does HD/Lowes have all the raw materials needed to build a house?

[dank69]

What are you using 4x10's for in the construction of your house?

90% of a house can be built with 2x4's, 2x6's and 2x12's. And that could include floor and ceiling joists.

The main beam could theoretically be built by splicing 2x12s or 10s if you couldn't get full length ones, but I doubt it would meet many building code requirements. It's all moot because you would pay much less for all the framing from a lumber yard.

 

[Thump553]

You used to be able to purchase kits from Sears. http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/index.htm

I went to a party once at one of those Sears kit homes-this was a small home built in the early 1900s. Every beam and rafter in the house was stamped with a code so you knew exactly where it went and how.

The owner told me there are people that actually collect those houses.

 

[MotionMan]

LOL. I'd rather live in my shed.

This one?

MotionMan

 

[sjwaste]

Anything not stocked can be ordered, so yes. I'm not sure about Lowes, but I have a family member in the major renovation business, and they swear up and down by one particular Home Depot that has come through in a pinch on multiple occasions. So I take they can get whatever you need fast, too.

Also, you don't necessarily need steel beams to build a house. You can make your headers out of wood. Hell, many of them are, you can nail two 2x12's together.

I'm not saying you SHOULD use HD/Lowes as your exclusive supplier to build a house, but it seems to be possible. And aren't absurd possibilities what we're all here for anyway?

 

[amdskip]

My point is that lowes doesn't sell anything that would be useful for a beam of any kind. It's just your basic DIY lumber for small framing jobs and decks.

I honestly believe that they do. They should have lvl beams available for order and sometimes in stock depending on the store.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

The main beam could theoretically be built by splicing 2x12s or 10s if you couldn't get full length ones, but I doubt it would meet many building code requirements. It's all moot because you would pay much less for all the framing from a lumber yard.

Main beam?

 

[shortylickens]

If they have lumber it is dog shit.
Those places are mostly conveniences for construction men who dont have the time to wait for delivery from a warehouse supplier, or home bodies who dont know they can always do better some place else.

 

[dank69]

Anything not stocked can be ordered, so yes. I'm not sure about Lowes, but I have a family member in the major renovation business, and they swear up and down by one particular Home Depot that has come through in a pinch on multiple occasions. So I take they can get whatever you need fast, too.

Also, you don't necessarily need steel beams to build a house. You can make your headers out of wood. Hell, many of them are, you can nail two 2x12's together.

I'm not saying you SHOULD use HD/Lowes as your exclusive supplier to build a house, but it seems to be possible. And aren't absurd possibilities what we're all here for anyway?

What kind of foundation?

 

[bignateyk]

I honestly believe that they do. They should have lvl beams available for order and sometimes in stock depending on the store.

Yeah you could be right... i've never looked to see what they have for special order. I've never seen anything larger than a 2x12x12 non pressure treated or 4x4x8 and 6x6x8 pressure treated for decking in the store.

Either way, it's probably a lot cheaper to just go to a lumber yard.

 

[dank69]

Main beam?

Around here we build full basements so yeah, you need a main beam for the floor joists.

 

[BoomerD]

My point is that lowes doesn't sell anything that would be useful for a beam of any kind. It's just your basic DIY lumber for small framing jobs and decks.

While that's their main focus, Lowe's can order just about anything you need to build a house.

Here's a 4X12X12:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_100875-99999...|1%26Va%3Dtrue

4 x 12 x 12 #2 Green Douglas-Fir S4S Lumber
$26.92

Since longer, heavier timbers aren't something that's used very often, they probably don't stock them...but can have them in a couple of days.

Personally, I'd do business with a regular lumber yard over Lowe's for a project like building a house though. You'd get better prices, probably better quality, and even free delivery.
I certainly wouldn't want to pour a very big slab using the 80 pound bags of concrete...

 

[bignateyk]

Main beam?

Yeah you know.. the thing that supports your floor joists over a large span:

http://www.brynmawrcorporation.com/customer support.html2/Home IBeam Floor Truss C5.jpg

Something like that. I've got one in my crawl space. The two story part of my current house just has a cinder block wall dividing part of it that supports the joists. I'm not sure what the use for building houses any more though. Probably just some cheap lumber.

