Construction Costs on 30a

[TooFarTampa]

I had a local crew ( Atlanta ) go stay at my house (1900s.f.) and paint it in 4 days in and out for 8k. I might recommend you try the same with a Tampa crew. 15k is ridiculous and 30k is laughable. I will come paint it myself in my pirate outfit for 20k.

 

[Uncle Timmy]

I paid $106 yd. for a sidewalk I just poured and paid $72 yd. for the same houses' foundation concrete 6 months earlier. Same company delivered the product. I am guessing I paid in the mid $50 in 1999.

I don't gain anything by sharing this Timmy, it's just a fact. 72 x 1.6 is 115 so I am $4 off and I apologize for that. I do this for a living so I assume it hurts me as much as anyone here.

The last 2 houses I sold at a loss as well FYI, both were more than 20 percent over budget.

Pirate,

I didn't mean any offense by questioning your numbers, it just seemed like your earlier post was suggesting a 40% (or so) total increase in building materials cost in the past 6 months. I felt this deserved some clarification.

I think maybe we are talking past each other a bit in terms of timing, I don't doubt your overall costs from the past 6 months, believe me I have seen it first hand. What I am passing along is information, both from builders and owners, in the past few weeeks that are reporting a decrease in bids. As I mentioned earlier; one contractor reported a framing bid 60% of what he was paying a year ago. Time will tell what overall impact this will have on the final construction cost, I will keep everybody advised on my findings.

 

[Mango]

By that time the "cheap worker bodies" will have migrated West to the NOLA area to do the painting there. What you'll have left are the "high priced" local workers with enough work to go around who will set the prices--and as they say in the biz--it will be a Seller's Market.

Mango says "Cheap bodies" will always stay around especially when there are drinking establishments where they can set their prices. In the biz, it's called "Meat Market".

Which by the way, when I make my way out in October, I will buy you a stiff drink, cause I think you need one bad.

 

[Pirate]

Pirate,

I didn't mean any offense by questioning your numbers, it just seemed like your earlier post was suggesting a 40% (or so) total increase in building materials cost in the past 6 months. I felt this deserved some clarification.

I think maybe we are talking past each other a bit in terms of timing, I don't doubt your overall costs from the past 6 months, believe me I have seen it first hand. What I am passing along is information, both from builders and owners, in the past few weeeks that are reporting a decrease in bids. As I mentioned earlier; one contractor reported a framing bid 60% of what he was paying a year ago. Time will tell what overall impact this will have on the final construction cost, I will keep everybody advised on my findings.

I am not offended. I think you are right about the subs prices coming down. I believe the total building costs are still up around 25 percent today. I am sure the materials will be on the way down in the future as well but how bad will the housing market be by then? Subs are calling me for work for the first time in 4 years.

 

[spinDrAtl]

There are enough house built here that painters will continue to be busy repainting for the rest of their careers.

If your bid came in at only $15K, be thankful. I have friends who paid $30K for the exterior alone on their 2000sf home and the owner of the business sat in his wheelchair in the back yard, supervising (drinking Budweiser all day) and hitting on all the young ladies walking by in bikinis.

You've got to be kidding. 30k? No offense to your friends, but obviously they have too much money or too little time to shop around. As Pirate said, you could pay someone to drive into the area from Atlanta and paint for 1/4 of that price.

In Atlanta, I had my home's total exterior painted (larger than the one referenced), including deck railing and screen porch with railings, for less than 4k. I could have tossed in 2k and asked that crew to drive to South Walton and they would have done it in a heartbeat.

 

[Uncle Timmy]

I will keep everybody advised as to the new pricing range when the complete numbers start to come in.....however this will take some time -it will be a few months to get the final construction costs on some ongoing projects.

Ok folks, just a quick update on some numbers.

Here are some hard figures for a Watercolor/Watersound house I have heard recently.

$265/square foot-

Cost is construction cost plus builder?s overhead and represents the total cost to the owner.

All the standard Watercolor/Watersound construction standards ?ie. Hardi-plank siding, clad windows, wood detailing, extensive decking, etc.

Stainless steel appliances, granite countertops (yes, I know that is a sore issue on here), garage, fireplace, etc.

The price would be closer to $300/sf with all the bells and whistles ?ie., commercial grade kitchen appliances, an outdoor kitchen, custom woodwork, etc.

Please note these numbers are for Watercolor/sound which represents a high level of construction in our area.

I hope this helps.

 

[Joe Complete]

I can verify your $275 per heated square foot number as we are constructing a Watercolor house for that exact price/sf. The home also includes Pella impact resistent windows and doors, beamed ceilings, icynene insulation, 2 car garage, 1400 sf of porches, Australian Cypress floors, standard metal roof, hardi siding, etc. We signed the contract the first quarter of 2006 and are about 3 months from completion. We are so looking forward to spending lots of time in SOWAL!

PM me if you are interested in information on the builder. We have been extremely satisfied to date and the construction has moved along very quickly.

 

[JoshMclean]

They are correct on the prices in Watercolor. But, houses of the same quality are built in other areas for less money. Builders make a killing building in Watercolor. One thing you do have to consider are the strict regulations on building in there. I believe on there are certain hours you can work. This of course drags out the building time.

 

[Franny]

They are correct on the prices in Watercolor. But, houses of the same quality are built in other areas for less money. Builders make a killing building in Watercolor. One thing you do have to consider are the strict regulations on building in there. I believe on there are certain hours you can work. This of course drags out the building time.

Goshy Josh have you built in Watercolor or had a home built for you in Watercolor? "ST JOE" makes a killing in Watercolor, the builders pay out their arse to St Joe when they build a home in WC. Just the amount of landscaping required can reach into the thousands. I could go on and on but my blood pressure needs to come down first!

 

[Beach Runner]

You've got to be kidding. 30k? No offense to your friends, but obviously they have too much money or too little time to shop around. As Pirate said, you could pay someone to drive into the area from Atlanta and paint for 1/4 of that price.

In Atlanta, I had my home's total exterior painted (larger than the one referenced), including deck railing and screen porch with railings, for less than 4k. I could have tossed in 2k and asked that crew to drive to South Walton and they would have done it in a heartbeat.

Painters in our little town are really expensive. Three years ago the cheapest estimate for painting just our interior stairwell and hallways was $3000. And that didn't require any scaffolding -- just ordinary ladders.