Inexpensive, easy to build House?

2020 was my worst year ever, I wont go into that now (again) but I will say 2021 has been nothing but blessings so far. Long story short I am hoping to build a house, I wanted a modular just brought in but after seeing the prices I am reconsidering that route.

I want a small house on a basement, something that looks decent and is inexpensive and easy to build, I have many friends in construction and I myself am not totally helpless. I am hoping to have something around 1,500 square feet including the basement. Anyone have experience doing something like this and can make recommendations? I'm not even sure where to start, I tried looking up some designs but thought someone may have some insights.

Thank you guys.

I went the modular route about 15 years ago, and have no regrets. I don't know what prices are like these days, but you used to be able to get some deals on display models or in stock models they wanted to get rid of.

add about 50k for a basement

Single story ranch house. Trussed roof, 3 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, open floor plan between Kitchen, LR and dining room. Metal roof and board and batten siding.

I had a buddy that had a lot of land and one of his buddies went through a divorce so he sold him a couple acres cheap. He lived in a camper and saved enough money to build the garage/basement. Then saved more and built the shell, then saved more and started finishing the interior. We helped him plumb, run electric, paint etc. He ended up with a very nice small home, beautiful.
His floorplan was simple. Furnace, hot water heater, washer dryer, in the garage/basement. Kitchen was small but he built a huge deck with sliding glass doors off of it. Livingroom, nice big bathroom and a big bedroom. Simple, cheap, cause he saved and got deals on everything. He insulated the crap out of it, heating and cooling cost are low.

Yup. Mine wasn't quite that much, but it's well worth the money.

100K+ for a 900 square foot house. I could go talk to them in person and price out with less of it finished, I would prefer to do alot of the finish work myself.

Plus the 50k or so for the basement, so probably I should realistically budget 200k for house, basement, septic and well if I go that route.

Yikes! I didn't realize they are that expensive now. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Holy coon balls!! Y’all northern boys idea of inexpensive is a heck of a lot different than us Southern boys. $200K down here will buy you one nice spread.

Does that include the obligatory cars on blocks in the front yard and coon dogs under the porch, or are those extra?

That is not inexpensive to me either which is why I am looking for other options. I need to purchase the land as well as build the house, quite frankly it is a bit daunting on only one income, I don't want to be in a position of losing everything... again.

That will get you a decent 1800sqft house on an acre or 3 with a pool and generally a garage. Coon dog will cost ya though.

Now is a horrible time to build. lumber prices are nuts.

Then I’d buy land first and a small comfortable camper and build as money allowed.

Be like Johnny Cash, one piece at a time. Get the land, save for the well and septic then put a old trailer or camper on it. Save and do what you can, just an option. And for the love, don't be like them deep southern boys, wear shoes in the summer.

Shoes are overrated...especially during the Summer!

If you already own the location, I think 200 K is ballpark. Might be a bit more than that. But right now is a terrible time to be doing this. Lumber prices are astronomical !! You might be better off buying something small and saving some for a future when lumber is back in its normal range. At least you might experience some price appreciation in the meantime

I suspect you will pay at least 30% more right now just in material costs

Ken is right. I know someone in Texas who was having a house built and the contractor upped the cost because of lumber and then put them on hold because they can't get all the lumber they need. It's bad.

Lumber must be in high demand. I know of a couple of landowners that are about to really make some money. One owner is about to get 75% of what he paid for his land and the houses on it from the timber. Unfortunately a lot of it is hardwoods.

If you are willing to do the work yourself, use rough cut from a local mill. Mill by me sells pine for $600/1000bf. Most contractors I know won't use it, though.

$7.75 last week was the price I saw on 2x4 studs at Lowe's. I anout had a heart attack. I thought they were crazy when they hit 3.50

Lumber futures are right at $1000/1000 board feet right now. That's 50% higher than the high set in 2018

Good article for those that can open the link. Subscription:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/lumber-prices-are-soaring-tree-growers-miserable-11614177282

Thanks for the input guys. I forgot to mention...I do have a small sawmill and I run a tree service so I have all the logs I would need to mill, finding the time to do it is a bit tougher. I may rent for a year and build next year as well but I would still like to have something in mind so I can start gathering materials. I have a 48x64 shop to store everything in and keep it out of the weather until I start building.

