Intent on building the 20 x 30 plan 1.5 story

[Steve_B]

Hello All...

Been searching and considering building a small(er) house for all of us... all of us being 3 kids, 1 wife, and myself!

Wanting to go with the 20 x 30 and maybe extending it by 6 feet or so to make a larger loft and maybe squeezing in a small bedroom downstairs. The larger loft would be for my twwo boys, and the small bedroom downstairs would be for my daughter.

I ordered the materials list just this morning for this plan and was curious if I could ask a question...

I understand that costs vary by time of year and location, but could anyone chime in with what the ballpark costs are for the materials of a standard run of the mill 20 x 30 with the roof being made by myself or yourself? I guess a cost of just having a "dry shell" house if you would with nothing yet inside?

I know costs will increase if I extend, but I am just trying to figure out my time and budget as money is very very tight!

I've read in this post....

" dug & Jenny's 20 by 30 1 and 1/2 story "

that his "dry shell" cost was about $5,000 doing everything himself, including roof work

Is $5,000 a realistic cost for a dry shell for this plan?

BTW, I plan on going with concrete piers installed by myself

Thank you for everyone's time and effort with replying

Steve

[John Raabe]

Here is the cost estimate article I have that might be helpful. http://countryplans.com/costs.html

$5,000 would seem pretty optimistic for a shell cost.

[CjAl]

i did concrete piers with three beams. i just priced out the lumber for the floor and i will have around $3000 into it before i start building walls.

[Steve_B]

Now that I have the materials list in hand.... it gives a good perspective on being able to see what is needed for parts of the house and being able to plan for those

Planning on a trip to my local Lowes in the next few days to see if I can find prices on just the floor aspect of the house build  and will reply back with an estimate for others to see... bearing in mind my prices will reflect a Lowes in Columbia, SC

[Steve_B]

Dropped off the materials list ( page 1 only ) and got prices for all items on line 1 through line 19 which is for the floor, sub floor, and porch

Picked it up this morning and they gave me an estimate for all items listed above at $2,347 plus tax.

Does this sound in line with anyone else who built the 1.5 20 x 30?


One question...

The estimate is from Lowes who told me they use Oswald as their lumber manufacturer.... they said they can not get the " 4 x 8 x 16 " as they said they even called and they do not make it that size

Is this an odd ball size?

What is the work around for "having" this piece put together, and is it code worthy?

[CjAl]

does that include simpson brackets, nails etc?
i posted what i have into my floor and its mostly from lowes.

what is the 4x8x16 for?

[Steve_B]

The 4x8x16 is listed as line #8 on the materials list as a porch beam

That gave me prices for all item lines 1 through 19 except for the 2 of the 3 simpson brackets which they do not carry they say...

They had line 11 they can get, but NOT line 12 or 13

I factored in $40 for those 2 lines as an estimate and the total came to $2347 which represents a 10% discount factored in


For reference, the Lowes zip code is 29229 which is Columbia, SC

I believe you said your was roughly ~ $3000?

[CjAl]

right at that but i added a third beam down the middle and a total of 15 concrete piers. the brackets alone for the piers was $450.

you dont need the porch beam for the floor system just the pier and beam components and the 2x12x16 boards, the 1/2" plywood(i used all treated) then you need the floor joists and the sheets of subfloor. oh and some extra joists to cut up for blocking.

since i added the third beam i can use 2x8 or 2x10 for floor joists since they dont span as far. i cant get the 20 footers locally without special ordering them so i can double up 10 footers.

[keyjoy]

Check Craigslist for the Simpson brackets. I got enough for the 36 piers on our house  PLUS straps to tie the joists to the beams for less than a hundred bucks. I see them all the time on Craigslist, also have bought joist hangers at yardsales!!!!!!!!
I would also check around on the price of the sonotubes. Here prices were all over the place. I bought 8 foot sonotubes for 6.99 each but some places wanted more than twice that for the 4 foot.
Call around and check prices on everything

[Steve_B]

Am I missing something here with pricing?? You mentioned $450 for those Simpson brackets

A quick search online gave me these numbers...

30  LUS26 at $.99 a piece

7  AC6 at $5.00 a piece

4  ACE6 at $5.00 a piece


This would be roughly $85 or so for ALL the Simpson brackets as per the materials list

Am I missing something here, your price is way higher

[CjAl]

i used a bracket for a 6" beam to hold yhr beams to the concrete piers. you imbedd a j bolt in the concrete then the bracket goes over it and bolts to the pier. that bracket is $22ea at lowes, not including the bolts nuts or washers. if you do wood posts or stem wall yours will be different. there is a cheaper 6" concrete bracket but it sits directly in the concrete so you have to be dead on when you place them. the ones i used allow a bit of adjustment and its money well spent.

i used the plans as a general guide i am not building it exactly the same. i added an extra two feet in length and that extra beam like i said.  its mainly.because my soil is pure sugar sand which doesnt have great load bearing ability so i added extra piers and made the footings larger

[CjAl]

i am also in huricane territory so everything has a bracket. i boughtba csse of 100 h1's for floor joists for $78 and i will have some strapping also

[Mike 870]

Dry cost for my 12x16 with wood pier foundation is right about $25 per square foot.  This includes mostly top notch materials, a good bit of waste (due to being a first time builder), I did shop around and buy a couple things on craigslist such as my window and skylights.  I did all the labor myself.  I could probably knock a couple hundred off the cost if I had to do it again. 

[alex trent]

I would not be skimping on the pier to post connectors. A lot depends on them.  I used Simpsons for 6x6 connectors...the kind that give you some adjustment leeway..were 30 bucks each for 6x6 posts. The kind you pay 8 bucks for are worth just that.

[ajbremer]

Monday Morning - July 23rd, 2012

Great to see you building a countryplan place Steve_B. Many people here know there stuff and they will help you, they have helped me greatly. I say greatly because I always seem to have a hard time spelling treemendously.

As far as keeping track of costs, I got very lost with all of that. In time, I laid down my receipts here and there, left them in the car, in the bags, didn't take time documenting every little thing and also things I bought off of craigslist and/or other people from work etc. All I can say, if you plan on keeping track of cost, be very meticulous about it and plan to spend extra time doing it, all throughout your build - even if you have to do it for many months. I have lost track of my total cost and now have to do some guessing.

Thanks again for posting Steve_B and it's very treemendous to see you here.