The Best/Least Expensive House You Built
upinVermont
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I like FineHomebuilding, but many of the houses featured in the magazine are for the well-to-do and rich.
There’s nothing wrong with that…
But I’d love to hear from other builders who have built good and inexpensive houses ($100 per square foot and less) — and what tricks strategies they used.
If all goes as planned, I will be building a house for around $60 dollars a square foot – T111 exterior with half round battens to cover up the grooves. All the interior doors will be Z-braced and I will be building the kitchen “cabinetry” — shelves and no doors.
The floors will be 2×6 T&G. The whole house will be stack-framed on 24 inch centers.
I love good ideas…
Replies
If you are doing the work yourself, or a major portion of it, you can easily build your house for under $60/sf. Our Habitat affiliate built our last two houses for about $40/sf. This amount included the cost of materials as well as some subcontracting (excavation, concrete, drywall finish). The number of hours of donated labor was about 1700 and many of these hours were for completely unskilled labor. This is in an area where the cost of the houses that might be shown in Fine Homebuilding is between $175-$400/sf, comparable to the prices quoted.
Obviously you would want a house that is a little better than these houses but certain basic principles apply.
1)Keep it simple.
2)Keep it small. While this won't reduce your sf price it will reduce the cost of your home. Do not design your house for the maximum use that it will ever see. Design it to be slightly bigger than you will need for your every day use. You will be a little crowded when you have guests or visitors but this will make your home feel cozy.
3)Use inexpensive materials if the quality differences are marginal. For instance, we like to use cedar shingles for siding. If you use a grade C white cedar shingle, the cost is between 30 and 40 cents/sf. This does not include the cost of labor but it is a material which is very friendly to an unskilled worker. The downside is that there will be exposed knots. This may reduce the life of the siding but not within the life of the homeowner.
I hope that you will get many more ideas from our friends on the forum. Our company makes most of its money building big expensive houses that use none of the above principles but I personally feel that a small, efficient and well designed house is really the best home there is.
I would super insulate, that costs can't be hidden up front, but I enjoy my electric bills in the winter, and summer if I put a window unit in. I built small but used vaulted trusses to give more interior volumn. Built my own cabinets, some doors. Put a lower area for bar seating/eating and built the desk and entry cabinets at that same height. That way I can use the office chairs for eating. All doors at 3' and the baths got pockets. I used exterior grade gasketed french doors for bedrooms as each room has its own thermostat. Lots of southern windows, few northern, all exterior doors are full glass, front exception is large oval. High energy eff washer/dryer. Super insulated electric water heater, ceiling fans, every room. High eff lights. Few or no hallways. Good luck and keep it fine building and enjoy the process....dan
some of those ideas might not be so good after you live withthem for ten years...
But for your own house, fine. My best/efficient house is my own, but I did things that I might not do for a client. We are happy with most of them though.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
I'd avoid T-111. It is not a durable material, and in your climate will not last ten years. It is more of a temporary building material.
The client has a minimal budget and she showed me another cabin with the T111 siding, which she liked. We might yet put clapboards up, but with the battens in place, she can do that at almost any point. My options as to hunting down bargains are limited since the bank is involved (construction loan). They like everything to be spelled out in advance.
Edited 4/30/2007 7:59 am ET by upinVermont
I am no great fan of t-1-11, but it is a lot better than that. I helped build a house in 88 that had the stuff for half the siding - the bottom half, and it is still as good today as the day it was put on. They keep it painted.
I know another place - a garage where it has had very little maint for thirty years now and it is just starting to delaminate the surface.