$44 for a sheet of 1/2" CDX plywood now. I ain't building nothing.

I'd buy an old house and fix it up. If you have a good foundation and the infrastructure is already there, you can do wonders. Fix up the inside, leave the outside looking like crap to keep the assessor from raising your taxes.

Wow my 26' X 80' was $23,000 back in 98' holy buckets

Yeah are local lumber yard is at 22.00 for a sheet of half inch
OSB last year I’m February it was around 9-10

Have you considered a houseboat on a hill. Its way under 200K and you can sleep easy even when there are flood warnings....... no basement though

The only people that would consider that are Krauts.

Have you considered buying a 7-10 acres of property with a mix of hardwood and pine?
The pine will build you a fine home. And the hardwood will supply boards of all sorts to finish your home built with your own wood.
And you build on the nightshift.
Just a thought

Take a look at a entercept home built in watertown sd... styrofoam panels with locking i joists. sheeted in and out and most wires run .. material is little higher but you save on labor ... can erect a small ranch house in a day... heat with a candle

X2

Rough cut is against code here.

not a good time to build.....2x4 are a $1 a foot, 1/2' osb is $37, if you can get it

Guess that thought had not occurred to me, grand idea though!


You have to have it inspected here, someone comes out and starts stamping marks on good boards from my understanding. At very least I can do the siding/flooring etc.

I am looking into this now, thank you, never heard of this before.

When we built a house in the 90's in SC we also wanted a basement. The cost was prohibitive compared with just expanding the garage. We had 13 acres so the footprint size didn't matter. Construction is different in different places but it might be something to consider.

What kind of heat are you looking at?

Alternative choices now, Cool

Do you have access to pine, spruce or fir trees? You can cut your lumber and have a grader grade stamp to meet bldg. code. That will save you tons of $$.

i have provided crane service for a local contractor for years on these houses lemme see if i can find some pics of the last one e did around xmas time

we started about 10 am... finished at 5 30 ... set the main beam and roof on house... cant remember how many sq ft...
years ago there was a young ma with family... he worked for local utility co .. reading meters... had 2 of these houses on his rout and couldnt believe how cheap the energy bill was.... we built him a 2 story hous and stacked all panels and roof in 2 days.... thhouse in pictures contractor set walls with telehandler... so all i did was beams and roof panels.... its like playing leggos.... hand down if i get to build this is the way ill go !!

You might want to check out BMO (Building Material Outlet) near 694 and 55 . Windows, flooring, doors, etc. Big savings on end run and slight damaged materials from manufactures. They have auctions scheduled certain times of the year where you can buy whole pallets of products just to clear their warehouse, and retail sales most days.

Wood stove in the basement for sure. One thing that may help with basement cost is nothing will have to get hauled off site, I can use all the dirt/sand. I can probably almost dig the basement myself, the cost comes in in regard to concrete which I am rather unfamiliar with.


I do but not in large quantities, do you know if you can substitute other softwoods? I get a lot of popular/cottonwood/silver maple

Is that the ones you see on the news scattered all over the prairie after a big windstorm?

Thank you, never heard of that place but ill check it out. My friends do remodels/new construction and the nice stuff that gets tossed is ridiculous, half the reason I want to build myself rather than buy a modular is because of the cheap prices you can find on scratch and dent or used appliances etc.

I'm pretty interested in those houses Hydro, I'll have to research them deeper as time allows, do you know the cost per square foot roughly?

not at all there solid as a rock !! do some research they have outstood many other structures in tornadoes.. hurricanes ect.. im not a salesman for co ,,, just life long contractor .. and i think the quality of these homes are the best !!

i realy dont ... i know a cpl years ago i priced panels and roof for 30 x 50 and it was around 40 g.... call em up entercept

The only negative thing to these houses i see is you need to maintain a air exchanger cause they are so air tight... i have talked to many many people that we put these up for and they love them !!

