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How to build a house alone [video]

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Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#241

Post by pascalxus »

mrleiter wrote: post #16

Back in the 50s, my great grandfather built the house where my mother and my grandmother grew up in all by himself. It took him 6 years, but he had no help. He started digging into the ground with a shovel. He was a carpenter and bricklayer and used his spare time and skill to do it. This house is still standing and my grandmother still lives in it. This is him with his wife, my great grandmother: https://i.imgur.com…

That's impressive.

The good old days. I wish this was still possible today. Unfortunately, with every last screw, bolt and wooden panel dictated by regulation, it seems it's not possible anymore.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#242

Post by lostlogin »

woolvalley wrote: post #235
nostromo wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/ever…

Because you often want more sunlight coming in, and just looking at those pictures, it looks like they block a lot of it. The trend in building is bigger and larger windows for a reason.

Direct sunlight coming in is a little savage - indirect light for me please. Possibly relevant, the UV here in New Zealand will annihilate most things quite quickly, and me after a few minutes.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#243

Post by pascalxus »

dqpb wrote: post #128
kafquaesque wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool to see this! Most people will never build their own home these days (even with the cost savings).

If the economy is working properly there shouldn't be cost savings by doing it yourself. That's the whole point of division of labor.

Well, the economy is not working properly: there's so much overhead with each step of capitalism involved in buying a home.

This is just one aspect: Take for example taxes: 33% is a double whammy. If you build it yourself, it's like making your own bed: you don't pay 1/3 of the labor cost for making your own bed. But, if you pay someone to make a home for you: First your take home pay is cut by 1/3 by your income taxes, and the person your paying or companies, their labor is taxed at another 1/3. In addition to the income taxes, that company has many other taxes to pay as well, not to mention impact fees, environmental fees, etc, etc and the lumber company they buy from has to pay even more taxes,etc.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#244

Post by newnewpdro »

sjg007 wrote: post #204
bluGill wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Several of my family members have gotten such a lot, so as of 15 years ago it was still possible. Building your own house is a good way to get end up in divorce. It hasn't happened in my family but they tell me that the stress is too high. You have to get that house built quick because the loan terms only give you a few months before you have to refinance.

Or a remodel is a quick way to divorce as well.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are from periods of major DIY home rennovation projects. Remodeling the kitchen, replacing the windows, installing tile and hardwood floors, all sorts of fun and hugely educational experiences.

These were times of pleasure, excitement, and productive collaboration for the entire family.

When I see comments like these it makes me wonder what sort of dysfunctoinal marriages people have got themselves into, and if taking on any sort of project requiring teamwork is simply forcing a realization of an already failed state.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#245

Post by lostlogin »

nostromo wrote: post #227
mrleiter wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/ever…

The high point as far as I’m concerned is the California bungalow that was a thing here in New Zealand from about 1910-1940. Huge eves, low slung, wide decks, great windows, local materials incorporated (eg timber, volcanic rocks, river stones).

I had the misfortune of painting under the eves on one once. The weather couldn’t reach the wood and it had gone so hard that it was like sanding glass.

https://www.renovate.org.nz/bungalow/history/

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#246

Post by Romanulus »

pascalxus wrote: post #241
mrleiter wrote: post #16

Back in the 50s, my great grandfather built the house where my mother and my grandmother grew up in all by himself. It took him 6 years, but he had no help. He started digging into the ground with a shovel. He was a carpenter and bricklayer and used his spare time and skill to do it. This house is still standing and my grandmother still lives in it. This is him with his wife, my great grandmother: https://i.imgur.com…

That's impressive. The good old days. I wish this was still possible today. Unfortunately, with every last screw, bolt and wooden panel dictated by regulation, it seems it's not possible anymore.

Yet sadly enough people complain about the multiple trips back to HomeDespot when they forget to pick up said screw, bolts, or wooden panels instead of being told to use them.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#247

Post by ggg9990 »

pascalxus wrote: post #241
mrleiter wrote: post #16

Back in the 50s, my great grandfather built the house where my mother and my grandmother grew up in all by himself. It took him 6 years, but he had no help. He started digging into the ground with a shovel. He was a carpenter and bricklayer and used his spare time and skill to do it. This house is still standing and my grandmother still lives in it. This is him with his wife, my great grandmother: https://i.imgur.com…

That's impressive. The good old days. I wish this was still possible today. Unfortunately, with every last screw, bolt and wooden panel dictated by regulation, it seems it's not possible anymore.

In the suburbs there is a lot of regulation and that’s a good thing, but there are a lot of places in the US where you can build with literally or virtually zero building codes. (Except, usually, for septic).

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#248

Post by clairity »

pascalxus wrote: post #241
mrleiter wrote: post #16

Back in the 50s, my great grandfather built the house where my mother and my grandmother grew up in all by himself. It took him 6 years, but he had no help. He started digging into the ground with a shovel. He was a carpenter and bricklayer and used his spare time and skill to do it. This house is still standing and my grandmother still lives in it. This is him with his wife, my great grandmother: https://i.imgur.com…

That's impressive. The good old days. I wish this was still possible today. Unfortunately, with every last screw, bolt and wooden panel dictated by regulation, it seems it's not possible anymore.

people still build houses these days, even by themselves. will you really be so easily defeated by mere regulations? are they so fearful that you cannot even try?

i spent 9 months building homes with habitat for humanity and found the regulations largely reasonable (like steel strapping for earthquake resistance). the lackadaisicalness of the inspectors on the other hand was frustrating. most of the build could have been done by a single person who possessed determination, ingenuity and loads of time.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#249

Post by bitexploder »

tedeh wrote: post #103
agumonkey wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Him and Mathias Wandel (woodwork shop) have some tangible zen effect on my mind. It may be subjective but crafting with simple material, and mostly your hands * is extremely satisfying to watch and also very tempting to do. Society creates a distortion in which every pleasure sits behind some door but here they do tons of fun stuff outside just like that.

I totally agree with you and I love Primitive Technology, but let's not lose track on that these videos are edited too. All the failures and retries are left out, what is left is only a clear path from start to finish that looks deceptively easy.

Yeah, but if you have ever tried any wood working or home repair with modern tools I have a hard time you would believe this is easy. For example, when he makes cordage or whatever that is a skill you need to learn and practice for a solid 40-80 hours over probably at least a few weeks to really get the hang of it. He probably had many mini skills like that that are invisible or just explained as some specific technique. The editing is fine I guess, it fits with my attention span, at least. If he included all the un-edited stuff you would end up with hours of footage of those mini-skills being applied. Fast forwarding gives some context without hiding it, but it is still nice to just cut scenes I think.

Re: How to build a house alone [video]

#250

Post by lostlogin »

badpun wrote: post #220
eloff wrote: post #215

Earlier 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.

2 of those 3 were happy to use guns and violence to get what they want and that makes a compelling reason to do as instructed too.

Edit: I’ve just realised that your 4th example was Jesus, and you weren’t started with a curse - I’ll leave my error as I like it.

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