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What am I missing? "She handed over ... $46,700 to a family member to build a small guest apartment in their backyard. The plan was to live there for the rest

What am I missing? "She handed over ... $46,700 to a family member to build a small guest apartment in their backyard. The plan was to live there for the rest of her life, free from the stresses of an unaffordable rental market, and then leave the apartment to her family. Instead, the arrangement collapsed within a year. The unit was unfinished — with no kitchen or functioning laundry — forcing her to rely on the house." In what recent decade could anyone even dream of $46,700 USD being enough for a quickly-built, furnished apartment to be built in a backyard with working laundry? This sounds like it fell apart because it was never going to work and was an attempt by a family member to help an aged person who was in a bind of their own making via lack of planning. Seems the article could make a better impact if it had some better examples of the issue. As presented, it sounds like "Nurse Joan" should have planned for retirement.

defrost 1y ago
This is in Australia, the AU $70,000 easily covers the cost of an insulated residential shed build .. it's damn near kit when done right. Australian family members are frequently able to setup the form work for a slab (with pipes and ducts) ready for a concrete pour, and can often rustle up a few friends to spend a couple of days propping up the walls and framework, bolting up, fixing in pre-built panels, etc. I've done a few of these, one in the last five years, many over the last 50 - from residential to garage to barn, to tractor etc. Start with suppliers such as: https://www.fairdinkumbuilds.com.au/products/residential-sheds/ https://www.fairdinkumbuilds.com.au/products/residential-she... brochure: https://www.fairdinkumbuilds.com.au/assets/Resources-Documents/FDB_Residential-Range-Brochure.pdf https://www.fairdinkumbuilds.com.au/assets/Resources-Documen... and hunt about - it's not fancy but doable.
- leakycap 1y ago
  Are you suggesting that an insulated shed is the same thing as a home/apartment that a retiree can both live in for the rest of their lives and have installed/completed in one year ... in Australia? With laundry? For the USD sum of under $50k? In under a year in someone's back yard?
  - defrost 1y ago
    Not suggesting anything. Perhaps you might wish to re-read my comment. I'm stating as a matter of fact that many people in Australia build out granny flats in their backyards for older relatives (or for themselves when their partners die and they pass the main house over to children) and Colourbond "sheds" are one of many available options. A number of fabricators exist that build out trusswork and wall sections to spec. in industrial parks and ship them out for people to either put up themselves or to hire others (three, maybe four people) to put up for them. Insulated sheds have pretty high R factors and can include regular doors, internal walls or mezzanine floors, large feature windows, etc. I also stated (not suggested) that I've built multiple shed variations, some pretty damn slick, over the past several decades. Do you not know how to pour concrete, plumb, pull cable, roof, cut sheet metal, etc? My mother could tile a pretty decent floor, wall, and bathroom and she was mostly a bank clerk, accountant, school secretary, et al type.
    - leakycap 1y ago
      > Do you not know how to pour concrete, plumb, pull cable, roof, cut sheet metal, etc? I was discussing the article on this thread. Do you think Nurse Joan was able to pour concrete, install plumbing to code, pull cables, install a roof which implies climbing with heavy items (again, we're discussing an elderly person)... I'll stop before we get to cutting sheet metal as this is getting silly.
      - defrost 1y ago
        I read the article that leads this thread: She handed over her pension savings of A$70,000 ($46,700) to a family member to build a small guest apartment in their backyard. Clearly it was the family member who had promised to build a granny flat making your questions about Nurse Joan moot. For $70K it's possible to get a pre fabricated human livable insulated decent looking Colourbond granny flat delivered .. and assembled by third party workers (if they can be found in the current skills shortage market) - it's not uncommon to bring costs down with self assembly and doing as much work as possible without labour hire. > Do you think Nurse Joan was able to pour concrete, install plumbing to code, pull cables, install a roof which implies climbing with heavy items (again, we're discussing an elderly person). I've never met her but I can state for a fact that many men and women in Australia do indeed do such things in their lives and continue to do them into their 60s, 70s, and in some cases their 80s. The staging for a slab is to do the form work yourself and order a concrete pour .. a truck arrives and a couple or workers level it into place and leave again. I have a 70 year old neighbour here currently solo building a large steel frame octagonal house that is presently being roofed; first using a crane hire to lift the steel beams that were prepped on the ground into place and now being sheeted using a scissor lift (so, no climbing) and ropes and pulleys to bring the sheets up. My father turns 90 this year, as an elderly person he gave up climbing ladders last year, he has also given up maintenance of his section of a local 1,000 km walking track that he looked after for three decades, but he still walks 10 km or so daily and manages to load and unload our double axle trailer with tonnes of material (weeds, manure, wood, etc) on a regular basis. > this is getting silly. I'm guessing such things are literally foreign to you and you have little practical experience of either building or older Australians and yet you reject actual first hand experience from actual older Australians? Silly indeed.

