New House Construction

[wjmst]

Hello,

My wife and I decided to build a house.

We first removed the exisiting barn (where we want to build the house). Then we got the foundation setup (Superior Walls) and then the modular house was set.

Here is a link to view some photos of the process.

http://photos.yahoo.com/wjmst

Click #1 - Foundation Removal
Click #2 - Walls installed
Click #3 - House is set.

The camera is cheap and junky so the pictures aren't always the best. But even a bad picture would be worth 500 words!

Wes

 

[Highbeam]

Really amazing seeing the house "built" onsite.

 

[tjkadar]

Very cool set of photos! Nice house too. I really like the photo were they are setting a downstairs section of house and you can see the stairs leading up into nowhere. Its an interesting photo.

 

[Wesdor]

Great bunch of photos. You will be very happy you took them a few years from now.

I've seen other houses go up like this and it is a real time and money saver.

thanks for posting the photos.

 

[rlee6]

Thanks for the photos. Someone commented that the method saves time and money. I wonder if money-saving depends on the size/architecture of the house. In my area I have not seen houses going up like this, but all my neighbors are 2000 square feet or less, compared to the house of the photo that appears to be a much bigger one.

 

[DMF]

Nice job! It took me a year to build our house. I took 3 weeks vacation and hired a bunch of guys to frame with me. The rest was done nights, weekends, remaining vacation time, etc. while working full time! It's a big job. Doing it your way has got to be a lot less stress and you can't put a $-value on that!

 

[wjmst]

We were real happy to see it. The house looked like we pictured it in our heads, so that is always a good thing. When we were pricing houses most builders were saying $100 to $125 a sqft. The modulars were going for about $45 to $85 a sqft. Our home is about 2000 sqft, plus 1000 sqft in the basement (if we ever finish it).

I am sure the modular is less stressful than actually stick building a house. Plus, it will be done in a few weeks compared to a several months or even a year!

Our manufacture is Ritz Craft, they seemed to be very good quality. We did look at other mfg's but weren't as impressed.

Wes

 

[JimMorrissey]

What did the foundation cost? I'm thinking about using the same company for my foundation (Superior Wallls). Looks great.

 

[wjmst]

The complete foundation was about $25,000. This price included all the prep work, limestone, pipes, steel beam, sill plate and floor cement. We went with the 8'2" Xi series of walls. They have the extra insulation (R value of 12.5). Since our house has 6 corners instead of 4 the price was also higher. The first wall was set at 9:30 and they were finished at 11:30. So it goes fast.

 

[Foxpoint]

Wes,

It looks like you went with a Cape with the upstairs finished at the factory, vs finishing the upstairs on site. Did you consider finishing the upstairs on site? If so, was there much of a cost difference?

We are in the process of constructing a Cape modular in DE and are going through all of the pricing iterations.

 

[Tractor_Jim_CT]

Would it be possible to get a breakdown of the costs from foundation to the house cost. Also to you feel it was less expensive since the manufacturer was more local in the same state.

 

[wjmst]

That is correct Foxpoint. We decieded to have the upstairs finished by the mfg. We chose this for a combination of reasons. It was cheaper than having a contractor finish on site, plus it was much faster (no "hassel" factor). Also, our bank was not very cooperative at first. They will not let me do any work myself! So we decided just to have it finished at the factory.

You could probably finished the top yourself for a similar price to the mfg, but you still have all that work to do. Try to find a bank that knows about modular housing and understands it.

Wes

 

[wjmst]

It is always more expensive than anticipitated!

Foundation = $25,000
House = $120,000
Oil Furnace/A.C. = $10,000
Plumbing = $2,800
Electric = $500?? (this bill hasn't come in yet).

These are just approximate numbers. The total project cost is about $160,000. We planned on doing the plumbing/heating and electrical our self, but the bank would not let us.

Luckily, we have a septic system and utilities (elec, water, phone) already on site. If I didn't have those it would be another $10,000 to $15,000 easy.

As for the house mfg being close, I don't know that it was really a big difference to us. I am sure it was cheaper, but probably only by hundreds of dollars not thousands.

I know the different mfg's are only allowed to sell to certain states or areas, but I am not sure how that is regulated or anything.

wes

 

[Tractor_Jim_CT]

Thanks for the info. The manufacturer has a nice website.

Do you know off hand if they have hot water base board heat instead of forced air as an option?

 

[chucko]

I have been thinking of modular also. you have any "done" pics yet?

 

[wjmst]

I think you can pretty much get any type of heating system you want installed in them. If the system is installed at the factory, it would probably be less expensive. However, some systems need a lot of on site work that increases costs.

We did get a propane fireplace built into our living room. I don't have any inside pics yet, maybe tomorrow if the sun comes out.

Wes

 

[wjmst]

Ok. I finally got some inside pictures this weekend.

Here is a link to view some photos of the process.

http://photos.yahoo.com/wjmst

Click #4 - Inside House

Enjoy

Wes