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Topic: Wants to build his own home (Read 2070 times)
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leos.mike
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Looking through the forums here for a good place to start I can't seem to find any guides or information on building your own home.
I'll admit to having grown up in MA and lived the last 5 years in CT so I'm hoping to find my assumptions of overbearing regulation and restrictive codes are false for NH (but I'm sure you can understand that bias based on where I'm coming from).
My wife and I plan to purchase a few acres and build our own log cabin on it. This prospect would be a nightmare of contractors, codes, restrictions and taxes in MA... is it possible to do easily in NH? Are there certain areas, counties, or towns more lenient than others?
If log homes and self-built homes are covered elsewhere in the forum I'm sorry I missed them, perhaps a sticky reference to such a post could be set up?
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MaineShark
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You can always build your own home.
You are (according to the government, anyway) required to obey all building codes. Some are ridiculous, some are not. I doubt many localities have anything that compares to Mass.
Here in Grafton, we don't have any building inspections or permits, so it's all "honor system" as to whether you actually followed code or not. Oddly enough, I've not seen houses collapsing left and right...
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"An armed society is a polite society" - this does not mean that we are polite because we fear each other.
We are not civilized because we are armed; we are armed because we are civilized..
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leos.mike
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Thanks MaineShark! That's exactly what I wanted to hear.
If anyone has any wisdom to pass along re: Log Homes that would be excellent also. I know that pioneers managed to build their own with no power equipment and only the tools they could carry out there with them. Have any of you modern pioneers attempted the same?
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MaineShark
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I've seen it done. It's a lot of work to get it right, and the ongoing maintenance level is high.
Remember, even if you only go back as far as the Titanic, what was considered a first class cabin, no one would even consider tolerable in a ship, these days. What the pioneers lived in would not be considered acceptable housing by any but a few die-hards, in the modern world.
So I'd assume that you're more likely to be looking at modern log cabin building techniques, not authentic pioneer techniques.
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"An armed society is a polite society" - this does not mean that we are polite because we fear each other.
We are not civilized because we are armed; we are armed because we are civilized..
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FlyingDutchman
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Here is a website of a guy who has built multiple small and cheap houses. Ranging from houses smaller than sheds to more pioneer-style size houses. All with the modern neccesities you might need. He has plans and books that you can buy. http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/pages/plans |
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Budders
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my wife and i are looking to do the same thing, gonna start physically looking for the land in october and start building in the springtime. if this is a timeframe you guys are looking at we should talk about into being neighbors and helping each other build maybe even get a deal on buying a couple parcels from the same person
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Porcupine Realtor
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These days it's less expensive (and easier) to purchase an existing home rather than building new. Consider the costs of building new: piece of land perc test and environmental survey to make sure a septic system can be installed and that you are a proper distance from "wetlands" clearing trees for the house site and driveway septic design septic system installation well water installation actual cost of construction @ $50-80 per square foot non-financial costs such as delays and time invested in being your own general contractor (opportunity costs) All said, if you still want to build new, visit my website and search for raw land by price and county: www.porcupinerealestate.comIf you want help building a log cabin, you can call Jim Johnson, who assembled/constructed a log cabin for Mark and Laura. He can assist you with your project or act as our GC. Mark |
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Jack Nelson
FSP Participant
 Offline
Posts: 39
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I have done this in 1987 on a piece of land in Massachusetts, but I did it with modern materials, not logs. Still, the basic principles are the same. You have to have basic sanitation so as to flush your toilet (black water) and get rid of dishwater and bath (gray water). You have to have a clean water supply that is reliable. Can't do a rain barrel in a place like west Texas, but NH gets plenty more rainfall. Need to TREAT the water for giardia to make sure that's gone. Structurally you need the home to hold up under weight of snow and ice, the roof and windows to be watertight, and the walls be airtight enough that rodents and insects don't get into your living space. With log construction, this latter task won't be as simple as with modern balloon frame method using studs and plywood. There has never been more of an opportunity than now, since never before have we had access to so many modern construction materials that could be used to AUGMENT the log method. I am thinking of arsenic-salt pressure treated lumber for sill plate ground contact, Great Stuff spray crack filler (comes in 12-oz cans), metal chimneys made with double and triple walls (yes, I was a CSIA certified chimney sweep a few years and did many chimney repairs). Let's talk further. e-mail me at radiomessenger1@gmail.com or call me (267) 334-0558. Jack Nelson |
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Jack Nelson
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TJames
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Just so you know, earthship style homes in New Mexico get all the water they need from rain.
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