defrost 1y ago

This is in Australia, the AU $70,000 easily covers the cost of an insulated residential shed build .. it's damn near kit when done right. Australian family members are frequently able to setup the form work for a slab (with pipes and ducts) ready for a concrete pour, and can often rustle up a few friends to spend a couple of days propping up the walls and framework, bolting up, fixing in pre-built panels, etc. I've done a few of these, one in the last five years, many over the last 50 - from residential to garage to barn, to tractor etc. Start with suppliers such as: https://www.fairdinkumbuilds.com.au/products/residential-sheds/ https://www.fairdinkumbuilds.com.au/products/residential-she... brochure: https://www.fairdinkumbuilds.com.au/assets/Resources-Documents/FDB_Residential-Range-Brochure.pdf https://www.fairdinkumbuilds.com.au/assets/Resources-Documen... and hunt about - it's not fancy but doable.

leakycap 1y ago
Are you suggesting that an insulated shed is the same thing as a home/apartment that a retiree can both live in for the rest of their lives and have installed/completed in one year ... in Australia? With laundry? For the USD sum of under $50k? In under a year in someone's back yard?
- defrost 1y ago
  Not suggesting anything. Perhaps you might wish to re-read my comment. I'm stating as a matter of fact that many people in Australia build out granny flats in their backyards for older relatives (or for themselves when their partners die and they pass the main house over to children) and Colourbond "sheds" are one of many available options. A number of fabricators exist that build out trusswork and wall sections to spec. in industrial parks and ship them out for people to either put up themselves or to hire others (three, maybe four people) to put up for them. Insulated sheds have pretty high R factors and can include regular doors, internal walls or mezzanine floors, large feature windows, etc. I also stated (not suggested) that I've built multiple shed variations, some pretty damn slick, over the past several decades. Do you not know how to pour concrete, plumb, pull cable, roof, cut sheet metal, etc? My mother could tile a pretty decent floor, wall, and bathroom and she was mostly a bank clerk, accountant, school secretary, et al type.
  - leakycap 1y ago
    > Do you not know how to pour concrete, plumb, pull cable, roof, cut sheet metal, etc? I was discussing the article on this thread. Do you think Nurse Joan was able to pour concrete, install plumbing to code, pull cables, install a roof which implies climbing with heavy items (again, we're discussing an elderly person)... I'll stop before we get to cutting sheet metal as this is getting silly.
    - defrost 1y ago
      I read the article that leads this thread: She handed over her pension savings of A$70,000 ($46,700) to a family member to build a small guest apartment in their backyard. Clearly it was the family member who had promised to build a granny flat making your questions about Nurse Joan moot. For $70K it's possible to get a pre fabricated human livable insulated decent looking Colourbond granny flat delivered .. and assembled by third party workers (if they can be found in the current skills shortage market) - it's not uncommon to bring costs down with self assembly and doing as much work as possible without labour hire. > Do you think Nurse Joan was able to pour concrete, install plumbing to code, pull cables, install a roof which implies climbing with heavy items (again, we're discussing an elderly person). I've never met her but I can state for a fact that many men and women in Australia do indeed do such things in their lives and continue to do them into their 60s, 70s, and in some cases their 80s. The staging for a slab is to do the form work yourself and order a concrete pour .. a truck arrives and a couple or workers level it into place and leave again. I have a 70 year old neighbour here currently solo building a large steel frame octagonal house that is presently being roofed; first using a crane hire to lift the steel beams that were prepped on the ground into place and now being sheeted using a scissor lift (so, no climbing) and ropes and pulleys to bring the sheets up. My father turns 90 this year, as an elderly person he gave up climbing ladders last year, he has also given up maintenance of his section of a local 1,000 km walking track that he looked after for three decades, but he still walks 10 km or so daily and manages to load and unload our double axle trailer with tonnes of material (weeds, manure, wood, etc) on a regular basis. > this is getting silly. I'm guessing such things are literally foreign to you and you have little practical experience of either building or older Australians and yet you reject actual first hand experience from actual older Australians? Silly indeed.