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Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

imkylelambert.com

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Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#251

Post by bellowsgulch »

kgkhlhl wrote: post #214
MattGrommes wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beyond the fact that there's absolutely no reason for you to post this, I'm not sure what you're looking at. I'm not a pro but I've been building sheds and things for decades and based on the pictures here I don't see low quality. Maybe I'd put more joists in the roof but Portland doesn't get a ton of snow so I'm sure it's fine. $2k is a fine price for that slab, especially compared to the pain of lifting 80lb bags o…

i think it is pathetic that your rebuttal to a comment you dont like is go back to reddit youare the same type that tell foreigners to go back to their country because you dont like being called stupid more than you dont like actually being stupid20k for this is a joke like yoi

And he built a $20k shack with asphalt shingles and T1-11 siding. A fool and his money are quickly parted is the current state of building in America.

It looks poor, it is poor.

But we also have a whole nation who thinks paying rent, an HOA, who can take your home from you, is a good idea so everyone can look equally poor together in lower middle class homes with textured walls.

Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#252

Post by bellowsgulch »

MattGrommes wrote: post #172
bellowsgulch wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Beyond the fact that there's absolutely no reason for you to post this, I'm not sure what you're looking at. I'm not a pro but I've been building sheds and things for decades and based on the pictures here I don't see low quality. Maybe I'd put more joists in the roof but Portland doesn't get a ton of snow so I'm sure it's fine. $2k is a fine price for that slab, especially compared to the pain of lifting 80lb bags o…

That you think HN is any better than Reddit is funny.

Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#253

Post by mindslight »

blitzar wrote: post #219
kslambert wrote: post #128

Author here. Thanks for the comments everyone! There are many comments on the price point. I would like to comment on one thing. "$20k is too much" I agree $20k is an investment. Could I have done it for cheaper? Absolutely. Would a DIY shell been cheaper? Would doing more of the work myself have been cheaper? Could I have saved by putting in the smaller stock windows and not having a skylight? Of course! But I am a…

> But I am a dad with a young kid, he was 1 when I built the office. I didn't want to spend my limited free time on this project. I am very glad that the grainy 40 year old photos of me at that sort of age with my father are us digging a hole together or me crawling around on a freshly poured slab of concrete - rather than at a soft play venue.

That does absolutely nothing for the time crunch. I'm more than happy to give my young child tours of my small construction site or whatever other projects are in progress. But it's not like I can also be working on things while doing that. And someone else was taking those pictures, right?

Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#254

Post by criddell »

js2 wrote: post #39

> I wrote up my experience building a backyard office because I wish I had come across more articles like this when planning my build. I hope this post helps you on your journey. I don't recall how technical it is[^1] because I read it years ago, but Michael Pollan wrote an entire book about building himself a writing room: https://michaelpollan.com/books/a-place-of-my-own/ [^1]: Being familiar with Pollan's writing,…

I read it recently and I suspect Pollan's budget was probably quite a bit more than OP's. He hired an architect to design it, had custom windows designed and built, and hired local construction people to help him with the build.

I really liked the book. Pollan is a great writer and who doesn't fantasize about having a cozy book-filled cabin as a workspace or retreat?

Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#255

Post by rootusrootus »

ghaff wrote: post #226
rootusrootus wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inspections are common but mostly just a surface examination. They cannot, for example, inspect electrical wiring. They can recommend you hire an electrical inspector. I just sold a 120 year old house. “I don’t know” is a valid answer to the disclosure requirement but it better be true.

Or have plausible deniability. When I've have had some new windows installed a couple of times, the installer tacked on a lead mitigation fee which was fine because they knew there was probably lead paint buried somewhere but I don't actually specifically know about lead paint buried under layers of newer paint and the like and most of the interior has been reworked to a significant degree. If you personally really c…

Yeah you have to be committed to buy an old house. It's fun but can be a lot of work. I was selling the home I grew up in after my mom passed, so getting it sold was my only priority. We ended up not doing anything but refinish some old floors (not because they really needed fixing per se, but because an original doug fir floor in good condition here brings way more in value than it costs to have done). The electrical was a mix of modern and knob & tube. Buyer didn't bat an eye, they knew the score. They also wanted the house so bad they agreed to eat the cost of the sewer line replacement that was basically mandatory (good old terracotta & rotted out cast iron, I wonder what we will think of PVC/ABS/HPDE in a hundred years).