These are right on the coast taking some very harsh weather.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
i think you have to know where to save... the biggest place you can save dollars is not to spend them.... shop and plan.... and plan around what you have purchased well below market...
windows are one area that if you shop and ask around you could find some very good units that were made or ordered wrong ... i have many times purchased pella casement clad windows for $15 ea...
hardware and faucets... look on ebay... know what you need and know prices only buy new in box complete units... might be old stock or special ordered they couldn't return... i purchased a $1200 shower faucet and body spray new in the boxes for $150... same thing with door hardware... look for really good stuff at the same prices you'd pay for junk from home depot...
lumber... I do best with one very old yard where i buy everything... i get good wood at fair prices and it's delivered on time.... have sent one item back in 5 yrs...
pay cash and ask for discounts.... it cost any merchant a min of 2% to process a credit card... if i pay cash i want that 2%
even with things as simple as paint... over runs or mismatched is fine for prime coats might even be fine for finish coats...
i would not use T-111... i would look at hardie board i like the lap but they make 4x8 and 4x9 sheets that look kinda like stucco... I believe this stuff will last longer than we will and it holds paint very well... i'd prepaint if time allowed...
use pex plumbing... no copper
asphalt shingles but i'd go for the 40 -50 yr stuff... not a huge price increase for what you get over a 20yr... again look for old stock... discontinued color ect...
concrete countertops... if you do them yourself cost is less than formica
places not to save$$ a good framing crew can save you $$ and get you dried in... hang'n and finish'n drywall is not a place you can save time or money... insulation you can't buy it cheap enough to save $$ doing it yourself...
p
i believe i can do fine home building for well under $100sf
//concrete countertops... if you do them yourself cost is less than formica//There is an article in Finehomebuilding, "Casting a Concrete Fireplace Sorround", that sounded perfect for making tiles for kitchen counter tops. It struck me that using this method might be more manageable than casting the five or seven hundred pound alternative.
Concrete countertops are easy and cheap, and two guys can move anything in an average kitchen - just cast it on horses in the kitchen and flip when cured.
I hate vinyl siding. But even vinyl siding over osb is cheaper than T111 and lasts a lot longer. Run from T111.
Square houses with no hallways make the best use of space. Design in 4' increments to standard truss lengths. Yellow pine flooring is cheap and good.
Superinsulated is the cheapest if you will be staying there - ICFs pay off quickly. Concrete blocks with foam on the exterior may be even cheaper, but wiring and plumbing can be a chore.
My house cost $55/s.f. to build myself. It could have been cheaper w/o hardie, radiant floors, bump-outs, roof valleys, or nice appliances. Keep drawing and redrawing your plans.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
"Design in 4' increments to standard truss lengths."
There really aren't any "standard truss lengths". Everything is custom designed and built.
You can save a fairly small amount by working with 2' increments - Like using a 28' 0" truss nistead of a 28' 6" truss. But it will make a fairly small amount of difference in the overall cost of a house.
Don't be too choosy or stingy about whom or how often you love.
OK Boss you're right.
I custom order trusses all the time - maybe I should have said standard truss spacing...
But our local yards carry 24' and 32' trusses in piles - maybe the truss plant makes them when they are between jobs - and the pricing is very low, like a loss leader situation. They are made 4/12, 10-1/2 overhang, 2'o.c. spacing.
Let me correct myself by saying - save money by doing standard things - custom costs. Buy standard windows, cabinets, doors, etc. Work with, not against your materials. Don't try for 18' clear floor joist spans, 9'6 walls, etc. Something like that.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
$49 sq foot including land
//$49 sq foot including land//Wanna' elaborate? Was it all second-hand materials?upinVermont
concrete block, no labor, no frill, 1000 sq ft, metal roof, when concrete was $30 a yard. 2003 land was $7000. septic tank $1200, no carpet, no tile. and I still dont have kitcern cabinets
Awhile back read a great book called "The Prodigious Builders" by Bernard Rushiudusky(or something like that) .Has pics of building projects since we left caves(why i dont know) . But there was one great pic of a giant boulder maybe 16' x 12' sitting in a field in Spain I think.Right in the side was a doorway where some industrious fellar had hollowed the inside of the boulder to live. Waterproof/fireproof/wont blow over/bullet..err..arrow proof/ no painting or maintenence. Im sure he was one proud biulder.
