A 2-part series on creating your own shelter in these difficult times.1: Options these days in 2024 2: Building a home from scratch and paying living expenses when taking a year off to build.
Thanks Lloyd, I have all your books and love your adventurous spirit! After living in school busses Romany caravans & land lubbing it, hubby and I bought a run down, water logged , 600 sq ft "fruit pickers shack" w/ 7ft high ceilings on 1/4 acre 20 yrs. ago. Partly using some of your inspiring books, we have transformed her. When hubby became disabled, community stepped in and turned it into a 1,200 ft accessible. I decided to stop whining & embrace our low ceilings redesigning her into a sweet little hobbit home w /suntubes, huge round hand carved doorways etc. We turned the garden shack into an ADU for a live caretaker when the time comes, and a Shepards hut I designed, in our driveway for a live in garden helper.Now 70, we are mortgage free, it;s never too late!
My dream of having a house by age 40 is well underway. I’ve devoured all your books, gone through The Timeless Way of Building / Pattern Language and am doing it mortgage free, above board in a lovely inspiring pocket in Nova Scotia. I am building with logs set vertically. I select- harvested the trees over the last two winters with a gentleman, mentor and kindred spirit in his 80s, a bit of a legacy project for him. I hauled them to my 4 acres I worked hard to purchase, anchor sealed the ends , draw knifed the bark, stickered them up for a year, then milled two sides flat and grooved a 1”x2” to receive a spline. I then mortised out the bottom to revive the double 2x4 bottom plates. My resource isn’t a lot of money, it is the people I know. A group of young Mennonites came in and dug a ditch with the excavator, a friend / engineer signed off on my plans I made up, found a plumber a mile away who did the rough-in.. it’s a journey for sure. Hoping to pour my slab in the next week or so. This is not for the faint of heart. A lot of thankless tasks converge with moments of transcendence. Thank you for still being a huge part of my life Lloyd.
We are at the beginning of the build yourself housing adventure! Very good location close to big enough city for amenities we need, but far enough away that we only have to have one.... yeah, one!... inspection! For the sewage lagoon I can build with a little hand holding from the state water quality people, and the cost of renting a small bulldozer for a week or two. And only a very nominal 'permit' fee for the state to inspect as I go. Other than that, no permits or inspections to build required. But can only build one house on the place without falling into the regulatory trap, but one should be all we ever need. And whatever part of the house, up to about 14' x 14', built to FEMA specs as safe room for tornado shelter won't be counted as property taxed space.
We built our own house in Oz and moved in 7.5 years ago. It was hard work but glorious to live in since. Most of the world still build their own dwellings. It's only the over regulated first world countries that make it so problematic for people to cater for such a basic need themselves.
The country where I live has just removed planning requirements for structures 60sq m or under. Also,zoning laws have been stripped way back so it will be interesting to see what happens. Tiny homes just became a lot more affordable as permit costs are gone. No engineering reports etc.
First house I owned, my father helped me build. It was an acre, down two and a half miles of deep sandy dirt road (except when it rained). This was in the 80s in Clay County, Florida. I designed it and used graph paper to show the details for all of it, including using three 2x12s bolted and glued together (rescorcinol sp?) to make a center span downstairs. The county engineer looked it over and told me it was a bit overbuilt. Told him I planned to live there forever. The building permit was cheap and open ended. You had to show progress over time. It was over five years of pay as you go. Bought an old trailer to live in while the work went on in fits and spurts.
Thank you, Lloyd. Big fan here from Melbourne, Australia. Would absolutely love to build my own home with my partner one day and be able to do so cheaply and responsibly. I work in public housing and have an eye in to exactly how ludicrous the entire landscape is. Houses in Australia remotely near any city (or work options) are a pipe-dream at this point. Cheers.
Thanks Lloyd, I have all your books and love your adventurous spirit! After living in school busses Romany caravans & land lubbing it, hubby and I bought a run down, water logged , 600 sq ft "fruit pickers shack" w/ 7ft high ceilings on 1/4 acre 20 yrs. ago. Partly using some of your inspiring books, we have transformed her. When hubby became disabled, community stepped in and turned it into a 1,200 ft accessible. I decided to stop whining & embrace our low ceilings redesigning her into a sweet little hobbit home w /suntubes, huge round hand carved doorways etc. We turned the garden shack into an ADU for a live caretaker when the time comes, and a Shepards hut I designed, in our driveway for a live in garden helper.Now 70, we are mortgage free, it;s never too late!
Great Debra!
Can you send pics?
Yes, I'll have to have spouse help me (I'm a closet luddite)
Hi Lloyd, see this article on how to put a roof over mortgage free:
Teenager's dream lands him a historic home: 'Three years of my free time and my weekends'https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522619/teenager-s-dream-lands-him-a-historic-home-three-years-of-my-free-time-and-my-weekends
Thanks Lloyd! My wife and I bought an old cob barn and an acre of land in Normandy, and are at the beginning of the process.
My dream of having a house by age 40 is well underway. I’ve devoured all your books, gone through The Timeless Way of Building / Pattern Language and am doing it mortgage free, above board in a lovely inspiring pocket in Nova Scotia. I am building with logs set vertically. I select- harvested the trees over the last two winters with a gentleman, mentor and kindred spirit in his 80s, a bit of a legacy project for him. I hauled them to my 4 acres I worked hard to purchase, anchor sealed the ends , draw knifed the bark, stickered them up for a year, then milled two sides flat and grooved a 1”x2” to receive a spline. I then mortised out the bottom to revive the double 2x4 bottom plates. My resource isn’t a lot of money, it is the people I know. A group of young Mennonites came in and dug a ditch with the excavator, a friend / engineer signed off on my plans I made up, found a plumber a mile away who did the rough-in.. it’s a journey for sure. Hoping to pour my slab in the next week or so. This is not for the faint of heart. A lot of thankless tasks converge with moments of transcendence. Thank you for still being a huge part of my life Lloyd.
We are at the beginning of the build yourself housing adventure! Very good location close to big enough city for amenities we need, but far enough away that we only have to have one.... yeah, one!... inspection! For the sewage lagoon I can build with a little hand holding from the state water quality people, and the cost of renting a small bulldozer for a week or two. And only a very nominal 'permit' fee for the state to inspect as I go. Other than that, no permits or inspections to build required. But can only build one house on the place without falling into the regulatory trap, but one should be all we ever need. And whatever part of the house, up to about 14' x 14', built to FEMA specs as safe room for tornado shelter won't be counted as property taxed space.
We built our own house in Oz and moved in 7.5 years ago. It was hard work but glorious to live in since. Most of the world still build their own dwellings. It's only the over regulated first world countries that make it so problematic for people to cater for such a basic need themselves.
The country where I live has just removed planning requirements for structures 60sq m or under. Also,zoning laws have been stripped way back so it will be interesting to see what happens. Tiny homes just became a lot more affordable as permit costs are gone. No engineering reports etc.
First house I owned, my father helped me build. It was an acre, down two and a half miles of deep sandy dirt road (except when it rained). This was in the 80s in Clay County, Florida. I designed it and used graph paper to show the details for all of it, including using three 2x12s bolted and glued together (rescorcinol sp?) to make a center span downstairs. The county engineer looked it over and told me it was a bit overbuilt. Told him I planned to live there forever. The building permit was cheap and open ended. You had to show progress over time. It was over five years of pay as you go. Bought an old trailer to live in while the work went on in fits and spurts.
“start rolling and the momentum will carry you along” well dang, I think I’ll be taking that into the future with me
Thank you, Lloyd. Big fan here from Melbourne, Australia. Would absolutely love to build my own home with my partner one day and be able to do so cheaply and responsibly. I work in public housing and have an eye in to exactly how ludicrous the entire landscape is. Houses in Australia remotely near any city (or work options) are a pipe-dream at this point. Cheers.