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re: building a frugal home
22 dec 1999
gary heston wrote:
>according to mr. frost :
>>...i found a garage package in the same design as the small home
>>i wanted to build and only costs $6,000.00...
sounds expensive. around here, the cost of a large metal pole barn
erected on site is about $5/ft^2, with no windows or doors, so $6k
is a 30x40' barn. you might insulate it with bags of leaves, and put
lots of 55 gallon water drums inside to add thermal mass and act as
a less-expensive ballast foundation, and ask them to leave the metal
skin off the south wall, which could be a drumwall inside, with two
layers of poly film outside the framing, filled with air during the
day and tiny cold soap bubbles at night, in the winter.
>there are lots of reasons why houses cost more than garages. codes are
>a lot of them.
codes are bad news designed by committees with axes to grind.
>go price what the material to upgrade the structure, insulate, plumb,
>wire, drywall, paint, trim, floor, and finish it...
or get copies of mike oehler's "$50 and up underground house book" and
john hait's "passive annual heat storage" sequel and mike reynold's
earthship books, if you have more time than money and want to decide
for yourself what features to pay for.
nick
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