Puget Sound,
I think that the only codes in our county are ones that involve septic and electric (if we were going to hook up to the grid). Yes, the lack of bureacracy is refreshing and enabling, but I sense zoning and building codes coming down the line eventually. These
are the good old days here. I've heard that Mark Twain said he wanted to be in KY when the world ended, since everything happens 10 years later in KY.
We did not take out a loan for the house. We had the good fortune to buy a stick house in southern NH and watch the value double in seven years. We sold that house (~2400 ft2) and moved into a small double-wide mobile home (~900 ft2) on our farm in KY. There are 6 in our family, but everyone is understanding and tolerant (or in the case of the younger kids - completely unaware) of our tight situation until we finish the new house. And everytime I trip over something in our mobile home, I'm really "incentivized" to go outside and work on the real house!
I'm not entirely sold myself on SIPS, although I've decided to use them for our walls. If I had time to learn another building technology, I would seriously consider straw bales. (I already raise hay!)
As for insurance, we have none right now for the frame. I guess a bank would need that and it could become an real issue if the building process took as long as ours. We'll look into insurance as we get closer to finishing the house I suppose. In the mean time, a catastrophe would mean I get to start over with all the same tools, a lot more experience, a foundation, and some "salvaged" timbers.
I like Raphael's advice to cut the frame first.
-Thomas
the latest progress
