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Afternoon people.. I'm trying to design a walkout basement home with attached garage that I can have built without removing the mobile home I live in.. The mobile home takes up most of the hilltop walkout location, but not all.. What do you think about a angled ranch at 29 degrees? Ive seen...

I designed my garage because its a rectangle, but when I try to hand draw a floor plan for my house to scale, I'm struggling. None of the online plans Ive looked at come close to my simple vision for my hilltop walkout property. The way I find local businesses is to search google maps for Iowa...

I want R21 6" stud walls on concrete stem walls mainly to keep the siding away from snow and rain and be able to weed wack without damage.. But if I bury a pitched insulation apron board around the perimeter 4' out similar to a frost protected shallow foundation, could I have them pour a...

Hello folks. I'm drawing up the plan view of my new build and wondered about how to draw slope, and how far back and to the sides from the door it should start. Ive read a good slope to keep water from traveling into the garage is between 1/16" per foot to no more than 3/16". The rest of the...

I'm drawing up a new stick built 36x56 garage and have an appointment with a drafts-person. In rural Iowa County Iowa, google says the building codes minimum design wind speed is 115 mph for Exposure C open terrain. But there are no inspections required in my rural county, and I cant even...

My vision came from my old barn with a 8/12 roof that I'd like to replace with a new energy efficient barn. But it doesn't look like attic truss's in a barn shape can be built, requiring to switch to 12" rafters. But rafters are difficult to vent and insulate to today's standards. I wont use...

Just wondering after cutting in many fresh air intakes.. Has anyone ever experienced or even heard of a case of incomplete combustion or low O2 levels due to a one pipe furnace or water heater using up all the 02, other than in theory? I've heard of people dying from CO poisoning, but never...

Could you classify double open end bond beam CMU as a leave in place concrete form? IMO CMU's weak spot is the cold joint, so wouldn't using these blocks be stronger, water proof after grouted and more economical considering they sell blocks for about the same price as delivered concrete per...

Hello folks.. Ive been trying to figure out a acceptable way to use 8" of gravel base, instead of a 6" poured 3'x3' slab as a base for a mobile home pier. Yes, I understand gravel wont be half as strong or stable, but you would understand why if you stood there, and considered I need to...

Morning folks.. I need to pour a whole bunch of 3'x3'x6" concrete pads under my existing mobile home because my old existing concrete block piers are set on 2'x2' plywood which has rotted and sunk.. No, I'm not moving the MH or digging down.. I'll build my forms from 2x6's, and level and...

I assumed 40' raised heel attic trusses every 16" would be more cost effective than adding a second 8' level with regular 4/12 trusses. I also planned on 8/12 scissor trusses in the car lift area.. But is this the case, also considering the crane and crew needed? For someone who knows truss...

Id like to learn how to build my own pole barn now that I'm retired and still able, but Ive noticed different methods of pole barn construction and wonder which is best for me.. Like the different spacing and dimensions of the posts and roof truss spacing. The method of building roof sections...

I know how much cold air my old wooden sectional garage door leaks here in Iowa, but I'm looking for better performance with my new garage build. Ive been wondering if a well designed and built 6" thick barn door with 4 turnbuckles could be tightened and then even seal&peeled for longer time...

I was searching for composite splash boards a while ago, but it looks like morton has produced a system similar to permacolumn called MFS and Duraplank. I think I like it.. Whats your impression?

Hey folks.. I'm relocating a mobile home and want to set it on 3x3 concrete bases, but I can only find blocks less then half that size locally.. I don't want to pour a full size slab because the site is uneven. So my guess is, the best approach is to cast sixteen individual 3x3 concrete...

Just venting.. Ive got two motorcycles, a truck and various other garage/lawn items in my two car garage, and I have to remove all the other vehicles to have enough space to work on one.. :unsure: The bikes have never seen rain, so I'm not risking getting them wet when the weather says 30%...

Another hopeful, but is it too contemporary? The barn is gone and home will be placed there pointed south.. At one time I planned a two story, but if I use scissor trusses and attic space, I can build a easier to maintain deep single story ranch but still have enough space for the 2 post and...

I have a 75K carrier Infinity that I installed 23 years ago, 1700 sq' 70's split foyer. This furnace is listed under those affected by a class action lawsuit for faulty secondary heat exchangers. Check here for the details- http://hipspro.com/pubs/Furnace-clasaction-detailed_notice.pdf Other...

I found a table for cantilever distances for when the wall on top IS load bearing, like a supporting the roof.. But how about when the wall on top is not load bearing and only supports the ceiling? Thanks

I'm messing around with a golden rectangle calculator to come up with some stick built building/living space dimensions. Just wondering, are there common raised heel truss spans, so I don't end up wanting a odd ball span that costs more? I'm in the 36 to 40 foot span range. Or maybe a better...