Building with unusual materials in Austin? (Cool: lease, loft, appliances)

[Phisch]

We've lived here for almost 10 years now and are considering selling our house, purchasing land and building our own home. We were hoping to try to use some less-than-common building materials. So I have a few questions to ask hoping you all could point to places that might be good sources of information.

One thing we were considering was building a straw bale home. The insulation is really great but the issue is there isn't a lot of information on building these kinds of structures in Austin. Funny because the city does have building codes for them. There's one in Spicewood that's three stories high and gorgeous but not a lot of information on who the builder was online.

We are also seriously considering building with shipping containers. There's a bar on Rainey street built with these plus a few food trailers, if I can still call them that, here and there. Not a whole lot of information about this style of building either.

Has anyone here tried building a home using either method and would you mind sharing your experience?

Or even if you were just planning to build your own custom home, regardless of method, what online resource would be a good place to start when trying to figure out costs for actual home building (not the land or the costs associated with prepping the land to build)?

[TexasRedneck]

We looked at using a couple of shipping containers to retrofit at our lease, attracted by the low cost of the containers. By the time we ran the numbers, it was going to be more expensive that doing a stick-built structure.

Building costs vary widely from one area to another, so I'd caution you not to rely on estimates from outside your immediate area. Your best bet would be to contact a couple of local builders and get some estimates from them. Even that's going to vary wildly, depending on the trim levels, etc.

[Phisch]

Thanks, that's kind of what I'm afraid of. We were looking at property with a home that needs to be redone and even that seems like something that will be a ton of moolah. You almost have to assume a certain, large % of the budget to accommodate unforeseen expenses.

[10scoachrick]

I'd go 'barndomenium' and finish the outside with whatever veneer you are considering. Finish out the inside as you have time and money available.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Phisch

Thanks, that's kind of what I'm afraid of. We were looking at property with a home that needs to be redone and even that seems like something that will be a ton of moolah. You almost have to assume a certain, large % of the budget to accommodate unforeseen expenses.

ma modular will do a really nice modular home. It will cost about the same as stick built, but be finished a lot faster.

I did a search for austin shipping container home and several companies came up

Shipping Container Houses in Austin | Modular Homes

In a kvue article here
Austin's first container homes completed | KVUE.com

The property listings can be found here and here. More information on the interiors, kitchen and bath by Troo Designs, located in Mueller, can be found here. More information on the shipping container design by Sige & Honey can be found here.

("Right now, we have each house on the market for $552,900," Rios said. "You're in walking distance to the new HEB and all of the restaurants, a park and the lake.")

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Phisch

Thanks, that's kind of what I'm afraid of. We were looking at property with a home that needs to be redone and even that seems like something that will be a ton of moolah. You almost have to assume a certain, large % of the budget to accommodate unforeseen expenses.

The cheapest way is to put an RV or a mobile home on the property while you are doing renovations.

You can get a metal building with a shed roof so it has a modern style (say 4000 sq ft). Spray some foam insulation. Make a very small studio living quarters and get basic plumbing connections, bathroom and a basic kitchen with appliances. The city might let you move in and then you can do the rest as you go. The spray foam insulation if thick enough (several inches) will keep the entire building cool - they use it to make refrigerated buildings. This will be relatively inexpensive and be very quick to put together.

[Phisch]

Metal building? Definitely not something we had considered. Having something 4000 sq ft might eat up a lot of $ though, when you consider the cost of the foundation. But then again, it's entirely possible they make them much smaller, right? It sounds like it would basically be a big loft that you'd have to convert into rooms. What we wouldn't have that we would like to is an architect/engineer's perspective on that. Given a parcel of land, how would you situate a home/barndominion for passive heating in the winter? We'd want to be sure to set up the roof and exterior correctly to help keep things cool the rest of the year.

We did consider setting up an to live in while construction happens because we would absolutely have to sell our home to finance a new place. We want an RV anyway, so it would do double duty. We'd buy used to save of course. But we'd also need to find out how to set up basic plumbing and electricity. It sounds too easy to ask an electrician or plumber but maybe it really is that simple?

[TexasRedneck]

You can do the RV pad/hookups as part of your original Scope of Work, and let your contractor handle the details properly.

[JT-3]

Originally Posted by Phisch

...One thing we were considering was building a straw bale home. The insulation is really great but the issue is there isn't a lot of information on building these kinds of structures in Austin. Funny because the city does have building codes for them. There's one in Spicewood that's three stories high and gorgeous but not a lot of information on who the builder was online.

Have you attended any of the "Cool Home Tours" ?

We toured this house below, I would call the builder listed if you're after that method. GL!

2017 TOUR

[Phisch]

Originally Posted by JT-3

Have you attended any of the "Cool Home Tours" ?

We toured this house below, I would call the builder listed if you're after that method. GL!

2017 TOUR

Never heard of it! Thank you