar. We had a power pole placed with an outdoor service panel and 240/120V outlets so I had immediate power, and that was a separate electrical service to avoid maxing out the home. It's vastly easier to work with.
What you learn doing the shop will prepare you for other structures and you can live onsite to make sure your supplies and equipment don't get stolen. Work goes fast when you can walk out your back door and have no commute to the site.
^Wisdom for sure, but if you study the frick out of rigging you can do it alone.
Make rigging and scaffolding (and safety) your new fetish. I'm basically crippled but my gear lets me easily move heavy steel for my welding/machine/vehicle home shop. I use everything from the smallest Harbor Freight 12v winch run off my jump pack to the winches on my trucks, a rope winch, snatch blocks and my old tow truck which I doubled the boom length on with a stick of box tubing.
A full-sized pickup truck is key along with a stick welder or ~180A wire welder to quickly fab and mod equipment. Study "gin pole" trucks etc to see how easy it is. Solve all your lifting issues beforehand then adjust as you go.
Everytime I think about it I end up just wanting to hire someone to pour an ICF shell and I'll finish the rest of it.
>south facing
>simple lean to single angle roof
>plant stacks of deciduous on my south side for summer shade
>build a nice masonry stove myself from the surrounding stone
>simple septic and central plumbing on one floor
>1500 sq ft 2bed + office and living/kitchen
>if possible half buried/bermed north wall
Your picrel is full of potential frick ups, when stacked together, you end up with a less than efficient home.
The fact that you're starting with the house kit tells me you're not ready.
There's a ton of shit that needs to happen long before you get to the "building a house part".