Help me save money on an addition.

[jjeff]

My cabin bathrooms and kitchen were extensively blocked, For towel racks, tp dispensary devices etc. Not to mention cabinets. Rarely had to search for studs/ place stuff where I didn't want it, nor did I have to use drywall anchors. Anyways a decent framing crew should do this when there putting up backers for drywall.

 

[jjeff]

Also depending on who you get or diy plumbing and electrical I recommend using the rather inexpensive stud plates (probably code a decent inspector will point out) for studs where Romex and plumbing is in your wall thru your studs.

 

[Torvy]

One thing I love about living out in the county...most code doesn't apply. That means the contractor can be more flexible. Some code is useful, some is just nonsense. For instance, we put drawers on the bottom of our under sink cabinets. Less bending for our aging bodies (effectively moved the cabinet up 6 inches or so) and less wasted space. The 'new' plumbing code apparently would not have allowed that in the city due to distance from drain to trap. The difference was negligible, but made a big difference to us.

 

[jjeff]

Curious where was the trap? I do know running vent lines can be a pain sometime and took me multiple trial and errors as I struggled with it when I did my own rough plumbing. It would have been so much easier to put a non state code compliant air valve for one of my bathroom sinks lol.

 

[2manyrocks]

Between typically having a window at the kitchen sink making it harder to run the vent line and having to penetrate the roof for an air vent, the air valves make better sense to me no matter what the stupid code says.

 

[jjeff]

Between typically having a window at the kitchen sink making it harder to run the vent line and having to penetrate the roof for an air vent, the air valves make better sense to me no matter what the stupid code says.

Yeah I thought the same thing 10 yrs ago lol however I figured out how to do it to the code at the time and after some 4 letter words somewhat glad I did.

 

[2manyrocks]

One thing I will say is my Dad built an addition to his wood framed house using a concrete floor that butted up to the wood joists. That was a mistake from a termite perspective. If his entire house had been built on a slab, I think it would have been okay, but butting concrete up against wood caused a bunch of problems.

 

[JJT]

So we are starting the process of putting an addition on our house. By starting the process i mean preliminary plans, drawings, wish lists, etc. We hope to get the ball rolling and actually break ground late spring. The plan is to basically extending the side profile of the house out 20-25 feet. Right now our house is a 1000 sqft single level ranch style house and we are looking to add about 900 sqft of addition out the side. I plan on acting as the GC on this project to save money. I have done all sorts of building; from working on a framing crew building an entire house, to kitchen remodels, to huge covered decks, to building cabinets, bathrooms, to building my 25x27 shop almost single handedly. So I have done just about everything. That being said, I realize I cannot do this entire project myself if I want to maintain a shred of sanity. But I need to figure out ways to cut costs and keep things within our budget.

My wife and I both love the wood, stone, rustic aesthetic; but contractor friends have told me this will increase the sqft price significantly. But done right you can still have that look and not break the bank.

My questions are:

#1
What are ways we can save on this addition? Shorts cuts? I wish I would haves? Don't let this guy screw you by... I want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly!

#2
What things can I start stockpiling now to make the sticker shock more manageable? I have friends with sawmills. I am a FB marketplace addict. I have the space to store large quantities of materials. What should I be looking for?

#3 I have lots of skills and tools. How can I best use them to my advantage?

Anyways, this is a very preliminary post. Can't wait to hear what y'all have to say.

Do you have an Amish community near you? Their labor quotes are often very reasonable. I'm fortunate to live in near 3 Amish communities. They've done concrete and roofing work for me. I work along side them, (typically my job is oversight and to run the power tools). I've been very happy with the results. The one thing my Amish neighbors have no interest in - house painting.

I've worked several Amish barn raisings. It's amazing to see a 3 story, 8,000+ square foot barn go from a foundation to weather tight/animal ready in a single 10 hour day.

 

[drumminj]

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!

Thanks for the detailed response. Agree that such a person likely isn't found in the yellow pages, or even on a web search. Not many craftsmen out there these days that take pride in doing things 'right' and also respect someone willing to work and learn.

 

[paulsharvey]

Ok, so, I only made it down about the first 20 posts; but.
I would consider doing the prep work your self (removing any trees/brush/bushes, remove grass, dig footers, and form slab), than possibly hire out the pour of slab; I go against the grain here, and I might do a 900 sq ft pour, it's only probably 12.5 yards including footers; but I would hire out the framering