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ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

Take a moment to maintain sanity.

Add "photography" to your preferred feed and hit the like button on your favorites.

It sprinkles many nice photos into the madness and gives you a moment to breath.

There are so many beautiful photos posted each day and I just want to say thank you for them.

November 29, 2025 at 6:24 PM

Reposted

Amie Rivers

@amierivers.bsky.social

Free bread for those in need.

A reader sent me this photo taken at Great Harvest Bread Company in Cedar Rapids.

November 5, 2025 at 3:55 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

Do you have some buildable property and want to build your own home? I will show you how to design and build the best, strongest, most fire resistant and energy-efficient home on a tight budget.

Yes, it can be done and it is easier than you may think.

October 23, 2025 at 2:55 AM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

Do builders still build spec homes? If you do, please let me know. I am happy to share my Ironwood Homes plans with you.

We can build unique, high-quality, and affordable homes. Let's bring the cost of new homes way down!

October 23, 2025 at 2:25 AM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

A real starter home.
What if you could choose to build a small home with plans to expand as your family grows? No more buy small, sell and buy bigger. If the original mortgage is low and you can save the future additions may not add to the cost of your original home.

Here is a home I call the "Ironwood One". It is made from a single structural frame with 4 bay extensions and some extra custom framing. The initial costs are very low but yet provides a livable home for 1-2 persons. Proper planning in this early stage will make the future additions easy and will minimize any disruptions while living in the home.

September 23, 2025 at 3:03 AM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

The previous posts provided an insight to the plans for how to build an Ironwood Home but just what does an Ironwood home look like?

The simple answer is: Just about anything you want it to be.

The home is about 1500 square feet, 2 story with a 240 sq ft roof deck. It is built with 3 structural frames, 4 Bay extensions and some added custom framing on the 2nd floor.

3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, large storage and a small workshop for all of you do-it yourself projects.

3-story home, approx. 1550 square feet, 350 square foot 2nd floor roof deck and a 60 square foot 3rd floor roof deck.

It is built with 3 structural frames and 8 Bay extensions, 6 of them used to create the stair tower, and some custom framing to complete the stair and first floor enclosures.

This home requires just 600 square feet for the foundation, reducing some costs for construction.

September 23, 2025 at 2:56 AM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

Ironwood Home Plan notes:
When you are looking at the plans (images) in my posts please remember to read the Alt text. There is more information in there because I have 2000 characters rather than the 300 allowed in a post.

September 20, 2025 at 1:48 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

A1.9 Fire Resistance
There is no more important aspect to building a new home than resistance to wildfires. One day it may be the only way to get a home loan and insurance in certain areas.
The Ironwood Home is specifically designed to a maximum but affordable fire-resistance level.

You have seen these details on other sheets, here we look at the finer points and the criticality of detailed, high-quality construction.

Starting at the roof level. If you are building in a high fire risk area the recommendation is to use light-gauge steel for all roof trusses.

Many homes catch fire from wind driven burning embers or excessive heat from neighboring trees or structures. Embers catch in openings and corners or get into the attic space. They can get lodged in the roofing or debris on the roof. Absolutely minimizing combustible surfaces is the key.

Exterior insulation must also be non-combustible. If it stays in-place and does not contribute to the fire, the insulation will also keep the temperatures of the wood elements down enough to stay below any auto-ignition levels. Combined with non-combustible roofing and siding and tight, high-quality construction you will have the most fire-resistant home possible on a budget.

You can go over the top in fire resistance and should, if you can. However, to keep homes affordable and safe this is one of the best designs available.

September 20, 2025 at 1:46 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

A1.8 Roof Decks
From the structural frame to the exterior finishes, the Ironwood Home is designed to accommodate roof decks. I am a firm believer in outdoor living spaces and with homes being so tightly packed together a roof deck may be the best outside space you've got.

Disclaimer:
The details on this sheet are conceptual. Please use an architect or waterproofing consultant when designing a roof deck.

Most of the home is designed with 10 foot high structural frames. When planning for a roof deck, use a 9 foot high frame. This off-set gives you 12 inches to build up insulation and waterproofing layers along with the deck surface. The intent is to have a roof deck which is at the same level as the inter floor for a seamless inter to exterior transition. The one down-side to using a 9 foot structural frame is the interior ceiling is at 8 feet rather than the typical 9 foot ceiling height.

