Home Construction/Building Material Calculators?

[shirk]

Roughly the same house as your next door neighbor who never swung a hammer and paid about what you will spend building a one off home

Did you even read what he intends to build? I highly doubt the neighbour lives in the loft apartment over a garage/shop.

[Timberridge]

Maybe be a terminology issue but isn't a garage "slab on grade" 99% of the time? What I'm saying is that with a garage the finished floor height is dictated by where you put your slab. Usually this is slightly above natural grade as you want to minimize the dirt work to build up your driveway yet you want positive slope away from your garage doors. Below natural grade is your code required frost wall (36" here). Above this is your stem wall and framing. The least expensive option is to have no/minimal concrete above grade like if you did a monoslab. If you have a "walk out" that slope front to back then you will need concrete from slab height to natural grade. They you'll need a furring wall to run your mechanical. The left and right walls will all be stepped.

It adds a lot of money. Usually more money than buying a better lot would cost.

I'll throw another S. Vt twist on this regarding picking lots to build on, especially on mountain sides. There is a fair amount of ledge rock buried under the first 2-3 ft of already rocky earth. I have a neighbor that decided to build a new house about 75' farther up the hill from his old one which was built in 1890. They start digging and they hit rock, undeterred he brings in the excavator with the jack hammer, this is soon overwhelmed, and they decide to dynamite it. Get this all done and they start on the septic. Hit rock again and can't get the perc test to pass. Over 100K later, he gives up. Now he lives in a stone quarry.

[skiballs]

^good point. OP if you're bent on building new. At least buy a lot that has passed the well and septic testing phase.

[BigDaddy]

I'll throw another S. Vt twist on this regarding picking lots to build on, especially on mountain sides. There is a fair amount of ledge rock buried under the first 2-3 ft of already rocky earth. I have a neighbor that decided to build a new house about 75' farther up the hill from his old one which was built in 1890. They start digging and they hit rock, undeterred he brings in the excavator with the jack hammer, this is soon overwhelmed, and they decide to dynamite it. Get this all done and they start on the septic. Hit rock again and can't get the perc test to pass. Over 100K later, he gives up. Now he lives in a stone quarry.

Moral of the story: Spend $200 for the perc test first, then build.

(And Central Vermont is full of ledge, too.... we should have been the granite state.)

[exsparky]

"The scope of work isn't over my head"

What is your trade?
Do you have friends in other trades to help you?
If you get hit with a huge problem (I got jacked with a $150k water tap) are you f**ked?

Having done this twice, I would rather fix a house than start from scratch. Maybe you should start off with an easy flip.


Edit- you have a lot of people with knowledge (at least some knowledge) everybody has less enthusiasm than you do for your idea because they have been shafted. Expect it to happen.

[skiballs]

Not to mention you can sell every two years and any profit under 250k is tax free.

[krp8128]

Someone find me a house North of Bennington but withing a 30 minute drive for sale under $150K. Must have 2 car garage in good condition (read dry and preferably insulated) or be lower in price but have adequate land to build one. Not looking to rehab a 75 year old farmhouse.


Otherwise please stick to topic and stop trying to talk me out of something that I have been involved in twice now.

[RootSkier]

We get it but if you are trying to figure out how to do a takeoff without realizing that lumberyards will help, then you are better off focusing on the big picture instead of some amorphous pricing algorithm.

[AdironRider]

Someone find me a house North of Bennington but withing a 30 minute drive for sale under $150K. Must have 2 car garage in good condition (read dry and preferably insulated) or be lower in price but have adequate land to build one. Not looking to rehab a 75 year old farmhouse.


Otherwise please stick to topic and stop trying to talk me out of something that I have been involved in twice now.

If you've done this twice already what exactly are you looking for? Someone just to say great plan do it and nothing more? Cause that's what you sound like.

[krp8128]

Cheap software to do the material calculations based on minimal dimensions so I can run a few quick calcs, i.e. drop down in size saves me 10k in lumber but still meets my needs. Lumber yard in town closed and don't need to inundate them with questions until the wallet is ready to come out.

I'll just make a spreadsheet with some basic calcs and local material costs, simpler then anything offered here.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Dude! You sound a whole lot more like one of my no nothing, unrealistic expectations, "just let me now much it costs" prospective customers than someone with experience in from the ground up, homeowner GC construction projects.

Nobody and no software application can give you an estimate, even materials only, without some specs being developed. Maybe you've how realized this. What you want for free, contractors call "pre-construction services" and charge for it.

So yeah, you want a preliminary estimate which will be a place to start. You can either go the graph paper and Xcel route, buy some plans with included materials takeoffs, or price up a something through a modular/kit builder. One tip, start with a phone call to the local truss manufacturer to check some specs on clear span scissor trusses. Where I live 32' wide is a fairly simple truss and you can use I-joists with a central beam (16' span) for the subfloor.