Thursday, August 14, 2014
Thursday, July 31, 2014
$2K House: Post Construction Thoughts
PRECONSTRUCTION
For our end of the year project for Summer 2014, the Masters in Integrated Design and Construction cohort 2013/2014 were asked to build a small one-person house for $2000K dollars. We were divided into 4, three-person groups to each design or manage a portion of reconstruction duties, from design, to materials, and budgeting. Each group performed their duties in succession one week at a time. After a month, we were ready to begin construction, with a small floor plan, exterior look, and materials chosen. Our involvement in the project ended at drying in the building and finishing the exterior. Subsequent classes will finish out the interior and utilities.
CONSTRUCTION
During construction, the design called for minimal cuts in the materials. We wished to minimize waste as much as possible, so we chose 8 and 10 foot lengths for the walls using standard 2x4’s and designed the overall dimensions to work well with minimally cut sheathing, rigid insulation and rafter beams.
I took this opportunity to really get involved with physical construction as much as possible. I wanted to really take advantage of the situation to hone my skills and learn more from my other more knowledgable teammates. I was heavily involved in the wall framing, helping to frame one long side and one short side, while also providing input from the first short side we finished to the next team tasked with building the opposite short side. I also cut many of the rafters to size so that another team member could place them on top of the walls. As the project progressed my final major task, besides helping to install the waterproofing and rigid insulation, was roofing. We spent an entire morning start to finish laying down shingles. Luckily the temperature that morning was moderate and the job as hot as it had been on days before.
I was surprised at how quickly it went up: a total of seven full 8 hours days, split into two weeks at 4 hours a day. I was most surprised at how slowly laying the shingles took. It felt we had mad almost no progress after two hours! I was fortunate enough to be able to learn from several of my colleagues with more real-world construction experience.
The final budget came in at just over $3000, which still seams incredibly reasonable after we finished and seeing the results of our work. For another couple thousand dollars, you could easily have a very nice, well insulated home, albeit a tiny house. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it has inspired me to heavily consider my own iteration of tiny living, be it remodeling an airstream, building a tiny house on wheels, or simply attempting to maximize space with thoughtful design.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
$2000ish Small House
Preconstruction.
The 2013/2014 cohort of the Masters in Integrated Design and Construction were tasked with trying to build a house for $2000. The initial idea was to build a house for folks affected by tornadoes that struck in the summer. The class was divided into four groups during the design stage of the project, these groups were assigned different tasks that where meant to be performed weekly. each group had the lead for a week and handed it over to the next group. We finally agreed on a floor plan and exterior shape for the house. The plan was to finish the exterior of the house, while the interior space wold be unfinished.
Construction.
During the construction stage, i was assigned to the group keeping tabs on the budget. Our primary responsibility was to interface with the acquisition group and keep records on the daily/weekly purchase made for the construction of the house.
The proper construction phase of the house was an opportunity for me to have hands on residential and wood frame construction, as my prior experiences where with concrete/CMU construction and volunteering with Habitat of Humanity.I was able to understand/see the practical application of what I had learned the previous semester. A few of my colleagues with residential experience where able to transfer that knowledge to the others who didn't have that experience.
The final budget for the house came to be about $3200. A few things not included in the initial budget were purchased on the fly.
The greatest takeaway from the project for me was how some problems we didn't account for raised their heads and how we were able to solve them.
The 2013/2014 cohort of the Masters in Integrated Design and Construction were tasked with trying to build a house for $2000. The initial idea was to build a house for folks affected by tornadoes that struck in the summer. The class was divided into four groups during the design stage of the project, these groups were assigned different tasks that where meant to be performed weekly. each group had the lead for a week and handed it over to the next group. We finally agreed on a floor plan and exterior shape for the house. The plan was to finish the exterior of the house, while the interior space wold be unfinished.
Construction.
During the construction stage, i was assigned to the group keeping tabs on the budget. Our primary responsibility was to interface with the acquisition group and keep records on the daily/weekly purchase made for the construction of the house.
The proper construction phase of the house was an opportunity for me to have hands on residential and wood frame construction, as my prior experiences where with concrete/CMU construction and volunteering with Habitat of Humanity.I was able to understand/see the practical application of what I had learned the previous semester. A few of my colleagues with residential experience where able to transfer that knowledge to the others who didn't have that experience.
The final budget for the house came to be about $3200. A few things not included in the initial budget were purchased on the fly.
The greatest takeaway from the project for me was how some problems we didn't account for raised their heads and how we were able to solve them.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
$2,000 Home?
Our team analyzed a $2,000 home from the video shown in class to better understand the overall project. We created a Sketchup model including all structural and finish components of the home. We were able to derive an accurate estimate using Sketchup and our own material price database. Based off the $2,000 home, we created another estimate including features that all homes required and ended up about double the price of the $2,000 home. Through research and case studies, we found that most homes of the same standard were around $5,000 in price and less than 400 square feet. Using the case studies and the estimate, a home of this size completely finished should be in the price range of $4,500-$5,000 with less than 400 square feet. (Below is a picture of the Sketchup model)
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Case Study
Case Study
Chameleon Cabin.
The Chameleon Cabin is developed in collaboration with branding agency Happy F + B to demonstrate the capabilities of local printing firm Göteborgstryckeriet.
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