I decided last year that I wanted to build my own house so at the start of this year a couple of months after turning 20 I started working on the weekends clearing the land and then building so far I'm 65 hours in and I am almost done on the outside. Just wanted to share this and see what everybody thinks. It's been a few months since I've had a day off from building for other people during the week and for myself on the weekend ready for a break.

 

This is the view from my front porch

 

Such a couch tater you are ...

Sweet!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Good job.

What are you doing for utilities, sewer, etc.? Any plans for a shop/garage?

 

When I was born we actually lived in this exact spot in a single wide trailer and moved when I was 5 to the other end of the county so I actually picked this spot because it already had a well and septic tank so that was a huge savings. We've got 12.5 acres where I'm building so I've got plenty of room, after I move in I'm gonna build me a big barn and I'm gonna put a timber frame carport to the right side of the house

 

And it looks like FORD trucks are helping you make your dream come true!

 

Very nice! All that in 65 hours? You must be a pro.

PS you on the right track. I bought my first house at age 22 and a few more since. My kids / and yours, will benifit from our forsight and work.

 

Not hardly a pro just a regular ole high school dropout with a GED but when I get this house done it will be mine I'm not borrowing any money to build it just using what I make each week so far I'm $15,000 in on it

 

You are being prudent and wise, Blakemcclainjm! It has been said, "... the borrower is slave to the lender". Keep up the good work!

 

You are not "just a regular ole high school dropout" ... You are not a loser!

To others ...
I'm not saying dropouts are losers, many are, many are not!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Awesome job! Wish I would have done this when I was 20. You should have a blog for build it yourselfers. Curious about the stacked block foundation... that is something we don't see in South Texas.

 

Blakemcclainjm,

I do have a question ... I don't see any mud seal between the block work and the PT sill, is that not required in your location?

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

I've actually never heard of or seen someone around here using a mud sill, as for the foundation the only thing I've not done on this house is lay the block I've never done much of it and I figured I'd just let someone else do it that would be much faster and better at it. Most people around here do poured walls nowadays instead of laying block but I could get the block done for about 1/3 of the price. We dug out and leveled the ground so it's 5 block high all the way around with no step downs. This makes it much easier to wire and plumb under the house.

 

I ain't no contractor, I have built a couple houses though and it's always been required that's all, I know things are different in different places, was just curious.

Concrete is like a wick, mud seal prevents wicking into the sill plate, it's also a thermal barrier and filler, that's all.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

All the houses in my area are usually painted with a waterproofing like damtite on the block if the water settles against the house usually if water runs away from the house it's just bare block. There's no codes in my area but when we work in areas where there are codes it sets a minimum for people to build by, and a lot of inspectors just have a degree and don't really know how things should be done. Not saying that everyone in those areas build cheap though. One example of this was when we were doing a job years ago when we just did sheetrock an inspector came in and complained because there was no fire caulk in the basement and when questioned about it he said that it needed it so if the basement burnt the top floor could still be saved but he couldn't understand that if a basement burnt out from under the main floor there would be nothing left to support it.