Want to build a house on bought land... what materials?

[SagaLore]

My wife and I want to buy some land and build a house on it. We've looked at modular housing but that stuff loses it's value really fast. I've been looking at the steel frame houses, but I've also considered building most of the house out of concret blocks like they do in commercial buildings and schools.

How much do those blocks cost? Anybody know how much a 1600 sq ft house made of blocks compares to made of steel frame compares to made of wood?

 

[NogginBoink]

If you're ever planning on reselling the house, be aware that anything other than traditional building materials usually lowers the resale value of the house, sometimes substantially.

Also, you'll have to build within code requirements.

 

[ElFenix]

cinder blocks? those aren't load bearing... theres still a steel frame. or wood. what do you need steel for? if theres a tornado your house is still gone, you just have a few steel girders laying in the mix.

 

[Red Dawn]

Talk to an engineer. I doubt you will get sound advice here regarding material, the actual construction, etc..

 

[Beau]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Talk to an engineer. I doubt you will get sound advice here regarding material, the actual construction, etc..

hehehe

uh... wood, nails, ruler, hammer, chalk, safety glasses, ladder... that should just about do it.

 

[Wingznut]

Go with brick. Period.

There was a scientific study which proved that brick is infinitely stronger (and safer) than both straw and sticks.

Link

 

[Armitage]

Concrete blocks aren't load bearing?
Not sure where you get that from considering the number of foundations, basement walls, buildings, etc. built with concrete block walls.

But before I would go with block I'd look at Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF)
These are concrete forms made of styrafoam. They stack up like legos, then you pour them full of concrete. They are generally 2-2.5 inches thich, so you have 4 or 5 inches of insulation right away. The have plastic or metal strips imbedded in them so you can screw siding (or stucco mesh) to the ouside, and drywall etc. to the inside.

I used them for the foundation of the addition I'm building now, and they work great. People build whole multi-story houses out of them.

They are a little pricey, about $17 for a single section (4' long by 16" high) and you have to pump the concrete into them. But much less labor intensive then laying block, and much easier to finish off.

But, why not go with a standard wodd-frame house?

Also, you probably already know this, but the banks want alot more down for undeveloped land, and you won't have much equity for the construction loan.

 

[iamwiz82]

brick is also cheaper to insure.

 

[Armitage]

FWIW, here's the homepage for the ICF system I used: FormTech

 

[Brutuskend]

"Listen, lad: I built this kingdom up from nuthin'. When I started here, all of this was swamp! Other kings said it was *daft* to build a castle in a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em! It sank into the swamp. SO, I built a second one! That sank into the swamp. So I built a *third* one. That burned down, fell over, *then* sank into the swamp. But the fourth one......stayed up. And that's what you're gonna get, lad: the *strongest* castle in these islands."
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Choose your land carefully!!

 

[BooneRebel]

Concrete blocks are traditional home building materials. In many areas they pre-date 2x4 wood framed homes.

Arranging by ascending cost I believe it's wood, metal, concrete.

Material cost for wood is probably the cheapest but takes more labor than metal.

Metal framing goes up very quickly and has a low labor cost but this is offset by the higher cost of materials and finishing work.

Cinder block (concrete bricks) are probably the most expensive due to the extensive labor. They are most certainly load bearing (not sure where that quote above came from) - almost every house in this region has a basement/first floor constructed of cinderblock. It is much more durable than wood so is often used for foundations and ground contact. Once you get above ground level durability is less of a concern and wood is then used because it's cheaper.

Brick homes (the small 3x6" ones) aren't really built of brick, it's a brick fascia. The load bearing surface is usually a wooden (or more recently, metal) frame that the bricks are laid in front of. This does provide a very durable exterior with little effort required to maintain it, but is very expensive.

Depending on the quality of construction and building materials, you can spend anywhere from $50/sqft to $200/sqft or more. In most cases if you're looking for the most bang for your buck you're better off buying an older home. However, with a new home it will appreciate quickly over the next few years so if you're looking for an investment this can work out well for you, too.

