“I have a Granberg MKIII Alaskan saw mill on its way, as well as one of their smaller Mini mills. I have so much fallen trees from a friend’s recent project that I’m going to use some of the wood I mill for flooring in the center of the house and hopefully make a little change on the side selling to a carpenter friend of mine. I’ll let you know how it works out for me. I’ll be milling mesquite, live oak and juniper.
Yesterday’s blog post about Rex’s Pallet House got me thinking of some different possibilities. Rex and the crew have done an outstanding job so far of building a solid, durable home at incredibly low cost (around $4/sq. ft.). One could stop right there, follow in Rex’s footsteps and be quite satisfied with the results. But I’m the type of person who likes to run ‘what if’ scenarios to explore multiple options. (Brainstorming is free and fun, and often leads to improved results.) For instance, not everyone has 6 months available to build their home. Some builders might prefer spending a little more money to reduce the labor and speed construction. $4/sq. ft. is so cheap, that many could probably afford to pay a little extra, so let’s briefly look at some alternative building methods that will raise the cost a little, without breaking the bank.