This day in 1997, of my house build

[ovrszd]

I only counted space we furnish. Didn't include garage and/or covered porch.

My builder said that's how to count it when figuring cost per square foot. That gets a bit confusing when talking to people about cost. Especially on a website such as this. For example my cost p/sqft goes down to $92 if I include the garage size.

So how much p/sqft do you think you saved doing the work yourself??

 

[buckeyefarmer]

SF only came into play for me with the county and taxes.
My SF cost calculation for comparison was habitable space, which is all of 1st floor, all of 2nd floor minus 3 attic areas along dormers. Did not include basement sf. Did not include porch, deck, garage.
Did not include land cost.
Paying someone was not an option for me at the time, so I never got a turnkey quote for the whole house.
My biggest hurdle was the bank started with a 6 month construction loan. The loan included the land minus about $30k I put down. I got 2 loan extensions, but they said the 2nd one was the last. I was within the loan amount, time was the factor.
I could have saved money by doing my own siding but I didn’t have the time. Had to pick my battles.
I’m lucky my wife had the faith in me to say yes.

 

[ovrszd]

Yep. I took out a construction loan while we waited to sell our other property. We sold $220K. Spent $300K building. Ended up with a mortgage loan on the balance of $80K. We've been in that situation since May. Have it paid down to $50K. Should finish paying it this year.

If I had the skills to build my own I could have escaped that deficiency.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I was around $50 sf. I think.

Wow. What a difference 20 years makes. Right now. I am at $57/sf but I have a lot to add to it. I expect to be around $100/sf.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Updated more costs in post 35

 

[buckeyefarmer]

19970117 - first floor lumber delivered.

I used a spreadsheet to track every size of lumber required, including header material. My builder buddy ordered my first lumber, as he could get a much better price.

The basement forms were also removed by this time. To make the 4” brick ledge along the front of the porch, they put styrofoam inside the forms to create the void where the brick will go. Once the forms are removed, the styrofoam is then removed, as you can see in this picture.
Foundation walls are 8” thick.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

There is a satisfaction in building myself, but if I had the money handy, I would hire it out and spend my energy elsewhere. The fact is, I cant afford the house I am building unless I build it myself.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

The fact is, I cant afford the house I am building unless I build it myself.

That’s where I was.

 

[ovrszd]

That’s where I was.

Us too. We built what we could afford.

 

[EddieWalker]

When I got divorced, I got the land and she got the house. I converted a leanto into a place to live for a few years, then sold that land and built a small house for cash on some other land. I had $35,000 to spend, and that included bringing power and water in, doing my own septic, which was legal for anybody with ten acres or more at that time. The house has 1,000 sq ft of heated and cooled living space, and an attached 24x30 garage/workshop. I built it by myself except for pouring the concrete and doing the HVAC. I had one bedroom and bathroom done in 4 months, which is when I moved in. Two months later and I was done with all of it. I took a total of 4 days off during that six months. Since then, I've added on a master bathroom/closet laundry room, and a garden kitchen/office room to bring me up to 1,500 sq ft. My long term plan is to convert the workshop into a much bigger kitchen and add on a great room that's 1,500 square feet, and an attached 3 car garage. That should put me somewhere around 3,800 sq ft when it's all said and done. Since I'm doing it all myself, and paying for it with cash, there isn't any rush to get anything done, I just do what I can, when I can.