Poplar, silver maple and cottonwood can't be grade stamped. Mill up what pine you have and sticker the lumber. I logged my white pine, sold the butt logs and sawed the upper logs into lumber. Had 4000bf sticker up for board/batten siding. I did my house piece meal, well and septic then foundation. Followed up with framing, roof and windows/doors to make it weather tight. The rest fell into place.

New housing starts are dropping due to very high construction costs and lumber costs. Existing home sales are going like hot cakes and many are selling for over the asking price. I would save my money now and plan for the future. If you have builders you know and can do a lot yourself timing is not as critical. Renting is an option also when housing costs go very high. If housing is spiking now, wait a year when the economy gets rolling better. May be several years of higher housing and construction costs. With a lot of workers now working from home and maybe for a long time in the future, living in more expensive areas, commuting etc. not an issue more monies for rural housing and we see that all over right now.

Bryce

ICF's. No basement ,sprawling ranch, build into the hillside if possible, infloor heat. you wont need any wood untill you get to the trusses.

Just bought 5 acres and wife is planning on a new house. One contractor told us $200-$250 a sq ft. Not including basement, well or septic system. I told my wife cargo containers are cheap...she didn't think that was funny.

Will be built into a hillside 100% for sure though I really prefer to have a basement. I am going to call the county this week and ask what the minimum size is, I may try and do the well/septic this year and put up a inexpensive one bedroom cabin and call it good enough for now, maybe something that could be converted into a garage in the future.

I appreciate the insights so far, a small single level built into the hillside made out of those foam panels has some major appeal at the moment and seems real affordable if kept small.

Yikes, so like 400,000+ for a 1500 square foot house? Ouch.

Look at the Morton type buildings. A friend built one for a house and saved a ton of $$. Draw back was no basement, he did radiant heat in the floor and the place turned out real nice.

Lumber prices are at all time highs, but timber prices are in the crapper. Lots of southern timber farms in trouble right now. I sure wouldn’t be selling timber right now.

In my state, you need licensed electricians, heat/air, and plumbing if you obtain homeowners insurance. Septic must be inspected before electricity can be turned own. I once wrote a homeowner policy to a cabinet maker who built most of his new house. Beautiful interior and stonework. When the underwriter called to do a telephone survey, the owner was so proud to tell her he built it all himself, which he didn’t. His application was declined. We had to submit names and license numbers of local tradesmen who did much of the work. Only time that ever happened to me on new construction.

Another policy was issued to a man and wife who soon separated. The man left but kept making the house payments and had some shoddy electrical work done in a bathroom. House burned down and killed his wife. My company had non-renewed his policy about six months earlier on the first policy anniversary.

The moral to this is, don’t shortchange yourself. Do it correctly as if your life depended on it.

Exactly !!

One of my favorite saying when giving an estimate, "or. for a little bit more, you can do it yourself."

Love it.

Well I am on my fourth home. Back in 1973 I built a 1800 square foot home with basement so 3600 square feet total plus two car attacked garge. That house cost $28000. My next house in 1984 was a two story with basement at 925 square feet per floor and three car garage. Cost about $84000. The next house was a raise ranch 1800 square feet per floor and two car garage with in floor heat. Cost about $190000. Now our current home is 1500 sq feet per floor and in floor heat in garage as well. Plus a full bathroom in the garage, nice garage. just doing the sheetrock in the basement now, darn dust. We got about $225000 in it. All of my homes had custom cabinet in the kitchen and bathrooms. Now a precut stud 2x4 is $6.00. you need to go to 2x6 studs and insulate with spray foam. I built these home while working full time, doing it after work and weekends. My wife says that's it. I say WHAT! Get prices from Menards or your local lumber yard. I went local lumber yards as the lumber seems better. The windows will set you back a little. i can build a house in my dreams and then the next day it just falls into place. You can wire your own home as well as plumbing but you better know how to do it. I have a son in East Grand Fork Mn who is a contractor and he does all kinds of building. David did not have a chance to build any of my homes as he was to young. Anyway go for it. have fun

