# Building your own house?



## chaudi (Sep 10, 2009)

Any ideas about building your own house. I always wanted to build a small efficient winterize cabin close to Toronto. I imagine it would be much cheap and better than buys someone else old house. Here's one that been for sale for a while. I wonder couldn't a small house be built for cheaply 50-100k? I'm thinking DYS with some hire help.


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## mrcheap (Apr 4, 2009)

There's a TON of info on this topic. If you google "build your own house" you'll get 226 million results and find 443 books on Amazon.

Dig through some of a it and figure out what you're looking to do (build it entirely yourself, live off of the grid, have lower environmental impact, save money by acting as a general contractor yourself, etc, etc, etc). Once you know more precisely what your goal is you'll probably be able to find recommendations for specific resources.


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## redseal (Oct 31, 2011)

chaudi said:


> Any ideas about building your own house. I always wanted to build a small efficient winterize cabin close to Toronto. I imagine it would be much cheap and better than buys someone else old house. Here's one that been for sale for a while. I wonder couldn't a small house be built for cheaply 50-100k? I'm thinking DYS with some hire help.


I can guarantee you that it is not possible to build your own house for 50-100k unless you do every shred of labor yourself, with no help, and pay only for material costs. I am a builder, and my costs of labor an material would exceed this by quite a bit even on a smaller home. We have built some small passive homes (10% of energy used when compared to conventional) and they are a little more costly up-front, but save in the longer term.

Unless you have no full time employment, and plenty of knowledge and experience, I would suggest hiring a builder. You can however save quite a bit by being diligent in the design stage.


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## sisco (Oct 18, 2011)

redseal - being a builder, I'm curious to hear your opinion on modular (engineered) homes. The manufacturers state that they can build a similar home for 10-15% less than a site-built home. Have you had any experience with these? Some of the manufacturers (MapleLeaf Homes being one) offer some interesting designs for small <1000sqft homes, and also some "eco" homes that are designed to be highly efficient and use environmentally friendly materials.


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## hystat (Jun 18, 2010)

chaudi said:


> small efficient winterize cabin close to Toronto.


Where specifically?
Most municipalities near Toronto have zoning laws that prevent that sort of building. 
Start with city hall before doing too much reading/planning.

Regardless, buying is always cheaper than building. Building is for those who cannot find what they want.


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## chaudi (Sep 10, 2009)

Well i'd like a large detached bachelor which kind of hard to find in a house. It seems much better to build this kind of house. For example i don't need a 1 bedroom because it is easy to heat a large room to use as living room, bedroom, dinning room. Bathroom and kitchen i prefer small, with a nice shower stall. Kitchen i don't need a large refrigerator or oven. 2 burners and small beer fridge would be fine. 
I'd like the whole house in 12v with wind/solar generators. Heating would be gas as the stove and fridge. Could be 12v heaters too. Toilet I'm thinking chemical. 
Using shipping containers seems the cheapest way. 
I wonder how much it would cost to furnish two shipping containers with wood on the inside and insulation and siding on the outside?


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## underbidbob (Jan 23, 2012)

There's a TON of info on this topic. If you google "build your own house" you'll get 226 million results and find 443 books on Amazon.

Dig through some of a it and figure out what you're looking to do (build it entirely yourself, live off of the grid, have lower environmental impact, save money by acting as a general contractor yourself, etc, etc, etc). Once you know more precisely what your goal is you'll probably be able to find recommendations for specific resources.


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## hystat (Jun 18, 2010)




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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

Google is your best friend. I did a search for cabin kits Ontario and found this... http://www.cabinkits.ca/sample1.htm they have a 480sf model. Bedroom is separate but the site says you can have them modify their designs for you. You do have to be handy enough to assemble it yourself, or pay them extra to completely build it, but this would fall under your less-than-100k requirement. You would also have to acquire some space to put this on though... That won't be cheap. And foundation cost isn't included.

Google small house movement. There are some interesting blogs and such on this topic.


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## amit.dutta1512 (Jan 21, 2017)

*contact*



sisco said:


> redseal - being a builder, I'm curious to hear your opinion on modular (engineered) homes. The manufacturers state that they can build a similar home for 10-15% less than a site-built home. Have you had any experience with these? Some of the manufacturers (MapleLeaf Homes being one) offer some interesting designs for small <1000sqft homes, and also some "eco" homes that are designed to be highly efficient and use environmentally friendly materials.


I need more inputs regarding building a house , who can help


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

amit.dutta1512 said:


> I need more inputs regarding building a house , who can help


Unlike the OP, who provided a bit of detail over several posts, you have provided absolutely no background for your question, such as where, what kind of house, budget etc., just for starters. I would expect you to generate little response to what you have (not) provided.

I have built 2 houses, a cabin, and a handful of outbuildings, but my experience may be wholly irrelevant to what you have in mind.


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## Pop Alexandra (May 8, 2018)

I wouldn't try building a house just yet, but I did finish a cabin from a Summerwood plan this spring. Baby steps...


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

Buy a mobile home instead.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

chaudi said:


> Any ideas about building your own house. I always wanted to build a small efficient winterize cabin close to Toronto. I imagine it would be much cheap and better than buys someone else old house. Here's one that been for sale for a while. I wonder couldn't a small house be built for cheaply 50-100k? I'm thinking DYS with some hire help.


If you have to ask, you are probably not qualified to DIY a project like this, and certainly not for the budget you are thinking of. Your second post merely confirms my first impression.


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## twa2w (Mar 5, 2016)

The original post on this thread was in 2012. 
The OP subsequently bought a house and had some issues which they brought up on this forum for advice. I dont believe they have posted since 2017.


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