If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Photo: Library of Congress; reproduction number: LC-USZ62-92466
If I had to choose the primary place where owner builders, and contractors alike, fail when building a home it would be in the estimating of costs. This is one of the most important parts of the job to get right. If you make major mistakes, your job is doomed to fail before it even begins.

The most accurate way to estimate a job is to have records of what it has taken you to complete similar jobs in the past. In other words, the best way for me to know how long it will take to frame a 1700 SF, two story house is to look at how long it has taken me to do so on previous jobs. Of course, if you do not have records of previous jobs or don’t have previous jobs to consider at all, then this will not help you. Be sure to keep track of all of the jobs you do so that you can build an estimating book of your own in the future.

Estimating books do exist that consider industry standards for each aspect of home construction. These are an okay place to start if you do not have any other options to help you nail down costs; however, you must consider that each cost in these books has been compiled by material from professionals with different crews than your own. Everybody works at a different pace, so assuming that the numbers in any book will be accurate for you can be dangerous. Be sure to consider your own pace and compare it to those outlined in the book. For example, take something you know how to do and have done before. Make an estimate of how long it takes you to complete the task and then look it up in the book. How do you compare? This is a starting point for how to adjust times in the book. Things you know how to do with less certainty=more time added to the industry standard.

Whether you plan to do all of the work yourself or not, you should still get some estimates (quotes) from sub contractors. This will help you in two ways. First it will let you know if the numbers you assign to the task for yourself are in line with reality in your local area. Second, if you decide not to do the work when push comes to shove, you have a quote from a local contractor you can fall back on and know you have enough money in the budget to at least cover that cost. When you plan to use sub contractors, always get good recommendations from other people in your area and get at least three quotes for each aspect of the construction you plan to bid out. Do not take the lowest bid just because it is the cheapest. This may come back to bite you.

When you create your budget, it is really easy to build a spreadsheet with 400 line items over 20 pages. This is a lot of detail and probably more than you need. It may be a good way for you to personally learn about the individual costs in your home project, but any bank will not want to see that many line items. Use the details as you will, but create categories to file those subtotals under. For example, “Framing Materials” can cover the cost of all framing materials in the house whereas you may want to know the details like: floor construction, bearing wall construction, window and door frames, interior walls, and so on. That is fine, but list it all under framing materials for the bank.

Photo: www.island-decorandmore.com
Contingency fund. Always include one, always. Even if you think you have nailed the cost of the project on the head and you are so confident in your numbers that you would bet the family jewels on them, don’t. Construction is a very organic experience. Things change during construction that you likely will not have anticipated, no matter how well you planned. You have to have a fund designed specifically to address these concerns. create a contingency fund of 10% of the construction cost with your bank. If you don’t use it, you don’t have to pay interest on it. If you do use it, use it wisely. No drunken sailors here with a pocket full of gold. Use it only when you need it and you will be happy you planned that far ahead.

About the Author

Andrew Morison is a specialist in straw bale and green construction. He has shown thousands of peple how to build their own straw bale projects through his comprehensive series of instructional straw bale, concrete foundation, and plastering DVDs. You can chck these out at http://www.LearnStrawBale.com.com.

Like this? Click here to buy me a Wolaver's Organic Oat Meal Stout!

Email Updates

To be notified of new entries and to get our "7 Essential Steps to Straw Bale Success e-course" absolutely free, enter your email address below then check your inbox to confirm. More Info>>