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I know a person who built his aerated concrete house working a day job over 3 years, he did 98% of the tasks himself and probably 95% of those alone whilst main

I know a person who built his aerated concrete house working a day job over 3 years, he did 98% of the tasks himself and probably 95% of those alone whilst maintaining a full-time day job. He has a non-english blog with many pictures and process documentation and was a huge inspiration to me whilst I DIY'd my new 2 bdr apartment from this https://imgur.com/a/UXfmx0Y https://imgur.com/a/UXfmx0Y to this https://imgur.com/a/vGntuhJ https://imgur.com/a/vGntuhJ in the span of 6 months and a day job doing everything myself (all the furniture, electricity, kitchen installation, etc etc). I have many pictures but never bothered to post them up. When you do things yourself you can take your time and do things like this https://imgur.com/a/8cd1iHO https://imgur.com/a/8cd1iHO with the tiles, everyone said it's impossible to do this connection with a laminated floor but I figured it out and it's holding great (took me 4 evenings to make the cuts, pour out epoxy basin to "catch" the heights etc). I guess my point is, if you're interested in DIY it's ... doable, YouTube can be a great help depending on your region. I'm an ISTP in the Myer-Briggs scale and don't get bored digging into little details as I assume many people on this site. 3 years in no failures in anything I've did, people who hired regularly posted cracked corners, even ceilings in the local facebook group.

dubberx 5y ago
Would you consider sharing an url to the blog you mentioned? Planning to DIY myself a tinyhouse so I’d love to read a blog like that. (Contact info in my profile if you don’t want to post it publicly)
- karolist 5y ago
  irnamas.blogspot.com, should be readable with a translator to English, I suggest reading it like a book, from the first posts!
- orthoxerox 5y ago
  Masonry is usually harder than framing, especially when you live in the US where framing is overwhelmingly more popular. You can get pre-cut studs for your preferred ceiling height; OSB, housewrap, insulation, windows all match standard frame dimensions; roof trusses are common and affordable; renting a nailer and a miter saw is easy. I don't know if it's the same guy, but I watched videos of a guy laying aerated concrete blocks himself and it's much more work: you need a good supplier of blocks with good dimenions, you still have to rasp down and sand down the tops of each row so they form a perfectly horizontal plane for the next row or the glue won't catch, door and window gaps are tricky and upper floors are even trickier if you want to use aerated concrete for the floor/ceiling.
  - karolist 5y ago
    I think you've hit the nail on the head recognising it's very location dependent. In Northern EU, if I built a house alone or with little help I'd definitely go for AAC (autoclaved aerated concrete) blocks. They are relatively cheap, light weight so easy to handle and you can have a less "serious" foundation for them as opposed to silica blocks, if you buy from Aeroc or some other known company the dimensions will be spot on. You make cuts using a special saw (https://www.toolstation.com/irwin-concrete-hardpoint-saw/p43010 https://www.toolstation.com/irwin-concrete-hardpoint-saw/p43...) and you don't need a concrete mixer on the plot as these can be glued together, so basically you don't need water and electricity on your land and can transport the tools in and out in your wagon/pickup every day. In addition you can grind away imperfections, even cut new doors and windows later because the material allows for it. The downsides are poor sound insulation and needing special anchors for hanging stuff. It's also very easy to make grooves for wiring and pipes, which again, can be done alone and without electricity https://i2.wp.com/elektroznatok.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shtroba-pod-provodku-16.jpg https://i2.wp.com/elektroznatok.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/0... Expertise required is getting the corners up precisely and being able to use a laser level and a string. You don't make ceilings/floors from these, the best option for multi-story house would be to have the floors done from a pre-fabricated concrete blocks which a crane would put on your walls https://baltparma.lt/39-large_default/perdangos-plokstes-pk.jpg https://baltparma.lt/39-large_default/perdangos-plokstes-pk...., this will give very stable floor. On the other hand, in US there's lots of framing expertise as you're saying and the options I've laid out are probably not as accessible.
datavirtue 5y ago
YouTube...essential craftsman. Builds a spec house and explains every detail from lot prep to selling it. Huge video series. I watched the whole thing and it reminded me of the craftsman I worked with as I was growing up.
- xyzzyz 5y ago
  He does open house tomorrow/Saturday, so if you live in driving distance to Roseburg, and want to see the house/shake his hand, it’s a pretty unique opportunity.
- quercusa 5y ago
  Essential Craftsman How to Build a House : https://essentialcraftsman.com/houebuild https://essentialcraftsman.com/houebuild Great material and a real example of true craftsmanship. Highly recommended!

