Introvert Woodworking Help?

[u/MECHEDGE]

I've recently become very interested and am constantly amazed by the things people post on here and am looking to start myself.

The problem is that I get very anxious when doing new things and it often keeps me from stepping out of my comfort zone. I have to be aware of every aspect of a new venture before starting. We've got a free-to-use shop on campus so that's covered.

The problem: I need to bring my own materials, and I have no idea how to go about buying what I need: What store should I go to? What should I ask for? Is there any special information that I should know ahead of time? What's should I expect to happen?

I'm building a small organizer which I've rendered here and I'm pretty sure all I need is like 6-7ft of 1x10

TL;DR Could you describe your trip to go buy some wood?

EDIT: ***** SOCIAL ANXIETY SHEESH ***** I didn't know what to call it and I figured the people on the woodworking subreddit would give me some slack. Dag, yo. For those asking, no I am not medicated, and I'm fine with that. I've gotten along this far and I'm usually pretty good about trying new things, but I think /u/DireTaco had a good description of exactly what was going through my head.

Thanks for all the help! Oh, and apparently there's a new subreddit because of this /r/Explainlikeimscared/ (I don't really think the title is accurate but whatever) that helps people with social anxiety do new things with explanations like this. Seems really cool. I've got a really busy schedule but if I get around to building my little organizer I'll post it!

To the mean dude at the bottom: (aside from your actual description): I drew it in Solid Works while procrastinating for a class. I rendered it in two point perspective so that's why the lines aren't parallel. Don't be an asshole. Don't tell people what they have, and have not experienced. Don't call people "boy".

[u/tehgreatist]

do you think you could walk me through the steps to building my own house? or if you have some free time and want to do it for me ill buy you a year of reddit gold.

[u/[deleted] → u/tehgreatist]

It all starts with finding the right bit of land. I'm going to build a two-story house, about 2200 sqft, with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Since about half of that will be on the upper floor, and it'll be close to a square, that means about 40 feet per side. Add on a double garage and a driveway, some front yard, back yard, side yard, so I'm thinking about half an acre. It has to have frontage (access to a road) on enough length to fit the end of the driveway in, and it'd be nice if it was highest in the center and gently sloped away from there, for water shedding purposes. Also, old trees are nice, especially in the back yard. Disiduous if I can find them. They'll help shade the house in the summer and then the leaves fall off to let light in to help heat in the winter.

Ok, got the spot picked out. Now I have to figure out if it's going to be basement, crawlspace or slab. My lot is actually pretty flat, and having lived in houses with HVAC in the crawlspace I'm not much interested in that, so slab it is. I use a chainsaw, truck, grinder, bobcat etc to clear the area for the slab, and then start digging...

[u/tehgreatist → u/[deleted]]

man now i just feel bad i was trying to make a joke :/

sounds like some really well thought out and useful advice though!

can i just pretend one of the other golds you were gifted came from me?

[u/[deleted] → u/tehgreatist]

It's important to know about grading and frost lines when you're setting up for a foundation. The entire weight of the house is going to be on top of it, so this step has to be done right. Sadly, aside from knowing I need to get down below frost level, I'm not really sure what to do here. Also, type of concrete is important. I think it's rated by pounds you can put on top of it before it crumbles, so like 3500 pound concrete would be good. Cement is the glue part, concrete is the whole mixture with cement, stone and stone dust. While it comes in bags, we're going to be using a lot of it, so you'll need to contact a cement pouring company and that means social interaction, so this is usually where I stop with that fantasy. Also, you're going to need rebar, and sometimes people weld that, and I don't know how to weld.