house building costs

Cedarman · February 10, 2009, 05:21:48 PM

How much have the items used to build a house changed over the last few years? From the peak boom years a few years ago to now. Wood, nails, electrical wiring, plumbing, insulation and kitchen cabinets. Just wondering how prices have changed, up or down and by how much.

isawlogs · February 10, 2009, 05:42:47 PM

How far back we going ???

jdtuttle · February 10, 2009, 05:48:26 PM

Around here if you build your own you can do it for around 60.00 per sq. ft. That includes septic, well & power. The price goes up to over 300.00 sq. ft. from contractors. And it also depends on taste. Are you a formica guy or is granite more to your liking?

Riles · February 10, 2009, 06:19:25 PM

I just finished building my "retirement" home, acting as my own general contractor. It always costs more than you budget. That said, I make the following observations:

- The money to be saved is in labor. Couldn't find any breaks in material. Tried the Directbuy thing, was a major disaster. "Mexican" labor is cheap, and they work hard. I was truly impressed, this is the classic case of hungry people trying hard to make a better life. The flip side of that is, you don't always get a lot of skill. That's not always a big deal, technology has made a lot of tasks simpler. My framers were superb, my tile guys sucked. You'd think it should have been the other way.

- The lowest bid can cost you more money.

- Everybody wants more money. The only thing that counts is what's in writing.

- The biggest effect of the economic downturn is in scheduling. As a one time general contractor, I was warned that the subs wouldn't have any loyalty to me, they work hardest for the guys that pay them regularly. I had no problems getting guys on the job when I wanted them. Except:

- I had a surprising amount of trouble getting a lot of subs just to show up and make a bid. If business is bad, you would think they'd jump at an opportunity for a job, but I had plenty of subs say "Yeah, I'll stop by" and never show up. Still haven't figured this one out, unless they were already moving on to their backup means of making a living.

- Can't build anything (custom) around here for less than $100/sq foot.

Raider Bill · February 10, 2009, 07:10:10 PM

Excluding infrastructure such as power to site, roads septic etc on the actual house mine came out to $72.00 sqft using ICF.

I did most of the work myself, very little sub work except slab and roof.
Hired some laborers but found them to be lacking mostly.
Mexicans worked hard but had no skill. Was nice to have someone on the other end of a long board though.
Local talent was very unreliable.

SwampDonkey · February 10, 2009, 07:35:40 PM

:D :D My mother, not my father, designed the concept and had an engineer draw up the house plans. I don't know about my father, over the last few years that kind of stuff and finances he doesn't get involved in. Mows the lawn, tends the garden, goes to the golf course, pushes snow. :D :D

Housing here in the out lying areas away from the cities, cost a little over half to build, $180,000 for 2200 sq feet (one level and 2 door garage) with 1100 sq foot basement, so $55/sq foot.

Larry · February 10, 2009, 07:47:41 PM

I haven't tracked prices by the penny over the last few years but have a general feeling for the trends. I'm building right now and have found some things down with others items up. Some in the down list would be lumber, and especially OSB. Copper plumbing items are cheaper but guess what...when copper started it's ascent plumbers switched to pex...and won't go back to copper no matter how cheap it gets. Me thinks a better product at less cost here. Few years ago we could get cca at reasonable cost and use standard galvanized nails...now all you can get is acq which costs a premium...and of course the new nails cost a premium. Lost ground here.

Technology costs figure in also...now arc fault interrupters are required. Price them at your local store...not for the faint of heart. A lot of little code changes can quickly add extra costs.

I haven't seen much change in labor costs. A lot of contractors have left the business...some quite good along with being competitive. The ones left standing are there because they are smart businessmen. They didn't survive by cutting there prices...at least by much.

