I see.

I have used that foam system previously but only for a foundation. I don't think I'd be comfortable with wiring in the foam. Maybe I'm just old fashion. Most electrical boxes I have used are greater than 2" deep. That might be difficult with 2" foam panels.

Might consider furring out the inside and running electrical in the voids

My walkout basement was dug into hard blue clay. It's poured 8 inch walls. we sprayed waterproofing on the exterior and put in 6 inch perforated tile at the base. Back filled with gravel. I've never had a drop of water in 18 years.

Have you checked into the building codes in your area. One of my biggest setbacks in building my house was with the plumbing code. Only 2 things had to be up to code in my county. Plumbing and sewer. I had a friend who did some plumbing but wasn't licensed. We did the rough in and called the plumbing inspector as that was the rules. He put a big red reject sticker on the project and told me that even though it was acceptable it had to be done by a licensed plumber. Illinois law doesn't read that way but he said his law did. I had to tear it all out and hire a licensed plumber to get it passed. He even marked the rough in plumbing to make sure it got tore out. Cost me a bunch of time and materials and dollars.

Plumbing inspector and I would be going to court.

Plumbing inspector was an ahole. Also an ex union plumber who was watching out for his own. I thought about going to his boss but was afraid things might backfire. Lot of corruption in Illinois and I couldn't afford a peeing match that might result in weeks or months of delays. Construction loans need to be converted to mortgages as fast as possible or the interest will eat you up. Only way to convert loan is to finish the house. So I swallowed my pride and did as he wanted.

If you have it all photographed sue them now for the delay, that is a ridiculous, low level govt employees don't get to come up with their own laws to enforce.

As for me, I have a buddy who owns a plumbing business and is a licensed contractor, pretty sure I can stay legal.

Just trying to figure out how to layout a 864 square foot house... it gets a bit tight if you want two bedrooms.

It was 18 years ago with inspector. Water under the bridge now.

I'd make it bigger. Mine is 1240 square foot with 2 bedrooms. All my rooms are good size especially the master and bathroom.

Steel beams now being sold for 2022 delivery because of shortages.

America has a housing shortage according to CNBC analyst.

Getting caught with this thread and haven't read it all so forgive me if this has been covered already. The one thing most people forget to think about when buying land to build is the additional cost of the driveway, landscaping, sewer and well. And although you might have the ability to do most or all of the work, you can get burnt out working long days both physically and mentally. Sometimes your just better off hiring it done and picking up a few more hours of overtime.

Look into a Permanent Wood Foundation if you can do basic framing. Contractors wanted almost $20,000. for a block foundation for my addition. Hired a local guy to excavate, poured my own footings($1,100.) and put $1,800. foundation lumber and $400. into waterproofing/below ground insulation. Myself and a friend framed and sheathed it in two days, another to waterproof it and got my neighbor to back fill with his front loader for $100. and a case of beer(it was a hot day). A friends two story 12" log home has sat on a wood foundation for 35 yrs so far. Just put a few extra dollars and effort into very good drainage. I agree material prices are overpriced but if you can't wait. I'm glad my project is 80% done and that most of the remaining materials are pre bought and in the pole shed.

the bathroom and kitchen are the to most expensive my house is foam blocks , they make outlet boxes for this , use a router to cut out foam for wire , then reform , really easy

Basement here, poured concrete in 2" insulation forms 1998
Best investment ever

Local house movers love it when someone builds a wooden basement around here. Means guaranteed work I. About 20 years do to shifting, rot, bugs and such. Also a potential health issue due to the pressure treat. For the price difference I would definitely go styrofoam blocks.

Check out building a house with cordwood. Do a post and beam frame and the infill with cedar cordwood. Went to a really good workshop in Michigan a couple of years ago. Great way to build a house. You could build a 1600 sq foot house for about 90K. Here some photos of the house I help work on at the workshop.




This was some of my handi work.

Some more photos.

50 k is a bit high on a basement that size unless your talking totally finished for living space.

Depending on your age, you can do what I did. When I was in my late 20's I bought a piece of property and spent all my money doing it, but it was paid for. Feeling broke, but at the same time I felt fortunate to have my acreage, because that was the most important thing to me. So I decided to buy an inexpensive mobile home for 10k, and build a pole shed. That would allow me to save up money for when it was time to build a real home. Because when you buy a bare piece of land that's exactly what you get, no well, septic, electricity, driveway, etc. I knew all of these necessities added up are expensive regardless of what kind of home you're living in. I quickly paid off the mobile home and shed plus I was able to save up about 70% of the cost of a new 1300 sq ft home with a basement. I have no regrets on living in a mobile home for ten years. I know it allowed me to build a shed right away and at the same time I wasn't bogged down with a big mortgage payment every 30 days.

Donner, I haven't read all the posts so it may have already been suggested. Build a shop with a living quarters. Park the pickup in the living room

That'll get you a 2 acre building lot in the country around here right now.

I came pretty close to building with cordwood but went with log instead. I may put an addition on using cordwood. Maybe an arctic entry.

I would build a straw bale house before cordwood. Much better insulation can heat my friends with a candle
with a candle.

Him and his wife built it themself while living in a dump of a single wide. It took them 2 years and its really awsum eith their added designs. It allowed them to get their business off the ground and live the life they dreamed of.