My turn finally... home and garage.

[green.bubbly]

My turn finally... steel building home and garage.

The time has finally come to start what began as a silly thought two years ago. My wife and I are going to build a home using a commercial steel building. In the two years that it took to find a piece of land suitable for our project, I have had time to do a lot of research. It seems that this is becoming a fairly popular thing.

What I wish to accomplish with this thread is to share with others that are thinking of doing this. Amazingly, as popular as this is becoming, there is really not a whole lot of information on it floating around out there. I will try and list all the costs and the headaches.


Initially, I was planning one one large steel building with the living area in the front and a garage/shop in the rear section. But due to the higher than planned erection costs and other possible code issues I might face, we decided to do separate buildings. While not comfortable erecting my home, I think with the help of a few friends, we can erect the garage ourselves saving me a good bit on erection costs.

My garage/shop will be a 24x24 steel building. We will actually not be parking cars inside of it as I will have a attached covered carport on the front of the garage. This area will also allow me to roll out any woodworking tools and work outside under the carport cover.

Below is pic of the first and second floor plans. Upstairs will be some storage and a large hobby area for my wife. That will be her area and should keep her out of my shop.


The living room will have vaulted ceilings and the hobby room upstairs will have a french door and New Orleans style wrought iron balcony overlooking the living area. That will also be the balcony I push her over if I catch her in my shop.


The house will be 48 wide by 36 deep and will be a two bedroom/two bath. My floor plans were done using Punch! Home and Landscape. Not the best software, but for the price, it did what I needed and was easy enough to use.

I will try and take a lot of pics of the progress.

So far, these are the costs...


House Permits: $967.00
36x48x12 Ideal Steel building: $14,345.00
24x24x10 Meuller Steel building: $4,895.00
Roughin Plumbing: $2,200.00

Foundations: $11,092.00 ***edit*** now it is at $12,906 due to cross footings and the fact that my original crew bailed on me because they are too backed up with work.

Erection: $5,500
Construction utility pole: $225.00
Total for the foundation anchors is $346.00


***Edit*** 02/19/2011

Garage permits for electrical, water and drain: $220.00
Driveway plastic pipe: $135.00
Plumber charge for garage: $100.00
UFER ground: $25.00 (15 foot #4 bare copper and a clamp)
Sand for foundations: $950.00



Downstairs...

Upstairs...

***Edit*** 06/23/2012

Below are links to threads related to my build. Lots of good dumb questions and great answers.


Metal Panel Screw Spacing

Main Electrical Panel Install

Smoke Detectors

Appliance Wire Size

Cutting Large Holes in Sheet Metal Siding

Conduit Type Discussion

 

[Addrock]

Nice post. The pics aren't viewable on my end.

 

[hllon4whls]

Nice post. The pics aren't viewable on my end.

Same here and I want to see this!

 

[green.bubbly]

Hmmm... they show up on my end. Lets try this way.

The house will have 12 foot sidewalls and a 7:12 roof pitch. I wish I had a drawing of the building but it is basically a commercial steel building with one foot overhangs/eaves. Once I get it livable, I will install a wrap around porch kind of like the third pic except the porch will go all the way around the house.

 

[Bones35]

Hey green looks cool. Few things I noticed you might consider. I see that you only have a exterior entrance to the upstairs. I would reconsider the layout of your laundry and make a exterior door into that space toward the living room and do a 90 deg stair in the corner. This could have a door on it if your looking for privacy. What if there's two foot of snow or a heavy rains and you need something up there and I bet youll be in your pj's. looks like the room has plenty of space.

 

[green.bubbly]

Nice catch. The design I submitted will "not" have an upstairs. That stairway room will a storage room until the final inspection is complete. Then I will install the stairs and finish the upstairs.

We will be able to enter the staircase from inside the laundry room as well as from the door outside. The reason for the outside door is so that I can have a straight shot up the stairs if I need to bring boards/sofa/beds or other long items.

I spent the last year fighting with my wife over the design and trying to maximize the living area. We did not want a stair case in the middle of the house and this was the best layout we could agree on.

I am still playing around with the exterior door that leads into the laundry. If I leave it as it is, it will block the entry way into the stairway. I will probably move it towards where the sink is or at least have it swing the other way.

