Replies

1. 
   brownbagg | Jul 28, 2003 03:57am | #1

   cannot make money unless something wears out and get replace.

2. 
   VaTom | Jul 28, 2003 04:30am | #2

   Speak for yourself please.  I only deal with concrete, copper (or dirt) covering the insulation.  Getting a modest local following.  Last client moved from a P&B sips, stucco covered- never again.  Next client is moving from a traditional 100 yr old stick built .  Wants early Gehry-esque feel.  Concrete under the galvanized skin will work just fine.

   As utility costs increase I encounter more interest, especially among those who don't enjoy exterior maintenance.  Next project (Gehry-like) is a contractor client who realized he didn't really have to work one month each year just to satisfy his (otherwise) utility-eating creature comforts.

   OK, I'll yield the soapbox.

   PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

3. 
   Piffin | Jul 28, 2003 04:37am | #3

   Hurricanes dictate that choice of materials and poverty dictates tin and tarpaper, maybe block.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   darrel | Jul 28, 2003 04:50am | #4

   VaTom...where you located at? I'd love to see some pics of your work.

1. 
   Piffin | Jul 28, 2003 05:19am | #5

   Read previou s message vatom.

   Excellence is its own reward!

2. 
   VaTom | Jul 28, 2003 05:19am | #6

   Well, topozone seems to currently be unavailable.  If you can get to it, we live under the "e" on:

   http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=37.99444&lon=-78.67861

   This is our digs.  2' of unseen dirt overhead, 30' clear span.  Apologies for the picture clarity- borrowed camera.  That's assuming I even got it right for the attachment. 

   Client house is private and larger, next to Mary Chapin Carpenter's.  This is an area popular for the rich and famous (other than me and most of the people I know).

   PAHS (Passive Annual Heat Storage) can look like pretty much anything you can imagine, just don't tell John Hait.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

1. 
   migraine | Jul 28, 2003 06:36am | #8

   That reminds me of the last industrial building that I rented before I built my own shop.

   Just razzing.  Looks nice, just a different perspective for people who have a different taste in design.

   You are living in yours, mine just sold and the our next home under construction is 6-9 months away(I hope)

1. 
   VaTom | Jul 28, 2003 03:18pm | #11

   That reminds me of the last industrial building that I rented before I built my own shop.

   Bingo!

   We knowlingly bought more land than we could afford.  Dream house was out of the question immediately.  This place was designed to be my furniture shop.  That's a 4' x 7' door within another door, total 6½' x 8' which accomodates my smaller tractor.  My background is one-of-a-kind pieces and I wanted a shop that would aid the sales pitch.  This one is ½ mile up what passes for a mountain in Virginia.

   Since I built this, which now looks a little different from the photo, we've sold a parcel and the new house is a little out of the ground.  I keep getting distracted, like client houses.  My wife knew I was nuts to build something like this but as it was only "temporary" and my future shop, no problem.  After a few years here she wants pretty much the same thing, but bigger.  This is a 1600 ft footprint, zoning dictated.  Material cost right at $20k.  Doesn't go below 65* (without heat or sunshine) in our 4166 degree-day climate.  Summers, without ac, we get to upper 70's (74* so far this summer) and are serious about dehumidifying.  The heat pump water heater helps immensely.  We do a 2 hr total airchange with an air-to-air heat exchanger. 

   Next place will have more rooms and details, including a 50' indoor lap pool and large garage.  I stopped working on it when it came time to either pump concrete, which I hate, or find the crane I wanted to buy.  It's almost resurected.

   Big difference, migraine, is that we can continue to live here until the next place is finished.  By the way, a rental agent friend changed our plans.  She was horrified at the prospect of this turning into a shop, much as she likes my work.  Turns out rental potential was adequate to convince me to build another shop down the mountain a ways, near my lumber storage/drying building.  I'm thinking thin shell concrete, underground (PAHS) of course, if I can get the engineering.

   No chance of running out of work for the next couple of years...  By the way, this is my first time housebuilding and also first for doing concrete formwork.  Learned a lot along the way.  A board like this one would have eased the process immensely if I'd known it existed. 

   Certainly not everybody's taste.  I've had more than a few climb out of the car and break out with guffaws.  That's OK.  No accounting for taste, right?  Just remember, concrete's a fluid.  Can be made to look like just about anything you want.

   A house (or shop) should keep you dry, warm in the winter, cool in the summer, have no exterior maintenance, and cost nothing to operate.  We're close.  Hope y'all's work as well.

   PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

2. 
   migraine | Jul 28, 2003 07:14pm | #12

   It's really amazing how people"with in the trades" are able to build such unique homes.  If I understand you correctly, this willl become your future shop?  How neat!

   I think that any person who does work in construction should have a little room left laying around so as to build their own building for business.  In the last 10 years I have had my own shop and have been able to watch my kids grow up, where many contractors don't see their kids too much because of their work schedules.  The amount of money saved in not paying rent has been 3-4 times as much as what the building cost was. And now that I am selling this home, the cost of building has a 100%+ profit.  I was also able to survived a major recession in where many other shop closed their doorsss and lost most of their equiptment.

   What still gets me is the way society has moved to the "lets build as many homes on as small lots as possible".  It has taken away the uniqueness of home construction and turned it into a boring, redundent mess.  These new homeowners really have no understanding that many of them could have a modest home build for around the same as many of these track homes.  Maybe not in all areas, but I know that it is true around here.

   I couldn't even count how many times different subs, inlcuding the boss and employees,  have approached the different trades on "how to build their own home and what they should do"  It makes for an interesting and relaxing lunch break and many times a great barter for all parties.  

   Now, I realize that most of the readers on this site are of the quality end of the spectrum.  If not, they would be reading"Fine Track Homebuilding"  So this is my disclaimer... not everyone will agree with my opinion.  But, that is what makes this site interesting.  :~)

2. 
   DaveHeinlein | Jul 28, 2003 06:33am | #7

   Yep, hurricanes and the ever present termites.

1. 
   PhillGiles | Jul 28, 2003 09:50am | #9

   And mold and mildew - one of the first thing you notice in the tropics is the lack of carpets; sometimes rugs, but never carpet. It's mainly because of the mold and mildew problem..

   Phill Giles

   The Unionville Woodwright

   Unionville, Ontario

1. 
   DaveHeinlein | Jul 28, 2003 01:32pm | #10

   Mmmmm, nothing like the smell of a nice mildewed carpet!