Concrete block home vs block and wood...?

Well call and ask or get online and see what they require. They will require a perk test as well unless it's hooked up to city sewer

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broncosbybart said:
That varies by county. Here in Mecklenburg, you need an engineer to sign off on just about anything.

If you need an engineer there, I would use someone local that the inspectors are familiar with.
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Your right in bigger counties I could see them wanting everything stamped and approved. In smaller less urban counties the regs arent as strict

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Here, engineering not required unless footings/foundation out of the norms, or your plan does something crazy like corner windows that screw up the shear plane.

For what us not addressed in detail drawings I have written up a 3-page list of construction requirements (describing and specing items such as insulation, sealed crawl, raised heel trusses, flooring, level of trim, etc.) That way all builders I ask to quote it will be on a somewhat level field.

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Thanks for the link, Yes, I've dealt with the building dept/zoning a few times on previous properties involving doublewides. Believe it or not you can talk to 3 different inspectors and get 3 different answers regarding codes. This is my first stick built home and am just trying to get some education before talking to them and sounding like a complete moron.

A while ago I called a local contractor and he was pretty helpful. I told him about the home and what we are wanting and he eased my mind a bit. He said he has a computer program where they do custom plans for each home. I just have to draw it out and let him know what we do and don't want. He'll draw up plans and have them engineered for the county. He was also glad to build the home to whatever extent we would like. Turns out, he built my wife's aunt and uncles home a few years ago. It was a full basement log home with a half loft. His turn key price for it was 120K.
 
.Another thing to consider building is picking back up as well as the cost to build. A house we did estimates for a couple years ago when times were hard is now 10% more expensive. Everyone is covered up and starting to charge a little more

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My mind was more at ease for a few minutes. Thanks for snapping me back to reality...you have a knack for that it seems.
 
hunterdan said:
I'm pretty sure Burke county requires a stamp to get a building permit. They want one for a steel building I'm hoping to do.
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Steel buildings are different, most inspections departments will require engineered design on those.

You don't need engineered or architect plans on houses most of the time. Residential plan review is completely optional by NC inspections departments. We've accepted plans sketched on notebook paper.

Keep in mind that if you serve as your own contractor and you are not licensed, you'll be claiming an owners exemption. This will require you to be on site for all inspections unless they are stamped by a licensed architect...so there is some benefit to it.

Just a tip, but when you apply for your improvement permit (perk test) put everything you ever plan on adding on the site sketch. Do not drew your exact building footprint, go bigger. If your house is 28x30, make your permit footprint 40x40 or bigger. Give yourself room to add decks or shift the footprint within that box. You can go smaller but never larger without amending the permit.
 
Fuck a whole lot of building a house out of CMU.

CMU doesn't bring much to the table. No insulation, no air barrier, no water management... terrible idea.
 
Macdaddy; Thanks for the tips regarding permits and footprint. I'll definitely apply with those points in mind.

A friend from church is in the middle of building a log home. He invited my wife and I over to look at his basement done by superior walls. I was pretty impressed. Poured footers are not required. They use compacted pea gravel for a footer. They use 5K psi concrete and then it's lined with 2-3" foam insulation. It comes with built in tubing for electrical low and high on the wall. It is also pre studded from the factory for easy finished walls. My friend got quotes for block first and they averaged 17K just for the materials. Superior did it for 20K installed in about 4hrs. That price also included openings in the walk in section and sides firred out and ready for windows.
 
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