Bad news... But. + package homes?

scgargoyle · May 18, 2009

Not a Quonset hut, but check out countryplans.com for small, affordable, simple house ideas. There's a good forum attached, with lots of pics of DIY builds, from sheds to full-blown houses.

bake321 · May 21, 2009

I retired in March and bought a farm in southern Kentucky. We have a nice house in Arizona on 10 acres that would bring us a nice gain if we were to sell now, even with the market down. If we wait two years to sell we will see a much larger gain. So I am building a cabin on the farm that will become a guest house or a place for the kids someday. I'm doing a 24X36 floor plan with an attached 12X12 mud room. Under the mud room there will be a root cellar/storm shelter. I am blocking up 8 feet for the storm shelter and will core fill the block. The rest of the cabin I will block five courses for a 40 inch crawl space. I went to a Mennonite auction and bought 98 2x8x12's for $3.30 each and 128 2x6x12's for $3.15 each. That should take care of the walls and floor trusses. We found a window package in Nashville, TN for $600 on Craigslist. They are wood double hung with thermal pane glass. 11 windows brand new. I ordered 2800 sqft of 7/8" white oak planks from the local sawmill. These will be use for the siding and ceiling with OSB underneath. I also ordered 1400 sqft of 7/8" hickory planks for the floor nailed over subflooring. And 400 sqft of cedar for the bath room. The roof will be 6X8 and 4X6 yellow poplar beams. This is all green wood that I have stacked in the barn to dry. The wife found a claw foot bath tub and a antique pedestal sink for the bath room and a old industrial sink for the kitchen. She plans to do a lot of canning. We also found a 1953 Chambers stove that is set up for propane. I kid her that she has turned this into an arts and crafts project. I spent the last four days doing the excavation for the crawl space, basement, septic system and rain for the basement. I will be doing all the labor on this project and thank fully 60 years has given me the experience needed. A big plus is this is a non-permit area. I plan on doing this build with a 15K budget and so far am right on track. Take your time, be creative and have fun.

Cary