Bargains abound if you like shopping. I got Tyvek building paper from a contractor for half price. Picked up bronze sinks just like Cleopatra had in her pad

...unfortunately Kathy didn't like em. ??? Sold them at the scrap yard for twice what I paid for them. I'm picking up quite a few other items at bargain prices...after checking with Kathy. ;)

Dodgy Loner · February 11, 2009, 02:25:49 PM

Cedarman, I've been doing some major renovations on my house in the previous year, which necessitated many trips to the local Home Depot. Like Larry said, lumber prices are down, and many things that used to require costly plywood can be built just as well with OSB. I know one contractor who refuses to use plywood for subfloors and roofing, regardless of the cost, because the OSB products are superior and more consistent in quality. I've done a fair amount of wiring lately, and the cost of wire is definitely up over a few years ago, but I think it peaked a few months back. I don't even look at the price of nails. I just pick up what I need and pay for them. Insulation is expensive, but I don't know what the cost is like compared to a few years back. I was surprised to find that I could put laminate hardwood flooring on top of my subfloor cheaper than I could put fiberglass insulation under the subfloor :(. Things that go in and out of style, like tile and flooring go on sale and can be had for a song if you look for deals. Stuff like fiberglass insulation, wire, and nails never go on sale.

Riles · February 11, 2009, 06:20:16 PM

One place I did find good deals on material is Craigslist. My 1650 square feet of maple hardwood flooring was a recycled high school gym and cost me $1500. And I still have a bunch left over. The columns on the front of the house came from a Duke University frat house they were tearing down. That saved me $9,000.

bck · February 11, 2009, 11:23:03 PM

WOW, makes me realize I done good. I built my house in 96. Its 1680 sq ft, and I have right at 30000 in the house, well and septic tank. 8) 8)

I poured the concrete footing ( by myself, dont want to do that again ), The only labor I paid in the whole house was on was the block foundation and 300 bucks to a friend that helped with the plumbing. I drawed my own blueprints ( one piece of notebook paper). Used a truss roof, sheeted with plywood. Covered outside walls with OSB then vinyl siding. Put good shingles on it. All oak hardwood except for the baths which are ceramic tile. Built my own 42x60 shower from ceramic tile. Built my own entry doors. Built my cabinets out of mahogany ( was the only wood I had enough of at the time , I was paying just a little over 2.50 for it then,talk about a price change!!! ) Insulated windows. Gas pack.

If I had a sawmill then I could have done it a lot cheaper. I would almost bet I could still build it for that now seeing as I can cut my own wood now.

Labor is by far the biggest factor in a house. For instance;
every thing I needed for the siding was 1200, that included sofit.
I have 1250 in the whole heating system, 3 ton gas pack, got a guy to make the duct ( yes its insulated )and I put it in myself.
A bunch of hamburgers and a few cases of beer got the trusses on

Oh yea, when I started building, it was a building supply "HQ" that was going out of business and I got most all of my electrical supplys and plumbing supplys for half price.

Banjo picker · February 12, 2009, 12:05:04 AM

You can build a simple house for $20 dollars a sq ft if you do everything yourself. I don't mean act as a contractor and hire subs. I mean do it yourself. I know that is a lot of places the powers that be won't let that happen. You have to have all the necessary toys. Dozers backhoe, etc. but if you got em and can do just about anything it can be done. I have done it twice and working on #3 right now. Four times if I count mine, but that was 25 years ago.

Quote from: Larry on February 10, 2009, 07:47:41 PM
Copper plumbing items are cheaper but guess what...when copper started it’s ascent plumbers switched to pex...and won’t go back to copper no matter how cheap it gets. Me thinks a better product at less cost here.

Amen to the pex copper can take a flying leap at a rolling donut.

