2021 was a busy year for lots of the world and here on Green Journal Homestead – we finally started a house!

The plan had been originally to move into the trailer on the property and fix it up. Quickly we discovered that on the old 1970s trailer, homeowners insurance was going to be impossible.

We spent the next few years trying to go through options that gave us the most control over the process. We looked into having an existing house moved to the property but those aren’t always available or close enough to safely move. We thought about maybe another mobile home but they don’t allow for the amount of customization we wanted to do. Looking into a traditional builder was way more than we wanted to spend and also they all wanted to turn in a turn-key building. Nothing wrong with that at all, but just not what we were looking for. Eventually , we settled on a metal building turned into a house or shop houses that have become more popular – aka “barndominium”.

There was a company somewhat local that drew up blueprints, to our exact specifications and we started the process.

First, we had to clear the land in order to get ready for the gravel and concrete slab.

Then the framers could come out, after the concrete cured to start putting up the outside frame.

Interior walls and roof trusses went up as well.

House wrap and porch roof.

It has been painfully slow, seems everyone everywhere is building right now, so getting people to do the things we can’t has been a struggle. One of the draw backs of not having a general contractor to sub contract out all these jobs to.

We love the look of the metal and with the doors and windows in, it looks like a real house.

Electric and Septic has been the hardest to get, and when we do get them they are so far behind or something is out of stock they need.

But it is still moving forward and we are excited to be able to do so much ourselves. It will help keep the costs down and will be a home we both designed and worked in without being told it might hurt re-sale value. When you are building your forever home, who cares about re-selling!