 

[SagaLore]

http://steelframehousing.org/

Resistant to earthquakes, termites, high winds, fire, etc.

they say it's cheaper to build with steel too. unfortunately, there are no steel house vendors in this area...

 

[vi edit]

There's basically three routes you can go for your foundation/basement.

First thing you do is put in the foundation. Done by having a back hoe dig out the basement, and you have a strip of concrete poured inside of the perimeter of the hole.

From there you can go ice house(the foam block mentioned earlier), 8"(or 12" block), or poured basement.

Icehouse is the most expensive,. 8" block allows the most flexibility and is the strongest IMHO, and poured basements go up the quickest. I've seen homes with a poured basement go from a dirt lot, to a complete basement in three days time. Using block or the ice "cubes", you are looking at weeks of time and labor charges.

I'm not a fan of poured basments because it's one big solid wall of concrete. It's very hard to repair if the wall should crack. It's also harder to reinforce as well.

A vast majority of frames are done with wood. You can brick the outside of it for strength, insulation, and asthetic reasons. Or, you can go cheap and simple and vinyl side it.

[Edit] My Dad is a mason by trade and the only type of basement he'll have under his house is one built out of block. So, I may be a little biased

 

[Armitage]

Another note on ICF:

I would Not consider so-called "waffle-grid" ICF systems. Some of the systems are designed to vary the thickness of the concrete walls in a "waffle-grid" like manner. Others may have styrafoam-filled voids in the wall. The idea is that a solid, reiforced concrete wall is often far stronger then required, so they do these things to reduce the amount of concrete needed.

The downside is that you will need additional engineering to get this type of through your building codes, and you run a much higher risk of having voids in your walls when you pour it.

I'd have to argue with vi though about 8" block being the strongest. There is no way a block wall is stronger then a monolithic reinforced concrete wall.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
There's basically three routes you can go for your foundation/basement.

First thing you do is put in the foundation. Done by having a back hoe dig out the basement, and you have a strip of concrete poured inside of the perimeter of the hole.

From there you can go ice house(the foam block mentioned earlier), 8"(or 12" block), or poured basement.

Icehouse is the most expensive,. 8" block allows the most flexibility and is the strongest IMHO, and poured basements go up the quickest. I've seen homes with a poured basement go from a dirt lot, to a complete basement in three days time. Using block or the ice "cubes", you are looking at weeks of time and labor charges.

I'm not a fan of poured basments because it's one big solid wall of concrete. It's very hard to repair if the wall should crack. It's also harder to reinforce as well.

A vast majority of frames are done with wood. You can brick the outside of it for strength, insulation, and asthetic reasons. Or, you can go cheap and simple and vinyl side it.

[Edit] My Dad is a mason by trade and the only type of basement he'll have under his house is one built out of block. So, I may be a little biased

or you could go the Superior Wall route http://www.superiorwalls.com/general.htm - popular here in Pennsylvania.

 

[BadNewsBears]

Uhh brick? Are you guys silly or what? Brick would crumble in about 20 seconds holding anything more that itself and maybe a roof. (talking about 3x6 used as fascia's NOT talking about cinder's) My dads a master journeyman carpentar. We just built a house together so im wuite familiar with everything. IM not the best but I do know that wood rules. Wood wood wood. and wood floors as well. we have pics of our addition so you can see our handiwork.

 

[PlatinumGold]

How much do those blocks cost? Anybody know how much a 1600 sq ft house made of blocks compares to made of steel frame compares to made of wood?

I'm willing to bet, going w/ traditional stud wall construction will cost about the same. it's soo much easier just to use standard materials, stud wall construction, sheet rock, etc etc.

if you go with alternative materials, you might save a little on the shell of the house but you end up paying for it trying to make that shell look livable.

you can usually figure between $15.00 to $25.00 / sq ft. to build a house.

