Superior Walls Quote

[ellbaker]

Got the initial quote for a Superior Wall basement.  The plan is 20x34.  3 walls placed is $9500.  If I wanted the daylight wall to be a Superior Wall with 4 windows and door cut out would bump the price to $13,500.   Price seems a little high.  I am going to check on poured walls but have to take into account that I will need to frame out the walls and insulate which is already included in the Superior Walls.

Also talked to the son of the framer I used on my current home.  His Dad died a few months ago.  Rough quote for framing, sheathing and setting windows is $4/sq. ft.  That is only $2800 to be dried in if don't count the porch.  That will take it up to around $4k.  Still not bad and will really save me a ton of time.

Forgot one thing - War Eagle!!!

[Don_P]

After a little back and forth, my client probably pushed harder than I would have, we came in a tad over $100/lf a couple of months ago. Don't forget you have site prep to add to that cost. The framer is not going to be in business long at those prices.

[MountainDon]

$4/sq ft.  Labor only right?  Still seems cheap.

[ellbaker]

This quote is $129/lf.  Maybe I have some room to work with him.  Excavator estimated $2k to for about 100 ft. of driveway and to dig the basement.  Unexposed rock or extra fill dirt is the only potential upper in cost. 

Framer estimate is labor only and I agree it sounds cheap.  I am hopeful though.  My current home does not have any walls out of square or plumb.  The roof sheather told me he loved to follow this framer because of how well the roof measured out.  This framer is the son of the my original framer but claims he learned everything from his Dad.  I have heard there are crews for less but I will have to learn Spanish to hire them.

Funny thing is that builders at the lake tell you everything costs more at the lake so the price quotes start in the $150/sq. ft for a turnkey house.  So far my experience is that the labor is very reasonable.

[psammy]

I got quotes for a 20'x34' basement this past fall.... $51/foot for 8"x8' poured wall + footing.  $37/foot for 8"x4' garage walls. 

For the money you've been quoted you could go ICF and have a nicer basement with a higher R value....IMO.

psammy

[ellbaker]

Looks like my Superior Walls quote is not so bad.  Got a quote from the poured walls people today.  Footing and wall comes to $10,706.  If I want them to do the waterproofing it will total $12,471.  OUCH.  I contacted a couple of ICF contractors to see if they are an alternative.

[UK4X4]

Keep us updated as I'm interested as have a basement to do in CO

104 ft long in total

that poured quote 51$ a ft seems good, but my plot is in CO and half way up a mountain !

[jbos333]

Just for reference, I recently got a quote for 8' poured walls, 24x40 w/footer. 128 lf total, one 40' wall has a frost footer for a walkout. It was 8500.00 for fotings and walls. So avg of $66.00/foot I guess.

[cbc58]

did they break out the cost of concrete vs. labor in the poured quote ?   all things being equal there are likely a few foundation contractors looking for work... 

[MushCreek]

Are these quotes all including the slab, or just for the walls? What about footings?

You should be able to get ICF done for $11-$13 per square foot of wall area from what I read, which will come in around the same as ICF by my estimate. ICF is probably the best, but you've got to cover the foam, inside and out. Normally, it is waterproofed below grade, and stuccoed above grade, which will add to the cost. I think building codes will require drywalling the inside, too.

I'm in the middle of all of these decisions myself after 4 years of marriage-wrecking research and discussion (the woman is a saint). My project will be largely DIY, which cuts the cost of ICF about in half. Being in a mild climate, I'm still torn as to whether it's really worth the added expense and work.