Need advice on moving and building a small house - Owner build on Stilts (construction, contractor)

[Propulser]

Originally Posted by hjmontijo

Hello again! So we have finally came up with a floor plan for our tiny house. I have attached the photo in the case anyone is interested or has any input. However, we still have not decided if we are going to move forward with getting an architect/engineer stamp on our plans in order to build higher on post and beam or if we want to go another route and build on a concrete slab to avoid needing to get a stamp for permit approval.

Like I stated before, Yes, we do have extra money to build, however we are trying to keep the cost as low as we can as we do plan to build a larger home on the lot a few years down the line. This first home will be something that will get us by for the next 5 to 10 years.

I want to thank everyone who sent us a private messages with positive feedback. We've gotten the chance to talk to a few people about their input and experiences.We got a lot of great advice and encouragement from many of you. It was great to talk to people who built their tiny, permitted homes on a really tight budgets who did most of the work themselves as we plan to do. We are now more confident that we can make this happen. With a lot of hard work and faith, we will make our dreams come true.

Mahalo again to everyone!

I won't address the issue of avoiding arch. stamps, etc., but it seems to me if you are going to live in a tiny place, it might be wise to NOT put a partition in it which makes two tiny rooms out of what could be 1 livable-sized room. Dump the partition and the closet, save the $ for other things. Use an armoire for clothing. Also, it seems to me that bath tubs are passe. Dump the tub for a shower.

I suppose you will build a shed-type roof. Do research on maximum spans etc. first.

[hjmontijo]

Hello everyone! Once again, thank you all for more great advice, I have actually talk this over with my fiance and we believe we will go with a loft. I have actually drawn up some new designs for my tiny house. I will attach the floor plan, the front elevation, and a side elevation for you all to view. Let me know what you guys think.

You can't tell from the layout I drew, but there will be a loft above the kitchen and bathroom space. I will then build my own Storage/stair unit. The layout I uploaded got cut off a little, sorry.

I'm hoping I can get this done on a really tight budget. Again, any and all advice is greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing back. Mahalo!

[pj737]

You want to build that for $25K? Oh boy. 480 SF of kitchen, bath and living space with 10-15 ft ceilings and stacked windows, 150 SF of finished loft area w/storage under the stairs and 340 SF of covered lanai w/railings? All raised 7 feet above grade w/stair access on post and pier foundations? You're looking at $80K minimum for that and that's just the build cost with no solar or septic system. I would be very surprised if you can get it done for less.

Your current design won't work for the loft too. You will hit your head on the ceiling rafters at the top of the stair access. You currently only have 3 1/2 feet of clearance there according to your plans. And most of that ~150 SF loft over the kitchen/bath area isn't usable because of your steep 4/12 sloping roof. You should go with a lower slope roof if you want to make that loft space usable for anything but sleeping in a claustrophobic space. Go with a 2/12 slope and drop the ceiling height in the kitchen/bath to 7 feet. That will give you 4.5 feet at the lowest point (which can be used for storage) and 6.5 toward the center where your stairs meet the loft.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by pj737

You want to build that for $25K? Oh boy. 480 SF of kitchen, bath and living space with 10-15 ft ceilings and stacked windows, 150 SF of finished loft area w/storage under the stairs and 340 SF of covered lanai w/railings? All raised 7 feet above grade w/stair access on post and pier foundations? You're looking at $80K minimum for that and that's just the build cost with no solar or septic system. I would be very surprised if you can get it done for less.

Your current design won't work for the loft too. You will hit your head on the ceiling rafters at the top of the stair access. You currently only have 3 1/2 feet of clearance there according to your plans. And most of that ~150 SF loft over the kitchen/bath area isn't usable because of your steep 4/12 sloping roof. You should go with a lower slope roof if you want to make that loft space usable for anything but sleeping in a claustrophobic space. Go with a 2/12 slope and drop the ceiling height in the kitchen/bath to 7 feet. That will give you 4.5 feet at the lowest point (which can be used for storage) and 6.5 toward the center where your stairs meet the loft.

You seem to be determined to build your house on an unrealistically low budget, so you can build it without a mortgage. You should think about running your plans by a couple of local builders to get a ballpark estimate to determine if your numbers are way off. If the number is closer to $80K or higher, could you simply finance the build with a mortgage? There's an undertow going on with this whole thread about purchasing a lot with cash and then building on an unrealistically low budget because there isn't enough cash saved for the build, or it's not possible to take out a mortgage for some reason that isn't mentioned.