More I look into it the more I think one level, built into the hill and just do poured concrete. Insulated concrete forms seem reasonably simple and the house should last forever and be efficient. When BLM decided to burn down Minneapolis everyone decided it was a good time to move out my way, quite frustrating trying to get started now.

The local lumber yard and their employees has given my small company tens of thousands of dollars worth of work, I will definitely be using the local lumber yard for anything I can.

with the price of lumber now days i would go with fox blocks or something like it , I did my basement with them and should have done the up stairs to , my wife and I put up walls in two days ready to pour , pour took two hours , so easy

One level is nice especially as we get older. May as well put in a zero entry tub and hand rails to.;)

I built my house in 2002. I didn't personally build it but was general contractor and jack of all trades. I hired a framer who also did the windows, siding kitchen cabinets, trim etc. I hired the septic, basement, plumbing and electrical all done to code. I did the roof, drywall , decks and a host of other things along with making sure the materials were there when we needed them. This was all while I was working full time job.

The best thing I did was purchase a computer program that can design your house. You can even do a walk through with it. It 'll spit out the exact amount of materials to build right down to the amount of nails needed. It also prints out decent blueprints that we used.

We started digging basement in early June and I moved in the 1st of September. It's a a beautiful single story with large 2 bedrooms on a walkout basement. It has cedar siding with over 600 square foot of deck , 400 foot is covered. It looks out over a heavily cleared timber creek bottom and is just like living in a tree house. I wish I knew how to post pics. Cost was less than 100,000 including land and tapping into neighboring well.

This sounds perfect. Congratulations on your house.




31 going on 67.

The more I look into everything the more doable it seems to build a small house. I have a friend who is an electrician, a friend who is a plumber, friends who have done construction and concrete. Calling in a bunch of favors and getting this done seems reasonable.

If you go with this just be sure to make it so the water can drain around the house.Water coming down a hillside can cause all kind of problems.If the concrete even just stays damp it can cause mold.I sure like my wood stove in the basement.

I built a 30×50 wood frame and trusses, metal roof and sides, no basement. With open cell spray foam insulation, and cost was about 80 a square foot. I did alot of the work myself we gave no code enforcement or anyone to check up on you. The concrete will be a big cost in the basement I would think. I think I had close to 10 grand in the 30×50 slab with a 8x50 and 10x50 porches.

Shipping containers are versatile and less than 2K ea when 3 or more ordered.
NC huntNfish site has some experts.

Look into frost protected shallow foundations.

https://www.homeinnovation.com/~/media/Files/Reports/Revised-Builders-Guide-to-Frost-Protected-Shallow-Foundations.pdf

Less cost, less concrete, no footings that go down 3ft or more.

Lots of technology out there for building and efficient and economical house, unfortunately most builders/architects do as they have always done and don't know or look into newer tech. If you use the newer tech then you have to find or educate the builder on how to use it.

Don't cheap out when it comes to insulating and windows. If your in MN 8" min insulation in walls, avoid fiberglas insulation. Insulation and air infiltration building costs will pay you back over time, nothing else you do while building will do that.

Would someone explain why timber prices are low when lumber is at an all time high? Just too much supply?
It costs more to build a house now than what it appraises for when it's done.

A lot of the mills are still shut down due to CV19. Many of them no longer exist. So YES.....the supply of logs is much greater than what the mills can turn into finished product .

Spent the morning punching numbers. I would love if someone could tell me if I am wrong on any of these. Excavation I can do myself if I do a one story house built into a preexisting hill, the soil is sandy and well drained which should help alleviate drainage concerns.

