Cohousing-L Mailing List: BuildingYour Own Cohousing

[Harry Pasternak (Harry_Pasternak]

Bill
(bpaiss [at] aol.com)

Here are answers to your questions/statements:

*You stated: People must have both the time and experience to build a house
themselves.

HP: People don't need "experience" (doing it wrong over and over) - they do
need to go and learn how to build it "right" in a hands-on workshop-they
leave know they can do it because they just did it (the proof is in the
pudding).I have taught 2000 people in a nine day program, "The Knack of Home
Construction"- how to build successfully (and another 7000 folks in shorter
programs).
HP: Yes these builders also learn how to sit down and evaluate how much time
they really have to build  and then decide which roles (designer, general
contractor, site supervisor, material takeoff and purchasing agent for
materials, agent to hire and contract tradespeople,  do electrical, do
plumbing, do foundation, do framing, do exterior finishing, do interior
finishing) to take on.
A free consulting service is included in the tuition for the Institute's
workshop - I get one phone call per home (on the average) One grad called me
16 times, he had just arrived from Poland and could hardly speak english-he
was terrified of making a mistake when he ordered. I didn't hear from him for
a year-then, I received a letter and a photo of his completed home.

You stated: When calculating the cost they don't include their time.
HP:First of all, anyone contemplating being an inhabitant in a
collaborative/cooperative/cohousing community must have already established
in their minds that this project is going take considerable involvement-it
would be a natural extension of the whole notion of doing stuff together.
As well, on a modest size collaborative/cooperative/cohousing project-the
amount of money saved in the three month construction period can be in the
millions (construction costs saved+mortgage interest saved+energy and
maintenance savings)-I doubt if most of the folks involved could make that
kind of money in three months.
But, see my first response above. People can organize their holidays, so that
everyone has their holidays to coincide with the start of construction to
complete the foundation, framing, exterior sheathing and roofing, wall
sheathing and windows/doors and rough wiring and plumbing.-then continue on
weekends to complete the rest. 

You stated: It assumes that people have enought money or credit to purchase
the
materials since very few banks, if any,  in this country will make a loan on
an owner-built CoHousiong community.

HP: Rodale Press did a study back a few years-65% of the folks who do it for
themselves do not get financed by banks! We teach folks in "The Knack" how to
finance without going to banks. We also teach folks other ways to build
without banks in "The Common Sense Approach To Starting and Running A Small
General Contracting Business-Or How Not To Go Bald Or Bankrupt"

You stated:Perhaps you have some different laws in Canada that encourage this
kind of
savings.  I wish we could say the same here in the US.
HP: I personally believe that its not the laws etc. that may cause 
collaborative/cooperative/cohousing groups from considering doing it
themselves - its other people telling them over and over "It Can't Be
Done"..."It Can't Be Done"
.."It Can't Be Done"
..."It Can't Be Done"

You stated:The issue of sweat equity is one that we have been struggling with
since we
began.  I would love to hear from groups that have been even partially
sucessful with sweat equity on individual homes within their communities.
HP: I see the responses to the above are rolling into the conferences.

Bill, my job is to show them how ... and I do. 
p.s. All of my workshops are full for 1995-if you
collaborative/cooperative/cohousing groups need help and if it is possible to
volunteer my time-I will.

Harry Pasternak, Thousand Islands Institute (Harry_Pasternak [at] tvo.org)