Plan roof decks over spaces like garages, storage or workshops both for noise and easier repairs if there is ever a leak.

September 20, 2025 at 1:34 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

A1.7 Interior walls
Interior walls is the easiest part of designing and building an Ironwood Home. They are all non-structural and at most must be designed to support upper cabinets and other heavier objects. Your interior can by anything you choose. Only shear panels are immovable.

Design at will.

When creating an interior layout the only restriction is the shear panel locations. Mark those with heavy red line and design around them.

Interior walls are anchored to the slab or floor like any other home and supported at the top by the floor joists. They do not support the loads from above but I do not recommend using a lesser grade lumber or 25-gauge metal studs.

With the savings from simplified design and construction you may be able to afford insulating the interior walls for better sound resistance and a more comfortable home.

September 20, 2025 at 1:26 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

A1.6 Exterior Finishes
An Ironwood Home is designed for non-combustible exterior siding and trim. Fortunately, there are many options available. Most are affordable an easy to install. You can always opt for brick, stone or stucco as well.

The most important part of the exterior siding and trim installation is attention to details and quality construction. The exterior siding is a large part of a highly fire-resistant home.

Managing moisture from both interior and exterior sources is another big concern. I don't believe we need to make super-tight, sealed homes. They do need to minimize air leakage from the interior to the exterior but going to the extreme costs much more and if not done right can cause more moisture and mold problems than they solve.

Details at the top and bottom of the walls is critical to both fire resistance and to keep insects and rodents out of the exterior insulation layer.

September 20, 2025 at 1:17 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

A1.5 Insulation
No home should be built with inadequate insulation but it is easy to also over insulate. More is not always better when you are talking about costs and a point of diminishing returns.
The Ironwood Home is designed with wall cavity insulation and exterior full-coverage insulation.

Exterior wall, wall cavity, attic, floor and foundation or slab insulation is all required to build energy-efficient homes. I am not in the camp of "more is better". Not when trying to build a home on a budget.

Creating an R-60 insulated wall is not going to give you much of an increased benefit over an R-26 wall unless you live in the Artic. Yes, there is a some benefit but only if costs are not important.

The Ironwood Home places R-13 fiberglass or mineral wool insulation in the walls and R-9.5 Polyiso or mineral wool exterior insulation covering 100% of the walls. Use only non-combustible insulation, especially on the exterior, do not be tempted by the lower cost of Styrofoam panels.

Styrofoam panels are acceptable and recommended for foundation and slab insulation. Anything below grade but not where it can be exposed to heat and flames.

Attic insulation is placed on top of the structural frame and wrapped around the roof trusses. This insulation depth is a minimum of 11-1/2" but should be specifically designed for your area.
Roof trusses are designed to accommodate the insulation and provide enough open space for a ventilated attic.

When designing over a crawlspace the floor joists must be insulated to complete the envelope.

September 20, 2025 at 1:08 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

A1.4 Roof Assemblies
Roof truss assemblies are very similar or the same as standard roof trusses. A major difference is they don't tie the exterior walls together, that is done in the structural frame. A roof truss can be made much lighter and in 2-3 pieces for easier delivery and installation.

Even though a roof truss can be built the same as they are today there are several differences and advantages to building on top of the structural frame.

First, the plywood sheeting of the structural frame creates a great and safe working platform. Roof trusses can be designed and built in several sections for easy transportation handling and assembly at the site.

Second, Since roof trusses are set directly onto the structural frame they can be secured along their entire length making them much stronger and more wind resistant than most other homes. This alone should remove the requirements for adding hurricane clips to each truss.

Third, these trusses can be designed to include larger overhangs.

One thing these trusses cannot do is create any type of raised or vaulted ceilings, at least not over the structural frame. These can be designed by separating frames and using custom engineered roof trusses. We'll look at these options in future postings.

CRITICAL FIRE SAFETY:
If you are building in a wild fire-prone area my recommendation is to always use light-gauge steel for the roof trusses. Along with a non-combustible roof, using steel significantly reduces the risk from wind driven burning embers igniting your home.

September 20, 2025 at 12:42 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

A1.3 Bay Extensions
A Bay is typically 12 feet wide by 4 to 6 feet deep. Bays are used to add square footage to the home and more importantly break up the box look. Use bays for front entrances and interior nooks. Off-set the height to create multi-level roof lines.

