questions

what was your process, which land trust did you work with? there was something hard that happened? what?

you built your house, what was your process?

do you know anyone who did home making with very small budget?

is there land available here? i think that is all....

im mapping out the process of finding/ buying land and then permits and zoning and temp shelter...im trying to get clear on what the cost is. im trying to cobble my life together, craft my life so i can see choices for how much to work for pay.

usda, monday feb 22

bunch of stuff: i sent in the early application to usda saying my gross salary is 23, 700 which is what i get pre tax right now on unemployment.

lots of good info from kathrin bateman abut home life work. have that in my notebook for now.

and today i meet with karen idoine. i'll work on my questions soon.

i spoke with marcia about how overwhelming this can feel, she suggested asking for help. i need help with this. it is a radical thing to do. i so prefer this to the academic paper. i understand more about what this is about for me after going through the bernie thing/ mediation.

yoshi wants to be in a support group together.

ah, how am i taking responsibility for patriarchy?

i want to write a letter to carol gilligan.

and i went on a date and met a nice fella! i CAN like someone. i wasnt sure. i wanna get my life in order.

also betsy c will talk t us about land trusts, so i'll learn about that.

kits for straw bale, etc? middle ground

what exists as a middle ground between entirely made walls, etc and cut wood you use for straw bale or post and beam...

lets tour the web-o!

tangent, but i found this cool thing -if you host this guy, he brings the course to your site so people learn by doing, you provide food, etc. very cool.

post and beam: http://www.vermontframes.com/d_dutch.php dutch saltbox

or bistol dutch saltbox. if they install it with panels (walls?) it is $35, 244. might not include roof?

from find prefab.com

• Manufactured home. A manufactured home is one built in a protected environment, such as a factory, following federal standards, and then taken to its site. Laws governing the building of manufactured homes were put into effect by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1976, in order to ensure higher grade housing.
• Mobile home. This is the term now given to all manufactured homes made before the federal rules were enacted in 1976. Because there were no regulations, often these homes were constructed with shoddy materials and techniques.
• Modular home. This is a type of manufactured home in which the individual modules are constructed at the factory and then trucked to the home site to be assembled. These homes are regulated by state law, and because of this cannot be moved from state to state.
• Panelized home. A home built in panels, such as a wall with windows and doors already inserted, and then assembled on site. Panelized homes are also regulated by the state.
• Pre-cut homes. Similar to panelized homes, pre-cut homes are also assembled on site.
  

enough for now, i guess.

thursday where am i at?

It's a gorgeous spring like day. I got my period last night, so i think that affected my mood around this. the weather too bursts energy into me.

A freewrite:

oh, hello mt toby! i watched ten minutes of ann armbrecht's numen movie, and it reminds me to slow down, connect. i keep saying: the common problem (regarding bernie, zen peacemakers) is disconnection. and here, i am trying to connect to shelter. connect to time, livelihood, creating, community, shelter, rules around shelter, the way we are urged to do things a certain way (mortgage, work this much, etc.)

and i just wanted it all done. dudette, you gonna be patient if this happens! its just a different kind of work, but work nonetheless. hopefully with some freed up stuff later.

being an adult.

i spoke with eve this morning during interview. i said mapping this out has brought up feelings, loneliness, afraid i'll be stuck in a trailer and lose momentum. she was supportive. i sid, i'll learn, bear witness to what comes up, what is the zen in this? she bears witness to me. am a woman, trying to live connected to my life.

is it the act of closing off other options? this is it. my (a) life i choose.

how do i feel now? right now, i feel i can do it. darling, of course you can do it. do you want to do it?

spencer is a resource. i have so many people who are resources.

do i want to? i want to have a cabin yes!

shelter. gimme shelter!!

the internal remodelin'

let me give space to the unspoken voices:

you will start and then not finish; you will be unhappy; you'll be content with inappropriate lazy things (mud); you will run out of money (fail); you will have this hanging over you like a dissertation; you will be unhappy; you will hurt yourself; you will be self absorbed and unable to help anyone else; you are too focused on small things; you are going to be way absorbed in this. you do not know who you will meet, etc. what if you start and never finish? is this what you want to do with your life? you will have to put all your energy into this! your life will shrivel up into a small piece of land responsibility; you'll be a stuck homebody in the middle of nowhere; maybe the way everyone else does it ISNT so bad -job, etc. are you proving a point? you'll be stuck! unhappy! depressed! this will be a mistake -cost more of your time and lifeforce than a good job would...something will go wrong! you are going in unchartered territory. this is scary. everyone else has money from family! (so do i...) you will fuck up! whatever you do it will be a mistake!

so scary it is to connect with what i want. do i just want someone to do this for me? here, karen a gift for you! a home, a straw bale home. here it is. do i want that ? can i allow that happiness?

