I am building a custom 3000 squre foot home and 1000 square foot garage in a fairly remote location. What sort of range should I expect from framing subcontractors? I have heard anywhere from $5/ sq ft to $10/sq ft what are people’s experiences with framing contractors? Thanks any help is appreciated!
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Replies
You're going to have to fill in some details for even a close guess to framing per foot.
Remote location means many different things - Remote Alaska? Remote Florida? Remote by boat? Plane? I live in BC and remote building is very expensive. Here subs won't do it by the foot.
Flush out a few details for us and maybe some educated guesses will come your way.
ripper
remote Idaho, its not fly in, you can drive to the site but it is about 60 miles to thhe closest town, 150 miles from a small city.
What's the plan look like?
Trusses or stick?
Windows/doors installed?
Roofing installed?
Any pocket doors?
What's the trim package look like?
How many corners?
Valleys? Hips? Split pitch?
Any bumpouts bays or windows?
Who's putting the house wrap on?
Any decks? Porches? What sort of finish on 'em?
Ceilings strapped?
How many stair cases?
Where's it being built?
Who are you using for a lumberyard?
Are you a DIY GC?
Knee walls in the basement?
What's the ceiling height?
Including the roofing installed? What kind?
How's the site access?
How much flush framing?
Any ridgebeams requiring boom/crane?
Temp power on site?
Answer those and I'll be able to tell you that it'll probably fall between $7 and $15/foot. And no..... I'm not kidding.
BTW.... how much does a car cost? :)
Sq foot numbers are meaningless my friend. Gotta know what's getting built to know how much it's gonna cost. There's some 3000 sqft homes that I could probably do for $6- $7 a foot. And others that I wouldn't touch for less than $15. I'm framing four 1500 sqft houses right now for about $7.5/ft. A few summers ago I built a 500 sqft pool house that ran $22/ft. In my upcoming schedule I've got a 3500sqft build at $8/ft and a 3200sqft build at $12/ft. How's that for a range? :)
I think I love you MAN!! What a great response! It's like going to a mechanic, and saying "My car is making a funny noise. How much will it cost to fix?" Ohh and by the way the car is at home.
"May the forces of evil be confused on the way to your house." -George Carlin
What's the plan look like? complicated custom design from architecht, all on one floor except for second story tower, LOTS of glass 6 french doors all 8'.
Trusses or stick? shed roof 21/2:12, Glu lam beam rafters sitting on beams -
Windows/doors installed? yes
Roofing installed? NO
Any pocket doors? NO
What's the trim package look like? framer not bidding trim
How many corners? many >10
Valleys? Hips? Split pitch? shed roof
Any bumpouts bays or windows? one bump out in master bath
Who's putting the house wrap on? siding sub
Any decks? Porches? What sort of finish on 'em? no
Ceilings strapped? open ciling
How many stair cases? one
Where's it being built? pahsimeroi valley idaho
Who are you using for a lumberyard? local, great service and knoledgeable
Knee walls in the basement? yes, first floor framed off pony walls so is flush with sill
What's the ceiling height? mostly 12-15', some 9'
Including the roofing installed? What kind? NO
How's the site access? very good
How much flush framing? moderate
Any ridgebeams requiring boom/crane? yes
Temp power on site? yes
Answer those and I'll be able to tell you that it'll probably fall between $7 and $15/foot. And no..... I'm not kidding.
I'm not familiar with rates in your area but I'd expect to pay towards the top end of the "ballpark" numbers you're hearing from local guys for a frame like that and don't be surprised if it's even higher than what you've heard. It just doesn't sound like a cut and dry frame so I really don't think ballparks are going to help you much.
Try to get references. Pick three guys. Get three numbers. And go with the who you get the best vibe from. I serious about this. Ask specific questions and get a detailed quote on what each contractor does and does not include in that price. As you can see from my list of questions what constitutes "done" or "framed" from one guy to the next can be very different. I wouldn't shop price on a job like that. There's a time and a place for shopping price (easy spec designs) and your's ain't it. Find a guy you like who really seems to have his head around the job. I'll say it again.... don't let price be your only deciding factor when choosing 'your guy'.
Good luck with your project. Stick around and ask lots of questions.... it can only help.View Image
Great- thanks much for the advice!
Framing rates vary greatly across the country. The labor for what you described would go for maybe $6 or $7 tops here in NC.
DP (posting above) , while one of the most qualified here to answer your Qs lives in an area where any house costs maybe a min of $400k. Here there are all kinds of new houses available for under $200k.
The framers I use will start with a sq ft # and then add extras to that. The SWAG I gave you includes the extras you described.
Without seeing the floor plan my guess is $8 sq ft across the board.
Shed roof can be gang cut very fast, so that would be my guess.
Plus $50-$75 an opening for doors and windows.
Here is another one for youhttp://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=90155.1
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Sorry for the hijack,but, what is "flush framing"?
Flush framing.... joists hung from beams so the beams are flush with the floor system... as opposed to sitting on top of beams or on top of walls. I've seen designs (I-joist packages in particular) where there are no bearing walls in an entire house. When an entire 3000sqft house needs to be framed this way it changes the $ equation substantially.View Image
no bearing walls in an entire house
Zero gravity?
Yeah sorry. No interior bearing partitions would have been the appropriate way to phrase it.View Image
ah hell, it's just framing and it all gets covered with anyway, Go with the cheapest guy....
besides, anyone can frame......
Exactly Neil. So easy a caveman could do it. :)View Image
Copy that
Flush beams vs. drop beams
And yea, flush beams, pak-up, hanger detail, much more work.
p.s. How could you let Neil off so easily??!! Even as a joke, I still think he deserves to be slammed after that comment!
I know Neil was just playing around bro. He knows better than to fire that kind of shot across my bow. Different day....different poster.... you'd have probably got your fireworks out of me.View Image
It could go to $14/sf
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
$99,971.18 per square foot per floor
SamT
Praise the Corporation, for the Corporations' highest concern is the well being of the public.
You're in the land of cheap labor and lower quality as a very broad generalization. There may be a few guys nearby that will frame it for cheap, and leave a huge amount of low quality work to build on.
You also may have a quality minded contractor near by that has low paid guys who do great work.
You also may be getting bids from middle of the road guys who are swamped with work so the three bids are uniformly overpriced.
Crews not set up or experienced with remote building often seem to have a great deal of problems which drags on the project and entices them to bang it out with low quality.
It sounds like you are doing your own contracting. Welcome to the not so fun and not so easy part of the job. There's a lot more to it than picking the low bidder. You'll be able to get away with less experienced framers if you have the experience to make sure things are going correctly, but that kind of knowledge can't be picked up quickly so you have it or you don't.
Also be aware there are crews from across the region that are used to traveling and can be economical along with producing high quality. We do our own framing so don't have first hand experience with traveling crews out of Boise, but a contractor I've been working with has some framing contacts. I'll ask him tomorrow if anyone stands out.
Best of luck
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.