This sounds like a great idea, if you are only building one. But this guy has been doing it for what looks like 7 years at least. The longer this goes on, the greater the opportunity for an injury that completely wreaks his body. He needs a partner (and a ladder).
How to build a house alone [video]
221–230 of 292 posts
Re: How to build a house alone [video]
#222Earlier quoted context omitted.
Leading is a core part of managing. Or at least managing well.
Leadership is about making people genuinely want to do things. Jesus, Napoleon, Lenin, Steve Jobs - they were leaders. Managing, on the other hand, is about handling employees, who are doing what you tell them to do only because you pay them.
No, they were managers. They just understood that good management is being a leader. Trying to micromanage and compel people to do what you want is inefficient compared to inspiring people to want the same things as you, and helping them coach them so they grow into more effective, productive versions of themselves.
Re: How to build a house alone [video]
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
You cant get a mortgage for self build in the USA? - its a definite market in the UK and you can save quite a bit.
I'm not from the US :) By "self-build", you mean you actually build it yourself? Doesn't the bank require professionals who can present invoices and such?
You are in charge of the build typically you do some of the PM your self and hire contractors to do the heavy lifting - if you have the skills some do bits themselves
Re: How to build a house alone [video]
#224As a developer, I'm so glad I didn't try to build my own house (even a tiny house) alone. Having just one extra person is worth so much. Building a house is a great project and one I hope to do again with my wife and kids some day. My brother and I built my 390ft (+ loft) fully equipped, 16' tall tiny house: http://tinyhousemansion.com/
It's beautiful. How does it handle strong winds? That'd be my only concern with a design like that.
Re: How to build a house alone [video]
#225I guess the idea is that all the strength comes from the shell, but those posts look pretty flimsy. Is their purpose mainly to be a template for the creation of the floor, which in the end is held up by the sides? (Confession: I could only watch two episodes ... even though I had read enough of the comments to know he didn't die in one of the videos, it was creepy watching his feet slipping on beams so far above a concrete head smasher.)
Re: How to build a house alone [video]
#226It looks like the entire thing is made of chipboard and planks of wood? Is it a temporary building? How long does that last?
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,…
Not all wood frame homes are created equally.
This house seems to be employing OSB everywhere anything wider than a 2x4 is needed. I assume most of the criticism being voiced is in response to the OSB, not of the wood frame.
Something as common as a burst water pipe (there's snow on the ground in the video) is likely to cause severe structural damage to this home due to the liberal use of OSB, particularly in the joists.
OSB is a relatively modern invention, none of the history you mention is relevant to its application.
Re: How to build a house alone [video]
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very cool! If you have a picture of the house, I'm sure HN would love to see it!
I currently do not have one by myself, but you can see some of it from Google Maps street view: https://goo.gl/maps/rXx5DKRT4K12 It's this one: https://imgur.com/a/afZgOZ2 Naturally it has been maintained over the years, new roofing, new paint, but all in all it's the same house.
Those large roof overhangs are so wonderful. Why aren't they more common in America?
Not only do they protect your siding and walls (greatly extending the life of your siding) but they also have huge energy benefits in warm areas by keeping the sun off of your walls. Oh, and if you have a basement, they help keep it dry.
Build bigger roof overhangs, America!
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/every...
Re: How to build a house alone [video]
#228He isn't even wearing a hard hat. That's an OSHA violation. I watch the video about him installing the stairs, and I cringed half the time. The guy is very close to injuring or killing himself.
OSHA is ridiculous, nobody actually does everything it stipulates. It's a CYA set of regulations. Under perfect circumstances, with money and manpower and equipment, and time enough, you could follow all that garbage. But most of the time, you don't have any of that, and shit needs to get done, so you do what you can, as safely as you can, and accept a little risk.
Is getting shit done worth the life or life quality (injuries) of your workers worthwhile? No, OSHA is not ridiculous, its about making an occupations safe for people. The people that share your attitude often have never worked in a place where your negligence can lead to anothers death. This isn't about the big bad government making your life hard, or CYA. Its about making sure your work mates get home to see their families every day.
Re: How to build a house alone [video]
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same with mine, back in 1942. Lived in it until he died recently at 100. Had seven kids in a three room house, and wasn’t until the 60’s he expanded it. Of course the only time the kids were inside was sleeping. Unheard of today. He also joked that he had a hard time getting a loan. They wanted to see plans, etc. “Why the hell do you need plans for a house?”. He built aircraft; those you needed plans for.
Ha! My mother shared a bedroom with two other sisters up until she was about 15 in the aforementioned house, it was different back then... Loaning standards were different back then, based on my acquired knowledge from The Big Short.
Yeah, that was a good movie. NINJA loans (No Income No JOB no Assets).
Re: How to build a house alone [video]
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Well, you could probably find it. You definitely had more of the really large trees in North America as far as I know, historically anyway. Today, building something with massive sturdy timber would likely not be much cheaper (if at all) than just building a concrete box.
Yeah, there's plenty of big trees left too. Stuff just gets cut smaller because no one wants to pay for extra size.
There's really no reason to use huge beams for house style construction. Decent wood is incredibly strong.