home building estimate

[42769vette]

im in the long process of designing, and building a house. im wanting to design a house i can afford. im drawing it up now and am curious as to the cost per sq foot to build around here. i know this is a crap shoot since there are so many varibles.

here is what i have

land is free
ill do the driveway


basically all i want is a basic design house. all i want to hire done is the frame work, basment, septic, well,

ill do all the plumbing, wiring, flooring, drywalling, inslation, (all the miinor stuff like trim, paint, that goes with a house.)


if somone can come up with a ball park id appriciate it. basically i dont want to design a 2200 sq ft house and find out i can only afford a 800sq ft house.

any thoughts

 

[jblomenberg16]

We built a new custom home last year, and all said and done it was roughly $100 per finished square foot.

I did my own wiring (saved several $$$ there on labor), my wife and I painted the house (about $15,000 savings), and we did as much other labor as we could, such as painting all of the baseboards and trim prior to installtion, doing the caulking, etc.


Included in that $100 per square foot was the cost of a geothermal unit (more expensive up front than traditional HE Heatpump), 6" exterior walls (extra insulation cost), and a full unfinished basement under the main floor.


So, depending on how much additional work you do, you may be able to come in under the $100 mark.

 

[cbseniour]

Send me a PM of what you want to build area, rooms amenities and I'll do an insurance valuation for you. That should give you a high number to base you thinking on .

 

[42769vette]

We built a new custom home last year, and all said and done it was roughly $100 per finished square foot.

I did my own wiring (saved several $$$ there on labor), my wife and I painted the house (about $15,000 savings), and we did as much other labor as we could, such as painting all of the baseboards and trim prior to installtion, doing the caulking, etc.


Included in that $100 per square foot was the cost of a geothermal unit (more expensive up front than traditional HE Heatpump), 6" exterior walls (extra insulation cost), and a full unfinished basement under the main floor.


So, depending on how much additional work you do, you may be able to come in under the $100 mark.

thats kind of what im looking for, ill build all the enterior walls (except load bearing walls obviolusly) and do all the dry wall. im hoping i can come in around 80 per foot but i dont know if thats possible

 

[hornadylnl]

If you don't want anything fancy, build a pole barn and then build your house inside of it. There's a lot of people going that route now.

 

[jblomenberg16]

thats kind of what im looking for, ill build all the enterior walls (except load bearing walls obviolusly) and do all the dry wall. im hoping i can come in around 80 per foot but i dont know if thats possible

It would be tight, but you could probably pull off $80 by doing the interior wall and drywall. If you were not picky on cabinents, fixtures, and lighting and went with the high volume, lower price stuff that most home stores stock, you could get close. Floor coverings will give you a little relief too if you go with some of the standard stuff local places keep in stock. I didn't mention that ours is brick, so if you went with another exterior finish such as vinyl siding that could save as well.

 

[42769vette]

If you don't want anything fancy, build a pole barn and then build your house inside of it. There's a lot of people going that route now.

the design im drawig is a pole barn with a porch and basement. very bare bones.

 

[42769vette]

It would be tight, but you could probably pull off $80 by doing the interior wall and drywall. If you were not picky on cabinents, fixtures, and lighting and went with the high volume, lower price stuff that most home stores stock, you could get close. Floor coverings will give you a little relief too if you go with some of the standard stuff local places keep in stock. I didn't mention that ours is brick, so if you went with another exterior finish such as vinyl siding that could save as well.

mine will defintally be siding. id love brick but dont want the extra payment. we remodel enough houses we defintally get a worth while discount on alot of materials. thanks for the help everyone. i just want to see if 80 is wishfull thinking,

roughly how big is your house?

 

[jblomenberg16]

mine will defintally be siding. id love brick but dont want the extra payment. we remodel enough houses we defintally get a worth while discount on alot of materials. thanks for the help everyone. i just want to see if 80 is wishfull thinking,

roughly how big is your house?

I think our upstairs is around 2500. We have about 2000 of unfinished walkout basement.

 

[hornadylnl]

My unfinished basement is 1800sf. The first floor is 1800sf and the upstairs is 800sf. I have all oak hardwood and slate tile floors. I have a 600sf all concrete safe room, geothermal, all ICF construction, oak trim, custom Amish cabinets, hard surface tops, icynene spray foam insulation, open 2 story great room and foyer, partial brick on front, etc. If I totaled everything up, I'd probably be in the $175 range.

 

[rhart]

If you don't want anything fancy, build a pole barn and then build your house inside of it. There's a lot of people going that route now.

This is what I have been looking into pretty hard. Two of my friends have done it recently and are very happy. When youre inside, you cant tell them from any other house. The outside (all steel siding) is pretty maintenance free. They both did a finnished concrete acid wash floor. The 4x6 posts allow for 6 inches of insulation. I am looking into the possiblilty of a Geothermal, heated floor and a woodburning heat source.

 

[jblomenberg16]

This is what I have been looking into pretty hard. Two of my friends have done it recently and are very happy. When youre inside, you cant tell them from any other house. The outside (all steel siding) is pretty maintenance free. They both did a finnished concrete acid wash floor. The 4x6 posts allow for 6 inches of insulation. I am looking into the possiblilty of a Geothermal, heated floor and a woodburning heat source.

You won't be dissapointed at all with a GEO system.

 

[hornadylnl]

You won't be dissapointed at all with a GEO system.

I've sure been disappointed with the douches who installed it. Because they didn't take 2 seconds to cut the 30 degree lockout jumper, I estimate it cost me an extra $800 in electric over the winter. They refunded me $400 though. Also, I'm having to play with the vent settings to get the house evened out on temps. This is my first time having central air so I'm enjoying it. According to my energy star report, it should cost $1800 for the entire year for electric. I'm guessing with my REMC's ****ty rates, it will be about $2400.

 

[jblomenberg16]

I've sure been disappointed with the douches who installed it. Because they didn't take 2 seconds to cut the 30 degree lockout jumper, I estimate it cost me an extra $800 in electric over the winter. They refunded me $400 though. Also, I'm having to play with the vent settings to get the house evened out on temps. This is my first time having central air so I'm enjoying it. According to my energy star report, it should cost $1800 for the entire year for electric. I'm guessing with my REMC's ****ty rates, it will be about $2400.

That does stink. What we like the most is the even heating in the winter, and even cooling in the summer. With our old central air / gas heat arrangement it was an up and down roller coaster ride on the temperature. It also seems like it doesn't have to run as frequently as our old system. Granted, our new home is much tighter and has a better insulation.