Drywall contractor wants to bankrupt me!

[Redlands Okie]

Why are you responsible for the electric bill during construction? On a million dollar house the contractor should have figured that cost in on his end. Many many years ago when we built homes we didn't use generators.
We would ask the neighbors if we could use a couple of outlets of theirs with a long cord and offer to pay their electric bills. If we used a hose we paid their water bill. We never expected the homeowner to pay for any utilities until they took possession. A contractor capable of building a million dollar home should have generators capable of handling any load during construction.

The homeowner always pays for the utilities. Either personally or the cost (plus some extra to make sure enough money is estimated) is included in the bid.

 

[4570Man]

The homeowner always pays for the utilities. Either personally or the cost (plus some extra to make sure enough money is estimated) is included in the bid.

Exactly. The homeowner will be cheaper to just pay the electric bill.

 

[ovrszd]

The GC said he likes to keep it at 60F. So 68F is certainly above where they want it. But they are still figuring out heater placement to get a reasonable balance through the entire house and the garage. There are 3 large electric heaters and 1 small one. So they are shifting them a bit while assessing temperatures in various locations.

Budget was an interesting process. The contract I signed with the GC had a budget of $1.15M plus change. Other contractors told me that was crazy-- one quoted me over $2M at completion. But that GC had not bid the job with any subs, and that GC wanted a $250k fee to build. We are dealing with a long term, experienced reputable builder, and he and I have all the subcontractor quotes in hand. I'm just now doing a 6 month budget review-- with changes and add-ons we have made we are probably up $100k over budget. So probably $1.25M. I don't have unlimited funds so it probably won't climb much above that-- hopefully not.

If you can finish with less than 10% over run you are doing great.

 

[ovrszd]

The homeowner always pays for the utilities. Either personally or the cost (plus some extra to make sure enough money is estimated) is included in the bid.

Yep, nothing is free.

 

[plowhog]

First full month electric bill after the heaters were turned on: $1,566.

To be fair, I'm using some of that electricity keeping my large garage warm and above freezing. Plus we use some electricity when staying at the property during construction-- maybe half time. But the heaters appear to be costing at least $1,000/mo based on this first bill.

 

[MossRoad]

YIKES!

 

[EddieWalker]

That's a huge bill. Can you remind me where you are in the build right now? Is the insulation done? I thought the heating issue was to help the drywall, and that is installed after the insulation is in the walls, but as soon as the ceiling is hung, you can insulate the attic before you start to mud. Shouldn't the heating bill be significantly lower once you've reached this point?

 

[Ford850]

That's a big house too. I just figured my winter electric bill compared to an approximate cost of my house. .001 of my cost, which is not far off from yours really. A $1,250,000 house will cost a lot to maintain. Hopefully your utility bills will drop quite a bit once yours is fully insulated and construction is done.

 

[civilian]

I am running temporary electric base board heat during construction of a 1700 sq ft house on the main floor. Full walk out basement with three walls poured concrete, the exposed wall is 2x6 studs. Mid Oct installed electric base board heat mostly in basement, some upstairs. Electric bill was $381, about 3000 kWh used. That was with no insulation for a half month in northern Michigan. Got rough inspections done started insulating. Concrete walls are studded out and insulated with R19 fiberglass. Upstairs walls are 2x6 with R21. Ceiling upstairs is insulated with R13, 3.5" fiberglass. After drywall in on ceiling, fiberglass will be blown in at R49. For a total of R60 about. Nov bill, $539 for about 4400 kWh. Not sure how much insulation done when. Dec bill $387 for 3,000 kWh. During Dec the drywall started going up. Basement has been running at 70 deg F, while the upstairs is at 60 deg F. all during this time period. We have been living in the basement since Thanksgiving weekend. Fifth wheel go to hard to heat. Heat in fifth wheel was 2 "eden pure" type electric heaters. They were shutoff at Thanksgiving. So some of those electric bills were for the fifth wheel also. Just trying to show another electric heat during construction in comparison to the OP. Jon

 

[plowhog]

Eddie, the insulation is in, the drywall up, and texture being applied right now. Northern Nevada, we've had colder than usual temps lately. High was 32F the other day and low was 13. Usual temps are maybe high 30's in the day and low to mid 20's at night. So I'm sure the colder-than-normal spell pushed the bill up for at least a week of that.

The residence is about 5,500 ft of living space, plus a 1,200 sq ft garage heated right now too. The basement is about 1,000 sq ft of the 5,500 and it is always a cold room-- like all basements.

But I have another energy hog. I also have a large steel building garage which I need to keep at 40F since I have plumbing, etc. in it. It has 6" insulation but that seemingly isn't very effective. Below 40F, the garage heaters kick in, 4 of them pulling 15 amps each. And they run all night to hold 40F.

After seeing these electric bills I think I need to install a Reznor (or equivelant) propane heater for the garage.