Cost per square foot to build a house?

[Ed32]

i don't know what type of houses ya'll are building but as an example i backed out the cost of the lot on this house and it came to $113 per foot. as you can see it's a nice house with 10' ceilings through out except 12' in the living room. tray ceilings, 11' walk through shower, double garage, back patio with fireplace, and outdoor kitchen with grill, sink, and fridge. and that includes the sod, landscaping, fencing and appliances.
http://www.vaneatonromero.com/L14256632

not in the photos is the brick arch i put between the living and kitchen and the cypress beams on the kitchen ceiling

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by Ed32

i don't know what type of houses ya'll are building but as an example i backed out the cost of the lot on this house and it came to $113 per foot. as you can see it's a nice house with 10' ceilings through out except 12' in the living room. tray ceilings, 11' walk through shower, double garage, back patio with fireplace, and outdoor kitchen with grill, sink, and fridge. and that includes the sod, landscaping, fencing and appliances.
http://www.vaneatonromero.com/L14256632

not in the photos is the brick arch i put between the living and kitchen and the cypress beams on the kitchen ceiling

Im not knocking these lower priced homes, But they are not what i build as far as level of finish, detail , time involved, and over all quality. The process it takes me to build a home , even if i scaled back the finishes i dont have a clue how someone can build a house for that price that will not have issues down the road. I understand my homes are not for everyone , but i can promise you they way we build cannot be done by everyone either. on average the homes i build regardless of size is the equivalent of building 5-6 "regular" homes because of the amount of detail / engineering / etc .

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by Ed32

i don't know what type of houses ya'll are building but as an example i backed out the cost of the lot on this house and it came to $113 per foot. as you can see it's a nice house with 10' ceilings through out except 12' in the living room. tray ceilings, 11' walk through shower, double garage, back patio with fireplace, and outdoor kitchen with grill, sink, and fridge. and that includes the sod, landscaping, fencing and appliances.
http://www.vaneatonromero.com/L14256632

not in the photos is the brick arch i put between the living and kitchen and the cypress beams on the kitchen ceiling

i looked at those photos, the stucco front with the diagonal timbers - how is that flashed? that wood with expand and contract with the weather creating gaps for water to enter. the shot of the foundation shows it was formed above grade and they allowed concrete to "overflow" under the form( thats the kind of detail we pay attention to ( our foundations get formed 6-10" BELOW grade to make sure it does not look sloppy) . its just lots of things like that , that we do and other don't , yes it costs more to do all this stuff and i understand that the price point you mentioned it just might not be possible . but cheap labor who build so quick you cant even catch mistakes before they happen = a 5-10 year house not a house thats gonna last a lifetime+

[redaddiction]

The guy said NOT an extravagant home. He can do it himself easily for $100 per sqft not including the land cost. New homes are being sold in Youngsville, most expensive area around here, all day long for $130-$150 sqft turn key finished.

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by redaddiction

The guy said NOT an extravagant home. He can do it himself easily for $100 per sqft not including the land cost. New homes are being sold in Youngsville, most expensive area around here, all day long for $130-$150 sqft turn key finished.

Im well aware of what he said , thats why i said if i backed out all the fancy finishes / appliances/ etc and strictly figured a solid built / quality home that will last a long time. Are solid doors extravagant to you?? What about #1 grade framing lumber?? what about 3500-4000 lb Concrete for your foundation?
I see this stuff all the time....triple crown molding blah blah blah Whats the point of even putting it up if you can see every seam??

[redaddiction]

Originally Posted by fishinpox

Im well aware of what he said , thats why i said if i backed out all the fancy finishes / appliances/ etc and strictly figured a solid built / quality home that will last a long time. Are solid doors extravagant to you?? What about #1 grade framing lumber?? what about 3500-4000 lb Concrete for your foundation?
I see this stuff all the time....triple crown molding blah blah blah Whats the point of even putting it up if you can see every seam??

I understand your point totally. But your homes and clientele are in a world of their own. We talking a house for us Po' folk.

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by redaddiction

I understand your point totally. But your homes and clientele are in a world of their own. We talking a house for us Po' folk.

im not trying to come off like that either ... you are correct the homes i build do have a larger than normal budget .......BUT there is right way and a wrong way to build houses , to often do i see builders doing things that are not up to code, not the right kind of fasteners, etc and that has nothing to do with budget , its plain and simple cutting corners that should never be cut .

[redaddiction]

Originally Posted by fishinpox

im not trying to come off like that either ... you are correct the homes i build do have a larger than normal budget .......BUT there is right way and a wrong way to build houses , to often do i see builders doing things that are not up to code, not the right kind of fasteners, etc and that has nothing to do with budget , its plain and simple cutting corners that should never be cut .

No, you weren't coming off like that. I was serious, your stuff is amazing. That's why it costs what it costs.

[youmyboyblue]

Pox if your arse would travel to madisonville you would have built my house.

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by youmyboyblue

Pox if your arse would travel to madisonville you would have built my house.

Thanks! We get offers all the time but I don't think I could deliver the same quality as we do here since it's so far away . Did you build yet? I have a buddy that builds over there

[Matt G]

Pox, what's the average sq ft of the houses you build?

