Hi guys,
I was chatting with some guys at lunch yesterday (none are in the construction industry) and one asked if I was able to build things any cheaper now? I asked what he meant and he said since the industry and economy were down, were more subs willing to work for less and was I willing to make less profit just to stay busy?
I said while that might be true the fact remains that many building materials have increased especially with the rising cost of fuel. I mentioned even to have the Port O Let I have on my one job going is adding a “per month” fuel surcharge I never really had in years past.
So my answer to him was I am able to build for exactly what I was before with neither an increase nor decrease.
Have any of you been able to “build for less” in your area? I think I know the answer but thought I’d ask anyway.
Mike
Replies
No, it is getting more expensive all the time.
MI dropped from 90- 100 sf to 60-70 sf. The current rise in fuel might be pushing that number north right now.
From what I see, fuel surcharges are eating up any material price drops.
i don't know about cheaper but there are guys calling me to see if i have any work... my master sparky (in his own little word anyway) is cutting lawns for money... my drywall guys i think spent more time finishing on my job than normal just because they had no where to go when finished... i paid em about 15% extra to go back over everything and to look for flaws ... it was 2000 sheets...
i haven't seen huge increases in material prices... in the last 6mo and there are alot more guys looking for work... guess you could offer em less... not something i'm comfortable with... usually if a guys asks for work and i can find anyway to use him... i'll find something for him to do for a few days anyway
p
Of course it's less in spite of some costs going up. Portable toilets have gone from $80.00 a month to $105.00 but labor is in the gutter now. I've got 30 year licensed contractors offering to work for me for $16.00 an hour, using their own trucks! It's so bad that almost all, I'd guess 95% of the illegals are gone since they couldn't make a living. Craig's List is full of ads from guys offering to beat any other price. Builder's are offering turnkey new homes for less than half of what they were 3 years ago. Now is a real good time to be buying or building.
On an invoice of $12,500 of roofing shingles and materials, the delivery charge was "$35"....at the bottom there was a "Fuel Surcharge of $122.50".
I collected building materials for a year before I began my 16'x32' two story cabin. Mostly materials returned or culled at the big box stores and sold to the public at 10-cents on the dollar. Yes, there is waste, but there's also a lot of lumber that can be used to reinforce the structure and make it 2 to 3 times as strong and stout. I had to pay $4.50 a sq. ft. for the concrete slab and 8'x32 porch floor. I was out about $2,800 for labor and materials for decking and "roofing" with 30 yr Owen/C shingles. The Romex wire, flexible conduit wiring, outlet boxes, wall plugs and switches, and circuit breakers were bought on closeout or at flea markets and garage sales. Light fixtures, Paint, drywall, Hardyboard siding panels, stained and lacqured Birch beadboard paneling all were bought at 10-cents on the dollar.
With a wall mounted 17,000 btu heating/cooling heat pump, 6" fiberglass batt insulation, and radiant barrier sheathing, I have less than $12,000 in it. Except for the $3,700 cost for the slab, the rest of the amount was easily spread over a two year period. What I'm seeing now, the amount of returned material is about half of what it was two years ago, so start your material gathering now. No telling what oil or the economy will do, but the only two choices I see is that prices will increase greatly, or there will be a shortage of materials....
Bill
Edited 10/4/2008 9:35 pm ET by BilljustBill
Edited 10/4/2008 9:38 pm ET by BilljustBill
Edited 10/4/2008 9:39 pm ET by BilljustBill
Next time have those concrete guys put some plastic over the ground first, and then set the rebar on dobies.
You know, I did ask about the moisture barrier/plastic.... He said it takes so much more time to get the water to the top rather than absorbed through the ground... I had a hard time with that but he agreed to have the concrete company add a water-proofer additive. I saw the delivery ticket and it was mixed in.
So far, with the 6" thick slab, a 12" wide beam behind where the front car wheels set, and deep footings, I managed to keep the slab wet with either rain or water hose for almost two weeks. No moisture is seen since it was dried-in last January.
I know the rebar support-doobies should have been used, but as I took the pictures I watched them pull up the rebar as the concrete was poured. Maybe not the best way, but not one hairline crack...yet. ;>)
Bill
Edited 10/4/2008 11:21 pm ET by BilljustBill
Edited 10/4/2008 11:27 pm ET by BilljustBill
what has been posted her before and really got me thinking...
it's not only what you save when buy'n 10cents on the dollar... it's what you don't have to earn... where you lose 40% before you see it in most cases...
I'm use'n huge amounts of paint right now on my loft project... paint i purchased by the truckload and culled about 10 pallets that i kept... most is 18yr gliddin (sp) ? exterior satin/semi/high gloss or it's the same thing maked kitchen & bath.... out of some 100+ cans i've mixed in the last few weeks i've had 4 bad ones (usually the oddball flat finish) and i purchased this paint over 8 years ago @less than 50cents a gallon... most was just dented cans or cases where a can had busted and got paint on other cans... some was mistint... BUT it's some of the finest paint i've ever used...
i haven't even tried to add up what i would have spent even with my discount at the paint store... but i'm guess'n i'll use 400 gallons before i'm done... so i saved what ?6k... maybe more because if i was buy'n it now i might be try'n to make a gollon go further than it should...
think i bought about 90% of my mc cable off ebay... same for plumbing fixtures...
looks like you came in @ under $25sf which is great (and i know you know you could have done it for less) think i'll be at $60 and a full 30% of that is soft costs...
well done
p
Just rebid a big for me job.
First bids were taken last April.
5%-10% increase across the board. Most of the increase is in materials. Labor is steady and some subs told me that they were not expecting price drops to show up for several months as the manufacturers and wholesalers were now making up for having having held prices steady early on in the inflation jump.
I concur with that assessment.
Just a follow up to this....
A potential customer stopped me at my one site yesterday and asked what the going sq ft rates were in that area? We talked for a while and I told him there were three new houses in the neighborhood that were selling for far below the new construction cost.
But then he mentioned a good point that its still not HIS custom home but someone elses that they could no longer afford.
I loved that point as those folks are the kind I like to work for as they understand what their money is worth when doing a custom project.
Mike
As an addition to my first post I just got a new bill for the portable toilet. It's now dropped to $61.00 a month.