maybe i wish my family gave me more basic needs in home, holiday, time together. ah well. i am what i am, my karma. why cant i even get a boyfriend? i feel alone they wont encourage me at all! philip will criticize me, marion will freak. gerhard will be quiet.

it is feb 17th. where could i get land??and then what would i do? id contact the building inspector.

should i take the prefab course? or design my own? if if design, what kind? post and beam? is there some middle ground -kit you can use and then make straw bale? i'll look into that.

can my parents lend me money? i would pay them back, philip too. i could pay them back! i just cant get a loan. i would definitely pay them back. maybe someone else could lend me money? i would pay them back and get a notary, etc.

i'll need money for land (25?) (could i make arrangement with owner?)
money for prefab house (25)
foundation 5
electric 2?
plumbing 3?
road?
roof
permits, etc 300
engineer 100-2k
perc 600

its still only 65k. for a small nice new house. and land!

it would be less stressful if i had 60k. maybe ben could lend me money and i'd repay him at 2 percent?

mass building codes

http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/building-codes/massachusetts/

dwelling code
structural code
plumbing code
mechanical code
electrical code
fire life safety code
energy code
accessibility code

there are also codes for municipalities and springfield may be the closest.

i do not understand if you do this local what the process is....for permits, zoning, etc. who do you contact or ask about this? not clear at all on the mass website.

*

another site: http://www.make-my-own-house.com/building-permits.html

You'll need to go and talk to the local building inspector at your county or city courthouse or planning office. He or she will help you with the necessary forms that pertain to your building site.
Every location is a little different and each has it's own special building-permits requirements. Inspectors can be very helpful in these cases. It's best to have open communication with the inspectors.

You will most likely have a building inspector, an electrical inspector, a plumbing inspector, and a health inspector. If you're getting financing from a bank, you will probably have a financial officer that will give you funding upon completion of inspections.

You will first have to take your plans to the building inspector. You can usually find the inspectors at your county courthouse or city government buildings. If you don’t find them, they’ll find you. It’s preferable to find them before they find you in most cases. Anyway, you will be charged usually a percentage of the completed value of your home. This really varies so be aware.

On average, building permits will cost around 1% the estimated value of the house. You’ll definitely want to find out the actual percentage before you take your plans in. One way to look at it is regardless of who builds the house, the owner will have to shell out hard-earned bucks to theinspector no matter what. Not many ways out around that one. You will need to pull (buy) permits from each of these inspectors. The electrical , health, and plumbing permits aren't too difficult to swallow, but the building-permits will put a huge dent into an already dented wallet. You will want to talk to your buildinginspector about the different permits.

If you're building a house in the city where water and septic are available, then you won't have to worry about soil and water samples. Us country folk have a few more things to worry about in that case. We do need to provide soil and water samples to the health inspector.

After the samples have cleared inspection, the building inspector can determine how deep the foundation needs to be to get below the frost line and the health inspector will give the requirements for a septic system.

MY QUESTION: DOES THIS HAPPEN BEFORE OR AFTER YOU BUY LAND?

Once the soil type has been determined, you can start your house plans. Some inspectors require official blueprints that you can have made for you for a few hundred dollars or even do them yourself with software and then take your plans to a print shop and have them printed with a plotter or large format printer. Other inspectors really don't care what kind of plans you have as long as they can understand them when you present them.
Most inspectors will need the following forms returned to them before you can get a building permit:

• Building permit application
• Appointment Declaration
• Agent Authorization form
• Some or all of the following building-permits and documents may be needed so the inspector can understand how you want to build your house.
  
  The copies of your building plans can be your blueprints because they show accurate drawings that are in scale. HELPFUL!

WHO IS THE MONTAGUE BUILDING INSPECTOR?

Contact Type	Contact Information
Contact:	David Jensen Inspector of Buildings Karen Casey-Chretien Clerk Richard Kuklewicz Inspector of Wire Herbert Hohengasser Plumbing & Fuel Gas Inspector

today, thursday

some info about permits, zoning, codes from the tiny house website:

1. Avoid building codes – Begin by finding communities that don’t have a lot of building restrictions. There’s a good ebook to start your search called No Building Codes written by Terry Herb at Containerist. The ebook outlines the building codes for each US State, at the state-level. If you are open to relocating and want to a quick reference by your side when seeking out states with few (if any) restrictions this is a good ebook to have.
2. ‘Camp’ on your land – Trailer-based tiny houses are usually seen by most municipalities as RV trailers since they are built on wheels. So you can typlically live in a tiny house anywhere it’s legal to ‘camp’ on your own land. This is not always permitted so check the local ordinances with local law enforcement and/or the planning department. Other issues may still apply like how you’ll need to deal with waste water and drinking water.
3. Alternate zoning – Look for multi-family zoned land. Typically there is no minimum unit size defined for multi-family zoned property which allows apartment building to have small apartments. It’s possible that with the right proposal, a planning department may approve building the first unit of a multi-unit tiny house development.
4. Trailer park – Rent space at a trailer park. Some trailer parks have restrictive requirements like many homeowners’ associations, so avoid those. But many will be happy to have you park your custom trailer home in along side the other trailers.
5. Build an eco-village – Consider buying an existing trailer park or campground with friends and turn it into an eco-village. This is one of my favorite tiny house community concepts because the zoning and infrastructure are already in place at these kinds of properties; although I’ve yet to see someone give it a try.
6. Move out to the countryside – Many rural areas, even near major metropolitan areas will be more flexible with living solutions. There are many areas where migrant housing has already set precedents and paved the way for tiny house living.
7. Backyard camping – A friends backyard might be a viable option if ‘camping’ is be allowed in your area. Setting up a tiny home in a backyard may also legally comply with the laws that support ADUs (accessory dwelling units). Even here in regulation-ridden California we have laws that permit the addition of in-law units.
8. Hide in plain sight – I’m not advocating breaking the law but many people have found that simply setting up housekeeping in plain view works fine. The reason this works is that something so cute and in plain view is seen as a quality contribution to the neighborhood, not an eyesore. Onlookers seem to assume it’s some kind of cute shed, playhouse, or home office and just smile and continue on their way. Few would assume someone actually lives there, after all, who could live in a house so small? LOL
9. Seek a variance – This is essentially asking the local planning department to consider an exception to the rule. If you work the green angle and diversity angle you may get more traction. There is quite a bit of risk with this approach because you have to buy the land before you can apply for building permits.

“because you have to buy the land before you apply for building permits”

Whao, I’m pretty sure that is not the case everywhere. If you work with the seller they can give you permission to apply for the zoning amendment ahead of time. Also, while I am one of the ones that posted the variance thing as a suggestion, I later found out that where I live, in order to put a non-wheeled (so either with foundation or prefab but just resting on the surface style) tinyhouse, you need a zoning amendment.

These are usually temporary, apparently and can be for a year to 10 years before you have to reapply or renew it in some way. Unfortunately they are apparently not a very satisfactory solution because the municipality has no obligation to fork it over and they seem to be very anal about it.

Reading the minutes of your local council meeting can give you some idea of what you’re going up against. As far as I could tell from the minutes I read, it was a stretch to get a stand alone temporary (no foundation) accessory dwelling unit approved even in a wooded rural area for you own parents, the bastards even demanded that the property owner sign a contract for various useage conditions for the unit e.g. has to be continously used and only by the owners parents.

It’s not like this everywhere, though, apparently seattle and vancouver permit by default the construction of certain tinyhouse like things search “vancouver laneway housing” and “seattle cottage housing”, so maybe we can extend that to other cities.

Oh boy Michael, I think this is a big can of worms. Pardon, in advance, the long post that I feel is coming. I am familiar with Oregon Building Codes (based off of IRC) and many of the greater Portland area municipalities’ zoning codes. I write from this perspective.

States that have building codes truly are protecting folks. The code and inspections ensures that the house is being built safely. Moreover, room size minimums are to be sure that unscrupulous builders do not create 1000sf 5 bedroom (3 of which are 6′x5′ without a closet) homes akin to tenement housing. This is accountability and guides consumer expectations. I do realize that consumers have been conditioned to expect a small bedroom to be 10′x11′ and the previous example would probably not sell.

The codes also are in place to protect firefighters in rescue situations. I recently was privileged to listen in to the Oregon State Code Board and their revisions to our next code update. Most of their structural concerns were with firefighter safety. A floor over a basement collapsed last year due to structural inadequacy, causing the death of a couple firefighters. Windows are important too. You may be able to squeeze out of a 2′x2′ opening, but if you are unconscious, you will appreciate having a 5.7sf opening that a firefighter can get into, pack and all.

Oregon has minimum room sizes (70sf) and ceiling heights (7′ +/-) but these can be ignored if you are building the house yourself (contractor’s license not required) and will be living in it for at least two years (not selling it right away). The Carver series of homes on my website plays with this notion. All three homes are less than 300sf. Two have ‘legal’ rooms and the third ignores that standard.

I don’t believe that any jurisdiction in Oregon regulates minimum house size. These restrictions are generally put in place by upper scale housing developments with HOAs. You probably don’t want to live there anyways. Accessory structures are allowed without a permit in most zoned areas if they are 120sf and less. Oregon has increased this maximum to 200sf.

Camping on your land near municipalities is generally allowed but carries a rule of no more than 30 days in any 6 month period and cannot be closer than 3 miles to an established city (Clackamas County, some rural zones). I understand the idea is to keep transients from mucking up areas. Oregon apparently does not like it’s transients.

Your idea regarding multi-family is a great idea. Some of the zones around Portland allow for separated structures, but some require attached units. City of Portland has a minimum amount of units to be built on a piece of land. For instance, a 100′x100′ parcel in R-2 zoning requires a minimum of 4 units. They must all be built at the same time or within a couple years of each other.

Variances can be sought around here, but require several things. The first is that you must get approval from a percentage of neighboring properties within a certain radius. The second is that you must prove a hardship in order to apply for the variance. Most of the time, the use must not preclude the base zone use. For instance, trying to get a house built in an EFU (exclusive farm use) zone has several restrictions. The land is considered high quality and reserved for crops.

Setting up as an ADU is generally encouraged by the City of Portland and most other jurisdictions. Portland has even reduced their fees to create an ADU. Clackamas County will only allow one kitchen on a piece of property.

I like the idea of hiding in plain sight. I was recently looking at a piece of land that was 30′x1300′. This was a county owned property that was being auctioned off at a starting bid of $1048. It was zoned for farm use only, but allowed buildings that were incidental to farm use. My thought was to use the land as my own personal garden and orchard. I would build a 198sf (avoid permits) cute (neighbor appeal) ‘processing shed’ (incidental to farm use) and use that as a tiny cabin. My family of four would spend weekends there. In the fall, we truly would use the bed platforms to process bushels of apples.

My best option for a permanent home would be to purchase one of these substandard county parcels through auction that was zoned for housing. These parcels are considered substandard because they won’t fit a 40′ wide home and are therefore sold for 4 digits as opposed to 5 or 6. Many rural properties around here want a 10′ side setback. With the previous 30′ wide property (were it zoned residential), that would allow for a 10′ wide home, plenty wide enough for me to work with (and allows for the minimum 7′ wide rooms). In fact, cantilevers are allowed that would allow some rooms to be wider than 9′ inside.

Problem is that while I would spend $1000 for the land, I would end up spending $5000 or more for a well and $10,000 for a permit. I would install a composting toilet and avoid the septic cost. I do the building myself and after all costs are considered, I’m in a permanent legal place of 600sf for around $40k. This is acceptable to me but I know that others will be wanting to do the whole package for under $10k.

My other option was to enact the camping clause, drag a 28′ trailer to the site, and build a tiny home on it. Maybe even with pallets!

I hope this helps some of your readers who live in other parts of the country to explore their local codes and see what they can pull off.

Reply

Michael Janzen says:

August 3, 2010 at 11:13 am

Thanks Brian… excellent points. It also nicely balances out my general disrespect for them. LOL

But seriously, I’m sure there are lots of good reasons for codes, permits, and process… and I know that the core idea is to protect people.

By all means everyone should build safe homes and use the international building codes when it’s required and makes sense, even when building a tiny house. I hope I didn’t imply you should not; I was trying to stay focused on avoiding red tape loopholes more than building poorly.

The catch-222 example you gave of the odd-sized lot and $10,000 permit for a water well is perfect for illustrating how a loophole can be used to provide short-term housing while ‘harvesting apples’.

As far as Oregon is concerned, it is one of those places, like California, that is a bit strongly regulated (correct me if I’m wrong).

In a nutshell it’s states like Missouri that offer the most flexibility in terms of building codes. In places like these the loopholes I’ve described here are not so needed because there is more freedom to build. In fact this is how places like the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage are possible. http://www.dancingrabbit.org/

Every jurisdiction is different so generalizations are not particularly useful however to expand a little on Brian’s thread. Keep your eyes peeled for existing non-conforming uses – they exist in almost all jurisdictions and quite often maintain non-conforming rights. This can include substandard lots, sub-standard dwelling, non-conforming uses [residential in commercial or industrial zones etc]. Certain areas have a greater percentage of these uses. The Gulf Coast post Katrina had ton of small houses built by non-profits looking to help out. Not every community is ready for sub 100 foot free standing homes, but there are plenty of permitted 400 – 800 s.f homes and multi-family zoning allows considerable more density [smaller units]

feb 16th tasks

1. read roy and work on flow chart
2. shall i drive around montague and see what's available? look at land i love?
3. how about i go to town hall by this afternoon and ask to learn about reading prop maps.
4. make appt with hadley man in a few weeks?

freewrite feb 16 wednesday

i tend to like freewriting in pen and paper more but i'll keep it here. i feel a little depressed. this feels like a huge undertaking to live debt free. do i feel up to it? i get overwhelmed by all the steps. maybe this is why we let others do it for us. mira wouldnt get so overwhelmed. she is undaunted.

stay with it, dear. this is important to document. i want ease! myoki got ease, right? her home gives her joy. she did it. sigh. what can i manifest? i want joy. i want someone else here that i love. i want to feel empowered. could i...what do i want to manifest? i feel lazy. ashamed of just wanting it done for me. i dont want to feel overwhelmed!

i do like making progress on this, talking with others. planting the seeds. it's great. it's just hard. the push back from...i dont wanna be tired? i can get into it. i dont want to feel regret? can i reprogram me? i dont wanna be unhappy.

ok, keep on working on the flow chart from rob roy book. its a good exercise to fill in the gaps in his trajectory. i can sit with how that feels once i understand it.

it IS 3 years of wor. front end. hard work. i miss spencer on this, didnt appreciate fully what he was doing with his cabin, etc. i loved it there.

who the fuck am i?

i guess im gonna have to choose. am i (for the next x years) going to be low debt house maker and documenter (i like the documenter part.) it will be a lot of my energy. plus band and hopefuly pt goddard teaching.

im trying to go with what makes me happy. that yellow house makes me happy in tf.

if i could get a great usda mortgage and with some paid work get out of debt in x time...that would be great, too.

so another thing to do is look into the usda mortgage again.

Hadley Service Center
195 Russell Street, Suite B7
Hadley MA, 01035-9521

Serving Western Massachusetts
Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties

Contact Person:
Michael Rendulic, Area Director
Phone: (413)585-1000 Ext. 4
FAX: (413)586-8648
Email: michael.rendulic@ma.usda.gov
Office Hours are 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday

top of slope wed. feb 16th

i was going to go to this holyoke thing and am wavering bigtime.

one of my favorite things today was starting to make a flow chart distilling the mortgage free book tips. i want to read much more of this tomorrow.

I enjoyed my time with Yoshi, seeing turners with fresh eyes, that yellow house! that one street, center street i think? it makes me happy, was neat to hear denise talk about manifesting. gotto be clear i said. what am i clear on?

i did feel a little exhausted after being with yoshi. though.

you do pay a price for all the work, even if you do end up getting a new house for 60k. I think the house described by the woman in an earlier blog today seemed like a lot but really only came to about 60k.

sadly, im not feeling hopeful about the two jobs i applied for. it's 2 weeks since hcc. well, thats ok. but the other one was going to be in touch this week.

so, tomorrow's tasks?

-read lots of rob roy
-try to make flow chart
-should i set up a time for wisdom way? at least read the fine print, maybe yes, go and visit and then get in some exercise?
-consider calling dennis!

who has land?

could i talk to some locals about land? maybe buying a section from them? or leasing to own?

Suzanne and Al?
Karen Idione
exploring montague farm
dennis l
seal
huckle
al
next to carol c
sam lovejoy
susan
dan keller

could i live closer to noho, florence? i love it here...montague bookmill.

and then review the various ways of financing that. review that.

can i ask ashley about what he knows of diff between pre fab and one's own?

what to learn?

Should i learn natural building at yestermorrow? pre fab? design build? timber frame? geesh.

natural building: may 1! $800.

they have the 2 week home design/ build for $1520 plus all that room and board...maybe annie could live here? may 8 or july 12! could one camp in july?

i feel sad -this feels daunting. how will i ever do this? how do i do this cheap??? I have $30k! help! what do i do?

should i buy the land first and get a temp structure and then take this course? i could just do wisdom way and, ya know....pay that off.

i feel im getting in over my head. i feel this is a huge undertaking. i want to talk to someone who can lay it out. here is how i did it.

breathe.

tuesday feb 15th

Just had a nice freewrite in my notebook. The anxiety has been named, listened to, loved, calmed a bit. Back to the spirit of adventure/ research. I made a flow chart, wanted to distill what I'm learning. i'll make it clear as i read, etc. fill it in. then i should make an alternatives list. are there other ways to live mortgage free?

So, now i'm doing a web search for a few hours.

"Mortgage free" reminded me of yurts, even the ones that are less than 25k. And also reminded me that buying a multifam and renting out is not unthinkable. It might be that this first homestead is not my dream one, but maybe the second one would be b/c i could sell first and have more money...

"inexpensive ways to build house"

"modular houses" foreclosed one?

"prefab homes hip cheap" what is up with shipping containers

"greenprefab houses" this hit a jackpot, i like this woman copeland. i've come across her before. she details all the expenses. she used an sip?

http://www.greenmodernkits.com/c3.htm

• casa ti kit house: $22,537.91 for a 1,200 s.f. kickin' modern house kit.
  
• shipping: $1450 per truck to get from northern to central Virginia
  
• engineered drawings (gears kit documents for local zoning): $1,910.00
• poured concrete foundation: $4,886.70
  
• concrete finisher (prevents cracking, contractor swears by it) $910.00
• foam that goes under and around the foundation: $1034.68 (This is important! Why get an energy efficient house kit with insulated roof and walls if you don't also insulate below/around the foundation? You can order this foam from the factory if you like.)
  
• Mike's plumbing and Heating: (they laid the radiant tubes, plumbing in foundation) $3,450.00
• Interior Wall Finishing: sheet rock: $4,000 --> We eliminated drywall.
  Wellz, folks... this will be a combination of the contractor building interior walls with plywood, *while* lining the interior of the SIPs with... VMI's BASKETBALL COURT! 'Cause you know I'm all about reuse, and history. *That* cost (oh, by the way, did I mention I acquired that historic solid maple flooring for about $1 per sq. ft?) will also be offset by the fact that I'm going to auction off the VMI logo on ebay... which might just end up paying for it all.
  