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by Matt G

Pox, what's the average sq ft of the houses you build?

it varies , the smallest is usually around 3000 sqft living area and up from there . right now i have a 3100, 3400, 4000, 8000, 4800 sqft. one thing that makes our houses more / foot is the amount of non appraisable sqft ( 3-4 car garages , huge porches/ outdoor kitchens that have 15$/sqft stone flooring on them etc) its a huge contributor . i find the smaller homes usually cost more/ sqft than the larger ones since they still have the same appliances a larger one has and same number of baths etc... ( the expensive parts of the house) just less sqft to divide it into thus making the cost per foot higher

[swamp snorkler]

Originally Posted by fishinpox

it varies , the smallest is usually around 3000 sqft living area and up from there . right now i have a 3100, 3400, 4000, 8000, 4800 sqft. one thing that makes our houses more / foot is the amount of non appraisable sqft ( 3-4 car garages , huge porches/ outdoor kitchens that have 15$/sqft stone flooring on them etc) its a huge contributor . i find the smaller homes usually cost more/ sqft than the larger ones since they still have the same appliances a larger one has and same number of baths etc... ( the expensive parts of the house) just less sqft to divide it into thus making the cost per foot higher

Serious Question,

How does the final appraisal cost of these homes factor into your build cost? For example, I know 2 people here recently who have built beautiful custom homes in Lafourche Parish and have both had to come up with a substantial amount of out of pocket money to pay the contractor because the bank would not loan them the final amount based on final appraisal. Are you seeing this in the Baton Rouge area?


Also, my nephew got out of HS last year.... he doesn't know what he wants to do for a living. I told him go to work for a General Contractor building homes and learn the business, in 15 year start your own company....... do you think that's a wise career choice?

[Matt G]

Originally Posted by swamp snorkler

Also, my nephew got out of HS last year.... he doesn't know what he wants to do for a living. I told him go to work for a General Contractor building homes and learn the business, in 15 year start your own company....... do you think that's a wise career choice?

Depends...... Does he speak Spanish or have a desire to learn?

[swamp snorkler]

Originally Posted by Matt G

Depends...... Does he speak Spanish or have a desire to learn?

he took 2 years in HS

[bjhooper82]

Originally Posted by swamp snorkler

Serious Question,

How does the final appraisal cost of these homes factor into your build cost? For example, I know 2 people here recently who have built beautiful custom homes in Lafourche Parish and have both had to come up with a substantial amount of out of pocket money to pay the contractor because the bank would not loan them the final amount based on final appraisal. Are you seeing this in the Baton Rouge area?


Also, my nephew got out of HS last year.... he doesn't know what he wants to do for a living. I told him go to work for a General Contractor building homes and learn the business, in 15 year start your own company....... do you think that's a wise career choice?

Not being a smart @ss but I think the people that can afford to pay for the types of houses pox is building don't deal with banks very much. Maybe I'm wrong though.

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by swamp snorkler

Serious Question,

How does the final appraisal cost of these homes factor into your build cost? For example, I know 2 people here recently who have built beautiful custom homes in Lafourche Parish and have both had to come up with a substantial amount of out of pocket money to pay the contractor because the bank would not loan them the final amount based on final appraisal. Are you seeing this in the Baton Rouge area?


Also, my nephew got out of HS last year.... he doesn't know what he wants to do for a living. I told him go to work for a General Contractor building homes and learn the business, in 15 year start your own company....... do you think that's a wise career choice?

I don't worry about appraisal , I worry more about my customers budget that we set before the project, generally I tell them I "think " we can build it between ___ / sqft and _____/ sqft. ( best case/ worse case) if they agree I then begin to price the home and develope allowances / etc. once I complete pricing , sometimes it appraises but most times its higher than the bank is willing to lend so they have to come out of pocket . Not wanting to paint the picture of my clients having no budget or regard for cost because that's not the case . We have to deal with budgets/ allowances etc but they are usually higher than average . The main reason they hire us is because they know and trust we will follow the plans and specs and not cut corners , they spend upwards of 70-80k just on blueprints so they want to make sure they get exactly what the ar****ect drew and use the materials he specs . Most of our plans are 25-40 pages and some come with huge spec books that contain even more detail . Just for example we prime all of the backside of the door and window jambs before they are installed so there is no raw wood anywhere , all of our fascia is back primed before it's installed even if it comes "preprimed" from the factory .
As far as your nephew looking to choose a career path in residential construction . Since this industry has been ruined by cheap illegal labor , you really need either build a ton of production homes and use crap cheap labor or build high end homes with the best subs and be prepared to have to come behind even "the best" subs and fix some of their stuff yourself if you want it done right. Have you nephew call me

[youmyboyblue]

Yes we finished and moved in. Was pretty painless. Either I got ripped off or it is much more expensive to build over here bc I wasn't no where near $130 sq ft

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by youmyboyblue

Yes we finished and moved in. Was pretty painless. Either I got ripped off or it is much more expensive to build over here bc I wasn't no where near $130 sq ft

if i could build for 130/ ft i could sell the triton and buy a 70' viking lol

[Em591991]

Y u knocking our **** bag houses pox?!