How much does it cost to build a house?

Factual Questions
21

All masonry homes are still somewhat common the the US south - more humid, stormy and insect prone areas.

In 1979, my parents single story home in Florida was built on a concrete slab, with exterior walls of precast 8x8x16 inch concrete blocks. This is typically covered with stucco or even colored cement that is troweled in place and cut to emulate individual bricks. However, interior walls and roof trusses (prefabricated) are still wood framed. If a second level is done on homes like this, it is usually stick built with a wooden truss floor.

22

The climate on the east coast of the Big Island of Hawaii hates wood. Because of the 150 inches of rain a year and year round warm temperatures which allow termites to thrive and multiply 365 days a year, wood houses only last a generation before the need to be rebuilt.

My home there is being built with out any wood products at all.

The product is from Castleblock. The cost is about the same as wood construction and lasts “forever” compared to wood sticks.

23

A pre-fab site that will blow your mind: http://www.segallas.com/classichomes.htm

http://www.segallas.com/customhomes.htm

You can do a house from them anywhere from $250,000 to about $750,000. I’m sure you could maek it more using the custom options.

24

Very, very uncommon in home construction, at least in the Midwestern U.S. (where we don’t have the same sorts of problems with humidity and bugs as in the South). I own a “brick bungalow”, but the brick is, indeed, just the facade – the frame of the house is wood.

25

I found this site to be very helpful with basics.

26

ARXX Blocks

http://www.arxx.com/

Great assortment of youtube videos demoing how they work.

27

I know this is a “do it yourself thread”, but from a practical real estate perspective in the current market where many residential homes are currently being sold for 50% (or less) of what it cost to build them, only someone who can light cigars with $100 bills is building their own home.

28

I talked to several builders in 1989 about buying a house. They all gave me a price per sq foot. Back then I think it was $55 a sq ft. A 2000 sq ft home was 100,000. 1500 sq ft would be $82,500.

Now that’s a standard house using one of their blueprint options. Builder grade plumbing fixtures, carpet etc. and built to local codes.

You want high end fixtures? Or the best carpet available? Buy them yourself and the builder will put them in.

Want to use your own blueprints? It’ll cost more because the builder isn’t familiar with it. Takes longer for him to frame. There’s hidden costs etc. the builder can’t anticipate.

29

Here are some of the ‘unsexy’ cost of building a house that I see.

[ul]
[li]Local authority compliance. This varies hugely. Here in NZ (And, I hear, in the UK) there a huge amounts of hoops to jump through, such as building regulations, District plan compliance (A.K.A Zoning), sometimes Neighbor, Local Maori, and Arcaeological Consultations. The less ambitious your project the less problems, but sometimes people are just unlucky and build at the wrong place, wrong time.[/li]
[li]Geotech Report. A survey of the soils under your site to determine how much foundation engineering you need. Pretty standard in many areas these days. Leads into…[/li]
[li]‘Unforeseen ground conditions’ My contract admin lessons taught that this was the major boilerplate cover for any costs to do with the ground and earthworks. Foundation methods vary according to the soil types in your part of the world. For example, a horse training track that I worked on was built on predominantly clay soil. When they found several peat lenses (I think?) they had to scoop out the unsuitable material and import earth. That would have caused extra days labour, cost of extra material, rescheduled deliveries and services.[/li]
[li]Services. Sewer and stormwater may be very expensive. Septic tank or Public sewer connection? Do Local regs allow soakpits for your downpipes or do you have to connect to storm drains? Breaking into a manhole to connect a drain system costs thousands. Installing new manholes could cost $10 000s.[/li]
[li]Surveying Costs. The one thing I could give you some firm data for. Laying out a house we subcontract to the builder, cost $500 NZ. Site plan for the local authority, about $1000NZ. Application for resource consent? How long’s a piece of string?[/li]
[/ul]
[/SCARE STORIES] :smiley:

30

The more non-standard the house, the greater the risk something does not work, or someone does not have the epertise to do it right.

Full brick houses - 2 courses of brick - is extremely (skilled) labour intensive; in the end you still have to frame the inside to apply inslation. Concrete block is commone for very large industrial buildings, but at a certain size and with repetititve elements, concrete forms and pouring are cheaper. Something the size of a normal 2,000 to 4,000 sf house, none of these scales apply and building concrete forms is expensive. (One area I saw was using treated wood for basements because concrete was so expensive duirng the boom in construction.)

To save labour costs, I see a lot of new homes using sprayed foam insulation which eliminates a lot of work.

I have seen a few of the foam bricks with cement cores used as the construction material. Reports from the home owners is that the house is more solid, and therefore quieter - less outside noise.

Also, if your dream home deviates from the plain standard type - cathedral ceilings, skylights, very high open spaces that would need scaffolding to drywall the upper reaches - you are looking for extra costs. Plus, house builders usually don’t include extras like the deck to make the price lower. Or finishing the driveway. Or lawns and landscaping. (All things you can save thousands! by doing yourself).

I’m sure, like renovation horror stories, you will run across wonderful examples of plain stupidity, where one man’s mistake or lack of foresight means massive rework. One fellow I helped found his giant, heavy(!) french patio doors were a half inch too wide as we stod there trying to hold them up on a scaffold 5 feet up. (No deck yet). The factory’s fault, he had the paperwork to prove it. Still, he cut out the extra cripple on each side and replaced them with 1x4’s, and the building inspector (be on good terms with him) approved that. Another fellow building his own cottage took delivery and returned 3 sets of kitchen cabinets before he got the correct size he ordered.

Of course, most prices quoted don’t include land. Often, unless you are willing to go well outside city limits, a lot will be a substantial part of the price, as will be getting the services from the road into the house. Many subdivisions are preallocated to a group of builders who will allow you to only select from a collection of pre-approved homes that matc the neighbourhood aesthetic. If your house looks wweird, go looking for a lot in the country, where sewer and water become different issues (and high speed internet may not be available).

The fellow with the french doors, in the end, probably got about the same house he would had otherwise, for about the same or a bit more money than getting a commercial builder to do it. What he saved in labour he lost in lack of wholesale pricing, even with helpful friends like an engineer who signed off on the drawings for him; plus aggravation in trying to do this work around his regular job, suppliers with no respect for his timetable, etc. And the baseboards finally went on 3 years later after a serious loss of enthusiasm for the project…

31

Are you sure you’re not including the cost of the land?

Here in NJ, the baseline cost of construction is about $60 psf, if I’m not mistaken. I myself just finished my 1,000 sqf basement (3 brs, bathroom, family room, lots of closets) for about $25K, and that included $4.5K for the general contractor.

32

Agree.

New Construction in DFW area is $85/ sq ft, land included.

California re-sale is $200++ sq. ft, land included.

The best way to tell is look at a local Homeowners Insurance “dwelling coverage”. That tell you how much the Insurance company thinks it would cost to rebuild it.

One thing my wife and I did was go find a model house we liked, then paid the builder for a complete set of builder blueprints–they only cost ~ $50 IIRC.

Then find a GC and ask him what the cost would be to build it on your piece of land. I’d be shocked if it was over $60/ sq ft for a “builder quality” home.

33

I second, third, and fourth what Jaguars! said.

Head on over to your County offices. Start at Permits. They’ll probably have a wall of flyers which will answer common questions. Before you can do ANYTHING, you gotta have a permit!

MANY permits, actually.

And a house is not an independent entity floating in space. The LAND you choose for your home may have a zillion restrictions already. Setbacks, height, property owner association codes, covenants and restrictions. Get copies of everything. You’ll refer to them often.

Where will your water come from? City? County? How will you hook up to it? The water department will have its own rules and regulations. Well? You just don’t dig a well. Most people hire a well-digger, and the professional knows the applications and the government entities that must be placated. Wells aren’t cheap. Not only does a hole have to be dug deep enough to hit water, but the well has to be lined and grouted, and you’ll need a pump. AND a tank to hold the water you’ve pumped out! Let’s hope it’s potable water. To get the water to the house, we needed a pressure tank and a filter. The pump and accouterments have to be housed in a protected structure so nothing freezes.

Ka-CHING! Ka-CHING! Ka-CHING!

We haven’t even talked about the HOUSE yet!

Okay, we got water IN the house. After you use the water, where does it go?

Municipal sewer? It will cost you to connect to the sewer line. And that all has to be done to code.

Septic? More permits. An engineer to evaluate the soil for drainage, and then a contractor to put the tank in. And the inspector has to come out to make sure it all works right.

Gas? If you are fortunate, natural gas runs down the street with all your other utilities. But you gotta pay to hook up to the line. If there is no gas line, well, you will need to contract with a local provider of propane and decide where you want the tank. And it will cost you to run the line from the tank to the house.

Electric? Most places require the electric hookup to be done by a contractor. By permit, of course. If there’s electric service to your land, it will “only” cost you to tie into the grid. Or you could live out in the middle of nowhere like we do. I stopped running a total after $30,000. That doesn’t include the propane generator, the line to the propane generator, or the gasoline backup generator. We’re in the process of connecting a wind turbine to the solar business. My calculator brain shorted out.

Ka-CHING, etc.

And again, we haven’t even touched the actual house yet.

Many municipalities are taking a more enlightened view of alternative building components and styles, such as haybale construction, “Earthships” and whatnot. But using an alternative construction does not absolve you from meeting code! If anything, inspectors might be more inclined to rigid compliance. Plus there might be additional requirements, like sprinkler systems for fire control in haybale construction.

Some counties ban shingle shake roofs. In California, you have to comply to earthquake standards. That means no unreinforced masonry to you brick/concrete block aficionados. And then you get into energy efficiency and God knows what else.

I’ll have a banana daiquiri, please.
~VOW

34

You think you have problems with termites? How about the climate in Hawaii where the temperature doesn’t drop below 60 degrees F. (15 C.) year round. They are eating the wood houses 24/7/365!

This is the material I’m building my home with on the Big Island of Hawaii. Its called Protec. Its available most places and the cost is on par with termite food (wood) construction.

http://castleblock.com/Affordable_Housing/faq.html

35

Nope. Land not included. I’m talking about homes in a “nice area”.

No way are you going to build a 2,000 square foot, new home for anywhere near $200,000 in Silicon Valley. No way. That’s $100/sq ft right there. It’s usually ~$75k just to remodel your kitchen.

You’re probably talking about buying homes that have been deeply discounted and are selling at a loss. Newly build homes on tiny lots can easily go for $1.5M in the nicer areas here. Easily.

36

We built our own house, literally – from clearing the land with chainsaws to varnishing the windowsills. We drew the plans, pulled the permits, everything. Nothing was contracted out except heavy machinery work like installing the septic tank and shingling the roof (12:12 pitch on a 2 story house w/ 8’ attic–I wouldn’t let my husband up there). I learned a million things doing that.

Owner-builders get a lot of breaks in the permitting process, in California anyway.

Here’s a tiny sample of things I learned:

if you want to go “alternative” in any way, remember that your local contractors and building supply guys won’t have clue one on how to help or advise you. You’re on your own. All alternative building techniques have significant down sides – that’s WHY they are alternative. Find out what those are.

If you are starting on raw land, there is absolutely no way to get an “average” square footage cost. The variables are huge, as previously stated. Going to have to dig your own well? How far are new power lines going to have to be run? Are you going to get a perc test for your septic tank? Etc.

Once you get past permitting, variances, the idiosyncrasies of your building plot like drainage, soils, fire protection requirements (significant in most of the American West), how you will get water and power and waste treatment, then the biggest cost variable is probably how fancy you want your kitchen and bathroom/s to be. It’s cheap to make more bedrooms. Kitchens and baths suck money.

Surface finish decisions: think about maintenance. We have lots of taste but little money, so instead of cheap industrial products like vinyl flooring and sheetrock we opted for cheap natural surfaces like rough finished gypsum plaster walls and saltillo tile floors. A quality of cheap natural surfaces is that they aren’t easy to maintain in a new-looking condition. Some people call this patina, others have less complimentary names. Depends on your aesthetic.

Consider building a much smaller house than you believe you need, with plans to add to it later when you have funds.

Remember that if you don’t have a single enticingly beautiful place to sit in your whole house, it doesn’t matter how many rooms you have, you’ve built a crappy house. A good sourcebook for how to create that place: The Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander.

37

pshaw. My great-great-great grandfather built a home himself with his own hands on the prairie. The family shouldn’t have ever sold it, dernit.

38

I should note that this is using a GC. If you can general it yourself, you can save ~ 20%. But I didn’t include architectural and structural plans and I didn’t include permits. Or landscaping. Or utilities. Or… you name it. There are lots of costs you’ll never think about until they crop up.

39

Yeah, many many people did that in Canada. They built them from material just lying around… sod. Termites didn’t do much damage to that, but the gophers in the walls were annoying.

40

The dirt sifting down into your dinner or on your face while you were sleeping were turn-offs as well.
~VOW