Maybe you really want to live debt free. We live debt free, including paying off a 15 year mortgage in 10 years. Sometimes, it doesn't make sense to live debt free. It would have been a better financial decision for us to not live debt free because our investments would have made us a lot more money, which we gave up by paying off our mortgage so quickly and paying off everything else, including our cars, with cash. Living your life debt free absolutely gives you peace of mind on a continuous basis, but live debt free has a price tag attached to it, sometimes a big price tag. Judging by your photo, you are very young with decades of working years left to go. Is there a reason you can't have a mortgage and pay off the mortgage over time?

[TreeZoo]

How about not using the loft to sleep but for storage instead. Use a ladder instead of the stairs. It could be one of those cool sliding library ladders. Get a Murphy bed and put it in the living room. You could design the lanai and its roof to be attached later when you have more money for it.

[Propulser]

Originally Posted by pj737

You want to build that for $25K? Oh boy. 480 SF of kitchen, bath and living space with 10-15 ft ceilings and stacked windows, 150 SF of finished loft area w/storage under the stairs and 340 SF of covered lanai w/railings? All raised 7 feet above grade w/stair access on post and pier foundations? You're looking at $80K minimum for that and that's just the build cost with no solar or septic system. I would be very surprised if you can get it done for less.

Your current design won't work for the loft too. You will hit your head on the ceiling rafters at the top of the stair access. You currently only have 3 1/2 feet of clearance there according to your plans. And most of that ~150 SF loft over the kitchen/bath area isn't usable because of your steep 4/12 sloping roof. You should go with a lower slope roof if you want to make that loft space usable for anything but sleeping in a claustrophobic space. Go with a 2/12 slope and drop the ceiling height in the kitchen/bath to 7 feet. That will give you 4.5 feet at the lowest point (which can be used for storage) and 6.5 toward the center where your stairs meet the loft.

Excellent Analysis. Bravo!!! I am constantly amazed by people who want to live in the most remote and highest cast of living areas on a shoestring. Why not just get some money and do it right, so you can actually enjoy life.

[TreeZoo]

Have the kitchen door open out instead of in. Put the hinges on the right instead of left and extend the stairs landing a few more feet to the left to accommodate the door. Put opening windows in the door for ventilation. Windows on the right side of living room, maybe either side of proposed murphy bed.

You don't show a north arrow so it is hard to figure directions. I would consider wider roof overhangs to cool windows and walls. Center the window in the loft above the kitchen door. If you use the loft for storage you would not need to go over the bathroom but keep its high ceiling. Consider a high window above the bath/shower - ventilation again. There is no way you can get too much ventilation and you should consider capturing the breeze no matter which way the wind blows.

Just me but I would consider putting the kitchen sink in front of the window, unless you plan on using that window as a food pass through onto your future lanai.

[Propulser]

Originally Posted by TreeZoo

Have the kitchen door open out instead of in. Put the hinges on the right instead of left and extend the stairs landing a few more feet to the left to accommodate the door. Put opening windows in the door for ventilation. Windows on the right side of living room, maybe either side of proposed murphy bed.

You don't show a north arrow so it is hard to figure directions. I would consider wider roof overhangs to cool windows and walls. Center the window in the loft above the kitchen door. If you use the loft for storage you would not need to go over the bathroom but keep its high ceiling. Consider a high window above the bath/shower - ventilation again. There is no way you can get too much ventilation and you should consider capturing the breeze no matter which way the wind blows.

Just me but I would consider putting the kitchen sink in front of the window, unless you plan on using that window as a food pass through onto your future lanai.

Even money this is as far as the "project" ever goes.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by pj737

You want to build that for $25K? Oh boy. 480 SF of kitchen, bath and living space with 10-15 ft ceilings and stacked windows, 150 SF of finished loft area w/storage under the stairs and 340 SF of covered lanai w/railings? All raised 7 feet above grade w/stair access on post and pier foundations? You're looking at $80K minimum for that and that's just the build cost with no solar or septic system. I would be very surprised if you can get it done for less.

Your current design won't work for the loft too.

On this we agree. $25K isn't going to be close. Just the material to build a shell of a house (frame, siding, roof, windows) will run at least $15K - and you have a long way to go from there.

I also can't stress enough, a loft is usually not usable for anything but storage - it will be to hot to sleep.

I have a rental property in Hawaii Kai - the loft has stairs up from the second floor master bedroom - and even when the tenant runs AC in the bedroom it remains very hot - when they say heat rises, they mean it.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

One thing to consider in your budget is that everything costs more in Hawaii. Everything has to be shipped in, so there are added costs. And there is not a lot of competition, so it's very hard to shop around for a good deal.