 

[sjwaste]

LOL. I'd rather live in my shed.

No way, did you see the floor plan? Every time you shower, the toilet gets washed off too.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Around here we build full basements so yeah, you need a main beam for the floor joists.

You need a load bearing wall. I guess "main beam" could be a locational building code.

My dad, brother, and I built my parents house with the exception of having the full basement poured and the plumbing. We surpassed every building code in Illinois and I've never heard of a "main beam" being used except in very old houses.

 

[sjwaste]

What kind of foundation?

How much quikrete do you have time to mix? They sell bags of cement, garden hoses, wheelbarrows, and shovels

Also, nobody specified that this had to be a good house. The "copper" bird feeder I bought from HD is rusting, so I'd assume the house would do the same.

 

[CPA]

The main beam could theoretically be built by splicing 2x12s or 10s if you couldn't get full length ones, but I doubt it would meet many building code requirements. It's all moot because you would pay much less for all the framing from a lumber yard.

What main beam? Unless you have a basement, I don't see why you would need a main beam, unless you have some very large, open expanses in the main floor. And Lowes sells, at the store, 2x16.

Edit: just saw your qualifier about the basement.

 

[sjwaste]

 

[waggy]

Yeah you know.. the thing that supports your floor joists over a large span:

http://www.brynmawrcorporation.com/customer support.html2/Home IBeam Floor Truss C5.jpg

Something like that. I've got one in my crawl space. The two story part of my current house just has a cinder block wall dividing part of it that supports the joists. I'm not sure what the use for building houses any more though. Probably just some cheap lumber.

hmm i have never seen one except in basements or large open rooms.

 

[OCGuy]

I guess nobody appreciates a good illegal immigrant joke anymore.


I am a sad panda.

 

[dank69]

How much quikrete do you have time to mix? They sell bags of cement, garden hoses, wheelbarrows, and shovels

Also, nobody specified that this had to be a good house. The "copper" bird feeder I bought from HD is rusting, so I'd assume the house would do the same.

Yeah, I just thought the OP might want to keep it semi-realistic

 

[EMPshockwave82]

How much quikrete do you have time to mix? They sell bags of cement, garden hoses, wheelbarrows, and shovels

Also, nobody specified that this had to be a good house. The "copper" bird feeder I bought from HD is rusting, so I'd assume the house would do the same.

Any more than 5-10 bags and I'm calling in a company that brings it in by the truckload.

 

[RelaxTheMind]

here in my area in virginia its roughly $60-75k in raw materials for a 2500-2800 square foot single story home including bathroom/kitchen fittings and by code. everything from closeout deals to the type of roofing and how "green" you want your house to be will raise or lower the price drastically.

modular homes can be as cheap and easier to finance than a kit home.

 

[sjwaste]

here in my area in virginia its roughly $60-75k in raw materials for a 2500-2800 square foot single story home including bathroom/kitchen fittings and by code. everything from closeout deals to the type of roofing and how "green" you want your house to be will raise or lower the price drastically.

modular homes can be as cheap and easier to finance than a kit home.

We must be in different parts of VA, only because a 2800 sqft single story home would be the same size as my entire lot

 

[waggy]

here in my area in virginia its roughly $60-75k in raw materials for a 2500-2800 square foot single story home including bathroom/kitchen fittings and by code. everything from closeout deals to the type of roofing and how "green" you want your house to be will raise or lower the price drastically.

modular homes can be as cheap and easier to finance than a kit home.

not to mention modular homes are nice. And before you idiots start saying modular homes = trailers they are not the same.

 

[gorcorps]

If they have lumber it is dog shit.
Those places are mostly conveniences for construction men who dont have the time to wait for delivery from a warehouse supplier, or home bodies who dont know they can always do better some place else.

This.

My dad has framed houses for a very long time, and the only time he'd buy wood from Lowe's is if some motherfucker stole the wood he already had delivered to the house.