How to build a house alone [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#131

Post by lallysingh » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:00 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #100

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I think about it (not in depth, though), does it matter? If you're building it yourself, you can't go that fast. The amount of building materials you can buy each month with what would amount to a mortgage+taxes+insurance payment each month would be just about what you could use up. So it would probably work out OK.

Land alone is often pretty expensive; can you get a regular mortgage to buy it?

Of course! And it's even lower risk because you can't really mess up land the way you can a house.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#132

Post by Ftuuky » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:03 PM UTC

lb1lf wrote: post #66

Ftuuky wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, EN subs is a must have, I'm sure my brother is capable of that. Good luck with learning Portuguese. Just like French, you'll need some perseverance in the beginning. ;)

Fun (to me, at least) and perhaps tangentially related - I spent A LOT of time in Vigo, Spain (Well, Vigo, Galicia, as the locals would say) a few years ago - my employer had a major delivery at one of the shipyards, and I volunteered to stay until we had it all sorted. Turned out to take way longer than expected. I started picking up quite a lot of what I assumed to be Spanish (this being Spain an'all) from being ar…

I am actually from Northern Portugal, very close to the Galician border and can confirm that Galego is much closer to Portuguese than to Spanish.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#133

Post by Ftuuky » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:05 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #74

Ftuuky wrote: post #37

My father rebuilt a 16th century house by himself on Saturdays. He used electricity and the house has modern features such as piped water and internet but no modern materials were used (concrete, aluminium, steel, etc.), only "old" granite and wood. It took him almost a decade but he builds houses for a living so it's not exactly a hobby despite the fact that he considered it as such. Do you think people would like t…

As a Portuguese myself, I can assure you I'd watch every single video! Do they build old-style houses for clients too?

No client ever requested that to my father. Probably because there are so many cheap abandoned old houses (from 14th to 19th century) that it doesn't make much sense to built a brand new one.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#134

Post by toomanybeersies » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:07 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #96

purplezooey wrote: post #17

This is completely badass. Construction is so overpriced and hard to get done. He's just jumping in and doing it. Good for him. Probably would cost $500,000 to build.

It's not overpriced. I've never heard a parent tell their child to grow up and become good with their hands and work in construction. If you're smart, you're filtered out to doctor/lawyer/programmer/engineer, who are getting paid six figures for office work. If you want talented people to work with their hands, in the heat and cold and rain, risk injury that could cause them permanent damage or render them unable to…

Residential construction is a very well paying industry if you have your head screwed on. Start up your own business, get a couple of hammer hands and apprentices, and you've basically got a license to print your own money.

At least that's the situation in Australia and New Zealand.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#135

Post by Dowwie » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:14 PM UTC

ctime wrote: post #76

Dowwie wrote: post #61

There's a couple in Alaska who have been building a house and vlog their experience: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChhBsM9K_Bc9a_YTK7UUlnQ

This couple (yt:Pure Living for life) are actually building in Idaho. They seem happy, good for them. The video on the importance of neighbors helping out was particularly insightful to me.

Idaho! Thanks for the correction.

It's rare to see a community come together to help out like that, at least for hands-on contractor related work.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#136

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:19 PM UTC

hobofan wrote: post #21

adventured wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US has, for practical purposes, an unlimited supply of cost effective, renewable timber (domestically + Canada). It makes tremendous economic sense. Also consider the renewable + cost + timber supply factor, when it comes to population. Germany's population has barely increased since 1970. The US population has increased by ~55% in that time, adding over 100 million people. Rarely building new structures for a st…

That only answers one half of the question, doesn't it? Germany should also have the same unlimited supply of timber (it has the same percentage of forests of their land area), so why don't Germans build wood houses?

[deleted]

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#137

Post by Amezarak » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:21 PM UTC

Tepix wrote: post #25

hobofan wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That only answers one half of the question, doesn't it? Germany should also have the same unlimited supply of timber (it has the same percentage of forests of their land area), so why don't Germans build wood houses?

Stone houses last longer. Whenever I see a report about a tornado or a hurricane in the US I wonder what the damage would be like if people had stone houses instead of wooden houses that disintegrate during a storm and then in turn damage other houses. It reminds me of the Kessler Syndrome.

Most of the damage during a hurricane occurs due to the storm surge, which is a wall of water that is pushed up on land and then drains back out.

Even if the structure remains intact - and storm surges have no problem washing concrete and stone away - the house has to be ripped apart. The flooding ruins sheetrock, furniture, carpet, etc and mold growth is a huge issue.

The wind is usually not that big a deal unless you have a tornado during the hurricane. I have a 100 year old wood framed house that has been though many hurricanes, including Katrina. Generally the worst case wind-wise for most people is that you see some minor roof damage and little else unless a tree falls on the house. Wooden houses certainly do not "disintegrate" during storms.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#138

Post by lotsofpulp » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:24 PM UTC

toomanybeersies wrote: post #134

lotsofpulp wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not overpriced. I've never heard a parent tell their child to grow up and become good with their hands and work in construction. If you're smart, you're filtered out to doctor/lawyer/programmer/engineer, who are getting paid six figures for office work. If you want talented people to work with their hands, in the heat and cold and rain, risk injury that could cause them permanent damage or render them unable to…

Residential construction is a very well paying industry if you have your head screwed on. Start up your own business, get a couple of hammer hands and apprentices, and you've basically got a license to print your own money. At least that's the situation in Australia and New Zealand.

Exactly, there is nothing stopping people doing exactly what you said...except for the fact that it is hard, undesirable work, hence why it is well paying and therefore not "overpriced".

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#139

Post by Amezarak » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:24 PM UTC

Tepix wrote: post #79

Retric wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The roof in a brick house would still get ripped off, as would the windows and doors. Depending on wind speed the walls might or might not survive but the house would cost just about as much to repair.

I'm not sure if the roof construction is the same in the US and in Germany. Pitched roofs do well against storms (30° roof slope is best). Luckily, we don't have deadly hurricanes.

Nearly all house roofs are pitched, at least in the southeast. I have never seen one that wasn't. Very sharp pitches are more common in newer homes, though, in my experience.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#140

Post by ghaff » Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 1:25 PM UTC

megaman22 wrote: post #75

adventured wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A house like that will easily last over a century if you take care of it and do routine maintenance. Obviously that's assuming it's not destroyed in a direct hit by a tornado or a once in a century nearby massive earthquake (such a risk applies to a super tiny fraction of all US housing). A friend of mine purchased a hundred plus year old wood house. The standards back then were non-existent, boards placed wherever,…

The thing old houses like that have in their favor is that the timber they are built out of is usually better quality than anything you could possibly buy today. Consequently a lot of things could be significantly overbuilt in a way you can't do today. My house is 1880s vintage, and it's sorta post-and-beam, with 10x10 beams making up the frame, and double layers of 12" to 30" wide pine floorboards. You can't even be…

I live in about a 200 year old house that's kinda sorta post and beam but nothing like 10x10s. And some really wide floor boards. When I had to do a major renovation I got some wider floor boards but they're still a lot thinner than some of the ones already in the house.