24x36 one level house
Concrete for floor =11.11 yards 125 per yard = $1,500
Foam blocks for concrete forms/insulation = 180 blocks = $4,500
Concrete for 6" thick walls= 17.88 yards=$2,250
33 sheets OSB for roof= $1,000
26 Sheets of Tin for the roof=$1,170
Trusses=???

So far $10,320 for basic structure and I need to figure out the Truss situation. Also need Concrete footers for walls as well as Rebar. I will look for windows from scratch and dents as well as doors. Obviously moisture barrier/screws/nails etc needs to be added in. A good friend is a plumber and this should be very easy to plumb as it is one bath room and a kitchen sink. Electrical I am unsure of cost, I have a buddy who is an electrician but he has been quite busy.

If well and Septic come in at $15,000 I am thinking it MAY be feasible to pull this off for around $50,000... Am I way off somewhere? What am I forgetting?



Obviously I would need extra concrete to make sure we didn't run low but extra can be utilized in my shop so I am not including it in these prices.

Blown in insulation in the rafters, pea gravel and drain pipe for around the foundation I would make this run nearly to the top of ground level. Water in the house is not fun. O a water stop for between the footer and walls.

Prices of well and septic will vary a lot by geography and and proximity to surface water.

The last one I was involved with was 20K for each.The well and septic. So your location matters a lot.
For trusses, again it will depend on your location somewhat. But a 24 foot wide truss is pretty simple. But with the price of lumber and the hot housing market I would expect to see prices between 150-200 per truss......but that could be way off at this point.

I'm confused on your plan. Are you planning to have concrete walls ?? Where is your electrical going to be located ?

The soil were I want the house is basically pure sand, would pea gravel be better than just sand? I have dug sand out of this hill and sold it for beach sand, that is how sandy it is.

I know a well cost 5k roughly, I am friends with the well guys and they happen to owe me $500 so hopefully $4,500. He told me to plan for 5k and it should be close. Septic...Not as sure.

Thinking of doing this method of concrete walls, the electrical runs on the inside like a traditional house, instead of cutting through the studs and running wiring you just groove it into the foam, same with the boxes.

I did this when I started my house. I’m a new construction plumber and the contractor would let me pick up scrap of the jobs. Rebar for foundation and short 2x4’s and 1x4’s. Just about all of my form material and headers and cripple’s & blocking were free. Makes a big difference in overall cost. Especially as high as lumber costs are now.

The OSB cost is low. You can do your own perc test to see if a conventional septic will be approved. You can set the tank, d-box and laterals yourself and get #2 stone and fabric. I would use geonet drain on the foundation wall and lots of stone fabric and pipe to convey the water away from the wall and footer. Do not skimp on this, you do not want the soil pressure on the wall and water issues.

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.

A friend has a bale house, heats the place with a wood stove.

Pole building with half of it being shop area and the rest is the living quarters. Shell it up and finish as you can afford to. Bale houses are great but wait a few years and see how you like them. I know of two that are/where about 20 years old and had to be torn down due to leakage. Once that starts then you have to deal with rotting vegetation, bugs, snakes to name a few things. Many times you don't know theres a problem until its too late.

My wife and I built this post and beam house ourselves with no heavy equipment. I have a small sawmill and cut and finished all the beams myself. As of last year we were able to get all the zip sheathing on before the crazy spike in prices. As of right now we have spent 45k on the entire project including the foundation. The only downfall is the time it has taken. Took a couple years to get all the beams milled and dried, and only working weekends it has taken 3 years to get to the point we are at.

That's some impressive work Dan !!

Just a question...........not a criticism..... I notice the rafter tail on the right side of the picture does not extend past the edge of the beam....unlike the tails on the other side.
Is there something else going to butt up against that side ?

There is going to be a covered deck going on the right side, and that is where the rafters will connect. I was hoping to get that done over last summer, but I waited too long and couldn't find any pressure treated lumber.

That's quite an undertaking all by yourselves. Impressive.