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Posted by JTMcC on October 9, 2006, 1:25 am
> Hi Everyone. I posted a while back about the 5000sqft basement and got
> a lot of good answers. I have a few more now But first some
> background and an update.
>
> We're sort of in a blue-sky brainstorming out-of-the-box thinking mode
> now. We have nine kids and have decided that traditional houses just
> aren't cutting it for us. The space is used inefficiently and the
> layout is totally wrong for our needs.
>
> When I say steel building, I mean a large factory made steel building
> shell with steel paneling on the outside and inside with 6" of
> insulation between them. We'll have some windows and doors to start,
> but will probably add more later.
>
> We decided against the basement (yea!). We'll probably build some sort
> of concrete tornado room or something instead. Haven't given it much
> thought yet.
>
> The size is now probably 50x80.
>
> The idea is to get into the house as cheaply as possible up front, then
> have a lot of flexability and options to partition the space later. By
> doing it this way, we can pay cash for everything and add rooms or
> features as we have the money. No mortgage. And we would end up with
> an industrial loft type house with a lot of space and with our unusual
> requirements for a house.
>
> So I have a few new questions.
>
> First, instead of the basement I'm thinking we'll opt for an 18-20 foot
> eve height. The idea is that we'll have really high ceilings now, and
> add a free-standing second floor later inside the shell. I figure
> we'll start with some normal 1st floor type rooms, but make the
> ceilings in these rooms out of appropriate floor joists for a second
> floor, so like 2x6s or 2x8s, at the normal 8 or 9 feet off the ground.
> Later, I would just climb up there, put in a staircase, throw down some
> plywood, flooring, and whatever else to make a second floor. I think
> I'll have to treat these like load bearing walls. I can't transfer the
> weight of the second floor to the shell. So they'll have to be
> free-standing. Would I need a footer under the slab under all these
> walls? I'd like to have the freedom to rearrange the locations of the
> new walls after we've moved in. So maybe rebar in the slab instead of
> wire mesh or a thicker slab would make the footers under the interior
> walls unnecessary?
>
> What if I made a post and beam type structure, footers under the posts?
>
>
> I've seen these free-standing steel structures in industrial settings.
> Maybe that would be better? What about footers under those? Can you
> point me at someone who sells such things?
>
> The second question is assuming a mostly flat grade to start, how much
> can I expect the footer and slab to cost?
>
> And lastly, we're thinking of doing this in a rural part of northern
> illinois or southern wisconsin. What can I expect the well and septic
> to cost, planning for a dozen people?
>
>>From steelbuildings.com, I'm estimating $35,000 for the shell. So here
> are the costs so far:
>
> shell - 35,000
> footer/slab - 16,000
> building assembly, 4 guys, a crane, and a week - 15,000 (this is a
> guess)
> windows and doors - 10,000
> well/septic - 10,000 (this is a guess)
> hvac - 10,000 (this is a guess)
> plumbing - 5,000 (this is a guess)
> electrical - 5,000 (this is a guess)
> general contractor crazy enough to do this - 20,000 (another guess)
> stuff we didn't think of - 20,000
>
> or 146,000.
>
> Does anyone have any interesting ideas?
>
> brian
Wow, who would of thought that this idea would generate so much low level
hate ;)
I'd have to guess that thousands of people have done something similar. I'm
aware of quite a few. The ranch across the road from me has two metal
buildings, both around 300' long and they have a very nice two story home
built in one end of one of the buildings.
I've been to "airplane communities" where everyone owns one or more aircraft
and the homes line the private runway. Every home is a large metal hanger
with a home built into it.
Quite a few commercial properties in industruial parks will have living
quarters.
Several people my brother knows (in the midwest) have built their homes in
metal buildings. It's a growing trend in his part of the country.
Subscribe to "Metal Construction News" (it's a trade magazine), and you'll
get a good idea of how varied and how nice of a building you can buy.
Fortunatly this is still America, and if you want to live in a house that's
a little different, or a lot different, you still can in most areas.
JTMcC.
>
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