This is by far the biggest project I have ever taken on as a DIYer! It is something that at first I didn’t think I would be able to do, but when you break it down and approach it in smaller segments then it ends up being a lot more manageable. The plan was always in my head so I decided to draft plans for it in the winter. The local building and zoning authority was very helpful with firming them up and providing recommendations.
I did have to contract out the cement and block work, but after that my father-in-law and I built everything from the sill plate up, including the rafters which saved a significant amount of money versus trusses.
Three things that I learned are 1) the library really helps when you aren’t quite sure how to do something 2) a good plan goes a long way when you start building and ordering materials and 3) just have all of the materials delivered in one load rather than you picking them up as you go. It will save you a lot of time, although Home Depot did a great job with my materials order. I also couldn’t believe how well my Ryobi pancake compressor kept up with the air nailer, pretty impressive!
This was a marathon, not a sprint, so go into it knowing that your weekends will be used up for about 2-3 months, but the reward is that in the end it costs about half versus having a contractor do it, and brings a huge sense of accomplishment. A big thank you to my father-in-law for many days of labor on this one!
This is by far the biggest project I have ever taken on as a DIYer! It is something that at first I didn’t think I would be able to do, but when you break it down and approach it in smaller segments then it ends up being a lot more manageable. The plan was always in my head so I decided to draft plans for it in the winter. The local building and zoning authority was very helpful with firming them up and providing recommendations. I did have to contract out the cement and block work, but after that my father-in-law and I built everything from the sill plate up, including the rafters which saved a significant amount of money versus trusses. Three things that I learned are 1) the library really helps when you aren’t quite sure how to do something 2) a good plan goes a long way when you start building and ordering materials and 3) just have all of the materials delivered in one load rather than you picking them up as you go. It will save you a lot of time, although Home Depot did a great job with my materials order. I also couldn’t believe how well my Ryobi pancake compressor kept up with the air nailer, pretty impressive! This was a marathon, not a sprint, so go into it knowing that your weekends will be used up for about 2-3 months, but the reward is that in the end it costs about half versus having a contractor do it, and brings a huge sense of accomplishment. A big thank you to my father-in-law for many days of labor on this one!
