Portable buildings

[lutt]

Has anyone here ever finished a portable building for a living space, or ie economical cabin? Mother passed in the spring and left me some property where I do all of my hunting and fishing in that area! I'm looking at a company here in Arkansas, bald eagle barns, I've had one if there buildings before and they are top quality! I'm needing some ideas on finishing as far as shower, sleeping area, kitchen/ lounge. The building I'm looking at is simply called the cabin, 14x24. Has 20 feet of usable space and 4 feet of porch. I will be staying there a lot! It's in the same area where I work on the row crop farm on my months that I'm off work. I want it comfortable and efficient! I live about thirty miles from there and hate having to drive back and forth during our busy seasons! Sorry for the lengthy thread starter, I want you guys opinions and pics if you guys have them! I will try to post pics later of the building, you can google them, they have a nice website! Thanks LUTT

 

[EddieWalker]

What is your level of experience at building? plumbing? electrical? finish work?

I had a client that wanted me to do this for them, but after figuring out what they wanted and what it would cost them, they bought a single wide mobile home instead. More room with everything in it ready to go for just a little bit more money then what I was going to charge them.

If you are doing all the work yourself, and it's just going to cost you what the materials cost, then it might be worth your time. Do you like spending your weekends working on a house or doing something fun?

First thing you need to do is draw up a floor plan and determine how much space you have for what you need. Bathroom, kitchen and sleeping area. How many beds, how big will they be? Shower will need a water heater, where will that go? how will you heat and cool the building? Where will that go? Window units are great for small spaces and very cost effective. Do you have electricity to the site? Best price for cabinets are at the box stores. The prebuilt ones are very affordable, but if you want to go rustic, 2x4's work good to build a workbench type kitchen with plywood counters.

I tell my clients to dream big and if it's what they really want, take their time getting there. A lot of the time it's too expensive to do all at once, so we do it in steps, working towards the final goal.

Eddie

 

[lutt]

Thanks Eddie, I will be doing the work myself. I have time, I'm a engineer on a towboat, I have month off when I am home. I do work on the farm when home, but we won't be busy for a few more months. The materials we be salvage, I have plenty and enough appliances on hand for it. I have all the material to finish on hand but insulation, and some of the electrical, even already got the cabinets! I do need to set down a draw it out! That's gonna be the tricky part, trying to make use of the space! Won't be nothing fancy. We are not fancy people. I thought about a mobile home, but really not crazy about them. Thanks! LUTT

 

[lutt]

Oh yeah, water, electric, and sewer are already there! I will heat and cook with propane, I have a like new 40 gallon hot water heater, but thinking that may be overkill, I may break down and buy a small electric, ac will be small window unit. LUTT

 

[dave1949]

An on-demand flow though, under counter electric water heater would save space. They can also be wall mounted.

Try for an arrangement with the kitchen sink and the bathroom on opposite sides of a partition wall. Plumbing and drains would all be very simple and short. You could easily share the on-demand water heater between those.

 

[lutt]

Thanks Dave, I didn't realize they made a electric on demand water heater, all I ever saw was gas, that would be a great space saver and quiet! Also on sharing the wall on the plumbing is a excellent idea! LUTT

 

[kw22614]

If there's trees on your property why not clear a nice area and build with the logs, using a chainsaw for the major cuts. May end up being cheaper than premanufactured, and can go bigger to meet all your needs? Most all building mats can be bought used, major cost would be floor slab and you'd have that anyway. Just a thought.

 

[JPRambo]

The electric on demand water heaters take a fair amount of power to use. If you are going to have propane why not use one of these?

 

[lutt]

I do have trees, thirty plus year old pines, but really don't want to fool with a log cabin,or cut my trees! not a bad idea though. I thought about one of those, on demand propane like that, they sell something similar at our local orsheleins, may look into that! Good ideas guys, thanks LUTT

 

[dave1949]

The electric on demand water heaters take a fair amount of power to use. If you are going to have propane why not use one of these?

Bosch Tronic 3000 Point-of-Use | Electric Tankless Water Heaters | Efficient Home Heating Products

I was thinking of something like the US9 model 9.5 kW on the high setting , or the US12 model 12kW. 1 to 1.5 gal per minute assuming 55* rise in source water temperature.

If electricity costs $0.15 per hour (don't know Ark. rates, but probably lower):
A 20 minute shower at 9.5kW costs 47.5 cents.
A 20 minute shower at 12kW costs 60 cents.

Bosch Therm 330 PN | Bosch Gas Tankless Water Heaters | Efficient Home Heating Products

This gas unit is rated at 2.1 gal/min for a 55* rise in water temp.

It looks like it has a modulated flame, 30,735 btu min. to 75,000 btu max.

75,000 btu is 83% of a gallon of propane per hour.
At $2.00 (a guess) per gallon propane a 20 minute shower costs 55 cents.

If those flow rates of 1-2 gal/min are not enough, then the higher capacity units favor propane I think. Depends on what you need/want.

A typical low-flow shower head is said to be 2 to 2.5 gal/min.

Did that help? :laughing: