Estimating the costs of building materials

[rhondarenay]

Hi,

New hubby and I want to design and build our own 20' by 20' cottage.  Later, we'll add bedrooms and expand but we want to start with about a 20' by 20'.  How do you go about estimating the costs of building
materials.  I've read one websight that broke it down this way:  25% material, 25% labor, 25% land cost 12.5% builder profit 12.5% builder overhead.  How can a 400 squ. ft. building end up costing 65,000?  People are spending that much on the victorian and grandfather cottage.  I read on the same webpage as the breakdown of costs that we can figure paying out about $80.00 squ. ft. if we hire someone to build it.
If we figure 25% is cost of materials that would only be $8,000.  If we figure that it costs a little more say 1/3 of the cost to hire someone to build that would still only be $10,667.  How are people coming up with these ridiculous prices?  I can see spending 65,000 on a 900 squ. ft. home but on the Victorian cottage?

Rhonda

[Txcowrancher]

Its really really really hard to get these numbers right until you sit down and go thru your entire design, wall by wall etc. and decide exatcly how and with what materials are you going to build this house. I would think that just to shell in a 20x30 with minimum materials you might get by with around  15k. take windows for example. you could buy a aluminum window for maybe $50-60 but a nice wood window could run $400, multiply by 10 windows or so and you can see what a difference it makes. what type siding, sheathing and subfloor osb or plywood. There are just a million variables.  Craigslist is your friend.
again folks chime in here.... a 20x30 shell for 15k?  plus well, septic, and all inside materials.
I think we have about 30k in our shell and its 1250 sf with 2x8s and all ply  pic attached

dont dispair  it is do-able and is cheaper than most other options.
all of us have had ups & downs and you can ask anything you need to know

[bayview]

   We built a 320 sq ft cabin in 2008-9 for about $40.00 per sq ft ($12,900) . . .    We did all the labor except for the concrete foundation and the sheetrock.   

   What is not included, is the price of property, electrical service, site preparation, water and septic.   These variables are different for every home being built.   

   Materials have gone up since we built our place.   Materials in other areas may cost more or less.   Will you be using all new material, or, will you use some used?   What type of construction will you be using?   Will you have a slab foundation, or, pier and beam?   What quality of materials will you use?   Shingles, siding, windows, etc. can be as cheap or as expensive as you want . . .         

   How much will you spend on your property?   

   Is there electric on site?   Electrical service will get expensive in a hurry if you are a long distance from the utility pole.   Maybe solar as an alternative?   I was fortunate that there was electrical service on the south side of my property.   Even so, I had to put in my own pole and meter.   I then ran service underground in conduit to the garage and the cabin.   Wire, conduit and equipment rental came to almost $2000.00.

   Do you have city water?   Will you have to drill a well?   How deep?   Are you going to collect rain water?   We have city water.   So, it cost about $1500.00 to tap the line out in the street, installed with the water meter   Equipment rental, pipe and fittings were about another $500.00

   Will you have city sewer?   A septic system?   A conventional, aerobic, or mound type of septic?   A composting toilet?   Maybe a bucket and some sawdust?   We have yet to install our septic, but have been quoted $6-7000.00.

   What will it cost to improve the site?   Will the site need to be cleared of trees and brush?   What about a driveway?

   I'm sure I have left out other expenses.   

   When we retire we will be adding a 1000 sq ft home to the property.   I am doing the building for the experience and knowing that I will have a quality home when finished.   By the time I am done I guess that I will have 2500 to 3000 man hours into the total construction.   Or, working full time for about 1 ½ years before completion.   Right now I have about 1000 hours into clearing the property, building a two car garage and the small cabin.   I figure from past experience that it will take about 1500 to 2000 hours to complete the 1000 sq ft home.   We will save about $35-40,000 when completely finished.   

   I prefer building my own cabinets.   The cabinets, from the construction to the finishing may take as many as 300-400 hours.   Purchasing cabinets would save time but be more expensive.     

   Building full time or part time has its advantages and disadvantages.   So far, we have spent a lot of weekends and vacation days building our home.   Sometimes it really cuts into the social life.   Kind of hard to go to a friends BBQ when you have a roof to finish before the rain . . .    The finished job, however, is quite fulfilling.

/

[dug]

We built a 320 sq ft cabin in 2008-9 for about $40.00 per sq ft ($12,900)

From what I've seen here on this forum and have heard elsewhere $40 per sq. ft seems about the going rate if you are careful and do most or all the work yourself.

It can, and has been done for less but it is also pretty easy to go over that. Design and planning errors due to my inexperience will probably push my number over that a little, but not much I hope.

As Bayview and others have pointed out there are many variables.

[rhondarenay]

Thanks ya'll,

I'm not as discouraged as I was when I first read (yesterday) that someone spent $60,000 on the Victorina cottage. $40,000 per squ. ft. sounds a little more reasonable and doable.  Maybe our dream isn't out of reach.  The problem right now is finding work out in the country.  I'm on disability and he has a bad leg and can't work but is having trouble getting disability.  He can't do the work he used to full time which is construction-so he has to find something else.

We have yet to find out if we can buy the property next to our friends.  They said we could put a mobile home but they haven't said if we could build a house there or if they'll sell it to us.  We're praying because we really like the property.
It is very rural.  We will have to put in a septic system and probably a well.  It will take some time.  There isn't water going to the property.
There is nothing city about this property-so we'll have to dig a well or tap into our neighbor's well and dig a septic hole for the septic system.
Kelly has worked as a carpenter by trade and is very good and knows how to build but we might have to hire someone to do the electrical, I don't know how well he knows that.  He doesn't have his own tools anymore so we'll have to borrow those or buy our own.

We have home depot  30 min. away and lumber yards so we'll start there.  What ever quality they have is what we have to work with.

Rhonda

[Jeff922]

I just want to make sure we are on the same page here.  I asume you mean the Victoria's Cottage.  You may want to look at those plans again.  The first floor of mine is 732sq. ft.,add the second floor of 448 sq. ft. and it give a total of 1180 sq feet total.  Here's my personal experience:

Land:                                                                       $18000
Clearing/Site work and septic system:                            $20000
Well:                                                                        $10000
House including foundation(without siding or sheetrock):    $32000

Total cost:                                                                $80000

It's a lot of house for this kind of money. 

[rhondarenay]

Man, that's a big house.  That sounds alot better.  Wheh!  I thought the victorian cottage was something like 16X20.  $80,000 sounds more like it for over 1,000 squ. feet.  I WILL look at those plans again, but I thought they were itty-bitty.

Rhonda

[Jeff922]

Yeah Rhonda, it's kinda confusing b/c the main part of the house is 16x28 which is only 448 sq ft.  But then you add the 12x14 bdrm addition (168 sq ft) and the kit bump out (82.5 sq ft) and the back utility room (40 sq ft) and the actual footprint is 732 sq ft on the first floor.  Take a look at my pics - and you can get a pretty good idea of the size.  MY upstairs will have two bedrooms and a small reading area at the top of the stairs (total of three bedrooms).  Recently a CountryPlans Forum member stopped by my place to check out the Victoria's design.  He said it was bigger than he imagined.  Good luck.  :

[rhondarenay]

Looked at the plans for the Victorian cottage.  It looks little on the outside but the floor plan looks big.
I like it but we'll prob. start with a 20'by20' and add 2 or 3 bedrooms later, when we're able to .  We want to end up with about 1,000 squ. ft. but we'll have to start with 400 squ. ft. and add on later.
Is there any way to start like the central 20'by20' and leave it sort of open as you build the other rooms?
I wonder how long and how much $ it would take for 1,000 squ. ft. frame?  Just one step at a time.  

First, we have to get the septic.  I thought a septic system only costed 2,000?  HOw did you end up spending 20,000?  We can dig our own hole, I guess.  Did you hire someone?

Rhonda

[umtallguy]

alot of the cost of a structure is the same.

A tiny cabin vs a large house will have about the same cost it:

Septic
Site Work
Driveway
well etc

There is also a minimum cost of a kitchen, bathroom etc.

Adding on square feet is not that expensive (other then widows) compared to these costs.
a few more piers, lumber, insulation, roofing etc to make a house 10 feet longer is really only a couple of K.
this should be considered heavily in planning

[Jeff922]

The 20,000 figure was a lot of site work also.  The septic was only 6500 of that, the rest was gravel tree-removal, and digging and moving earth.  Typically in my neck of the woods, an excavator operator wants about 100/hr so it adds up REAL fast.  I probably paid more than I needed to.  Next time I'll rent the equipment a DIY it.  Your plan sounds like a good one.  I like the idea of planning for add ons.  A simple "box" type structure is the simplest to build and the most cost effective (That's why a colonial style is the most bang for your buck).  Good luck to you guys.  You can do it!  

