We’re going to build a house. Correction - we’re going to design and build a house.
We’re not going to buy a house that’s already built. We’re not going to pay someone to build it (though I’m sure we’ll hire out some aspects of it). We’re likely not going to buy plans and implement them.
I think that we’ll build a Post and Beam style house. I really like the way they look and we want a pretty open floor plan. I’ve always liked the look of P&B houses and since this is (likely) the one and only house we’ll build, I want to really do it “right”.
I’m struggling with what kind of base to build on. I’d like to do a slab for the thermal benefits and cost-savings, but I’m worried about getting a flat enough spot to pour one. We may end up with a perimeter foundation - we’ll have to see.
I really want to incorporate as many passive solar features as possible.
At this point, we’re really in the think and plan and research phase. We’ve got numerous books out from the library and we’re just trying to figure out what it really is that we want and how best to acheive it.
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September 21st, 2006 at 8:55 pm
The place looks great Matt. Are you sure a slab is cheaper? I thought the cost of concrete made it cheaper to do a perimeter foundation.
Val
September 26th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
If we do a perimeter foundation then we have to do floor joists on the first floor and we don’t have all that thermal mass for passive solar benefit.
-Matt
September 26th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
Hey, what about using engineered trusses rather than standard joists on the floor? I’m not sure about the solar effects, I just hate having to take a jackhammer to the floor to do any plumbing repairs or changes. :-S
Dy
September 27th, 2006 at 6:32 am
Yeah, the plumbing is still very much up in the air. I’ve got another Post and Beam (well, Timberframe) book on request from the library to go with the 4 we’ve already got checked out and I’m hoping that it will answer some of my questions. I’m also waiting on a SIP book so that may have some info too.
I haven’t done any research on it but I would think that engineered trusses would still be more expensive than just pouring a slab (not taking into account the cost to fix something).
-Matt