Sounds like some of you might be in larger urban areas or closer thereto. None of our lumber yards have ever had piles of trusses lying about. We have architectural salvage venues.Fortunately, the house I'll be building is not in fractions of inches, so I'm all clear there...Have any of you put on EcoStar roofs? Someone recommended this as a cost effective roof...upinVermont
fractions...do I detect sarcasm?
Isn't ecostar the rubber product that mimics slate? They are pricey here, and there are rumors of edges curling up after a few years...
Another truss option is to buy mistakes. But most truss mistakes are on complex, cut up roofs. But every now and then...
One more thought for you - I have done what you are proposing - twice - the first house was very cheap - used materials, auction buys, T111, and lots of ideas from the back to the land movement. I sold it for a profit, and I am glad to not live their any longer. Moved in after spending $35K, added on later.
The second house I built with all new materials - it cost more, but went much faster - time costs $$ too. ICFs, Trusses, Unfinished basement, good windows. Exterior dimensions are divisible by 4, but inside everything is to 1/16"...:-)
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
//fractions...do I detect sarcasm?//If it was, it wasn't directed at anyone here. I'm on my best behavior. Honest. //Isn't ecostar the rubber product that mimics slate? They are pricey here, and there are rumors of edges curling up after a few years...//Interesting to hear about the curling. I wonder how Ecostar covers that under warranty, or if they squirm out of it? That's the trouble with new building products, there's often some fatal flaw that needs to be ironed out.//second house I built with all new materials - it cost more, but went much faster - time costs $$ too. ICFs, Trusses, Unfinished basement, good windows. Exterior dimensions are divisible by 4, but inside everything is to 1/16"//I'm not surprised that working with used/auction materials turned out to be more expensive. I have had some experience that way too. What were some of the "back to the land" ideas that you used? Like a sod roof? Read an article on building a roof like this -- seemed exorbitantly expensive. In fact, I find many of the environmentally recommended ideas to be costly (if that's what you mean by "back to the land")?I was tempted to try ICFs on the house I'll be building (for a customer), but there doesn't seem to be much cost savings. However, I think there *would* be if I were building the house for myself...upinVermont
you can get good results by casting concrete in place... i think it's more work and you have to be able to get the finish you want... but it's doable...
i cast a couple different ways... I'm casting 16" wide x 2" thick breakfast bars right now... casting one a day... range from 7ft to just under 10ft doing them outside in a sheet metal mold 20ga on top of a plywood and 2x framework... with that sitting on a steel beam thats leveled to working height... i have the sheet metal shop bend the form where it comes up over and down a 2x on each side... always 10ft long... i them block to how long i need... sometimes i just cast em long then cut them to fit if i have an end that won't show... i slick finish the bottom just in case the top (face down in the mold) turns out bad... these cost me maybe $10 ea to make... even with 3 pc of rebar in each one.... (seems the scrap metal place won't take rebar so i get the bent up ones free)
i prefer to cast on top of lexan... i get very slick surfaces when i do/can... plus it's easy to free form the sides/edges with a heat gun... i back this up in a square wood frame with foam infill (blue foam board scraps)...
mix i prefer is 3/8 rock (not round pea) fine white golf course sand... and portland
3 sand 2.5 rock 1 portland.... by volume i use 5 gal buckets... i use a little more water than the books say but... for me it seems to take it to get the results i want... (no voids) i vibrate with junk jig saws... the cheaper the better ....
