House Construction - Best value and working with a bulder/s???

[jk96]

Anyone have a suggestion on determining approximate cost of a 32x40 poured concrete basement? Any online calculators let you play with dimensions?

A lot of factors to consider but I'll share our breakdown. Footprint was roughly 1830 sq/feet. Walls were 10" instead of 8".

107 LF 9' wall & footings - $6259
76 LF 10' wall & footings - $5054
13 LF 8' wall & footings - $611
13 LF 4' wall & footings - $559
35 LF 1' wall & footings - $980
38 LF retaining wall for walkout & frost footings - $2280
28 LF frost footing - $742
91 LF brick ledge - $113
Conveyors - $225
Pump - $675

Total - $17,548.

This did not include the concrete floor. Concrete floor, additional footings for timberframe, drain tile, waterproofing, backfill added another $8242 for a total of $25790.

Also - I had a conversation with our framer early in our project about home pricing since they also turn-key a lot of homes. His pricing in our area was typically around $110-$120 for a builder home and $175 for a high-end custom home.

 

[Beltzington]

This did not include the concrete floor. Concrete floor, additional footings for timberframe, drain tile, waterproofing, backfill added another $8242 for a total of $25790.

Now that is good news. Was this the total cost for the complete basement? Here is a picture of what I am considering, our slope is not quite as steep but close.

 

[BitChin1]

[
Anyone have a suggestion on determining approximate cost of a 32x40 poured concrete basement? Any online calculators let you play with dimensions?[/QUOTE]

This will vary by location but get several quotes as it will vary by contractor in each location.

In my case here are the price I paid for basement work in March 2012

Basement wall 10' with footing $25/ lineal foot 168 $4200
Basement wall 9' with footing $16.50/ lineal foot 50 $825
Garage walls 5' w/ footing $11.50/lineal foot 122 $1403
walkout basement 3' wall w/ footing $11/lineal foot 76 $836
interior footings (3' wide x 12" deep) $4/lineal foot 48 $192

add forming materials, rebar etc $3600
Pump truck $560
Basement floor finish was $1/sq ft $2200


above was for labor/materials
I bought concrete directly myself at $91/ yd^3 for 4000# mix (165yds) $15000
(TF required wider/deeper foundation/walls)

total $26,900

our house is ~ 2200 sq ft basement (48' x 36' with front porch/storm shelter and 14' 10' bump out = 50' x 24' garage shares 50' wall with house)

like rustyiron stated basement is a very significant cost - but it is relatively low cost $/sq ft adder for the living space vs a crawl space or slab etc

I also had this quoted by two turnkey foundation contractors and their bids were $38,000 and $41,000 so - this is an area I saved significant $'s by sub'ing the work myself - a GC would have also added his 10-15% gross margin
(today concrete is running ~ $105/yd locally)

 

[jk96]

This did not include the concrete floor. Concrete floor, additional footings for timberframe, drain tile, waterproofing, backfill added another $8242 for a total of $25790.

Now that is good news. Was this the total cost for the complete basement? Here is a picture of what I am considering, our slope is not quite as steep but close.

That was our complete cost for the basement walls, floor, and footings back filled and waterproofed. Plumbing rough in was an additional $1500. As BitChin1 mentioned ours was a timber frame as well and also required wider footings than normal as well as additional post footings.

 

[CurlyDave]

A couple of suggestions in this area from my experience. We built an oversize garage and put a ramp into the garage. The big advantage here is that if either of you ever need a wheelchair, the common practice is to add one from the front door to either the sidewalk or the driveway. This always looks like an ugly afterthought, because it is. A ramp in the garage is useful for other things at all times(think about a small cart for bringing groceries in), and if you need one it keeps you inside and out of the weather while you get in a car. Plus the appearance of the home remains good. We don't need one yet, but anything is possible.

If you have two stories, another one is to think about now is adding an elevator in the future. All this requires during construction is putting oversize closets directly over each other on each floor, and if the lower floor is concrete, putting in a 12" pit and building back up to grade with a small wooden floor. The cost is $2-3000 at the planning and construction phases, but much higher if it becomes a medical necessity at some future time.

 

[dstig1]

That is a pretty squared-off house with not too many frills (lots of windows in odd shapes showing though - those can be pricey). If someone is quoting you $180/sf in GA, I would say you need to find more quotes. I can't say I know prices there, but my recollection is that construction is cheaper down south. $180-200/sf gets you very nice stuff up here in the Mpls Metro, and here that is not real cheap (not NYC or SF but not rural Oklahoma by any stretch...)

 

[Bigkrank]

In 2010 I had my second home custom built after building the first one myself 32 years ago. Used the best builder in the area, sure wasn't the cheapest. Full basement poured walls 9' high, I-beam down the center, with large egress window. 1000 sg ft garage finished with 3 overhead doors and openers. 2X6 walls and oak trim and doors, even in the finished heated garage. Steep roof, hickory cabinets, over $10,000 in corian, gas fireplace, indoor whirlpool, 7' windows in 2 walls, two tray ceiliings and it was about $128 sq ft and I thought that was high but the builder accepts nothing less than perfection and I didn't have to whine about a thing.

 

[beemerphile]

I drew up a set of plans for a place to retire in and got it priced. With homes selling under the cost of new construction in our (most?) areas, I could not make it make sense. So we finally "settled" on a resale in nice shape at $70 per sq. ft. It cost about half as much as "having exactly what we want". It ended up with nearly the same floor plan that I had drawn: A master suite on each end; single floor ranch layout; insulated elevated slab-on-grade (I like the solidity of the floors/structure and hate crawl spaces); a few extra bedrooms. One of the extra bedrooms is repurposed into a large pantry with floor-to-cieling shelves and a separate split unit HVAC. The strategy was that elderly parents could have the extra master. When "our time came", we would take the extra master and give the place to our son to maintain both it and us.

I built a 30x40 metal building for a shop and ended up adding interior drywall, suspended ceiling, and super-insulating it with 15" of fiber fill. I can heat and cool it easily. I believe if I was building a place to live in from scratch, I would build a pre-engineered metal building and finish it out myself. I have an understanding wife who doesn't pull the aesthetics card too readily.

 

[Tomtint]

I have built and remodeled a number of homes over the years. In Mass we need a full foundation so that tends to bump the cost a bit. But generally speaking, the cost to build a basic, few frills, to code single family home runs 110-125.00 per SF here. Extras like better windows, better flooring, taller ceilings, better kitchens/baths better landscaping etc. All drive the price north. If your builder is providing his expert skills and labor for 50/60.00 PSF, it could be money well spent. A good builder will see a problem before one happens. This alone will save you time/money. Building a one off custom home is a time consuming jigsaw puzzle. Having experience doing it should not be discounted. Good luck

 

[dave1949]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...se-construction-best-value-working-aframe.jpg

That is a nice looking house but I wonder if it is the best design for your climate? That much glass will be a significant heat load in summer I think.

It also has some built-in maintenance difficulty that will become more difficult as you get older. Those windows will be a chore to clean--inside and outside. Decks are always more work than patios.