cheapest way to do a project

[mlinnane]

I want to build an income apartment over a garage and tie it into my current house then I do not have to go before the planning board just get a building permit. A waste and a water pipe can be run from that side the house there is a bathroom. But I thinking I want to do a pole barn construction for the garage and then just have a loft above and finish it. I am looking a prefab garages. Which would require a slab first, but that is fine. What do people think the cheapest way to go about this is pole barn construction or with a prefab garage? What are people opinions. Materials are so expensive now it really hurts to even think about this.
Michelle Linnane

 

[Makers_Mark]

I don't know what state or town you live in, but in NJ you need a permit for EVERYTHING. Hope your state is better.
New roof? - permit
New siding? - permit
Plumbing? - permit
Moving your sofa from one side of the room to the other? - permit!

 

[Cowboyjg]

Geography aside...that is still a pretty openended question. In as much as you want to keep as simple and inexpensive as possible, I would like to suggest that decide what you're max $ is you want to spend. With that in mind...go about making a list of the things you want in your building. Assuming that you're hiring out the work, present your list of wants to several contractors and ask for a bid. See who meets your budget. If no one does, you have a few options....1) Solicit other bids in an effort to find someone who meets your budgetary needs...2) rethink your wants. The problem may be there. Either way...you will become experienced enough with the process to figure your way the rest of the way. Be sure to take lots of notes and ask lots of questions. Also....seek referrals from friends and neighbors about contractors.

 

[EddieWalker]

Anytime you build on a second level, your cost per square foot will increase by around $10 per foot. Pooring a slab and building on the ground is cheaper.

As for the pole barn versus stick built. The savings with the pole barn are from not pouring concrete. Pole barns will give you more height for tractors and such, but if that's not an important to you, then a concrete slabe and 2x4's are still the easiest and cheapest method to use.

Yes, materials have gone up, but not as bas as some people make it sound. If you could afford it last year, you can still afford it this year. OSB is down, so there's a positive.

Keep it rectangular for best savings. Don't do anything fancy, it will add up real fast.

Eddie

 

[bmac]

<font color="blue"> Anytime you build on a second level, your cost per square foot will increase by around $10 per foot. Pooring a slab and building on the ground is cheaper.
</font>

Eddie,

Obviously, I'm in no position to debate the Master Craftsman (that would be you) on this issue, but this is exactly counter to what I have been told over the years. I've always thought that, for a given square footage, that you could build cheaper by going vertical. The reasons given were (1) less foundation / slab costs and (2) less roofing costs.

Now, I can think of additional costs to frame the floor of the upper level, but what are the other factors that increase the per square foot cost of a 2 story structure over a single level?

 

[EddieWalker]

Mostly it's in the labor. But floor joists are more expensive than concrete. Roofing isn't really that much more for a few more squares, or even twice as many compared to labor. Labor is the real killer. Plumbing and stairs, siding at elevation is gonna cost more, plus roofers will charge more for a second storie job compared to a single story.

$10 a foot is a rough number. It could be a buck or two less, but depending on the house, I could be a few bucks more.

I think that if you'd spread your house out on one level, you would have saved well over $10 a foot. But your house is also three stories with a basement. Kind of an extreme example.

I went upstairs on my place too. I chose to do that because I was doing all the labor and I had a specific goal I was trying to achieve. But I can build an spec home for $40 a foot finished and sell it for $60 a foot with subs. My place is under $30 a foot, but it's rather unique, and I did most all of it myself.

The most common reason homes are built two storie is that the dirt is so expansive. If you have lots of land, one story is cheaper.

Eddie

 

[dmccarty]

bmac,

I have heard that it is cheaper to build a two story vs a one story house. But I had a hard time believing that its true. When I was doing the designs for the our house the two story models forced me to make the house larger. We had minimum room sizes as part of our design criteria. To meet the criteria and fit the first and second floor togather the rooms sizes would grow larger than we really wanted.

We looked at a very energy efficient house kit/design. Supposedly you would not have to use heat or AC on the house. I think if the house was built in a low humidity location this would work but in our area, no way. All but one of the designs were on three levels to promote air circulation. The problem was we only wanted to live on one floor. We wanted a house around 2,500 sf. But to get the rooms we wanted on one floor would have required building the house that was over 6,000sf. Taint gonna happen. Whatever money was saved for energy usage was more than devored by the mortgage. This is an extreme example on how multisotries house can add costs but it fits to my point.

Also stair cases are expensive and hard to place. They not only take up space for the stairs itself but often force you to use up more space than you would like in hallways and such. If the the stair is 4 feet by 12 feet that is 48 sf. At $100/sf that is $4,800. But since it takes up space on the first and second floor it really closer to $9.600.

Also as you go up, your costs go up in painting, trim work, siding, etc. If you have to hump bricks or siding off the ground the contractor is going to charge for it since it takes time and schefolding to get the workers up there.

For us it was cheaper to build a single story house vs a two story house. And given we did not want to walk up stairs it worked out. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Later,
Dan

 

[keeney]

I agree with the other posters, the only real efficiency of a 2nd story comes from the more efficient use of the land.

Its going to be more work to apply the exterior finish for the second floor. You have to put up scaffolding or work from ladder jacks. The roofing is higher off the ground - more ladder climbing. Installing windows on ladders is more work, etc.

Finish material and fixtures for the second floor has to be carried up the stairs or boomed in through a window.

Plumbing runs get longer and may have significant horizontal runs to get from the first floor out the roof.

Ventilation for the second floor may take up some space on the first floor to get the ducts routed up.

You may need a bearing wall in the first floor to hold the second floor up. This further comprimises the design and can lead to inefficient space utilization.

Stairs take up space on both levels and are expensive and time consuming to build. Stairs often need landings or additional hallway space. Its difficult to match up the best place for the stairs on the two levels, so this may add even more awkward or unusable space.

Avoid open-to-below or over-looking loft areas. Railings can be expensive. The open-to-below space cost money to build (it still has interior and exterior walls) but doesn't count as usable space.

- Rick

 

[rambler]

Twenty years from now, how much more will be spent over the years on heating/ cooling a single story with 2x as much surface area? I'm thinking 2 story works out over the long run.

Back to the question, no permits in New York for an occupied space???Wow! My understanding is that, generally, a pole style is much cheaper for an open space, free standing, unfinished storage building, while stick built 2x walls end up cheaper if you have a floor, 2nd level, partition walls, lots of wiring/plumbing/insulation. The pole is cheaper to make the shell, but you end up with a lot of extra constuction to make the wire, walls, etc work.

--->Paul

 

[surfran]

I believe she was trying to indicate by attaching it she wouldn't need to go before the zoning/planning board she would only need to get building permit.

If she goes detached then she needs approval by zoning/planning in addition to building permits.