20x34 cottage

[waltonrp]

I am looking for some reaction from you all. I sent my plans for this project to a local builder and here is what he quoted.

Basement foundation complete: $17k

Frame the house, including interior walls, stairway, install windows, doors, floor underlayment, exterior sheathing and felt the roof $37k

This includes materials and labor. Porch not included. Seems like a lot to me.

I plan to put though a few other builders and am more convinced to get an old trailer on site and build this project myself getting help when I need it.

[Jochen]

About what basement are you talking? Full basemnet or crawl space?  And are you going to built the 1story, 1 1/2 story or the 2 story version??

Jochen

[John Raabe]

If you are doing the 2 story 20x34 I come up with a little under $40/sf for something less than a weather tight shell (no roofing, no siding). If your normal contracted cost for new construction is around $100/sf then this is in the ballpark.

Location makes a big difference. In California this may be a bargain, while in PA or TN it would be a rip-off.

[waltonrp]

About what basement are you talking? Full basemnet or crawl space?  And are you going to built the 1story, 1 1/2 story or the 2 story version??

Jochen

I should have said that in the first place :>) Full basement, block walls. 2 story.

[waltonrp]

If you are doing the 2 story 20x34 I come up with a little under $40/sf for something less than a weather tight shell (no roofing, no siding). If your normal contracted cost for new construction is around $100/sf then this is in the ballpark.

Location makes a big difference. In California this may be a bargain, while in PA or TN it would be a rip-off.

This in in South Central VA. Not really a high cost area.  It will be interesting to see the other quotes.

When you figure cost per square foot, I assume that the basement counts equally? So this would be about 1950 square feet?

[vojacek]

just thought i'd share our figures with you. we are outside of houston texas. we too are building the 2 story, but without the basement. everything has been bought new from lowes or home depot. we have done everything ourselves . dried in $15K. or $11/sq.ft. this includes our metal roof and box gutters.  also know if you have cash, the larger places will outbid eachother. we saved alot of money by doing this. our first estimate for all our lumber was$12K and we ended up around 9K with free delivery. good luck! monica vojacek

[jraabe]

I was not counting the basement in the SF calculations (and a basement would add more cost per SF than a crawlspace).

Vojacek's information above is more to the point as this is a current owner builder price by a careful shopper. When the same work is done by a contractor you should (at least) double that owner built cost.

Contractors today can not buy materials at lower cost than careful owner builders can. Often the owner can do much much better.

[waltonrp]

just thought i'd share our figures with you. we are outside of houston texas. we too are building the 2 story, but without the basement. everything has been bought new from lowes or home depot. we have done everything ourselves . dried in $15K. or $11/sq.ft. this includes our metal roof and box gutters.  also know if you have cash, the larger places will outbid eachother. we saved alot of money by doing this. our first estimate for all our lumber was$12K and we ended up around 9K with free delivery. good luck! monica vojacek

Beautiful - you have done well! I'll use your numbers as a baseline. Going to be looking for an OLD trailer for some temp housing.

[waltonrp]

I was not counting the basement in the SF calculations (and a basement would add more cost per SF than a crawlspace).

Vojacek's information above is more to the point as this is a current owner builder price by a careful shopper. When the same work is done by a contractor you should (at least) double that owner built cost.

Contractors today can not buy materials at lower cost than careful owner builders can. Often the owner can do much much better.

Thanks, this is a great learing experience. Still going to get it quoted out, so that I can see what I can save.

I have to say, that the plan package was great and easy to understand. I bought a couple of books on framing that you recommended and think that I will tackle this job yself contracting help where I need it.

[Micky]

I have my 20 x 32 1-1/2 story dried it.  This also includes siding and roofing.  I am into it about 23K.  I had the crawlspace foundation excavated and poured by a professional (5K).  I have done the rest myself.  I have splurged in a few places (rough sawn beams, pre-stained hardie siding) so I am be a little high on the material.  I guess you would need to add the costs of a few more windows and some more studs to make this a 2 story.


http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/merritt000/album?.dir=2470&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/merritt000/my_photos

[rwalter]

