Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Idaho
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-01-2008, 04:55 PM
 
20 posts, read 93,398 times
Reputation: 19

Advertisements

I just helped some friends build a SIP house a few months ago. I'm definitely sold on the method. They go up very quickly and the results are a very solid, quiet, well insulated house. SIPs are also about 30 percent lest costly than stick builts.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-03-2008, 07:42 AM
 
Location: Southwest Missouri
1,921 posts, read 6,428,344 times
Reputation: 927
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hayduke777 View Post
SIPs are also about 30 percent lest costly than stick builts.
I'm curious to hear more about this. What area of the country did you build? I have absolutely no doubt that SIPs make an excellent and energy-efficient home, but I've never known them to be 30% less expensive than stick to build with when considering the total cost of the house.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-07-2008, 06:03 PM
 
Location: Where the sun likes to shine!!
20,548 posts, read 30,394,464 times
Reputation: 88950
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrGerardo View Post
I want to start a thread on different types of homes more and more people are considering building. I've seen sites on earth sheltered and dome homes. I think if one buys land first in north idaho and asks if they can build these types of homes, it would set the stage for a revolution in home building. I would like to hear others' opinions on this.

I hope I am not intruding as I live in TN but my husband and I just built an off grid solar and wind powered berm concrete home. I would love to hear other people's stories. I have posted our entire story with pictures on the TN forum at:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/tenne...tennessee.html



Quote:
Originally Posted by MrGerardo View Post
The problem is that concrete is very expensive and people love to build enormous homes, so they figure build a few thousand square foot week home versus a small concrete home. I would take a one or two room concrete home or an oversized wood home any day.
We built a 30x38 concrete(on 3 sides) home and it is extremely efficient. I don't know why all homes aren't like this.



Quote:
Originally Posted by 8 SNAKE View Post
I'm curious to hear more about this. What area of the country did you build? I have absolutely no doubt that SIPs make an excellent and energy-efficient home, but I've never known them to be 30% less expensive than stick to build with when considering the total cost of the house.

I agree.
We built a smaller concrete home and it was very expensive. The concrete alone was 32k. If we had used wood we could the whole house for 32k. Huge difference but well worth the efficiency.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-07-2008, 11:11 PM
 
Location: Le Grand, Ca
858 posts, read 1,501,419 times
Reputation: 233
In 2-3 years the fiance and I will have enough saved for a nice plot of land.. We plan to put a 30' yurt on it. a 30' yurt with all the options imaginable will be around 25k. We plan to live in the yurt for 5-10 years while we save to build a house with cash and no financing... I also plan on putting up a nice 40'x60' steel shop on the land as well. I am always working on off road vehicles, woodworking, and metal working so a shop is a must. We are looking into areas in Idaho near the Spokane area to purchase the land. We do not have a definite area yet, though.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2008, 09:23 AM
 
Location: Lakeside
5,266 posts, read 8,744,831 times
Reputation: 5702
We ALMOST bought and built a yurt from Pacific Yurts in Oregon. Luckily, I talked my husband into building a small cabin istead, with the idea of adding on later. We've talked to lots of people who live full time in yurts elsewhere since then and they agree. It's just pretty cold here in north Idaho to live in a yurt. We've had several cold snaps when it's dropped down to near -20F.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2008, 12:27 PM
 
Location: Le Grand, Ca
858 posts, read 1,501,419 times
Reputation: 233
Quote:
Originally Posted by mistyriverranch View Post
We ALMOST bought and built a yurt from Pacific Yurts in Oregon. Luckily, I talked my husband into building a small cabin istead, with the idea of adding on later. We've talked to lots of people who live full time in yurts elsewhere since then and they agree. It's just pretty cold here in north Idaho to live in a yurt. We've had several cold snaps when it's dropped down to near -20F.
The cold is something we are kind of worried about... Although, some of the companies offer more insulation and thicker material. We have also been looking at this company Model Designs | Oregon Yurtworks - Factory built round homes. (http://www.yurtworks.com/Models.asp - broken link) .
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2008, 02:08 PM
 
Location: Lakeside
5,266 posts, read 8,744,831 times
Reputation: 5702
The thing that really worked out for us was that at the end of the first summer, we had a 20 X 24 foot well built cabin that we have been able to add onto in the ensuing years. The original outlay of money for the original cabin (and it was no more than we would have paid for the yurt) has become an appreciating investment.
This is the original cabin that we started with...it's been added onto a few times now:

Last edited by mistyriver; 11-08-2008 at 02:39 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2008, 02:45 PM
 
Location: Lakeside
5,266 posts, read 8,744,831 times
Reputation: 5702
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xplorer View Post
The cold is something we are kind of worried about... Although, some of the companies offer more insulation and thicker material. We have also been looking at this company Model Designs | Oregon Yurtworks - Factory built round homes. (http://www.yurtworks.com/Models.asp - broken link) .
They look nice, but they don't look like real yurts. They look more like Deltec homes. You shoul dcheck out Homesteadingtoday.com
Lots of interesting people and alternative building interest there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2008, 03:35 PM
 
Location: Le Grand, Ca
858 posts, read 1,501,419 times
Reputation: 233
Quote:
Originally Posted by mistyriverranch View Post
They look nice, but they don't look like real yurts. They look more like Deltec homes. You shoul dcheck out Homesteadingtoday.com
Lots of interesting people and alternative building interest there.
Oh I know... Are main choice right now is a yurt from pacific yurts. The Oregon yurt link I posted was just a thought...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-18-2008, 09:50 PM
 
20 posts, read 93,398 times
Reputation: 19
East Idaho. The main cost savings is in the total labor. The panels are easier and faster to manufacture than frame walls, the walls can go up in a day, the electrical is easy to run, etc. The 30 percent is the build-it-yourself savings my friend saw versus the total estimate for stick built. Just buying a SIP home from a builder would cost much more but it should still be cheaper. I've hard of SIP homes costing as much or more than stick built in other areas but I can't see why unless it's just price gouging by the builders.


Quote:
Originally Posted by 8 SNAKE View Post
I'm curious to hear more about this. What area of the country did you build? I have absolutely no doubt that SIPs make an excellent and energy-efficient home, but I've never known them to be 30% less expensive than stick to build with when considering the total cost of the house.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Idaho
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:00 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top