  We paid $1,015 for labor so far to have Bobbie, our carpenter, cover the bedroom / hall walls yet leaving one side open so that we can come in with the electrician and plumber for systems when we're ready later this year. So more work does need to be done. Note the materials used were the VMI basketball court, and purchased interior doors (about $100 apiece). We also paid Ron our contractor to frame the interior walls, which is in his costs.

• You could also do a SIPs stew to save money on the interior to smooth out the OSB: http://www.greenmodernkits.com/2008/03/sips-tips-i-think-ill-call-this-one.html
• You can also paint the interior with a thicker "paint" to smooth the roughness of the OSB on the SIP - I found a great solution that also increases your energy efficiency- Super Therm (http://www.spicoatings.com/products/supertherm/). It also has exterior applications!
  
• EXTERIOR lumber and framing lumber for the load bearing INTERIOR wall $4,294.40
  
• Interior walls: $2,200 --> This was the original estimate, it was later accounted for in both Ron, our contractor's costs + in our case the contractor chose to do the framing himself and therefore we don't count this towards the total.
  
• Phase 1 LABOR for putting house kit together / exterior framing / interior load wall framing (i.e. Phase 1 of getting the house kit weatherproof. Phase 2 is labor for putting on cladding, Phase 3 is finishing the interior) $4,484
  
• Phase 2 LABOR for installing cladding: $9,610
  
• wiring: $5,700 Our current quote from the electrician is $3,600 for the solar installation and $6,300 for wiring. Note this wiring is for SOLAR, and takes DC wiring into account. If you are going to be ON the grid it will be a different scenario.
  
• windows: $8,071
  Original quote: $9,051.39: I waited until they had a 20% off sale to place my order, made some adjustments to the door, and hence my costs were: $7,689 + $59 delivery charge + $368ish tax: see the post "Get Yer Windows" for details on how to save money and bring the price down!
  
• plumbing: $4,500 (Actually I think this was Mike's Plumbing costs, above, for which we were already invoiced $3,500 to install in the foundation AND radiant loops / tubing- part of the plumbing has already happened and we now need to just finish it / hook up systems.)
• Roofing: Roofing labor to install membrane, etc. : $2,118
  
• Lowe's (I have no idea, but it's on the contractor's cost sheet so there ya go!) $196.35
• Equipment rental for a light trailer $87.12
  
• contractor: $6,021.66 for phase 1-2, plus 10% on SIPs, siding, windows/doors = 3,880 --> $9,901.66 (as of February 14th, 2009, now we have to finish interior. Estimate to do interior walls is $1,200 but that does not include systems installation.).
• roof / membrane / one green roof / cladding decisions: We're using Galvalume, we are not adding the green roof (although you certainly can on the north side of the casa ti, that was in David Day's original idea) because we are using that for rainwater collection.
  
  Supa-Cool Siding/Roof Mod Package! $8,776.11
  Shipping for super cool siding package: $268
• Heat / Energy Recovery Ventilators: Don't you dare let me hear you don't have 'em installed. We recommend two manufacturers, depending on your needs, in the $700-$1,800 range.
• Zero Energy Off Grid Systems: Depending on YOUR power needs and climate and which vendor you choose, this will vary widely. We are happy to share with you what we chose, but this is something outside of the "house kit" scope.
  
  Now here are some costs that are not really directly related to the house kit / building a house but I wanted to include:
  
  
  1. Excavation and seeding: Anonymous below asked about site costs: Good point, totally did not include that. Fortunately, when we bought our land it was... exactly as it is, except for excavation of the site- so we did not have to cut down a single tree, yet have a super south view! We situated our house at the end of the pre-existing field. Costs for excavation *and* seeding: $1,200.
  2. Perc Test (soil consulting) $600
  3. Board of Health Permit $190
  4. Building Permit $82.07
  5. Contractor going up to the factory to be trained on SIP: $194.39
  6. Driver tip for SIP delivery because we're nice and in a rural area and they went above and beyond their call of duty $80
  7. well / rainwater collection: still working on it, looking to be around $8,000
  8. solar / solar heat / batteries, etc. / radiant heat (I will go into this in depth later):
     PEX tubing for radiant heat: $670.50
     Solar systems: $11,594.00Note: this is a gentle, minimal solar system to get us through the coming years as we expect off grid technology to advance for the prefab, as well as that we embrace changing our energy expectations of usage to be less, challenging ourselves to do more, thinking strategically about power usage vs. having mass systems.
     

at the top of Tuesday's slope

Tuesday I will:

9-12 Start with freewrite.
I can freewrite, what would make it worthwhile to do prefab house? spend some time on that.
search for videos on prefab initially and also on related stuff, how i built my house...
1pm Yoshi at bakery.
Go to town hall, and learn: can one see who owns what? look at town maps....
read more rob roy, and then 6pm at zendo.

freeeewrite day 1

2/14 reflections. well, wisdom way would be easy. what if i could buy that for 150k? what is a monthly mortgage payment on that? would i even get it on unemployment? (i fear getting stuck somewhere and turning down job...oy.) i like the idea of 3 bedrooms and getting foster kids. i'll go look at that. but then....this adventure! wisdom way makes a lot of sense.

q: can you not make money on a wisdom way house? what happens when you sell? whats up with that process?

i like the rob roy book a lot. Lots of great resources, leads on living frugally.

