Building the Retirement Place

[bobm6996]

I dug down about 18-24 inches in between the posts about 12 inches wide and filled the area with crushed concrete that compacts and basically turns to an almost concrete state. Tamped that down and then attached ground contact treated 2 by boards about 6 to 8 inches below grade. Then added 2x8s or 2x10s to get at least 12 inches above grade. Dirt will be placed to within 2 inches of the top of the treated boards and sloped away from the house approximately 8 feet out all the way around the house. The crawl space is at the same height as the existing grade. The ground in this area has great drainage and the stone placed around the perimeter will insure if any moisture gets to the perimeter it will drain to the stone and not stand. The crawl space has pea gravel covering the entire area and I will be covering the entire crawl with a heavy white plastic that will come up on the crawl space walls, come up on the pier blocks and all seams and connection points will be taped.

The side walls of the crawl space are 2 x 6 studding that will be OSB on the exterior and covered with vinyl siding down to the treated boards. The interior of the crawl space walls will be spray foamed and I may cover them with OSB or plywood, not sure if necessary yet. The plan is for this to be a closed/conditioned crawl space since it is at grade and not the normal below grade crawl.

I have used PL400 caulk between the stacked 2 x treated boards, but I think I am still going to try and find a waterproofing material to apply to the boards just to help insure at grade level water will not enter between the boards. May not be necessary, will see how it goes. Not really concerned at this point about water in the crawl space, but will be monitoring during the construction phase when the heavy fall rains start, if a problem arises will address then. Bottom line at this point this type of foundation wall is much cheaper than block or concrete.

I spent a great deal of time researching this type of crawl space/permanent wall foundation system. It was first done in the early 60's in MN and they started out not only doing crawl space foundations, but also basements. Those test homes are still in existence and they are outperforming concrete over the long haul.

Definitely not for everybody, but building this post frame/pole barn house is a very cool way to go. Saving a ton of money, no load bearing walls so the wide open space allows for a lot of flexibility.

My biggest concern for the foundation is not keeping water out, it is keeping critters out such as seen in a pole barn. I am hoping the stone based will help deter them from digging. I have other ideas that can be used later if this does not keep them out. And there is plenty of room to work in the crawl if it has to be addressed again later.

 

[bones1]

I really like the way this home is being built.
Do you have any pictures of this "I dug down about 18-24 inches in between the posts about 12 inches wide and filled the area with crushed concrete that compacts and basically turns to an almost concrete state. Tamped that down and then attached ground contact treated 2 by boards about 6 to 8 inches below grade. Then added 2x8s or 2x10s to get at least 12 inches above grade. Dirt will be placed to within 2 inches of the top of the treated boards and sloped away from the house approximately 8 feet out all the way around the house. The crawl space is at the same height as the existing grade". Just trying to picture it. With that much roof real estate , solar hot water and some backup power would work out well. Now is the time to think about some in floor heating in the bathrooms as well.

 

[bobm6996]

Bones1 - I will see if I can a close up of the area between the posts. Finished up getting all the exterior studding completed. This week planning to start putting up OSB, installing two skylights, finishing up the rafters on the sunroom and shingles on Thursday.

Any thoughts, comments or advice regarding spray foam insulation? I am considering it and getting estimates this week.

 

[bones1]

In my opinion there is no better way to insulate than properly installed spray foam.

 

[Mathis bound]

PLEASE share quote info when you get it, wondering how expensive it is.

 

[bobm6996]

Got the quote back today to spray foam, whoa, a bit shocking. Total $15k, $9k is to spray 5.5 inches in roof between rafters. $4k to spray 3.5 inches in all walls, which includes fire caulking of all drilled holes in top plate. Going to get a couple more estimates, but at this point I plan to do the walls and the floor and walls in the add on sunroom. I will blow in 18" of insulation in the attic for about $1.5k, a lot less. Total insulation will probably be about $6k.

Roof was shingled today, 75 squares and two skylights. We started working to get the OSB on to close up the house. Got the wife inside to begin trying to layout the interior. We have a drawing I did using a design she found in a house plans book. I took what she liked and just made almost of the rooms bigger. It is unique having this open canvas to start out, hope to start putting up walls soon.

A few pics of recent progress are below.

















Busy couple weeks coming up to try and get it closed up, so interior work can get moving.

 

[Mathis bound]

YIKES 9K for the roof !!!! I can see that I will have to go another route. BTW I LOVE PICS 3 &4 !!!!

 

[ultrarunner]

You look like you will be in good shape for winter... nicely done!

 

[Mathis bound]

If I may be so bold to ask what do you figur your total build price will be when finished, not including land cost just bldg.

 

[bobm6996]

Mathis - I have a budget of $130k, which includes the house, the septic system, well, permits, electric service. So far, most of my estimates are falling in line with what I projected. And I built in a 15% overrun, which almost always happens on any project. Doing a lot of work myself (with a lot of help from my son, son-in-laws and friends), which helps keep the costs down. So, far about $60k into it. Only real big hits coming is the siding, septic and well. Have wife and daughters now watching for sales for lighting, etc. Kitchen and baths could be expensive, but we plan to try and buy cabinets that we can finish ourselves to save money. My wife and I are very simple people, not trying to impress anybody and we are fine with not having high end items in the house. I plan to use 1 by pine to do most of the trim in the house and will do that over time after we move in. It will be tight, but have no problem sharing as I go along. When I went to get construction insurance on the house they estimate the replacement value to be approximately $360k. So, hoping when all said and done the 15 acres, with a rental house on the property, the new house, two new barns and a couple smaller older buildings the property will be worth a few coins that can be part of our estate for the kids.

I feel we probably will go over our budget a bit, just not sure how much yet. But, the plan all along has been to get as much done as we can for the money we put in the budget and then do a little each month from cash we can afford to spend. The budget does not include things like decks, landscaping and things like the porch ceiling and who knows what else. But, I plan to work for another 15 to 18 months before I retire so we will have extra money to try and finish up. Our goal is to get in this house without borrowing any money, this is money we have been putting aside for several years to setup our retirement years.

We have to keep moving at a fast pace because we have to be off of our current property by 12/31/15 since we sold to a company who plans to bulldoze the place when we leave. Hoping I can get the inspector to allow us to move in even if all of the work is not complete yet. Here they expect all work to be done inside and out including sidewalks, etc., that is not going to happen by our deadline, will see how it goes.

Just realized this was a very windy explanation, sorry about that, I am a talker.