Alternative Building

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I am new to this forum, but find it very interesting. We have 5 acres in central Colorado and are really hoping to be living there in the next couple years.

We are very very very interested in the different types of alternative building. I am so frustrated because I feel like my calling in life right now is to build my own house, with my own hands (and my husband's too), and work on my land. We are homeschooling our two boys (3 & 5 years old) and I can't hardly stand not being down on our land where they can BE BOYS.

Cob, cordwood, strawbale, earthbag building all fascinate the crud out of me! Do any of you live in structures like these?

We just spent two days down there and I literally lay in bed at night dreaming of building a fence, and a treehouse, and my house of course. But, how dorky is that to a city person...I dream of building a fence!!

I just HATE with a passion the thought of having my entire life for the next 30 years be about a monthly mortgage payment. Do any of you live mortgage free in a house you built yourself? Ideally I want a cob and cordwood sort of hybrid. Cob is so wonderful, because you can create curves and round rooms with deep window sills and nooks and crannies...and cordwood is so lovely with its stone look.

We have two 2.5 acre lots next to eachother. So, we will probably put a modular on one, and go down for weekends and every spare day we have till we can figure a way to make a living there. Our land is 140 miles SW of us. Then we will build a small round cob building for our schoolroom. Then, if that goes well and we have learned from some mistakes, and gained some experience, we will begin on our house.

I cannot wait. ACK!!!!!!!

Andrea

-- Andrea Smith (a-smith@mindspring.com), November 05, 2000

Answers

An affordable start could be either an old used mobile home (many can be had for as little as $700 in rough shape) or a metal storage building. You can then build your own structure or build around the mobile home as you have the means, using it as a inner core. I knew a gentleman that bought a five hundred dollar junk mobilehome, built his 5 room cabin over the next 3 years, then moved the mobile home to his pature and converted it to a small stock barn and chicken coop.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 05, 2000.

Andrea, I know how you feel! I constantly visualize my "house", in my case I think it will be a simple pole building, surrounded by trees. Of course I'll need a fence to keep my dogs safe! I can't move for a couple years, either, so I'm learning and saving and counting the days. I hope to not go in debt with my home, either, and since it's just me, I know I can do without a lot of extra convieniences. I bought the land, so that's a start!! Cathy in NY (some day it will be Cathy in MO!)

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), November 05, 2000.

Well for those who can not pay in full at the start a little debt on the land does not hurt. as long as all the other bills are paid. and you can live with your standards lowered while you build your dream I had built my frist farm that way But the EX took that from me and the kids. And soon another will be started There is no greater pleasure than to build it your self especially when it is your own design :-). Some times you have to live away from it to do it. So you get to work a little harder to bring it off a little sooner. And can enjoy it even more. Some people might think you are crazy but they are to lazy or scared to even try. and some are miserable and want to see others suffer. but they will not be liveing your life or the dream. So remember that life is short and it is yours that you are living so chase your dreams and enjoy your life :-). And build your dreams in to a reality. Anthony.

-- Anthony J. DiDonato (didonato@vvm.com), November 05, 2000.

Hi, Andrea, I built my own house without a mortgage, and paid off the small land payment several years ago. Freedom! The money I saved by having no mortgage payment went into land investments, where I built a few more houses for cash, eventually, which are currently rented and paying my retirement.

In your area, I assume you have lots of sunshine, but lots of extremely cold weather, at least that's been my experience in several parts of Colorado. If this is the case, I'd recommend lots of glass on the south side, and completely earth sheltering the east, west and north sides.

Since you're into curves and such, consider doing curved concrete walls, or concrete blocks filled with concrete, for the earth sheltered part. Do some research, as there are lots of ways to build these walls, and they need to be very strong(use lots of rebar) and they need adequate drainage to keep water from entering the house, and also to avoid hydrostatic pressure from saturated soils.

Cobb sounds fun, but realize that it is very low in insulative value. On the other hand, cobb, like adobe, has a lot of thermal mass, so it is POSSIBLE that it would be ok in a sunny climate, where the sun would tend to heat the house in the day, and the cobb help keep the house warm at night. I'm not totally convinced it would work all that well, though, wighout some supplemental insulation.

The key to success in any project such as you are looking forward to, if you're on a limited budget, as I certainly was, is to avoid going into debt to buy the house.A used mobile home is a practical idea, because you can sell it when your house is done. But be warned that a lot of people who go this route end up being in the mobile home far longer than they wanted to, or never leave at all.

My method was to build a very small cabin, just to live in while building a bigger house in a slightly different location. To do this, you need to be willing to put up with some inconvenience, but it will save you many tens of thousands of dollars in the not even so long run.

Best wishes

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), November 05, 2000.


Hi Andrea! I'm in my 3rd year of a slip form stone cottage. I payed cash for the land and spend 300 hundred a month working on it. I've finished the 1st building (400 sq feet) and I'm working on adding the bathroom and kitchen. So far I've spent about 10,000 dollars. Its very inexpensive and Its been an incredible experience!! Build your own house and you will never regret it (or get fat!). If I can be of any support just ask!......Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), November 05, 2000.


Kirk, I think your experiences would make a great article for Countryside Magazine (hint, hint)!

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), November 06, 2000.

Joy: I actually was going to write something up on slip forming for the magazine but to my horror my( how to) pictures got ruined. I'm taking copious notes and a set of new pictures on the new building. An article would be fun!.....Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), November 06, 2000.

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