I just bought the manifolds to hook up the pex off ebay at a good price. Watch a couple of weeks ahead get your GFI's , and you can get them at a fraction of what the hardware wants for them.

bck Now thats what i'm talking about. You posted before I could get mine in. When we poured the slab for Bobbys house recuited a little help. One of our friends has lost his vision, and he even helped finish around the edges. 8) 8) Tim

karl · February 12, 2009, 06:20:43 PM

In my neighborhood-
Most everything up except framing and osb/ply.
concrete- up 28% in 3 years
vinyl, asphault/fiberglass/steel roofing all up at least 33%
windows, doors- wood, fiberglass/steel up 10% and more
drywall + 5%
insulation- fiberglass + 10% more/less, polyurethane- OMG!
seems like the hardwoods have stayed about the same- floooring, cabs.
nails- up at least 15%
pine trim (milled, dried, finished by us) no increase
electrical - has been higher than now- still up from 3 years ago.
plumbing/heating - up, cant say how much, thank God for Pex.
Septics- WAY up(1000%)- new regs requiring engineered/supervised system.

ARKANSAWYER · February 12, 2009, 06:57:13 PM

Here homes more then 1,500 sqft but less then 3,000 run about $100 to $120 sqft for a regular home. Go over 3,000 sqft and start adding fancy stuff and it will be at $200 sqft real quick. Hardest home to have built around here is less then 1,300 sqft. Contractors can not make enough off of it to buy a new truck. So I get lots of business and do most for $75 sqft turn key or $30 sqft for dried in frame.

sperry · February 12, 2009, 07:43:26 PM

I agree with the posts about the Mexican Workers. They are good laborers but don't have much in the way of building skills. We still need the Americans on the job to oversee them, or better yet just hire the Americans to do the job.

Cedarman · February 13, 2009, 08:09:22 AM

Thanks Karl and everyone else for some figures.

With housing starts falling to 750,000 which is about 1/2 of what it used to be, demand for materials should be falling like a rock. Why aren't building costs falling through the floor?

Mills are paying less for logs and selling lumber for less. Loggers are paying less for timber. Prices for commodities seem to be falling. Scrap prices have tanked. Labor is plentiful.

Was there a big price run up from 3 years ago to a year ago?

Will prices fall?

Patty · February 13, 2009, 12:25:02 PM

Our friend just got a bid on a new house he wants built....turn key was $130 sq ft. YIKES!

Larry · February 13, 2009, 01:09:51 PM

I think one reason contractors are able to keep costs up is because the re-po market is quite good now...at least in my area. Buy one from the bank cheap, fix it up, and if it doesn't sell in a couple of months it becomes a rental.

Sprucegum · February 13, 2009, 02:39:19 PM

Its kinda like the BSE cattle senario.
When the border closed and everyone had cows standing around I expected the beef prices in the stores to drop like a rock - nope, didn't happen - the middlemen kept the prices up to maintain or increase their own profits >:(
The farmer got nothing and the consumer paid as usual.

Raider Bill · February 13, 2009, 05:15:48 PM

Correction to my last post,

My price was $72.00 ft inclusive of everything but the well.

johnjbc · February 13, 2009, 06:52:56 PM

A lot of the run up in cost was due to the Universal Building Codes and we still have them.

Handy Andy · February 13, 2009, 11:13:35 PM

My theory is that licensing of contractors keeps prices high. If you limit the people who are allowed to do the work, they can charge whatever they like. What I would like to do is have a basement poured, as I'm not tough enough to do my own like I did in '81, and then probably have to get a finisher to pour my floors, course I'll get them set up, and bargain for a good price, and then do the carpenter work myself. A neighbor who I helped build a house bought a sr jack, should be able to borrow that, and plan to do my own plumbing, wiring, have to hire someone to help with the heat and cooling, although I can do a lot, build my own cabinets, make my own trim and wood flooring. Used to lay tile in my own houses, don't plan to buy a bit of carpet this time, cept maybe for the basement on concrete floor. On the other hand, wonder if a guy could strip it with treated and nail down wood? One thing I noticed is that sheetrock about quadrupled a year ago or 2.

SwampDonkey · February 14, 2009, 06:28:54 AM

Mom's included well, drain field and lot price.

pigman · February 14, 2009, 09:37:49 AM

My brick house cost about $14/ sq ft with all bought materials. From what I am hearing it sounds that if I build another house that it will cost a little more. :(