I love how the bolts glimmer in the moonlight with the Milky Way in the background. A steel home or steel framed house can save you money, building time and energy costs, but you must know what to expect. This is a pay-as-you-go project, and weve kept costs to a minimum. . I will probably write a longer post on just this topic, so if youre interested in more detail on the window boxes, you might leave an encouraging remark for me in the comments asking me to elaborate. Living area downstairs (kitchen, living room, office) and bedroom upstairs. Curious about Quonsets? When we live here full time, well sustain a flock of chickens year-round. Measure the area, calculate the ceiling arc and make a rib pattern of brown Kraft paper. DIY Home Biodiesel Production: Make Your Own Fuel. I could use that sheltered space at the back to form the ribs. We are very, very excited to have the side windows in this building, but we wont likely be putting side windows in any more of the buildings at the Quompound. The structure had to be able to be set up quickly by untrained personnel and had to serve a variety of purposes. If my above assumptions are correct then the best suggestion I have is to just frame joists that span from the end wall on one end, to the storage area wall on the other end. Above the dining is the sleeping loft/bedroom with his and hers closets and bathrooms, one on the left and one on the right over the kitchen and utility/bath below. Say bye-bye to thermal bridging! Build a conventional core with (Downstairs) dining in the center, utility and bath on the left and kitchen on the right. Hi Donna, your new home sounds awesome! But in my design, it is really just fancy formwork to hold up the rebar and shotcrete that will actually support the earth. (R11-R17), which would be a sufficient R-ratio for dew point control at the metal surface from interior moisture drives without interior vapor retarders other than latex paint (unless you're in central AK or something), and would protect the exterior from direct rain-wetting. He lives nearby, and hes spent most of his career in the construction business. Vents The local approach to wastewater handling is a sand mound.