Do It Yurtself - Hackdot

Re:Do It Yurtself by h2odragon on Saturday September 21, 2019 @09:17AM (#21035193)

In more rural areas, you can still build your own home without a huge amount of paperwork and certification. As someone else mentioned, if your funding hasn't got strings attached you're even more free. Of course there's always the "forgiveness is easier than permission," factor too, but that only works if you're "somebody" to the authorities you hope to be forgiving you.

I built my house from 2003 to 2005 in rural TN with only a couple of permits needed (electrician, one for the well, one for the septic system) and no special laws about what contractors i could employ. This was self-funded, self labor, etc etc as much as possible; and probably about the most benign location for the effort in the entire USA.

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Re:Do It Yurtself by organsnyder on Saturday September 21, 2019 @04:09PM (#21037643)

I live in a city of ~200k (Grand Rapids, MI). We need a few more permits than you (structural plans, foundation...), but there's nothing prohibiting DIY work. I've found the building department to be fairly DIY-friendly.

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Re:Do It Yurtself by mikeyouse on Sunday September 22, 2019 @06:42AM (#21040662)

Ha. A family member built a ~2,500sq ft, 3 stall garage home near the beltline a few years back with the help of my other family members. One of them had a contractor's license (I think primarily for the discount and credit line at Menards - they never worked as a contractor) but GR was very amenable to self built homes. Just needed the normal inspections (foundation, electrical, plumbing) and it went smoothly.

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Re:Do It Yurtself by PenguinCoder on Saturday September 21, 2019 @10:02AM (#21035432)

Curious, what was the total 'all done' cost of doing this?

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Re:Do It Yurtself by h2odragon on Saturday September 21, 2019 @11:08AM (#21035794)

Just under $40k, with salvage materials and every cost saving i could scrape up. Place has been assessed 2x - 3x higher and I've been told "If it was a more normal structure it could be worth twice that"... Most people don't want houses with industrial flooring and 900 sqft loft rooms; thats why I had to build :)

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Re:Do It Yurtself by subspaceman on Saturday September 21, 2019 @12:44PM (#21036336)

This sounds very interesting! Have any pictures?

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Re:Do It Yurtself by bredren on Saturday September 21, 2019 @01:08PM (#21036497)

What do you use the loft room for?

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