01-18-2012, 08:41 AM
Yeah, it was all those mandatory extras that pushed us away. Those 'little add-ons' are deal breakers. That's why you see so many unfinished homes for sale. --broken budgets.
We almost did the "HPM in HPP" thing a few years back... We were ready to buy a lot but decided against HPP at the last minute. Then we decided against the HPM package. Then we finally just put everything on the back burner. But at least we didn't pay 60000 on a lot that's now worth 20...
We were going to build HPM's 'Huaka' model, but decided we wanted more freedom; something more natural & open. --The main deal breaker though, was the cost of electricians and plumbers. I spoke to a few who said it 'could' cost 5-8000 each for electric & plumbing, plus that much more for temp pole, catchment and septic/cesspool. I didn't want to be forced to pay 20-30000 for things I could do myself (and with help) for a fraction.
As for power, it would be nice, but I thought we could just spend 2-3000 on some cheap solar panels and a generator, and deal with it. --no kids, no AC, no microwaves...
But is it really mandatory to have built-in electricity and plumbing in order to get a permit finaled and get an occupancy permit? When I spoke to somebody at the county office a while back, they didn't really have a straight answer for me.
As for new building code, will we need double walls now? That seems excessive for a cabin.
We almost did the "HPM in HPP" thing a few years back... We were ready to buy a lot but decided against HPP at the last minute. Then we decided against the HPM package. Then we finally just put everything on the back burner. But at least we didn't pay 60000 on a lot that's now worth 20...
We were going to build HPM's 'Huaka' model, but decided we wanted more freedom; something more natural & open. --The main deal breaker though, was the cost of electricians and plumbers. I spoke to a few who said it 'could' cost 5-8000 each for electric & plumbing, plus that much more for temp pole, catchment and septic/cesspool. I didn't want to be forced to pay 20-30000 for things I could do myself (and with help) for a fraction.
As for power, it would be nice, but I thought we could just spend 2-3000 on some cheap solar panels and a generator, and deal with it. --no kids, no AC, no microwaves...
But is it really mandatory to have built-in electricity and plumbing in order to get a permit finaled and get an occupancy permit? When I spoke to somebody at the county office a while back, they didn't really have a straight answer for me.
As for new building code, will we need double walls now? That seems excessive for a cabin.