Help me save money on an addition.

[grsthegreat]

5/8” sheetrock is about $0.50/sf nowdays.

 

[civilian]

After your SketchUp is complete, your lumber supplier might have a detailer put them into final drawings that the building inspector may require. Jon

 

[Torvy]

We saved a bit on the new house by using stained concrete for the flooring. Besides price, you can easily change your mind with stained concrete and do anything from throw rugs to marble tile over it down the road.

 

[fatjay]

I'm surprised your GC was open to this, but it sounds like a great idea. Anything special in how you approached it/suggested the idea?

He moved a bit slower because he didn't have a full speed worker. That allowed him to bill more hours. So if he had another guy, they could bang out a job in say 50 hours. Using me, we could bang out a job in about 60 hours because I'm not as quick because I don't do it for a living. That means he bills 60 instead of 50. And I only paid 1 guy for 60 hours instead of 2 guys for 50 hours each.

I also found an old guy who loves what he does. He's near retirement, and his worker started his own business and has jobs of his own. So he's just finding odd jobs to fill his time. He can pick and choose his jobs. He doesn't quote jobs, it takes as long as it takes. He's $50/hr and when he shows up he'll do whatever you tell him to do. I'd say i want to do x, how to do it, and he'd explain, and we'd do it. Laying block, putting up walls, plywood, joists, trusses, floors, concrete, doors,

Finding a quality gc like this is probably not picked out of the yellow pages. Word of mouth for people that had good experiences. Have the gc over for lunch/coffee/beers/etc, and tell him what you are looking for, and that you would like him to use you as labor so you can learn along the way. Form a relationship with him, connect on a personal level.

My project is documented here, with lots of pictures. New garage time!

 

[D&D]

I'm doing pine t&g in mine. It should look awesome but it's pricy. Sheetrock is something like $0.20/sqft and the wood is near $2.00/sqft.

OP said he has friends with sawmills. If I was doing it on mine cost would be .45-.50/bd

 

[D&D]

5/8” sheetrock is about $0.50/sf nowdays.

Without screws or mud?

 

[jjeff]

What are 12' sheets running?

 

[jjeff]

One good thing about doing your own framing is you can put extra backers/blocking in foreshadowing where you might need it so you don't have to use drywall anchors or less secure means to fasten stuff to your walls and ceiling, especially helpful with young ones in your life lol.

 

[grsthegreat]

What are 12' sheets running?

I just paid $28/sheet for my garage completion. Not incl mud and tape.

 

[grsthegreat]

One good thing about doing your own framing is you can put extra backers/blocking in foreshadowing where you might need it so you don't have to use drywall anchors or less secure means to fasten stuff to your walls and ceiling, especially helpful with young ones in your life lol.

I just did that in my garage. To hang tools and such.