 

[jemcam]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
cinder blocks? those aren't load bearing... theres still a steel frame. or wood. what do you need steel for? if theres a tornado your house is still gone, you just have a few steel girders laying in the mix.

Go to Florida and then tell me that. Everything built in the last 40 years is with cinder blocks, and they're stronger than a wooden stick & frame house if done within code. No steel girders in them, and many of them survived Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The ones that didn't make it weren't within codes and had the roofs stapled on instead of nailed. Once the roof was gone, the rest of the house was history.

 

[PlatinumGold]

UHh brick? ARe you guys silly or what? Brick would crumble in about 20 secons holding anything more that itself and maybe a roof. My dads a master journeyman carpentar. We just built a house together so im wuite familiar with everything.IM not the best but I do know that wood rules. Wood wood wood. and wood floors as well. we have pics of our addition so you can see our handiwork.

Munchies, you do of course know that there is a difference between brick (primarily used as a siding) vs Concrete blocks (used for foundations etc).

 

[BadNewsBears]

Plat saw my err I was refering to the red 3x6 outer covering (fascia) bricks.Other than that im right

 

[PlatinumGold]

Plat saw my err I was refering to the red 3x6 outer covering (fascia) bricks.Other than that im right

munchies. that's cool. I just finished putting 1100 sq ft of Hardwood in my house. I did the entire first floor. 3/4 inch hardwood, none of this composite, engineered or veneered wood for me.

 

[Aceman]

Ummm, before you build the house, do you have all the utilities "run into" your land? Getting electric lines and gas lines can be quite expensive and then you either need a well and a septic tank or "city" water and sewer ran to your house. Big $$$. I was about to buy an acre of land in Pennsylvania and move my mobile home onto the lot. The cost of running utilities was more than the parcel of land.

 

[todpod]

A 10" concrete block should cost about $1 ea and I guessing probably $2.00 ea to lay them, an 8" block less. There are bunches of house around here that were built out of brick, and they aren't new houses either, they are 3 and 4 brick thick though. If you go with Blocks consider some thing like Split-face block, they use these on walmart and grocey stores around here. They have a rock like face. They gray ones used to be about $1.80, and you can get colored ones to($ depends on color), so you never have to paint. I have thrown around thousands of these in my day (that day is over). While I have nothing really against wood, there are better options anymore, and I think the ICF is one of the best ones.

They are also alot of new stuff depending where you live, like Straw bale houses, gotta be fairly dry there are others two. Wood just isn't nearly as energy efficent as something like ICFs. So keep that in mind two.

When I get out of college, me and my wife if we build will probably built an Earth Sheltered House with 3 walls and the roof covered with dirt. It will probably help $ wise that my Dad has the concrete forms.

Have fun Todd

 

[shifrbv]

We've looked at modular housing but that stuff loses it's value really fast

I think some of that is just stigma associated with modular housing. Their is mobile home living, then their are modular homes. It depends on what type of modular you are looking at. Remember, some of the older ranch houses that were built in the 50's were some of the first modular/pre-fab kit homes and look at what they're going for today. My home is a modular and looks just like any other Cape Cod type home on the market. It appraises the same as well. If you get one that looks like a mobile home, then yes, forget about the desireability factor. But if you get one that looks like a real house, or like houses in your area, which mine does, there there really is no difference. I have a block foundation with wooden framing just like any other traditional style home. I also have utility bills that are around $75 a month which is better than the 1 bedroom apartment I just moved from because of the way this house is constructed. Doing everything in the factory made it extremely energy-efficient because everything was sealed and tolerance tested before it was installed.

Really, in most of the subdivisions today they have prefab "panels" that come from the factory that they assemble like a jigsaw puzzle onsite and people consider that as "having their house built". What's so different about that vs. a modular home that is brought in by partitions then assembled on site?