 

[KEH]

Neighbor across the road has a house built from steel building. Looks nice. It's on a concrete pad which is generally a no-no in this climate due to moisture and termites, but he graded properly and built the pad high. I know, termites don't attack steel building but they might get after wooden floors, doors, and door facings.

KEH

 

[larry4406]

Why are you planning on doing the upstairs later after inspection and I assume no permit?

 

[santagary]

Our daughter and her significant other built what they call the club house in Texas. Roughly 45' x 120'...all metal with a 25' deep porch on the front. House area is on the right and garage on the left. Garage has 20' walls (you can back a semi into it from the end). Living area has loft bedroom a great room/kitchen and one bath...fantastic space with floor to ceiling windows all around. This will be the guest house after the "main house" is built and where 5/8ths and I will stay when we visit them.

 

[green.bubbly]

Why are you planning on doing the upstairs later after inspection and I assume no permit?

Permit cost and property taxes. Because I do not have an actual build cost, the permit cost is based on the amount of living area square feet times $78.00/sqft. Property tax is the same way. As of right now, the upstairs will just be a storage attic.

Our daughter and her significant other built what they call the club house in Texas. Roughly 45' x 120'...all metal with a 25' deep porch on the front. House area is on the right and garage on the left. Garage has 20' walls (you can back a semi into it from the end). Living area has loft bedroom a great room/kitchen and one bath...fantastic space with floor to ceiling windows all around. This will be the guest house after the "main house" is built and where 5/8ths and I will stay when we visit them.

That is sweet and was basically what I initially wanted to do but not quite as large. But erection costs forced me to downsize and build a separate garage that I could erect myself.

 

[Bones35]

Permit cost and property taxes. Because I do not have an actual build cost, the permit cost is based on the amount of living area square feet times $78.00/sqft. Property tax is the same way. As of right now, the upstairs will just be a storage attic.

Smart!

 

[larry4406]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bones35
Permit cost and property taxes. Because I do not have an actual build cost, the permit cost is based on the amount of living area square feet times $78.00/sqft. Property tax is the same way. As of right now, the upstairs will just be a storage attic.

Smart!

Double edge sword - if it is an illegal unpermitted addition, you may have insurance issues and/or problems when you go to sell it (yes, it will get sold one day, maybe not by you but your heirs). In the mean time, your property taxes may be lower.

 

[green.bubbly]

Double edge sword - if it is an illegal unpermitted addition, you may have insurance issues and/or problems when you go to sell it (yes, it will get sold one day, maybe not by you but your heirs). In the mean time, your property taxes may be lower.

The upstairs will not really be finished as in sheet rock and pretty floors. It will basically be a closed in attic space. It will never technically be considered living area but more like an unfinished basement. But even so, unless the remodel/renovation is more than $5,000.00, no permit is needed if the work is performed by the homeowner.



So today, I called for a port-a-let to be delivered. I get a call from my son (who lives next door to my property) and he informs me that they delivered a freakin dumpster instead.

 

[John in OH]

Interesting plan! In what part of the country are you located?

 

[Brew62]

So today, I called for a port-a-let to be delivered. I get a call from my son (who lives next door to my property) and he informs me that they delivered a freakin dumpster instead.

So what, It will probably hold more than the port -a- let anyway.

 

[Ocho]

My boss built one of these about fifteen years ago. His building is 10k sq ft. The living area is 3k sq ft footprint, but it's two story. The upstairs is sort of like you describe - basement type finish out.

7k sq ft shop.

It's also semi built into a hill so it doesn't look nearly as tall as it really is, if that makes sense. On about 7 or 8 acres of land. It's a really sweet setup.

 

[green.bubbly]

Interesting plan! In what part of the country are you located?

South Louisiana.

 

[David79z28]

Sounds like a cool idea. I know several people that have done something similar around here.

I have heard nothing but good things about Mueller around here. They even put me in touch with someone who fixed my building when someone else screwed it up.

I'll look at them first if I ever build another shop..

 

[burleymike]

My wife and I have talked about doing this exact thing someday. Her uncle built his place this way and it got me thinking.

 

[green.bubbly]

Here are my first pics. I am almost getting excited...



Garage slab and house slab in the background...

 

[green.bubbly]

One issue I had when we picked out this piece of land was the fact that it is right at 18 miles to the nearest Lowes or Home Depot. There is a local lumberyard about 8 miles away but they close at noon on Saturday and do not open on Sundays. My problem is that I am a poor planner and when doing any sort of project, I am constantly needing something such as screws, jig saw blades, pipe fittings etc.

The thought of countless and time wasting trips to Lowes had me concerned until I found this.

It is a small country hardware store two miles from my property. Open early (6:00AM) and close late (8:00PM and then 9:00PM after daylights savings time) and surprisingly, have better prices than Lowes on the few items I already purchased from them. And the people that work there actually can help find things! Today, I stopped at Home Depot to get #4 copper wire. It was a $1.37 but Catin's had it for $1.17.



Now this little store does not look much but every square inch is filled with hardware. The isles are very narrow but everything is organized, well stocked and it is just amazing what they were able to pack in there. I stopped by there today just to wander around and get an idea of what they have. Later on, I realized that I needed to run a conduit from my house slab to the garage slab and I did not recall seeing any gray electrical pipe. So on the way home, I stopped by and ran in and asked if they had any 2" gray pipe. The old lady asked me if I needed a 10' or 20 foot section.

And the coolest thing is that they will let me open and account there so I can run in and get a hand full of nails and just put it on a ticket instead of having to pay for every item I get. It is a french name and it is pronounced like cot-tans.

 

[NUTTSGT]

It looks like an sweet project coming to life. I'd love to do this myself, although I'm not sure the wife would like it.

The only thing I would have done different is make the shop atleast 24x32.

Keep us updated. You may want to ask Bull to move this to the Garage Gallery section, most people show the build projects there, it may also get more traffic and not pushed back several pages.

 

[green.bubbly]

It looks like an sweet project coming to life. I'd love to do this myself, although I'm not sure the wife would like it.

The only thing I would have done different is make the shop atleast 24x32.

Keep us updated. You may want to ask Bull to move this to the Garage Gallery section, most people show the build projects there, it may also get more traffic and not pushed back several pages.

I would have gone a little larger with the garage but I am trying to keep the spending down. I do not want to borrow any money.

24x24 should be big enough for me. Of course bigger would always be better but it would probably just fill up with more junk. We will not actually park our cars in there and I will have a fairly large covered carport attached to the front of it. I will be doing more woodworking than auto repairs and my plans are to be able to roll out my tools and do the work under the carport most of the time.

Thanks for the suggestion of moving this to the garage gallery. I will PM Bull.

 

[irishluder]

Congrats looks like a cool project... No borrowing of $$$... Sweet!

 

[green.bubbly]

Congrats looks like a cool project... No borrowing of $$$... Sweet!

Thanks, it was a long hard road to get here though.

 

[green.bubbly]

A little information on the foundation slab.

I did not have an architect design my home. I used Chief Architect for my drawings. Initially, there was some confusion on how my foundation and footings needed to be built. Not knowing anything about foundations, I started calling for quotes. The problem was that as I would get quotes a few questions would come up such as the size of the footings. I soon realized that this made comparing quotes difficult because none of the quotes were for equal work.

A few minutes sitting across from my building inspector really helped clarify things. Of course your soil conditions will dictate your foundation design but below are some details on my foundation. Again, thanks to my inspector for giving me his time and expertise. He could have required a foundation engineering design but instead gave me the specs on what would be safe based on our local soil conditions.

What we are doing is a 12" wide perimeter footing that is a total of 24" deep. 12" below grade and 12' above grade. Under each column, we will have a 2'x2'x2' cube and running across the foundation tying all the cubes together will be a 12" wide and 12" deep footing.

He also wanted 5/8" rebar instead of 1/2". Moral of this story is to ask the inspector what HE wants to see. He will be the one passing or failing it so it is his opinion that matters, not that of the person doing the work.

 

[green.bubbly]

I had a separate thread on UFER ground for the foundation. I am just adding my final post from that thread to this thread to keep everything in one thread. That thread was about the foundation rebar ground.