Speaking of lead ... I was surprised we didn't get any pushback from the floor guys on that. Someone had painted parts of the floors, then laid linoleum in the middle, and my mom had a lot of it covered in carpet that was really in rough shape at this point. I couldn't get a positive test on the paint for lead with an inexpensive test kit but I really would be surprised if there wasn't any. But the guys doing the floor didn't even bring it up. And this is work they specialize in, so they deal with a lot of floors this vintage.

Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#256

Post by dalyons »

dave78 wrote: post #34
dalyons wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well it just has to stop significant buildup over multiple days right? IDK, seems pretty effective here in tahoe where ive seen it applied on parts of peoples houses

Do people in Tahoe heat-tape their whole roof or just the edge where ice dams would otherwise form? I've only ever seen the latter, and even doing that will be noticeable on your power bill.

Yeah it’s usually just 3-6ft on the edges of the roof. But this whole roof is tiny. Covering a 12x12 roof would be much less than one edge run on a big house . Also they only turn on when there’s actual snow falling so doesn’t use as much power as you might think

Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#257

Post by mindslight »

saaaaaam wrote: post #52
javier123454321 wrote: post #35

Author, if you're here, there's a typo. > I was planning on insulting the office myself What did it do to you that you needed to insult it?

I’m glad I’m not the only one who found this amusing!

"I was planning on insulting the office myself, but I figured it would just be easier to post it to hacker news"

Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#258

Post by legitster »

As I write this from my backyard office shed that my dad and I built together. All told we put about $3k in. If you want to do it much cheaper:

- A Tuff shed is a bit overkill. For a small shed (anything under 8') you should really be pretty comfortable framing it yourself. There's no fancy cuts and it comes together fast.

- Concrete foundation is definitely overkill. Unless you're storing a tungsten collection in there, simple post blocks are more than adequate.

- Windows and doors! You can save a ton of money by finding secondhand fittings at Habitat for Humanity or Marketplace. You have the benefit of being able to design around what you have.

- Forgo drywall altogether on the interior. Wood paneled walls are easier and cheaper (it doesn't hurt that I designed mine around a "British pub" theme.

- A split system is WAY overkill for a space like this. Just leave a cutout in the wall to mount a decent window unit heat pump.

If you know what you're doing, or have someone to help, you're looking at about 2-3 days of work.

Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#259

Post by phil21 »

oblio wrote: post #227
n4r9 wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You both have valid points. One one hand, "implicit memory" [0] begins at birth and being around one's father building impressive things is a huge bonding experience. Research seems to say that even at 1yo these things imprint on our brains. On the other hand, it shouldn't get to a point where a 1yo is crawling into freshly laid concrete. There are safer ways to do it. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_memor…

There are more than enough years past the first one for the "father to build impressive things", though.

Hard and very vehement disagree from me.

So long as it is safe, a kid even at 1 years old should be tagging along with the adults doing things. Like building, working out in the yard, helping friends with projects, whatever.

It is very settled science that brain connections happen rapidly in these years. Bubble wrapping your children is not the way to go in my opinion.

Everyone is going to have a different take on this, but for me the choice is immediately obvious. Kids should fit into your life (within reason), not have you change to revolve around theirs.

That said - I highly doubt a 1 year old did much more than watch and have short visits while being cared for by someone not doing the construction work. It’s a great bonding experience even with limited direct involvement.

Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown

#260

Post by legitster »

kslambert wrote: post #128

Author here. Thanks for the comments everyone! There are many comments on the price point. I would like to comment on one thing. "$20k is too much" I agree $20k is an investment. Could I have done it for cheaper? Absolutely. Would a DIY shell been cheaper? Would doing more of the work myself have been cheaper? Could I have saved by putting in the smaller stock windows and not having a skylight? Of course! But I am a…

If I would give a bit of pushback, it's really, really hard to understand the value assessments if you've never done the work yourself.

Part of the reason someone DIYs isn't that you're just trading time for money, it's that you understand the value of what you pay for in expertise. Even if you contract out in the future, you'll be better at getting value.

To put it another way, DIY is an investment in yourself. The things you learn doing the work you get to keep forever.

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