Building

I built several houses with my father growing up and after that I built houses for myself or helped friends build houses on their land.

Dad learned to build houses from his father who was an Electrical Contractor and so he was always around houses and buildings being built or modified through remodeling or fixed or added to in some way also. My Grandfather taught his three boys to be electricians and so they always had work through the Great Depression if they wanted it. My father Graduated from High School in the Seattle area as Valedictorian of his high school. He was a very smart and self disciplined man.

The old way of thinking about building I like. Which is first you need to find the level. This is especially important if you are building on the side of a hill where often your eye can throw you off as to what level is. But, even if the ground is sloping in a slow slope this can be a problem too throwing your eye off.

I suppose the earliest builders to find level would build a pond next to what they wanted to build to see the level first hand. Because the surface of the water is always the level wherever you are. Another way (so you don't have to build a lake or pond) is to get a hose that is clear (as long as the longest distance between any two corners of what you are going to build. You also likely could use a regular hose and add on about 3 to 4 feet of clear hose on each end to do this. Because of the hose is filled with water it will give you the level at any length. This is a very easy way to find the level of whatever you want to build if you don't have access to a transit or know how to use one like you see surveyors with. A transit (if you know how to use it) can give you the level over 100s of feet.(if that is what you need). And most professionals use something like that to get their level by projecting their line of site through the transit upon a vertical stick they drive into the ground to know the level at all points.

Once you know the level at all points you can begin to build your foundation. However, most people place their buildings with one wall north, one south, one east and one west. However, if you are on a street that meanders often people build any which way that looks useful or artful or convenient. But, if you are out in the woods or desert somewhere miles from the nearest house it is entirely up to you how you place your building or house.

There are other things to think about (if you are responsible in a long term sense as well). Where are you building? If you are in some place like the west Coast where there are earthquakes you likely want to tie down the building to the foundation with metal devices, so it doesn't jump off the foundation in an earthquake. If you are somewhere else, "Does is flood there?" Are you building in a flood plain and should you put your house on stilts or get a bulldozer and make a pad of land 5 or 10 feet high to build upon in case it floods? But then, you might have to put boulders around it at the base so the flood doesn't wash away under your foundations.

So, where you are located things like flash floods, major flooding and earthquakes should be considered. Because like in California, Oregon and Washington if you build on the side of a hill and the hill collapses in an earthquake you likely will be doing some house surfing down the side of that hill or mountain.

Once you work through all this then you have to decide what kind of foundation you want. There are two normal kinds of foundations that people build for various reasons. The simplest is a concrete slab foundation. However if you build a concrete slab foundation you won't have a basement and you really have to think seriously about your plumbing because it will be set in cement and the drains won't be accessible without using a jackhammer to get at them at some point in the future. So, if there is a clog you can't address in your sink or toilet drains you will have to get a jackhammer to fix it.

Where I live in California it doesn't get very cold so you don't see many basements. Pier block foundations are usually solid around the outside of the building with little pods coming down internally to support internal walls through floor joists like you see here.

This is why many people choose Pier Block foundations. A pier block foundation usually is hollow cement blocks around the edge of your house and sometimes between rooms (depending upon how you are building this. Or often between rooms you use a block of cement a foot or so high and wide with wood going up from that in the center of your home to support floor and walls. When a pier block foundation is completed (usually with metal re bar added for strength in the open holes, cement is then put down into the completed edge blocks of pier blocks to strengthen the whole thing to build the next level which is the floor with floor Joists. However, before you do this you have to prepare once again your plumbing drains and likely your water inputs and figure out where your water heater is going to go. (unless you are going to do it European style without a water heater storage container). In a European style the water is heated just before you use it usually with electrical coils similar to an electric stove right in the pipes. However, sometimes they don't get very warm or hot very fast, so one has to be patient. Whereas with the American style of hot water heater one might wait 30 seconds to a minute before the hot water arrives and then it will keep coming until it runs out. In America most people choose a hot water heater but in Europe most people choose the heaters in the wall with the pipes. It's all whatever you are used to usually.

The basic building block of most houses is what is called a Douglas Fir 2 by 4. This is usually 8 feet long and 2inches by 4 inches (approximately). This is what most of the walls and some floors are built with. Larger beams and joists are used both in the ceilings and floors to carry more weight over longer spans, especially over doorways, large internal opening in the house and the like between rooms.

 

 

This picture is how you will see 2by 4s stacked at a lumber yard. You need quite a lot of them to frame a house.

However, in most states you need to consult the building codes and to have plans approved for anything you build. However, sometimes out buildings can be built in some counties even in California under about 10 feet by 13 feet if they don't have plumbing or electrical installed in them without building inspections. Also, most places anything like a tent, teepee or yurt since it is considered to be a temporary shelter doesn't need to be inspected either. However, some places have rules against large teepees or yurts unless you are far enough out into the country.

And many places require flush toilets (at least one) before you permanently build a structure and live in it. So, often the first thing you need to install is a septic tank or lines to a local sewer before you can get a permit for building. Also, often you also need access to water or water piped in or not. So, it is good to check on all these things so you don't just start building and get red tagged and have to tear it all down. This is a real bummer they used to say, especially if you have already spend hundreds or thousands of dollars or more on the building materials and labor up until you have to tear it all down.

However, each thing is step by step to make this whole building work for you. You have to dig the footings before you can lay block even for pier block foundations. Before that you have to find the level because if your foundation isn't level your home may not last. You want all your major weight stresses to be vertical and not any horizontal because of the extreme weights involved here. If your cement has too much sand in it it will crumble in an earthquake and collapse. If you don't install the plumbing drains before you build something you will have to crawl under the house (if it isn't a slab) and if it is a slab foundation it will be too late after it is poured.

All these things are very sequential if you are going to have your building inspected and passed. However, you might live somewhere there are no building inspections at all, and then building is only about convenience and safety and esthetics or whatever you value.

If you are going to do something like hay bale construction or bottle construction for insulation or other exotic types of construction make sure you know what you are doing and what the local codes are where you live here on earth.

And if you are going to go up two stories or more you have to make sure you are building for that. Otherwise your whole structure will collapse. If you are going to use lifetime cement tiles on your roof you have to build everything below that strong enough to carry that.(I have lifetime cement tiles but it was built to carry that much weight beforehand).

So, having a successful outcome it all about planning. If you forget one of the steps beforehand it can be extremely expensive to fix it afterwards. In some cases you might have to tear down the whole thing and start over which would cost you thousands and thousands of dollars or you just might give up. So, planning and good materials and people who know what they are actually doing is very important for a good outcome.

Owner builders can be successful if they have a practical outlook. Just being artistic isn't enough. Without a practical methodical efficient way of looking at things you won't wind up with what you want in the end. So, starting by being efficient will make the whole thing fun to be a part of rather than a nightmare that breaks up you and your wife over the losses in money from not being organized or efficient in the first place.

So, knowing this, Happy Building!