p
Hey Ponytl,Thanks for the thorough description on the concrete countertop. I've always wanted to try it and I think I will.In fact, I have 10 bags of Federal White Cement (left over from a log cabin I built). Wonder if I could use this?Why do you use the blue board as infill? If I understand correctly, the blue board is placed between the wood backer and the lexan?upinVermont
pretty sure thats exactly what i use... federal white think it's from canada...i got a deal on 80000 lbs from an insurance co... try'n to use it up... some has gotten damp and gone bad(got hard) so you might check yours... white takes color really well i use the same colorant they use at paint stores to tint paint... comes in a quart can... i also acid stain some... for darker colors i use grey portland
yes the foam blue board is just cut in a mirror image of the bends in the lexan just there to hold 1/4" lexan in place... i use cheap latex caulk on some seams... mostly i use johnsons floor paste wax i use it to wax the form and use it packed into the joints & cracks... sometimes i have to make small sheet metal clips that just grab the top edge of the lexan and then screw down to a wood base to clamp the lexan edge forms in place if they want to ride up.... best source of lexan sheets is sign faces... sign company dumpsters the back non lettered side is what i use... you can sometimes find them 12-15ft long and 5 ft wide...
i've wanted to cast some counters on diamond plate just to see the effect... but haven't yet... what i do have is alot of molds off ebay that i cast with whatever mix i have left... the rubber type are best but they usually need some support (think to bury em in a box of sand) i've cast some really cool trim from molds... i also have a few 2x2 24" & 30" squares just nailed at the corners... that make great path stones... or garden table tops... i cast these on top of cardboard lay'n on a concrete floor... mineral spirits for a release agent... 1.5" in the bottom of a 5 gal pail makes a good stepping stone... i hate to toss any mix...
p
You didn't say how many bedrooms, baths etc. So, as you live in NE, I suggest go to Google and search Cape Cod house plans. A small cape will fit your budget and the prevailing architecture of your area.
Good AND cheap...my forté! <G>
I built a 1500 SF full basement, then rolled a $17K recycled house on it that i stripped down to pretty much a shell and its hardwood floors. I've spent less than $40K since then on the well, septic, mechanicals, cellulose insulation, Hardie siding, new roof, hardwood/slate/tile floors, etc. by doing everything except the excavation myself. I have less than $20K to go, depending on what i do for landscaping/decks.
What's that? about $26/sf?
I use what's on sale and i'm not adverse to re-cycling gently-used stuff in top condition. Check the newspaper giveaways and recycle stores; trade. Make up for inexpensive, plain materials with patterns (see my roof).
Recycling: A perfect Elkay SS kitchen sink at the local recycling center was $10. I traded a fellow who was gutting an expensive house for its new owners three jewelry chests for all the bathrooms fixtures and the kitchen cabinets he pulled out, then sold the appliances for cash. I got several truckloads of stacking landscape block at 1/3 cost from someone rich who changed his mind about the color. A brand-new whirlpool tub still on the crate for $100 at a salvage yard. A furniture client sold me his houseful of 6-panel, fir doors with lever locksets bec he decided he wanted lighter-colored ones: $500.
Make your own: I bought 35 new thermopane panels at auction for $135 and made my own windows in the shop. I got a ton of window screens for free from a lumberyard eager to unload them. I can disassemble and re-size them with a hacksaw and a $5 spline installation tool.I put in arches instead of square doorways, sandblast designs in windows to dress them up, all for near-zero extra cost.
Look for materials in unusual places or use them in novel ways: My latest coup is a couple hundred bucks worth of flat-backed glass blobs from the Dollar Store, sold for flower arranging, but which i'm using for tub and shower surrounds. That works out to <$3/sf. Similar 'cobblestone' glass tiles sell for $22/sf on the Net. I picked up hundreds of new kitchen cabinet doors from a 'free' ad in the newspaper; they work great for F&P ceilings and wainscot. The hollow-core doors that came with this house became the base for tile and laminate countertops. I went to a paint swap sponsored by the City and took every single can of near-white latex paint that hadn't been frozen, then mixed them all together to get 15 gallons of free paint. If you're adventurous, you can use colored latex paint as an admixture for making adoble patio blocks.
I spend money where it matters, in insulation, 12 ga. wire, full-extension drawer slides...that kind of thing.