Here in upstate NY that would be a rip off. I could of had a full basement put in for around $6300 on a 20x32. The quote comes from the contractor that I used included a full basement option using 11 courses on 10" block, footer with rebar and a Bilko door entrance way. As it was I went with the same contractor and got  7 courses of 10" concrete block and footer with rebar for my crawl space for $3075. The excavation and floor included were not includedin either qoute. I paid the excavator around $500 including time for the back fill. The floor was an extra $1100 from the foundation contractor but, I poured a 4" floor myself for around $1000 but that included $200 in labor from a couple of friends who are concrete finishers. The $200 helped cover there gas and travel time to my site which was about and 1 1/2 hour trip for them. I also insulated my foundation walls and crawl space floor with 2" Dow Board for another $800.  My lumber, (Andersen) windows, tar paper, shingles, snow & ice shield, step flashing and doors cost right round $11000. Add in another $4000 for the septic system and another $1500 for the site leveling and  for stone driveway plus basement floor. Finally I paid 4 amish framers $3000 to finish the second floor,  frame the roof, roof the building and to install the windows and doors. By the way they were great to work with. I worked side by side with them the entire 8 days they were there and enjoyed every minute. So if my math is correct I have got around $24500 into the site plus probably another $1000 on misc. things that I have not yet added up. Thing like nails, extra caulk, liquid nail, ect..) So total at a close estimate I say $25,500.



For more photo's and info.

http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1119804568;start=

[Micky]

I think a lot depends not only on area of the country, but also distance from resources.  I am at least 1-1/2 hrs from the concrete plant ($100/yd).  They also had to bring in a pumper because of sand around our place.  Everything adds up when you are in the boonies.  My biggest savings in building was the 20' trailer I bought to haul my own materials.

[waltonrp]

Here in upstate NY that would be a rip off. ... So if my math is correct I have got around $24500 into the site plus probably another $1000 on misc. things that I have not yet added up. Thing like nails, extra caulk, liquid nail, ect..) So total at a close estimate I say $25,500.

quote]

Thanks for the info, looks great also. I would think that south central Virginia has got to be close to upstate New York in pricing if not less.

[hobbiest]

At my mom's ranch in northern CA, I tore a 12 by 60 trailer down to the floor framing, fixed the framing, and built a 2x4 walled, 10ft one side 8ft other, 2x6 rafters, OSB subfloor (3/4") OSB roof sheathed, comp shingled house.  Cost, all dried in, with interior walls, windows, bath tub, faucets, insulation, and the drywall has just been ordered, for about $6000.  Got all the windows for $200, sold two that were surplus for $100.  Asked for discounts on everything.  I have done all of the work.  Keep in mind that there was no foundation work, and we used the old floor joists, though we had to replace some bad wood.  We bought roofing that was being cancelled, so it was half off, the windows came from a shop, brand new, but had been ordered at the wrong size and sitting there for a year.  Got finished flooring for 99c a sq ft, laminate, but decent, underlayment for $7 a sheet, all doors from Home Depot.  Not expensive, but not a trash job either.  Good luck!  Don't be afraid to ask for details, visit the library often and read all you can about building, then build an outbuilding first (need to have a tool shed, right?), the experience will be indespensible.

[rwalter]

Waltonrp,

No problem and I would think you are correct. Your prices shouldn't be to much different than mine. I purchased my lumber, windows, doors and most of my supplies from Home Depot. However first shop around and get the lowest quote you can on the items that you need. Then take that quote to  the Home Depot Pro Desk in the store. They told me that they would beat any competitors price on a like item by 10%. That saved me almost $1000 over the cheapest price that I could find. I shopped prices at Lowes, 84 Lumber and 3 local lumber yards.  The lowest price turned out to be a local lumber yard but HD beat that price by 10% on almost every item, unless they didn't carry that particular brand item, but on lumber it didn't matter.

[waltonrp]

Well, lots of great information on this. I am off today to get the perc done. Even in a small county, the officials can delay just like the big boys :>)

Gonna look for an old trailer just to get a place to sss on site and for lights and water hookup and then do this projet myself....

[glenn-k]

Sounds like a plan.  Keep us posted.

[DemianJ]

I'd be very interested in what quotes you end up with.  I'm in Central VA (Nelson Co) and am leaning towards building the 20x34 cottage (maybe a 20x28 version) as well.  I've been torn between going with the Lofthouse20 (20x24 shell shipped for 27K) from shelter-kit.com or building the cottage.  

Thanks,
Demian

[redbird]

This is awesome information!  And I thought wouldn't hurt getting a bump