dubberx 5y ago

Would you consider sharing an url to the blog you mentioned? Planning to DIY myself a tinyhouse so I’d love to read a blog like that. (Contact info in my profile if you don’t want to post it publicly)

karolist 5y ago
irnamas.blogspot.com, should be readable with a translator to English, I suggest reading it like a book, from the first posts!
orthoxerox 5y ago
Masonry is usually harder than framing, especially when you live in the US where framing is overwhelmingly more popular. You can get pre-cut studs for your preferred ceiling height; OSB, housewrap, insulation, windows all match standard frame dimensions; roof trusses are common and affordable; renting a nailer and a miter saw is easy. I don't know if it's the same guy, but I watched videos of a guy laying aerated concrete blocks himself and it's much more work: you need a good supplier of blocks with good dimenions, you still have to rasp down and sand down the tops of each row so they form a perfectly horizontal plane for the next row or the glue won't catch, door and window gaps are tricky and upper floors are even trickier if you want to use aerated concrete for the floor/ceiling.
- karolist 5y ago
  I think you've hit the nail on the head recognising it's very location dependent. In Northern EU, if I built a house alone or with little help I'd definitely go for AAC (autoclaved aerated concrete) blocks. They are relatively cheap, light weight so easy to handle and you can have a less "serious" foundation for them as opposed to silica blocks, if you buy from Aeroc or some other known company the dimensions will be spot on. You make cuts using a special saw (https://www.toolstation.com/irwin-concrete-hardpoint-saw/p43010 https://www.toolstation.com/irwin-concrete-hardpoint-saw/p43...) and you don't need a concrete mixer on the plot as these can be glued together, so basically you don't need water and electricity on your land and can transport the tools in and out in your wagon/pickup every day. In addition you can grind away imperfections, even cut new doors and windows later because the material allows for it. The downsides are poor sound insulation and needing special anchors for hanging stuff. It's also very easy to make grooves for wiring and pipes, which again, can be done alone and without electricity https://i2.wp.com/elektroznatok.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shtroba-pod-provodku-16.jpg https://i2.wp.com/elektroznatok.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/0... Expertise required is getting the corners up precisely and being able to use a laser level and a string. You don't make ceilings/floors from these, the best option for multi-story house would be to have the floors done from a pre-fabricated concrete blocks which a crane would put on your walls https://baltparma.lt/39-large_default/perdangos-plokstes-pk.jpg https://baltparma.lt/39-large_default/perdangos-plokstes-pk...., this will give very stable floor. On the other hand, in US there's lots of framing expertise as you're saying and the options I've laid out are probably not as accessible.

datavirtue 5y ago

YouTube...essential craftsman. Builds a spec house and explains every detail from lot prep to selling it. Huge video series. I watched the whole thing and it reminded me of the craftsman I worked with as I was growing up.

xyzzyz 5y ago
He does open house tomorrow/Saturday, so if you live in driving distance to Roseburg, and want to see the house/shake his hand, it’s a pretty unique opportunity.
quercusa 5y ago
Essential Craftsman How to Build a House : https://essentialcraftsman.com/houebuild https://essentialcraftsman.com/houebuild Great material and a real example of true craftsmanship. Highly recommended!