Here's a "before" and a "during" shot. It's just a rancher with a walk-out basement that i use as a woodshop, but it's 3000' of completely paid-off playpen. <G>
upinVermont,
Think outside the box..
I built my superinsulated timberframe home with fine hardwoods like blackwalnut, white oak, cherry, maple, for about $40.00 a sq ft.
A friend built a 4000 sq. ft. ICF home for just at $100,000. ($25.00 a sq.ft.)
The trick? Both of us used sawmill wood! did the work ourselves.. bought special deals whenever possible, recycled.
//Both of us used sawmill wood! did the work ourselves..//Yeah, I've looked at buying my own sawmill... did you guys rent, own, borrow one? What kind did you use?upinVermont
my wood was sawmill too via Home depot and Lowes
upinVermont,
We didn't saw our own wood,, time is money as you say, sawing wood is a lot of work for very little savings. What you want is a sawmill that sells wood to pallet mills and railroad ties. A railroad tie can be made from any hardwood and sells for less than $20.00 that's $20.00 for a 9"x7" x 8 1/2 foot timber! Pallet wood is often really nice wood and depending on the market can sell for as little as 15 cents a bd.ft. That's 15 cents for whatever is sawn! maple, cherry, oak, hickory, whatever!
To show the potential savings I priced out the wood I've got in my house and it would have cost me $830,000.00 from a lumberyard or Box store. I have spent slightly over $20,000.00 a savings of $800,000.00+
The savings really start from the point wood leaves the sawmill. Every single person who touches the wood adds another dollar a bd.ft. to it (or so it seems).. there is at least 7 or 8 hands between the sawmill and the lumberyard/box store. often more if we're talking about hardwoods.
There are three concerns about sawmill wood. first it's green..
Well, so is the wood you buy at a lumberyard. I know all about the KD 19 they print on the side of the board. IF you go saw down a tree in the summer, saw it into planks, stack it up and measure it a few days later, you'll be surprisingly close to the KD 19. They are allowed to use KD 19 if the boards spend any time at all in a kiln.. doesn't mean that the kiln has to be on, It can roll thru the kiln on the way to the truck but that's enough to quailfy.. the tolerance of it is rather high as well it's plus or minus 2 so another words 21% moisture or 17% moisture. It really doesn't matter.. wood that's above 11% moisture can support fungus growth. So even lumberyard wood can cause problems if it's not quickly dried in..
Second ratings,
Here's a mixed bag and it varies. If you read the code there is allowance for ungraded wood to be used. You can build a timberframe and as long as the main timbers are above 8"x 8" and meet the structural needs called for you are fully legal.. you best defence is a good offence, get a copy of the code your area uses and photocopy that section for the information of your building inspector..
Be up front about what you intend to do and don't skimp. (there's no real reason to skimp, sawmill wood is so cheap compared to lumberyard wood that it simply doesn't make sense to cut corners)
Fire ratings may enter into it as well.. again the code covers that, well sorta.. large timbers are exempt from fire code ratings. Smaller timbers used as "trim" are also exempt. So here you need to do a little carefull dancing. If you are building a "timberframe" you usually won't have a problem, if you are simply replacing sawmill wood for lumberyard wood and your inspector is a stickler to the rules you have several choices..
I don't suggest any of these, they are simply things that I have seen done to deal with overly strict inspectors. I'm lucky my inspector hasn't hassled me, mainly because I refuse to skimp or cut corners. In addition I suspect that he understands that a solid hardwood timber is far more fire resistant than a TGI which is simply flakes of wood pressed together and in the presense of heat quickly loses it's strength.
However I've seen some have stamps made proporting to adhere to some organizations rules. They simply copy what is printed on approved wood and have someone make the stamp accordingly. Now I warn you , that is probabaly not proper! I've also heard of hiring a grader and paying him his fee (usually about 10 cents a bd.ft.) to grade the wood. I suspect that that would satisfy the most strict inspector..
and third size!