I called John the inspector this morning and asked him what was needed. Basically all he wanted was a #4 copper wire clamped to the bottom piece of rebar. The wire then needed to come out of the bottom of the slab on the outside where it will be connected to a ground rod and the meter base.

I told him that I think I understood and then had this reply which you gotta love. He told me that it it was wrong, he would fix it for me.

Yes, I love my inspectors. They have already been so helpful and accommodating. In fact, John will be stopping by Sunday afternoon to inspect my foundation so we can start pouring concrete early Monday morning.



Below are a couple of pics...

[/QUOTE]

 

[green.bubbly]

Looks like the rain will hold out and concrete will be pouring in the morning. The foundation and I are having a little problem with the location of two sets of anchor bolts so I will be at the building supplier early in the morning waiting for them to open to get a better understanding of where to place these particular bolts.

And I will be calling Meuller to schedule my garage delivery by the end of the week.

 

[4StarCstms]

Sweet Build So Far. Gotta love good building inspectors, the ones that are not so helpful cause a ton of headaches! Glad to hear you got one of the good ones

 

[green.bubbly]

Sweet Build So Far. Gotta love good building inspectors, the ones that are not so helpful cause a ton of headaches! Glad to hear you got one of the good ones

Yep, I have always heard of the horror stories but so far, these guys are being more than helpful and are more than patient with my "rookieness". It is obvious that they are more concerned with just getting it right rather than pushing their weight around.

 

[green.bubbly]

Copied and pasted from the "foundation grounding" thread in the electrical section.



Alright, inspector John just left and the foundation and UFER ground is good to go. He did say that we will need to attach that #4 ground wire from the rebar to a ground rod at the service entrance. Sounds like double grounding but I guess it is better than a poor ground. Plus, I am not going to argue with the inspector.

Concrete should start flowing shortly. I am a nervous wreck.

 

[green.bubbly]

Ok, to calm my nerves, I am sitting here trying to load pictures from my Blackberry. I think I got it figured out.

Bright sunny day with the high around 75.

Guess I should have learned a little Spanish because I think they are talking about me.

 

[green.bubbly]

Oh man, things did not go too good. The pour started late because we had an issue with bolt placement. They did not finish pouring till mid afternoon and last night the dew point dropped. Lots of humidity in the air and it took a long time to set up. They worked it until very late. I ended up going home and my wife stayed to help with lights.

She said my garage came our great but she was nt as confidant with the house slab. Of course it was dark and hard to see.

Looks like I will be doing tiles instead of stained concrete.


I will get my first look at it tonight. This will be a long anxious day...

 

[central1ny]

Re: My turn finally... steel building home and garage.

Nice post. Can't wait to see the results. What software did you use to create the floor plan?

 

[green.bubbly]

Re: My turn finally... steel building home and garage.

Nice post. Can't wait to see the results. What software did you use to create the floor plan?

Thanks.

I used Punch software. It was ok for what I needed but it lacked a lot of high end features. But for the price, it did what I needed and it was not terribly hard to learn it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Glad to see you have this moved. I hope the concrete turns out better that you expected.

 

[green.bubbly]

Glad to see you have this moved. I hope the concrete turns out better that you expected.

Thanks for the well wishes. I am over at the site now and I am more than pleased with the way it turned out. I was really expecting to see chalky flaky surface but it is nice and smooth and hard. What a freakin relief.

There are a couple of spots that would not look too good stained but I am just relieved the surface is good. I found out that he was there until almost 3 in the morning. I just called him and thanked him for going the extra yard. He really did a hell of a job considering the circumstances.

Yes, I will sleep well tonight.

 

[green.bubbly]

I was unable to post any pics from the pour yesterday so here ya go.

 

[green.bubbly]

My house steel building is being picked up by the steel erector today and my garage should be here on March 3rd. Erection of the house should begin Monday.

tick tock tick tock... the wait is killing me.

I found a new reason to lose sleep. I am hoping we placed the foundation bolts correctly.

 

[bluesman2a]

Garage slab and house slab in the background...

Only one problem, and this may be a trick of perspective, so I may be wrong... but the HOUSE looks like it's gonna be bigger than the shop?