Shouse

[T-Max]

I posted this on the Habitat-Talk Forum and thought some of you might find this helpful. My wife and I bought 5 acres adjacent to the family farm last year and built a shouse (shed+house=shouse) on it beginning last August that carried on through about April of this year.

We began by purchasing a post frame building kit through Menards. The plans from Menards include 2 garage doors. We only installed one garage door and framed across the extra opening to include more living space for now. The plan is to eventually build an actual house on the property at which time this one will be stripped and used as a garage. At that time we will already have the additional garage door framed in. Sounds like a plan right?!



Lets get started. First the building pad was prepped, and the trench footing was poured.

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Next the base was compacted and we poured a slab. This building is overengineered in almost every way. J The footings are an extra 6” deep and the slab is almost 6” thick!

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In one weekend we started setting posts and by late Sunday night we had a frame! I love post frame construction.

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Over the course of the week we cleaned up loose ends, added bracing and got everything tightened down. The following weekend it was time for steel. We did the roof first so we had the wall girts to climb on. It really did go quite smooth. Next were the solid walls. They were a breeze. The hard part was the walls with doors and windows. After a considerable amount of cussing and bleeding we had a completed shell. I was feeling pretty proud at this point.

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Here it is!

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We got a driveway and propane tank!

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[T-Max]

Framing…

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We decided on spray foam insulation. It was definitely a hit to the budget, but I can attest to its efficiency. Our heat and air barely have to run. The guy who installed the propane tank joked that they are going to lose money on us. J It is 7-1/2” thick in the walls and 9” thick in all of the ceilings (except for the vaulted area. More on that in a moment).

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[T-Max]

We decided to leave a truss exposed in the vaulted area. The idea was to wrap it in rough cedar to add a visual element to help break up the area. Next was drywall. This is one of the areas we contracted out as a bad drywall job can ruin a house…

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After some thought we decided to stain the rough cedar to match the wood floors.

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After the flooring was installed we went to work on the kitchen. We chose white to contrast the dark floors. They were a pretty easy install.

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[T-Max]

We went with butcher block countertops. After considerable cutting, trimming, and fitting they were ready to stain and seal. We used Waterlox for the seal. If you haven’t heard of it it is worth a look. I found it easy to use and it looks good.

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Bathroom…

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We moved in in April, and are still working on trim and other odds and ends. We did most of the work ourselves and saved a ton of money doing it. It was definitely a lot of work, but we are now rural and the gate in my back yard leads to our 240 acre hunting paradise! Thanks for looking.

 

[cutman]

That looks great. This forum is terrible about making me jealous.

 

[Bowkl]

Looks awesome. We are wanting to do something like that in the next few years.

 

[PecanArcher]

T max. Looks great man. Did you do most of the work yourself then? I just got done building our new house. It's quite the chore . Don't plan on ever doing it again lol.


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[T-Max]

We did most of it. We contracted the place and finish of the slab, drywall mud and tape, and the rough plumbing. The rest we did. The building is 30x40 and the living area works out to about 900 sf. It was a job to say the least! Haha!


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[PecanArcher]

Well done!


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[outdoorstom]

Great looking building. You didn't cut any corners and it shows!

 

[T-Max]

Great looking building. You didn't cut any corners and it shows!

Thanks! My wife does commercial construction so this was a change for her. I am pretty handy with tools, but I was continually out of my comfort zone on this one. I am so glad we did it though...

 

[Flyfixer]

Great job, looks like a quality job! Looks like your wife has some skills Y'all done good.

 

[T-Max]

Great job, looks like a quality job! Looks like your wife has some skills Y'all done good.

She does pretty good with the construction stuff! She'd been turkey hunting for a few years. She is struggling to shoot anything with eyelashes... I took her squirrel hunting last fall and she was digging that. She just mentioned the other day something about shooting the .243 more so I can get her a deer "someday." I lucked out with her...

 

[Tenured Student]

I have proposed this to my wife for our future house- got shot down quick! It looks great.

 

[Gator]

Nice work. Looks really good!

 

[PecanArcher]

If you two can build a house together without going crazy, ya'll will be alright


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[T-Max]

If you two can build a house together without going crazy, ya'll will be alright


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It is funny you say that. When we broke ground we had been married exactly 4 months! Nothing like putting a marriage to the test right away!

 

[PecanArcher]

Whew! We were married for a year and built our first home. Similarly, 832 sq ft and my dad and I did it all pretty much. Now, 3 kids later, we've moved on up to our forever home on the same property. Did most of the contracting myself on this one. Definitely won't ever build another house though lol. You talk about work... Whew!


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[PecanArcher]

You are building with the intent to expand off the original house? Great idea, we almost did that but my wife's a photographer so our little house is now her studio. Paid for .

Y'all are off to a great start.


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[T-Max]

You are building with the intent to expand off the original house? Great idea, we almost did that but my wife's a photographer so our little house is now her studio. Paid for .

Y'all are off to a great start.


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Probably build it separate further up the hill. The plan is to have all of this paid off in less than 5 years. That will include the land, infrastructure, building, truck and college loans. Then we'll be in great shape to build our forever home.