Joshua Hozjan

A tiny bit about me..
I'm a decently skilled builder with a low budget.  While 20k isn't NOTHING, its not even scratching the cost of a modern home.  20k likely doesn't even cover a permit, let alone everything else.
But I've done a lot of construction in the past and am probably adept as a builder.  But mostly with modern/ "to the code" homes.

My big question is how long would people expect a simple offgrid house with these key parts would end up costing in time?  If you ballparked hours of manual labor from start to finish, how many hours would you guess this below project would take upon starting?

Any and all your knowledge or info provided would be amazing!  I have searched - but suggestions help me fill in the places I've missed in my own search and discovery.

Key house points:
-Post and beam, in the style of old barns but wrapped in plywood/paneling and insulated for home living space.
-Low roof, low slope roof, live grass/flower roof.
-One level, cement/earth/cobblestone flooring, no basement. (House will be on the top of a hill, low drainage in the area or on this spot.  But likely I need to tamp down a hefty amount of gravel with some French drains just in case?)
-One doorway.
-Insulating walls after wrapped in plywood/paneling..  Wofati is interesting to continue a live roof with earth burmed walls for the insulative factor..  but I don't know a ton about it - would I still require insulation on the inside?

Luxury:
-Windows are a luxury that I'll invest in after the key points are finished.  
-Internal paneling after installing insulation is a luxury ascetics item.  
-Internal furniture.

Key questions if people have links or advice:
1. Anything and everything anyone can provide to me about living roof construction/materials/whatever.  I've bought the 50$ underground house from Mike O and everything else he has available and many other materials besides his.  Lots of discussions about Polyurethane or Pond liners for the sealing layers.  I can't think of something better then a pond liner though.. if its designed to hold tons of water from draining away, it could likely keep water off the roof too.  But I'd love anything else anyone can provide or give me insight on!  Please and thank you.
2. Flooring, as it'll likely be a mixture of cement and stonework.  While we're on the top of a hillside in the mountains I'm not too worried about water and drainage.  A healthy layer of tamped gravel then concrete.  But its never too early to ponder drainage ideas..  water is deceptively destructive if you don't respect drainage.  Would I want to also use pool liner below the gravel to reduce ground moisture from working its way up?
3. Internal insulation for walls/roof after wrapping and the space is enclosed.  After the live roof is installed properly, do I insulate it again from the inside?  From many videos and documents I've seen it does not look like I would.  But its worth an ask here!  As for the walls I know unless I did a wofati style with earth burmed on the outside walls I'd likely need insulation.. or both?  

Thank you for the suggestions!  I'm wondering if I could do a mixture of these..  rammed gravel flooring with how you'd prep a road - then into a cob/concrete or straight concrete slab on the top finishing layer and work in patio stones? Whenever I see patio stones in use its never for inside the house.  But if it holds up outside in the rain I can't see why it wouldn't be alright inside.  Just curious!!  I'd love to use the endless amount of stones I have to make a mixed concrete+stone floor.  Thoughts???

Hello!  

To keep things simple but so anyone asking questions understands..  I haven't built this house yet, but the idea is a pole and beam barn style but then establishing a house within it.  Nothing new or crazy or anything, but I have plenty of my own trees a lumber, I live in a bit of a mountainous area so my only expectation is I may have slight issues digging far for my posts.  But with time and an auger I don't imagine too many issues in that area.  But my core issue right now is - how do I do the floor?  There will be no basement so we'll be building on even ground on a raised terrain area like on a hill berm to avoid drainage issues.  Would people have suggestions for how to make the floor?  I'd prefer not using wood because I dislike walking on wood floors, I know that's a bit silly but I'd really like to explore rammed earth, cob... stone maybe?  Do people use masonry floors much?  If for instance I do.. put down a layer of gravel and rammed it into the earth a ways so its firmly packed then slowly add cob and layer in stone in a similar way you'd do cobble stone roads?  We have a literally endless amount of wood and stone on the property with the large acreage of mixed meadows, thin forested spots but mostly thick forest.

Maybe I will just go with something as simple and less time consuming as possible..  ideas help!  Share some flooring ideas!  I must know all the possibilities!! :D

 Hello!  I am totally fresh and green to this place!! I loved finding/buying/watching (some) of the 177hrs of permaculture and 8-dvd set of mass heaters videos.  What began this curious knowledge seeking journey was my interest in installing a wood stove into my nomadic cargo van build.  But most people in this nomadic "vanlife" advise against wood stoves because they are to heavy when large and the small ones still create to much smoke as well as don't heat well while needing constant feeding through the night- in the winter its horrible.  For the most part that seems true because I see people try it in their vans and use these very small and inefficient stoves for heating and they use lots of wood to barely heat while creating lots of smoke.

  After delving into all these rocket mass heater videos I think a rocket mass heater is a viable solution for me!!  To think I could solve my heating solution and design a way to cook from it too would be fantastic- though it looks like I already can cook on the manifold barrel!  But I had a few questions if anyone would know of a direction for me to look or have straight up answers that would be great.  

p.s. My living space (contains all the things) is 6ft high, 6ft wide, 12ft long.  So I am pretty sure a RMH/S would be plenty and multipurpose-able.. I think?

1. Chimney hood/cap: If the chimney tube for the RMHS is through the roof I know its pretty much smokeless but would a chimney "cap" mess up the "flow"?  If it did then how could I design the cap to keep the rain/environment out of going down the chimney without messing up that "flow".  

2. Being level:  I know being level is a big deal, but as on occasion while the build itself may be level, if I am parked somewhere that isn't entirely level - will that be a dealbreaker? :(  

3. Weight:  My cargo van has a pretty hefty payload.. But keeping things balanced is important to me because it is my house and I do drive my house around..  Is the RMHS something I can contain in just a metal frame with say - the a ceramic fiber isolation method for the raiser to keep the weight down.  

4. Driving/bumps/vibrations.  My suspension is pretty rad, but I fear for something like the RMH because most builds are brick/mortor/cod and with enough vibrations they will definitely shift and crack apart..  Is there a way I could avoid brick/mortor/cod entirely and use almost entirely ceramic fiber isolation and I guess steel/SS to keep it in place?  I can weld and have a welder available.  So something like a steel/SS box frame to weld all the pieces together and onto the frame.  J firebox tube + raiser + manifold + chimney secured with welding or whatever works.

For any help or link suggestions would be great!!
:)