Lumberyard wood is demensional not actual.. they shave a 1/2 inch off it each way. Thus if you use sawmill wood you can't just go into the lumberyard and pick up a few extra sticks if you run short.
That's both good and bad.. the wood itself is 20% stronger than demensional which is to your advantage. However you must be carefull.. for example if you use say basswood it's load ratings are less than typical western white woods (pine fir spruce)
If you read the code rules you'll find the load capacity's of virtually all commerically harvested wood.. you get some surprising numbers with certain woods.. for example swamp oak or bur oak will greatly exceed douglas fir in it's load capacity. Have those numbers down cold before you approach the inspector. Knowledge is power and if you know the rules, have a copy of them with you the inspector won't give you a hassle.
Finally about building a timberframe.. you don't have to mortice and tenion everything to build a rimberframe,, or peg all connections. you can have brackets made and bolt things together. you can lag bolt connections, but most timbers cannot be properly nailed together..
But if you choose to build a timberframe say inside of an ICF house (which my friend did) he wound up with a very expensive looking house very much on the cheap. using the larger timbers called for in a timberframe gave him a legal way around the issue of grading. Since we are limited to 18 feet length by the sawmill we designed all the rooms to that maximum size. price wise it cost about $40.00 for a 9x7 18 footer (actually 18 1/2 foot+ ) so there wasn't an expense issue. I wound up with one 6"x12" 30 foot timber that cost me an additional $100.00 becuase I had to use another more expensive sawmill.
one last comment, if you need to use decay resistant wood there are several choices besides pressure treated wood.. Oak, black walnut, redwood, etc. all are decay resistant. however like pressure treated you must use either stainless steel fastners or galvanized etc.. those woods will attack steel, cause it to rust and the resulting rust will cause the wood to decay..
Frenchy,Thanks is a great tip, makes participating here worthwhile. I don't think we have any sawmills in this area that produce lumber for pallet mills or railroad ties -- at least none of the local mills I usually buy from. However, the local farmway sells railroad ties. I might try milling one of these using my beam saw, just to try it out.upinVermont
upinvermont,
I will agree with Piffin, nothing wrong with T-111.
House I am presently in was built in late 60's bevel cedar below 4', T-111 above.
Hundreds of house here in my town built using T-111 are doing just fine.
Keep it painted and it will last for many years, it is all in the maintenance.
There are a lot worse things to use if your looking for economical. "Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Edited 5/2/2007 2:09 am by dovetail97128
upinVermont!
NO! don't do it! railroad ties leave the sawmill and are pressure treated with creosote to keep them from rotting.. they will quickly ruin anything you attempt to cut them with..
OK, how to find a sawmill that specializes in selling railroad ties and pallet material..
There really is a dramatic differance in prices between a regular sawmill and one that sells to pallet companies.
Regular sawmills expect to maximise the price they get for every board.. Those who sell to pallet mills know that price is what keeps steady customers so they tend to keep price at a minimum..
They all get a weekly report on the markets and what price they are at etc.. I have a copy right here, it's called the Hardwood Market Report. there are several others but that's the one I get.. local mills will sell at either near retail or at wholesale if enough wood is ordered.. That will only save you a slight amount! Instead you need to find a place where the prices are far more reasonable.
Sawmills that tend to sell to pallet makers and railroad ties tend to be larger places. mine is about 2 million bd.ft. a year sized place so when you are searching ask how large they tend to be. You might contact your states forestry division and ask for a list of sawmills.
Every major city has a pallet company or two. I'm not sure were you are but you might check in say Boston or Portland etc.. once you get a few companies I've found that in person results are better than phone calls. You might try the direct approach and explain that you are looking for a source of wood and ask which sawmill they use. If that isn't successful be creative..
If you see a bunch of railroad ties chances are you've found the place.. So you might do A LITTLE BACKWARDS SEARCHING.. call the local railroad and ask where they get railroad ties and then call them and ask which sawmill they buy from..