Small House Plans DIY

[mailes]

We're trying to build to help 4 families to have a home and we're paying for the land and shell.

We just got a little money handed to us and want to get a few families out of tents/tarps/shacks.

We haven't picked the families yet, but there's lots of 'em out there.

Nice as it is, it's more than twice the price and without slab/footings, and we can't afford it lest we take away 1.

[Carey]

Mailes, I commend you for what you are doing...

I woud have you look at the Habitat for Humanity model, for as you have noted, these families will need to learn upkeep & maintenance skills ... AND budgeting - even if all expenses are paid on the structure, some of those you will be helping will need to learn HOW to budget time & money for home ownership...

Remember that these are learned skills & if they have never been taught them, all of the help in the world will not keep some people from losing everything again - Dh & I have had quite a few years of experience in the past helping the homeless population in the midwest, and home finance & maintenance skill-building are some of the things that seem to help break the cycle...

Blessing to you on this endeavor

[Rob Tucker]

Carey is right. I worked with HfH for a dozen years. One thing learned is that not everyone is capable or suited for home ownership.

[mailes]

Wow. Wow. Wow. The world never ceases to shock the hell out of me! Cool.

I'm no spring chicken and I've volunteered for Habitat also and I am the founder of "Las Mujeres Del Mundo"; having built homes for women in S. and Central America.

[ericlp]

That is very generous of your offer to spend the money to help these families.

If you need any help in building I can help out a few days a week.

[mailes]

Hey ericlp, actually I pm'd you a couple of weeks ago because I saw your blog somewhere. I thought I could ask you some info about Haw Beaches and how you built your little place. The pm must not have gone through. I'll try to find your blog again and maybe I can email through there.

[ericlp]

you can email me here or punaweb(AT)gmail.com

My blog doesn't really accept email. But I love Hawaiian Beaches.

[john the architect]

Since I am the original architect for Castleblock and have worked with Habitat for Humanity here are my thoughts. Design for the Kukui and other similar plans was very much concerned with the lifestyles of the end users. If a home lasts, has lower maintenance, and less utility costs, then the occupants have income left over to send kids to college, a home left over to pass along, and generally a better life.

Building a deficient shell, which is not the major part of a construction budget, is false economy.

Although I do plans with some sophisticated materials and construction systems, the Castleblock walls can be build with less-skilled labor than traditional framing (think owner-builder) and panelized roofing and wall systems are much the same: less labor, more semi-skilled work on site.

If there is no budget for a decent shell (not wastefully inefficient, just reasonable and durable) then there is not a real budget for a finished house.

When clients ask for a house, I always encourage them to not build more square footage than they need, and I go over what those needs are very thoroughly. Same with how many units you can build, be conservative and reasonable and you will have finished something well.

John Maloney
310.562.0362
johnmaloney3@me.com
Hawaii Architect AR8082
www.jmagreenbuilding.com

[mailes]

So, John, do you have a $200 or so "smallest house you can build according to county code" set of plans to sell? I can't afford a $35k 600 sq ft shell without slab or footings or I would buy into a castle block without hesitation.

[john the architect]

Short answer, no. Completely detailed, code-current minimal house (i.e. designed like a boat to be hyper-functional with multipurpose spaces and built ins) set of plans suitable for Puna, no have. If I had them and gave them away plus my stamping, doing a site plan and other specifics for the lot, just those things and printing would cost $200.

I could sell you a prefab structure with stamped plans to permit it as an agricultural sales shed that you could set up. It would cost $2000. You could expand that into a small house, link it to more structures for a larger one, and get another permit down the road for the enlargement and conversion. You would have something solid to start with and could begin quickly as long as your land allows for this in the zoning. I got mine permitted in HPP which is ag zoned land even those its a defacto housing suburb.


John Maloney
310.562.0362
johnmaloney3@me.com
Hawaii Architect AR8082
www.jmagreenbuilding.com