Do I really want to build something myself?

i like the idea of buying land, doing temp structure. he makes a good case for building oneself -contractor will never care as much as you do even if you are a beginner, you'll bring care.

wow, the landtrust thing was exciting today, too. i'd love to visit those landtrusts. is karen's one of them? i dont think so...which wendell site is?

am i willing to be patient? sure.

then there is the issue of septic, building permits, water, electric. deeds. that stuff. geesh.

i'd love to do this. but maybe i can save myself lots of work...hmmm.

the wisdom way is better than this but is not going to get me debt free.

sounds like to be debt free you buy land, live temporarily on it, and build your own.

so then the question is: could a pre fab house work? i am afraid of getting overwhelmed with this. and yet..those hand builts are SO adorable. maybe i could make an addition!

i want ease. but it is a big deal to do the pumbing, elect. etc, right? what does seal have to say about that part of things...

i'm sleepy

land trust, local orgs

Equity Trust is a small, national non-profit organization committed to changing the spirit and character of our material relationships. We help communities to gain ownership interests in land and other local resources, and we work with people to make economic changes that balance the needs of individuals with the needs of the community, the earth, and future generations.

• http://www.equitytrust.org/

The Franklin Land Trust, founded in 1987, works with landowners and communities to protect the farms, forests, and other natural resources significant to the environmental quality, economy and rural character of our region. FLT has helped hundreds of families leave a legacy of conservation; dozens of farmers reach their potential and grow their family farms; and connected thousands of contiguous acres of woodland and wildlife corridors.

• http://www.franklinlandtrust.org

Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust protects significant natural, agricultural, and scenic areas and encourages land stewardship in North Central and Western Massachusetts for the benefit of the environment, the economy and future generations.

• http://www.mountgrace.org/

The Valley Community Land Trust (VCLT) is a non-profit organization that holds title to land, considering it neither as private nor public property, but as a sacred resource to be held in trust for present and future generations. Land held in trust by VCLT is made available to the community for affordable housing and sustainable agriculture.

• http://www.vclt.org

Q. Where is the land VCLT presently holds in trust?
A. VCLT owns land in Colrain, Ashfield, Greenfield and Wendell.

Q. Who owns the land? How does VCLT acquire land?
A. The Land Trust is sole owner of land acquired by donation or purchase

The Cooperative Development Institute Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) is the Northeast's center for cooperative business education, training and technical assistance. CDI's mission is to build a vibrant co-operative economy through the creation and development of successful co-operative enterprises in diverse communities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island and New York.

Cordwood Construction: Rob Roy...

This house makes me happy. The living roof! I am excited to be doing this, venturing into risk, unknown, something I want. Look how sweet.

Apparently his houses are very inexpensive. How so?

These guys built a guest cottage called Stoneview (320 sq feet -how many sq feet is my house?) for 5000 dollars. They wrote a whole book on every step of doing this. I'd love to look at that, it's called Stoneview. Does the library have i? Yes, requested.)

There is a sweet vibe here. There is a 3 day workshop on cordwood masonry May 27-29. It costs:
It happens again Sept 2-4.

I'll cut and paste some other stuff:

Cordwood Workweek - Five Days, July 11-15, 2011. The Cordwood Workweek combines all of the features of of the three-day Cordwood Workshop and the One-day Earthwood Techniques workshop, but there is more time for individual hands-on instruction and consultations. The discussions and site work are more detailed, yet the pace is more relaxed. After luch on Wednesday, for example, we tour two cordwood homes on the way to Chateaugay Lake, then relax with swimming, hot-tubbing, conversation, and imdividual consultations on the deck at Mushwood.

Timber Framing for the Rest of Us - Three Days (May 23-25 only). This one covers basic "post and beam" construction as done by most contractors and owner-builders using sound building design and techniques and readily available mechanical fasteners made for the purpose. Morning classroom sessions cover structural principles and examples, including basic load calculations. Afternoon hands-on work consits of laying out and erecting a simple frame. There may be time for a free additional hands-on practice day on May 26, before the cordwood workshop. The textbook, supplied, is Rob's Timber Framing for the Rest of Us.

The costs: $400 each for the 3 day ones. the 5 day is $580. plus $40 a night for sleeping. but maybe that can be split. i assume food is not included?

It's charming!