[zion-diy]

Don't know the price per square, but I know it cost wife and I $25,000 to build our house.( I know, cause that's all the money we had at the time.)  nothing fancy, just 3 20x20 cubes.  that was the house, septic, electric, water. All done by just the 2 of us.

[umtallguy]

nice place for 25k

[zion-diy]

nice place for 25k

Thanks.  lots of hard work. have since added on to one side. never enough room it seems

[rick91351]

rhondarenay I will toss this out as far a septic and my own costs

Since the last do it yourself septic system I put in two years ago I found the following:

Around here septic tanks here have come down a little.  But have no fear permits are up!  Infuser domes the last I checked were about the same - as was pipe.  Excavation rental of a back hoe is about the same.  

Here at my location I would figure

$800 permit and inspection
$900 tank delivered and set.
$900 for piping and infuser domes or drain field material.  (This depends on how the inspector specs the job out.)
$1000 to 1200 I would figure for back hoe.  (You will need it several times I would guess.)  Perk hole or in my case holes - excavation - post inspection back filling.

If you were ready to go right now and at today's prices.  And if you lived here, where we live, and you could find an installer that would do the job for $4500 - handling the paper work, talking to and working with the inspector, hauling the materials.  (Infusers and pipes)  I would not mess with another Do It Yourself Septic.  But I think it would run more like $6000 here and with my experience at it .....  And then I can get a deal on a back hoe you can't pass up.

There is a lot of time involved in building and you have to place a cost to your own time.  Never zero out your own time.  You are basically saying your time is worth nothing.  Far from it.  You also must also place value on others experience and expertise as well.  John Raabe who owns this site and Country Plans lists in his Read Me First booklet.  Page E-1 Next Step Checklist Item 10 Your highest use is not pounding nails or pulling wire but carefully controlling the money flow and getting the best materials and labor for the money.  

[rhondarenay]

rhondarenay I will toss this out as far a septic and my own costs

Since the last do it yourself septic system I put in two years ago I found the following:

Around here septic tanks here have come down a little.  But have no fear permits are up!  Infuser domes the last I checked were about the same - as was pipe.  Excavation rental of a back hoe is about the same.  

Here at my location I would figure

$800 permit and inspection
$900 tank delivered and set.
$900 for piping and infuser domes or drain field material.  (This depends on how the inspector specs the job out.)
$1000 to 1200 I would figure for back hoe.  (You will need it several times I would guess.)  Perk hole or in my case holes - excavation - post inspection back filling.

If you were ready to go right now and at today's prices.  And if you lived here, where we live, and you could find an installer that would do the job for $4500 - handling the paper work, talking to and working with the inspector, hauling the materials.  (Infusers and pipes)  I would not mess with another Do It Yourself Septic.  But I think it would run more like $6000 here and with my experience at it .....  And then I can get a deal on a back hoe you can't pass up.

There is a lot of time involved in building and you have to place a cost to your own time.  Never zero out your own time.  You are basically saying your time is worth nothing.  Far from it.  You also must also place value on others experience and expertise as well.  John Raabe who owns this site and Country Plans lists in his Read Me First booklet.  Page E-1 Next Step Checklist Item 10 Your highest use is not pounding nails or pulling wire but carefully controlling the money flow and getting the best materials and labor for the money.  

Thanks Rick,  I did not know it would cost that much.  In 6 mos. I can save about $2,000.  So in a year we could be able to at least put in the septic if we hire someone to do it.  But Kelly has been in construction all his life.  He knows how to do everything.  So we might just do it oursellves for the experience.

This is alot of good information.  Thanks you for responding to my post.

Rhonda

[rhondarenay]

Zion-diy

That's a nice house for $25,000!  I like the idea of putting 3 cubes together.  I'll mention that to hubby.  He says there's a way you can prepare a house where you can easily add on later.  We might do one cube at a time. 

But that looks nice!

Rhonda

[rhondarenay]

Zion,

Let me ask what year did you build your house?

Rhonda