I’m wondering if there is a per sq ft price that would give me an idea of the cost of materials for a new house I want to build.
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$50-$150
Me an my brudder-in-law, Bubba, we's always wanted to build a house. We'll do it for $49-$149/sf. Just don't aks fo no referenceres.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Material only.
Maybe I shoulda put $50 - the sky.
SamT
Thanks for all the suggestions. I guess I'll have to actually do a materials list.
Thanks for sharing with us.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Actually you dont have to come up with a materials list .
Supply yards will figgure your matrial list for free off a set of plans. That wont give you pricing for the things in the dirt.
Forget sq ft., its useless.
Tim Mooney
I forgot that possibility since I've never lived anyplace where that take off service is available
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
yeah but usually only if you'v done buss. with them or garauntee the materials from them.
Maybe what I was thinking was a quik way to come up with a figure for the framing package. A friend told me today that if you use the figure of 1- 2x6 for every foot (exteriorwalls of course) That will get you a number that is pretty close. THat plus top and bottom plates.
As well I was thinking of putting double plates on the bottom or even blocks between the studs. The reason being that I've been putting up trim in the last house I built that is 4" wide and there is nothing fo backing at the top of the trim. I know you can go on the studs but that doesn't always work. Can anybody think of a reason not to do this.
>>>"As well I was thinking of putting double plates on the bottom or even blocks between the studs."It would't be the end of the world but I think you're treating a symptom not a problem. If you can't suck the base up tight to the wall nailing every 16" then I think you should focus on keeping the studs flush with the plate when framing and removing bumps that will push the SR out of plane.
Jon Blakemore
Unfortunately Zera you'll probably never get a good worthwhile answer that you can use especially with the limited information your giving. You've said nothing about what type of house your talking about. 1 or 2 story, what type, what style what level of quality, and region for starters and even with that and more information a Sq Ft Materials Cost Estimate has a potential error of up to ±30%!
From the tenor of the question I'm making the assumption that your not a professional in the trades but if you really want to get some figures so that you can start to at least plan or budget something you might want to pick up a copy of Means Residential Detailed Costs: Contractors Pricing Guide 2005 and/or the Means Residential Square Foot Costs: Contractor's Pricing Guide 2005 and find a qualified contractor to work with on the price planning part of your project. In fact I think the better idea would be to skip the estimating data books entirely and find yourself a local contractor that can help you budget a job. The data in those books, unless you really know what your doing with it, may just confuse the issues for you.
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Edited 1/3/2005 8:46 pm ET by Jerrald Hayes
Jerrald,
I have a different twist on the question, I am thinking of building a home in Fairfield country (CT) and would like to know what a fair price is, but also, I would like to compare different sized homes or additions.
For example, I am interested in having a detached structure to serve as an oversized shed in the back, and pool cabanna in the front. I don't want to get too far into designing something only to determine that is out of my budget.
so... what's your budget ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
900K-1100K including land
ok... put me up and i'll be there
.. anyways.. if that's your real budget... then you can do what you want
assuming you can get the land for say $400K...
buy the land.. make sure it's unencumbered and buildable ( permitting & zoning issues, water/ sewer)
then hire your designer / architect
or design /buildMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Surfski around here these forums I think most people who know me would think of me as the arch enemy of Square Foot estimating but I'm not an absolutist and I do think it has it's place in the early project planning stage. But even then for the SF number to have some kind of meaning you need to know things like I mentioned above:
And while you're talking about a region I happen to be very familiar with (Fairfield County, CT virtually everything we have under production right now is in CT) even within that county for the same type of building the square foot cost will variation to it. Building in Greenwich or Westport isn't quite the same thing at all as building in New Fairfield.
But the question of what is a "fair price" might be a whole other topic of discussion altogether.
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Edited 1/4/2005 8:29 pm ET by Jerrald Hayes
Many people on the forum have no idea at all about building in Fairfield County CT. You can't compare costs. The cost of an average garage in that area would comfortably build a 2000sf house in other parts of the country.
That's for sure. The price of two car garage in Greenwich could get you house in rural Texas. You'll notice I never, or at least very rarely and only then in examples where I need to demonstrate the math do I ever mention numbers online.
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There is no fair price in Fairfield. You wont get half the house for the same money that you could get moving 20 minutes east. You will get resale however.
Forget the sq ft idea. That is what real estate agents and tax assessors use. Neither of them build houses though.
The wya you find out the cost of materials is to make a list of all the materials you will use, and take it to the lumber yard.
I suspect the reason for your Q is that you are thinking of building your own house and you suppose that you can do all the labour yopurself for free and only need to pay for materials. Many people have made the same supposition and ended up leaving the bank a half finished dwelling.
If my guess is right, you should check out some of the kit homes available. Theuy package the materials with the plans for a price, finance it to you, and give guidance, as well as suggestions for how to budget for the things they do not include such as foundation, plumbing and electrical.
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Kit homes. Yup that is a real good idea for that scenario. Real good thinking there.
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Or if you want a realistic estimate for the style and size you are considering, talk with a local builder who does houses that appeal to you, offer to pay him/her an hourly fee for talking with you. Spend an hour or two talking about houses in general and your desires in particular, and the builder can give you a pretty fair estimate of costs.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
"take your plans to the limberyard for a price estimate"
well that's one way.
probably the most common..
You could try an alternative such as go direct to the sawmill and get their price. Please don't fall over in a dead faint once you compare the numbers.. It's not an apples to apples quote.
There are real differances, for example a 8 foot long board at the lumberyard is 8 feet long plus or minus a fraction of an inch. an 8 foot long board at the sawmill is at least 8 foot 6 inches and maybe as much as 9 feet long..
the wood at the lumber yard is smooth and delivered to your jobsite about when you need it.. The wood at a sawmill is green & rough sawn and you need to stack and sticker it if you don't want it to decay. It's available when they are sawing and not when you are ready for it.. If you want it ready for you it helps if you think at least year in advamce.
My double timber frame using black walnut/cherry/ white oak and other such nice woods cost me less than 24 cents per sq.ft. and that includes the wood for all of the interior trim.
Included is 9 timbers that are burled and 917 bd.ft. of burled white oak. plus 450 bd.ft. of curly cherry and 610 bd.ft of fiddle back maple.
If you visit your local sawmill you may be able to stand at the end of the line and select which timbers/boards you'll accept and which should go to less selective builders.. You get the first shot at those really special pieces of wood that often end up in the chipper pile because they don't "grade" well.
One weekend I selected a little over 1500 bd.ft. of white hard maple that was flawless. Perfect! not a mark or single flaw in boards that were nearly 20 feet long by as much as 18 inches wide! (fewer than one board in twenty made the grade. Another weekend I "saved" a white oak burled tree that the saw mill had every intention of " throwing away" They took a trial cut and decided that rather than wasting any time sawing it they would just shove it into the land fill pile.
One other advantage to this method is the oil calculation. Other than the oil used to to power the chain saws and run the sawmill very little oil needed be imported.
Compare that to the oil used in the process of wood in a typical limberyard that was sawn thousand or more miles away and hauled in.
frenchy.. sorry to bother you.. but we've been dying to have you talk to us about rough terrain lifts
deiselpig especially..
here's a link...
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=51644.1Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore