Free tools for building your own house
The sawing plan, the prices we track (lumber, building materials, energy), the document checklist for a permit and the municipal bylaws. Every price is a dated reading, with its source.
Short answer: this page gathers Biobâtir's tools. The sawing plan fits each piece inside your log; the price pages give, reading after reading, what lumber, building materials and energy equipment cost in Quebec. A price is a displayed retail price, taxes excluded: not a quote and not a sealed plan.
Sawing planEnter your logs by hand or from a photo of the ends: the plan fits each piece in its log and draws the wedging and the saw cuts. Free.Cost of a timber frame tiny houseMaterials for a 20 × 20 ft tiny house: low and high cost, what is counted and what is missing.Building permit for a tiny house in QuebecWhat the law requires, the permit conditions, self-building and the rules read in municipalities, including Mont-Laurier.Where to buy a timber frameKit, custom frame or complete project, the questions to ask before signing and the Quebec companies whose site we have read.Lumber pricesDimensional lumber (2×4, 2×6…), hardwoods per board foot, rough sawn timbers (beams and planks) and the APFLO mill log prices.Building material pricesPanels per m², insulation, roofing, doors, concrete and mortar, ready-mix concrete — and the list of what no price was read for.Energy pricesSolar panels, charge controllers, inverters, batteries, wood stoves, firebrick: prices read from retailers.Document checklist for your permitWhat a municipality will ask you for in a building permit application, who produces it, the questions to ask it and a sample letter.Municipal bylawsThe rules of 62 municipalities in Quebec and Ontario: minimum area, accessory dwelling, bylaw and source, with the reading date. In the free guide; to confirm with the municipality.
Price readings are redone every month; the date of the latest one is at the top of each price page.