That sounds about right. They were asking $3200 (ROFL). I'll DIY it if I get inspired.
Home Improvement
- Thread starter Picasso3
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That sounds about right. They were asking $3200 (ROFL). I'll DIY it if I get inspired.
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Biggest thing that helped my house is blowing in about 12"-15" insulation. There was about 2" up there before. It cost about $500 for the treated cellulose at the time and home cheapo gave me the machine to use for the day free. This is for a 2000 sqft ranch BTW. Took about 6 hours with me in the attic and the wife down below feeding the machine. Of course we took breaks too. We had a couple of hiccups with the line plugging, but when we worked out the kinks it went smooth. Before this in the summer the house struggled to get below 75-76. The AC ran all day and it would just not cool. You could literally feel the heat coming from the ceiling when you stuck your hand up. After the insulation ive never had a problem with AC again and can easily cool the place down the the low 70s prob even high 60s if I wanted to.
Its a pretty fucking EZ process blowing that shit in really. Just point the tube and it blows, lol. And the dude at the cheapo told me the cellulose is better, dont know if this was BS or what, but from experience it works, and works well. I would choose this method over the battons any day. Its just easier if you have the machine working correct. Because you dont have to be on our knees spreading the fiberglass into every nook. You can stand back like 6-8 feet and blow the shit in. But you do need that second person to break up the cellulose initially and feed it to the machine. The wife served that purpose.
Insulation is the only thing that will help.
Its a pretty fucking EZ process blowing that shit in really. Just point the tube and it blows, lol. And the dude at the cheapo told me the cellulose is better, dont know if this was BS or what, but from experience it works, and works well. I would choose this method over the battons any day. Its just easier if you have the machine working correct. Because you dont have to be on our knees spreading the fiberglass into every nook. You can stand back like 6-8 feet and blow the shit in. But you do need that second person to break up the cellulose initially and feed it to the machine. The wife served that purpose.
Insulation is the only thing that will help.
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Yep, its exactly what we did. I mean we had the bottom of the roof girders/truss to gauge how much. Basically going over them by a few inches. Then you just looked at the whole attic and saw it was pretty much equal after and added some to places where it looked low. Its not rocket science, its just blowing some shit to some set arbitrary depth, which for us was like 12-15 in or so.
R value of cellulose is about R3.5 per inch. So R40 something, at minimum of 12 in? good enough and better than any single layer of fiberglass batten.
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Fight
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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I just did blown in insulation in one of my rental property attics in December. It was 1380' square feet and it cost $1700. It looks like I am saving about about $100 a month on heating bills so far.
It probably would have been about $800-$900 if I had rented the machine and bought the material from Lowes/Home Depot and done it myself, but I pretty busy right now and needed to get it done before the cold winter months.
It probably would have been about $800-$900 if I had rented the machine and bought the material from Lowes/Home Depot and done it myself, but I pretty busy right now and needed to get it done before the cold winter months.
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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i remember one time i went up to install cat5e (i think it was to relocate the main bnc cable wire honestly, cuz that shit does not bend)
and i came out looking like the borderlands cover cuz of the heat
Siliconemelons
Avatar of War Slayer
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HD and Lowes rents the blow insulation machines - the trend is moving away from blown in as it can be a pain when you go to do anything up there.
Here is a fun idea, for that cost- replace your water heater with a heat pump one and vent the air into your attic... if you are wanting cool in the attic that is.
Here is a fun idea, for that cost- replace your water heater with a heat pump one and vent the air into your attic... if you are wanting cool in the attic that is.
Fight
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Admittedly, I wasn't sure what you were talking about. But Google found an article about it.
The Pros and Cons of Installing a Heat Pump in Your Attic
Attic heat pump installations can save space and help improve airflow. But, there are some big drawbacks. Learn the pros and cons from an HVAC expert.
ductlesscarrier.com
I'm opting for battens for that exact reason - I know I have upcoming electrical/data wiring projects that will undoubtedly compact loose fiber.
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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i am having no luck w/ home stores this month
i notice a really big gap (vertically) from the asphalt road in my culdesac to my driveway (probably cuz i drove my civic, and yea... the fender does have a lower lip kit on it, but thats only b/c my front fender is trash and the lip kit hides it!).
none of my neighbors have a gap, just a nice smooth ramp, imo it's probably also b/c my house is also where the water in the culdesac drains (the storm grate is right next to my driveway)
so i probably have more asphalt erosion than most.
so i thought, just buy a bucket of asphalt right?
wtf, the next bucket is 23$ or i drive to nashville for this.
so i guess i'll try lowes
why is it a week later? is it actually in the store? (this is the same store that "lost" 415 fire bricks)
i notice a really big gap (vertically) from the asphalt road in my culdesac to my driveway (probably cuz i drove my civic, and yea... the fender does have a lower lip kit on it, but thats only b/c my front fender is trash and the lip kit hides it!).
none of my neighbors have a gap, just a nice smooth ramp, imo it's probably also b/c my house is also where the water in the culdesac drains (the storm grate is right next to my driveway)
so i probably have more asphalt erosion than most.
so i thought, just buy a bucket of asphalt right?
wtf, the next bucket is 23$ or i drive to nashville for this.
so i guess i'll try lowes
why is it a week later? is it actually in the store? (this is the same store that "lost" 415 fire bricks)
ToeMissile
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Does anyone have any experience having an ADU built?
My wife’s parents are getting on in years and ready to downsize, they still live in the 2 story 2800sqft house they bought in the late 80's - the stairs are too much and they don’t need or want to maintain the extra space. Money isn’t really an issue but TLDR we have room on our property to comfortably place a 500-600sqft residence in the back.
After some initial research, looks like cost will be around $300k.
My wife’s parents are getting on in years and ready to downsize, they still live in the 2 story 2800sqft house they bought in the late 80's - the stairs are too much and they don’t need or want to maintain the extra space. Money isn’t really an issue but TLDR we have room on our property to comfortably place a 500-600sqft residence in the back.
After some initial research, looks like cost will be around $300k.
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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You won't recoup it all and costs are outrageous. IMO, the only reasons to ever build a significant addition or ADU are if you have something you can't replace on your property (school zone, water rights, mineral rights, ag land, family legacy, etc.).
Also, IMO, the main issue with ADUs is most properties can't support it and by that I mean they aren't 5+ acres with a large well kept modern house and a small ADU/guest house that gets built later, they're on a smaller lot with a 30 year old ranch and a new tiny home that just got wedged into the corner.
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The biggest hurdle (other than cost) will be permits. Questions will have to be answered: new power meter? That requires severing a lot. Shared drive to the road? Lots of permits needed for that as well as planning permission from the county. Can't have a shared sewage system for two single family homes on the same property. Even without any of that, you'll have to have a tax assessment done, either on your single property with two dwellings, or on your lot and the lot on which the ADU is built. Expect to pay substantially more taxes. You also have to have surveyors out to mark things like septic fields, because there will be a certain distance structures have to be away from it, and other septic fields also have to be a certain distance away. Don't forget to budget high for site work, too.
The least sexy part of building is the permit process. It takes forever, and is expensive. I'd estimate $60K in permit work all in all.
It's a great idea. I have friends who are doing just this, and it is such a great plan for aging parents. One benefit in severing a lot and making it an independent dwelling is that if your parents get to a point where they have to move to a more assisted living place you can sell that house. So while I understand you want it super close to you, there's an argument for having it out of sight of your house, too.
Just random thoughts.
moonarchia
The Scientific Shitlord
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Look into boxabl or some of the other companies putting out ADUs and tiny houses. Unless you are building something that requires massive infrastructure to get water/sewer/electric out to there is absolutely no reason it should cost $300k.
First, though, check your local city/county/state laws to see if there are any specific bans or restrictions on ADUs.
BOXABL - Accessory Dwelling Unit
Rooms that stack and connect to create almost any building type. Single and multistory houses, multifamily and residential buildings, and many more.
www.boxabl.com
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Burns
Golden Baronet of the Realm
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This.Look into boxabl or some of the other companies putting out ADUs and tiny houses. Unless you are building something that requires massive infrastructure to get water/sewer/electric out to there is absolutely no reason it should cost $300k.
First, though, check your local city/county/state laws to see if there are any specific bans or restrictions on ADUs.
BOXABL - Accessory Dwelling Unit
Rooms that stack and connect to create almost any building type. Single and multistory houses, multifamily and residential buildings, and many more.
We stayed in a small AirBnB prefab house a few years ago. It was less than a year old at the time and they have come a long way since the "trailer park" days that come to mind when I hear prebuilt house. The biggest issue is probably going to be insulation, where it will burn more energy to heat/cool.
The internet says delivery is $50 to $100 per sq ft. There are prefabs that look fancier than the following site too but, of course, cost more.
Small Edit: If you have local ordinance or HoA agreements that may cause issues, you could look into building a "barn/shop" with an apartment snuck into it. Look up "barndominium" for ideas on that.
The prefab AirBnb somewhat looked like this but probably 800 sq ft instead of this 600 sq ft (interior was the same wood walls/floor). Their site lists 600 sq ft houses at around $80k:
See Our Cabins
Our Lelands Cabins series include The Lodge, The Ponderosa, Lone Star, Settlement Harbor, Smokey Bear, The Brazos, The Stag, Chisholm Trail, and Rio Bravo.
www.lelandscabins.com
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Manufactured homes are so much better than stick and frame too. They are like perfect. Totally square and plumb. We have a few neighbors up in northern mi which have manufactured homes. And they are quite nice. One of them had a full 9' basement blocked up and they set the thing up top and he basically doubled his sq/ft that way.
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Intrinsic
Person of Whiteness
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This.
We stayed in a small AirBnB prefab house a few years ago. It was less than a year old at the time and they have come a long way since the "trailer park" days that come to mind when I hear prebuilt house. The biggest issue is probably going to be insulation, where it will burn more energy to heat/cool.
The internet says delivery is $50 to $100 per sq ft. There are prefabs that look fancier than the following site too but, of course, cost more.
Small Edit: If you have local ordinance or HoA agreements that may cause issues, you could look into building a "barn/shop" with an apartment snuck into it. Look up "barndominium" for ideas on that.
The prefab AirBnb somewhat looked like this but probably 800 sq ft instead of this 600 sq ft (interior was the same wood walls/floor). Their site lists 600 sq ft houses at around $80k:
View attachment 514994
View attachment 514995
View attachment 514996
See Our Cabins
Our Lelands Cabins series include The Lodge, The Ponderosa, Lone Star, Settlement Harbor, Smokey Bear, The Brazos, The Stag, Chisholm Trail, and Rio Bravo.
I was going to mention something similar to this too. People would always make fun of Auburn (and rightfully so in some respects) but the double-wide and trailer park jokes never really landed. Some of those "double-wides" were nice a shit and way better than any dorm room or apartment I stayed in while attending. Daddy wasn't sending their daughter to school in a $30,000 trailer. They would put up really nice pre-built stuff down there to be used by Kid #1, Kid #2 and then rent out to future kids. Damn things made me jealous of my rathole apartment complex.