Monday Feb 14th!

Here is what I'm a gonna do today the first day, from 10-2:30.

1. Call Karen Idoine, or email her.
HI Karen,

Wondering how you are processing yesterday's circle. I've been cooking in it a bit last night, this morning, feeling vitality and also trying to connect with how to use next week well.

So, I'm following up on our chat about low-debt house building/ making and would love to see if I can chat with you -either meeting for tea or talking on the phone, as your schedule permits. I've blocked out this week to learn about this topic as I think about next steps in my own home-making, and I'm also flexible other weeks. I'd love to learn more about your land trust and hear other details you think are relevant, possibly see your home if that works out easily. I'm trying to document this research as part of a broader interest in sharing creative/best practices for living balanced lives! I'm looking for guidance (starting with low debt homemaking) and I think others are, too.

Lots of love on this Valentines day, Karen

Is Karen's land part of the valley community land trust?

2. Call Yestermorrow -is that class a good fit for low debt?
(should i send in the scholarship form? i have a day to ponder i think.)

How relevant do you think this is for me -given an interest in low debt home building.
Pre fab cost factor...johns email, geo and johns office. tomorrows design: 802 496 5546
johnconnell@madriver.com

how much will this be emphasized? "it's a theme in all our courses."

Maybe I need to clarify more, what do I want from the class?

I think I'm also expressing a critique, but hold yer horses. ok? I think I really want a different course on Low Debt Home Building options! I'd love to teach that. What would my ideal course look like???? Maybe I could make that curriculum and plug this in for research. Could I deduct that?

3. Complete Idiot's Guide to Self Sufficient Living

They emphasize Rob Roy's cordwood house and workshops. See separate post.

4. Email Tina Clark, can I chat with her on phone?

Dear Tina,

We've met at least once (time bank orientation at brick house) and we know lots of people in common. I live in Montague Center, and I'm in the process of researching for myself low-debt forms of buying/building a house. I was just asking some of the people in my zendo (Montague Farm Zendo) about good people to talk to and Suzanne Weber thought of you -she said you have built houses on a creative shoestring budget? I am wondering if you would be up for a phone conversation with me, or even an email exchange, explaining how you did that, any advice you'd offer to someone like me hoping to do this. I'm also hoping to share my research process with others so that this is a community resource -how to live with minimal debt opens up our lives for the work we want to do! I feel really excited about gathering creative tips/ best practices from community members.

Hope to hear from you. Warmly, Karen 367-2858

4. Valley Comm Land Trust www.vclt.org

Separate blog page on this. Exciting.

5. Email Court to ask Betsy.
Hi Court,

I enjoyed the vitality in our conversation last night after the official circle -land trusts, the farm, etc.

So this email is a follow up email reminder, which I think you requested, to contact Betsy Corner (spelling?) about land trust options for the Farm...I am also interested in connecting with her or somehow learning more about how this model works. (Will do some web searching now.) Karen Idione, also in Wendell, is also gonna educate me.

Keep me posted! Excited to connect over all this.

love, Karen

6. Call Seal. i did, left msg.

7. What is up with wisdom way?
(413) 863-9781 ext. 149
rdi-info@fcrhra.org

How many houses? What is price? I am currently unemployed.

5 homes remain, they 4 mod income, 1 for open mrkt.
mod income: 3 bed 180k, 4 210k.
in process funders, get more subsidy for houses. not done deal in process.
come look fill application. helpful if low income helpful, interested.
not supposed to discrim. sources of income...

7. Hours for Town Clerk, etc. Questions about Zoning, etc.
General office number: 413-863-3200, x203 , m, t, thu 8:30-5:30. wed too
What are my questions:

How does one read who owns what property?
What kind of permits are needed when building a house? What is the process?
Should I call Doug Donnell instead? Dennis? yes
What is process if want to subdivide land for small structures?
What is general cost of putting in plumbing, septic, electric?
This is important stuff for Montague Farm and this whole project I'm researching.
Is it in one of my books?

8. Read and take notes on Rob Roy, I guess.

9. Freewrite

10. End of Day Reflection and Thoughts for Tuesday.

lowdebthouseproject

Sat. Feb 12, 2011

I am spending this week researching ways to create and live happily in a low debt house. This is part of a broader project about work-life balance. And possibilities for having free time for things I love.

From Monday through Friday (only 5 days?) I will do the following tasks:
-freewrite everyday
-visit town hall with prepared questions (check web first)
-are there q's specifically related to montague farm? sure. write those out.
-possibly talk to people
-contact rdi
-read books and do reviews
-possibly interview seal, get her friend's name, talk to people who have done this
-call yestermorrow and see if pre fab is close to low debt, would they ever do a low debt class?
-visit a yurt?
-call ashley schenk....
-maybe garth?

That is all I know fer now.

Except. here are the books I hope to read:
rob roy's mortgage free!
r. burnham's housing ourselves