Take the 12 foot wall panel, pull it out 4 feet and add two side panels and you have a Bay. I like to add these at the first floor kitchen areas to easily make a larger kitchen and for front entrances with a larger door and side window panels.

With a bedroom above you can use the top of the Bay Extension as a small roof deck. By stacking these Bay walls, and with a little extra engineering, you can create the stairs leading to the 2nd and 3rd floors without having to modify the structural frame itself.

Adding Bay Extensions creates very little extra design and construction work but yields big results in the look and feel of the home.

September 20, 2025 at 12:17 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

A1.2 Wall Panels
The exterior wall panels are 12' wide by 8, 9 or 19 feet tall and fit between the shear panels in the structural frame making prefabrication practical and efficient. Build off-site and prior to the site being ready to reduce on-site construction and improve build quality.

The outside dimensions of the wall panels are always the same. Each panel is built with window and door openings as desired. Build a "layout table" to frame the wall panels and shear panels to make work easier and build to a much higher quality.

Exterior wall panels are typically non-structural and most do not need headers installed over door and window openings because the structural frame is carrying the gravity loads. Some headers may need to be needed when these same panels are used for Bay Extensions (discussed in another section). As a bay wall panel there will be a small roof or a roof deck over the Bay.

Customizable panels can have large openings over 11 feet wide and up to the full height of the panel.

September 20, 2025 at 12:02 PM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

Architectural A1.1 Frame Layout Options
Structural frames can be arranged in many ways allowing you to design any home size, shape and style you want.

Configure your home to best fit the property or take in the best views or block out the worst views. Plan for future growth in the initial design.

Structural frames are each an independent structure, not relying on the one next to it. This opens up many design options. When frames are placed next to each other there are some rules to follow to make the entire home even stronger.

One hard rule when stacking frames is the shear panels must align vertically to carry all loads from the roof down to the foundation.

Frames can be place apart with a smaller in-fill to create large front porches or entry ways. The roof levels can be off-set for various architectural features.

Because of the structural frame the Ironwood Home can truly be a starter home. Design a larger home, then scale it down to what you can afford today. It is easy, affordable to add more structural frames later and expand the home. Don't buy small, sell and but bigger. Find your dream property and the home can grow along with your family.

September 18, 2025 at 3:21 AM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

Structural sheet S1.5, Foundations

An Ironwood Home is best suited for a slab on grade foundation but can just as easily be designed for a crawl space foundation or over a basement.
Because the shear panels anchor directly to the foundation the design critical to structural performance.

The structural frame is attached directly to the foundation, no matter the type of foundation. Where a crawl space or basement is used there is a stem wall from the shear panel extended down to the footing.

In any system other than a slab on grade the first floor trusses are fit between the foundation walls. This is required to allow the shear panels to mount on the foundation.

A slab on grade foundation also requires grade beams either along the full length or a segment under each shear panel and extending about 1 foot beyond the edge of the shear panel.

In all foundations, the dimensions include a 1-1/2" rim around the exterior. The shear panels and exterior wall panel rough framing is set back 1-1/2" from the edge of the foundation at the exterior walls. The reason for this is explained in the Architectural sheets.

September 17, 2025 at 4:10 AM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

Structural sheet S1.4
This sheet provides the requirements for structural sheeting (plywood). You can use OSB sheeting (not my preference for many different reasons). Apply all sheeting to building code standards for structural sheeting.

Plywood sheeting is required on the top horizontal surface of each structural frame. OSB sheeting can be used but it is not my preference.

This sheeting provides a horizontal shear plane at each level giving the structural frame it high wind and seismic resistance. This surface ties all four corners together and creates the floor for the next story. The horizontal sheeting is required at the top level as well. Roof trusses are placed on top of this sheeting. Roof trusses and installation are described in the Architectural set.

Vertical sheeting is not required for structural purposes however is needed as part of the exterior envelope. Because this sheeting is needed for other purposes, it is installed to building code standards for structural sheeting. This simply increases the overall effectiveness of the structural system.

September 17, 2025 at 3:56 AM

ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

@ironwoodhomes.bsky.social

Base Plan Set, S1.3 Frame Arrangements
This plan lays out the basic rules for placing several frames together or stacked or separated with in-fill trusses to create the basic design of each home.