Thanks for your time. I am looking to build in Greenville, SC within the next 18 months. I have a few house plans from magazine/books that interest me; however, I do not want to order 3 or 4 different sets of plans ($1500-2000) just for the purpose of estimating. I may be asking the impossible here but is it feasible to present a general contractor with a photocopy of the plan for an estimate and list of materials? Or is this humor at my expense? 🙂
In search of my next cold one,
nearbeer
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Replies
I gather that you are looking to see if the house will cost $200,000 or $300,000.
I would start by looking at open houses on spec house that are in size and with the features and quality of materials that you are insterested in. That should give you some idea of the cost.
And here is an online estimator.
http://www.building-cost.net/
You are correct. Using the above website has given me a range of costs. However, I am fortunate that where I am building I can be my own contractor. Also, between several extended family members, I can save a lot of labor costs. I should have asked "How can I get a list of material needed and not have to spend so much on home plans?"
"How can I get a list of material needed and not have to spend so much on home plans?"
Uhhh ... look at the plan U like and add it all up?
"Also, between several extended family members, I can save a lot of labor costs."
good luck there Buddy!
Save enough to build two ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
You are a bad boy.
Repent now or duck...What you have suggested is that you are considering taking the time of a contractor to give you three estimates on maybe three different houses, and then not allow him to make profit on his time invested by doing the work of the GC yourself.Why would a contractor be interested in GIVING you a couple weeks of his time? He probably has a family to feed.If you are going to be a GC, then you do the work of a GC and EARN that money
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I saw the same thing that Piffin did. Maybe correct us if we're wrong. You're planning to do the building, but want a GC to estimate it for you? I don't get that. Also looks like you wanna use a set of plans you saw somewhere but don't really wanna buy them. What are you planning to use as blueprints from which to build?
You can always pay a professional estimator to estimate the construction costs for you. However, if you're only going to give him a page from a plan book to work off of, you're not going to get the level of detail you're looking for to create a material list- for that, the estimator would need a full set of drawings. Ohh- and expect to pay between $500 and $2,000 for the estimate, depending on the level of detail and size/complexity of the home.
As Piffin said, why would you expect a GC to give you a list of materials? You might find one to give you a ballpark estimate off of your photocopy, but no one with 1/2 a brain will spend the time to do a detailed estimate from it for free. And a smart GC will never give you a materials list- unless he's got a fat deposit in his hands.
Bob
Ask and ye shall receive. Thank you for putting the needs of a GC into perspective for me. I never would have thought about this issue through the eyes of a GC. Now I know better.
The intention was to get estimates on several plans and then purchase set of plan that appealed the most to me (not necessarily the cheapest). Not trying to be a total cheap-o but tyring to minimize my out of pocket costs. Thanks to all for your input.
Nearbeer
You will need a real plan set to get an accurate estimate. I'd recommend going and looking at new homes that are roughly what you want to get a feel of what you might get for your money. I assume you are talking a custom home so definitely don't look at any of the national builders - that will just lead you astray by their lure of cheap square footage.
Another idea is purchase a plan and send it to an estimating service. I used one once and was shocked at how accurate they were, and further, that is the only way you will get a materials list.
Also, think about this: mail order plans aren't the most popular thing with builders. This is because home building is regional so "foreign" build details may likely be incorporated in the mail order plans. At the very least the plan set will likely need to be stamped by a local PE or the like... Also, if you need some changes - what plans don't get changes - the mail order thing doesn't work out too well. Rather, check around your area for a plans designer - here in Raleigh there are a hundred. Many have plan books of their plans and you can look through them. Most of them will have probably been built, and if you can get the designer to tell you where, you can likely look in the county real estate records, or whatever, to see the value of the home.
"Another idea is purchase a plan and send it to an estimating service. I used one once and was shocked at how accurate they were, and further, that is the only way you will get a materials list"Lumber stores near me will do a complete (and accurate I might add) material take-off for a $100 refundable if you purchase the material package from them. Might be the same elsewhere.
Actually the estimating service was accurate on the $$$ but the materials was about so-so at best. I actually called the guy and asked "what's with the borad-foot stuff", at which time he started to explain board feet, and I promptly interupted him in mid sentence and told him, "yea, well, I learned about board feet in highschool and haven't used it since..." :-)
Actually the only way to get an accurate takeoff and estimate is to do it yourself (you being the expierenced builder...). Since only the builder knows exactly how it's gonna be built, and has a better idea of what extra expences might come up. Subtract out the "expierenced" part of the builder, and then you need to subtract out the "exactly" part too.
Whenever I gave my plans to a lumber yard, they took a month. and then gave me back a fremework of an estimate to work from... then, more often than not, they said, sorry we lost the plans. Maybe the problem was that I never had to pay for it. Anyway, I gave up on that method some time ago.
Which estimating service did you use if I may ask?
I was quoting someone from a previous post.
You'll have to ask the member who posted it, see link below.http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=76289.9
I live in greenville s.c., and most of the houses around here range from $80 per sq. ft. at the very low end to around $150 at the upper middle end, depending on what you want.Considering the difference between those two numbers and your lack of knowledge of general contracting(no offence intended) you would probably be well served to hire a reputable G.C. in the area.Otherwise you may end up with either something you don't like , or worse something you can't afford to finish.
Some internet plan companies will sell you a pretty good take off which you can shop to your materials suppliers...subs are another story. I need a dump truck, baby, to unload my head
none taken...thankful for the advice!
Nearbeer
happy to. not a lot on here are south of the mason-dixon so i'm glad to be able to share first hand experience.
You notice that too! eh Zack?
Are you kidding. I think half of the members are from Texas.
And the other half are Tar Heels.
A couple of Floridians and Arkansanians too I supppose. Oh, and don't forget them Kentucky boys.
But one of then KY boys is a former Tar Heel, so he's part of us as long as he leaves the red wasps up there.
By way of the Keystone state I thought.
Well me, too, but I don't readily admit that. Sorta like having a third nipple or something. Figure if I say Tar Heel enough, that'll make it true.I'm Tar Heel born
and Tar Heel bred
and when I die
I'll be Tar Heel dead
I guess you don't wear a Nittany Lions sweatshirt at a Tarheel game ;-)
See, now you're getting into the confusing territory...it's PSU for football and UNC for basketball...haven't picked a gymnastics favorite just yet.
UGA for gymnastics!
haven't picked a gymnastics favorite just yet.Ha, you'd better pick something in-state...and get her interested now<G> I need a dump truck, baby, to unload my head
You might want to look into somebody like
http://www.ownerbuildernetwork.com/
I know you've already sorta gotten this answer but..... I'm a truss manufacturer, not a GC. So my perspective is a little different.
I get those picture plans all the time, and they annoy me. To me, it says that the person is just kicking tires, and isn't really serious about building. If you can't expend the time/money to get a plan drawn, don't expect ME to expend a whole bunch of time doing an estimate on it.
If I'm expected to do an estimate based on one of those I'll generally just throw out a fairly high square foot price.
.
You didn't ask about this, but I'll throw it out anyway. No way in hell would I recommend buying plans off the internet. IMHO they're absolute crap.
My recommendation would be to take your drawings to someone local who can draw up what you want. You're a lot more likely to end up with a plan/house that you like.