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We are planning to build a house that is as close to our 1930s plantation style home as current building codes will allow. The details: roof will have 5 and 12 pitch, on post and pier up 8 feet, 9 feet ceilings, single-wall construction, approx 650 sf. Nothing fancy on the inside: mostly in stock windows, doors, bathroom fixtures, kitchen cabinets, etc. from Home Depot or HPM. Owner/builder and will do the painting (inside and out) and some other relatively minor work such as flooring ourselves. My question: Is this an expensive home to build? I've read that building costs run about $130 to $135 per sf in other discussions on the Punaweb, but those homes were probably double wall, 8 ft. ceilings, on a slab, etc. which is more common. However, that cost includes a builder. Any idea what we should plan to spend per sf given what we have planned? Thanks!
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If you are doing the work yourself, then it is the cost of the materials plus the septic, grading (unless you are doing that yourself), plumbing and electrical work. Do a rough estimate for the materials and required subcontractors and add a bit for stuff you forgot to put in and that's pretty much your ballpark figure.
You can get a permit for single wall construction, it is entirely legal. I had a set of plans go through the Building Department last year for a small (under 500 square feet) house in single wall without any corrections at all. The owner hired a couple carpenters to help and her house is done now.
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Kurt Wilson
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Might want to have a clear idea of the insurance issues on single wall construction if you plan to insure it.
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quote:
Originally posted by Hotzcatz
If you are doing the work yourself, then it is the cost of the materials plus the septic, grading (unless you are doing that yourself), plumbing and electrical work. Do a rough estimate for the materials and required subcontractors and add a bit for stuff you forgot to put in and that's pretty much your ballpark figure.
You can get a permit for single wall construction, it is entirely legal. I had a set of plans go through the Building Department last year for a small (under 500 square feet) house in single wall without any corrections at all. The owner hired a couple carpenters to help and her house is done now.
Thanks! We don't plan to do that much of it ourselves. We know we can do all of the painting since we did that on our present house and we're pretty sure we can do things like install kitchen cabinets and lay the tile counters since we've done that before, too. We can also do some other minor things, but the majority of the hard work we will sub out.
What I'm wondering is even if you factor out the work we're doing ourselves how do you think the cost for what we have planned compares to build the more common style home with less pitch to the roof, 8 ft. ceilings, double wall construction, etc.?
As you mentioned, we don't anticipate any problems with getting approval to build a single-wall home, so we're just wondering about the cost comparison per sf.
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quote:
Originally posted by Kapohocat
Might want to have a clear idea of the insurance issues on single wall construction if you plan to insure it.
We have a single-wall home now and have no problems with insurance. It will all be permitted and built to today's codes, so I don't see why there would be a problem. Thanks for thinking of this issue,though. I'll go ahead and double check.
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Francesca, I seem to remember changes by a major insurer that grandfathered in some existing single wall homes' policies while refusing coverage to new ones or ones that changed hands. Please check this out with a licensed insurance professional for your peace of mind. It may have been particularly in reference to hurricane coverage, but I am not sure.
Good luck and cheers,
Jerry
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quote:
Originally posted by Francesca
quote:
Originally posted by Kapohocat
Might want to have a clear idea of the insurance issues on single wall construction if you plan to insure it.
We have a single-wall home now and have no problems with insurance. It will all be permitted and built to today's codes, so I don't see why there would be a problem. Thanks for thinking of this issue,though. I'll go ahead and double check.
One of the John's or if there is an insurance person here - didnt the insurance companies start eliminating insuring new clients with single wall construction July 06 approx ?
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Thanks for the replies regarding insurance. I appreciate the input.
I'm wondering if anyone knows the answer to my original question about cost. Primarily, I'm wondering what the impact to cost is when you build the following:
* 9 ft. ceilings, instead of 8 ft.
* Single-wall construction, instead of double-wall
* Post and pier up 8 ft, instead of either a slab, or low (2-4) ft. post and pier
* 5 and 12 pitch roof, instead of a gentler pitch such as 3 and 12.
Thanks so much for any answers about cost you might be able to provide.
Francesca
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quote:
Originally posted by JerryCarr
Francesca, I seem to remember changes by a major insurer that grandfathered in some existing single wall homes' policies while refusing coverage to new ones or ones that changed hands. Please check this out with a licensed insurance professional for your peace of mind. It may have been particularly in reference to hurricane coverage, but I am not sure.
Good luck and cheers,
Jerry
Good news. I checked with our insurance agent and no problem with the new single-wall home.
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quote:
Originally posted by Francesca
I'm wondering if anyone knows the answer to my original question about cost. Primarily, I'm wondering what the impact to cost is when you build the following:
* 9 ft. ceilings, instead of 8 ft.
* Single-wall construction, instead of double-wall
* Post and pier up 8 ft, instead of either a slab, or low (2-4) ft. post and pier
* 5 and 12 pitch roof, instead of a gentler pitch such as 3 and 12.
Francesca
Well, we should have a better idea of the cost soon. Our plans are almost finished and then we can start to get quotes for the list of materials and labor.
I'm still wondering how single-wall construction with 9 ft. ceilings, etc. compares in cost to double-wall with 8 ft. ceilings on a slab, or low post and pier. On one hand, the single wall requires what I think will be more expensive boards, but then no drywall, insulation, or t1-11 needed.
I'd really like to have wood floors, not laminate, but don't know what choices are available. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Francesca
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