Covered Porch

[Joker]

I am building a custom home and I have hired a builder to do the work, he is a good friend of mine and has cut me a hell of a deal at 60.00 a sqft for a 2700 sqft home but we have kind of ran into a disagreement the home also has a wrap around porch. This is where the disagreement is. He is assuming the porch will cost atleast 30.00 a sqft. and I can't imagine it being that much. Oh yea the porch is about
132'x6' = 792sqft x 30.00 = $23,760.00 thats alittle steep if you ask me. What do you think?, and how could I minimize the cost? Thanks in advance.

 

[beenthere]

If me, I would decide to do it myself (if I thought I could do it cheaper) or I would offer to buy all the materials needed, and pay him an hourly wage that he would expect to get for his labor. When you ask him to provide a contract price, he has to cover all contingencies, and try to end up with his hourly wage (at least) in the end.
If you are not comfortable with his price, stop going ahead with this 'good deal' of a friend.

I just paid a painter $40 an hour to paint and stain the outside of my house. I bought the paint and stain. I refused to let him clean the windows that were covered with paint and stain, as I don't want to pay him $40 and hour to do it. I will do it, and then the windows will be clean the way I want them. About 62 hours to do the job.

 

[cstocks]

I have been talking to the builders in my area and they all say $30-$35 per square foot for covered porches.

 

[crb478]

Covered porches are more complicated and time consuming than they appear to be. If there is much finish detail to the porch at all 30 per foot does not sound too bad since it is a wrap around porch. Matching up the corners takes time which equates to money as do railings, boxing in the eves and installing a ceiling with wiring for lights and outside recepticles. Then the porch floor whether it is poured concrete or wood. Around here the area under the porch must be backfilled with gravel. It all adds up!

 

[MarkV]

I know it sounds high but it is what I would expect to charge for an average porch. That price could easily double depending on detail and material specified. Of course there are many variables and crb478 covered the big ones very well.

Give us some more detail about the porch you want to end up with and maybe someone will have some ideas to cut cost.

Congratulations on the new home.

MarkV

 

[patrickg]

OOOOOOH CHRIS... There is a reality check for me! I'm lusting over wraparound porches with wider is better and more coverage (all the way around is a goal). Oh well, maybe I don't have to have porches ALL the way round.

How wide do y'all think wrap around porches should be for most purposes? I see a lot of them at 8 ft in plans but would like 9-10 feet, especially if the ceiling height is 9-10 feet. Yo do make the porch ceilings as high as the house don't you? I'm trying desperately to converge on a limited number of alternatives to send out for bids on a two story victorian farmhouse with walkout basement in the 2700 to 3400 sq ft general size (Basement included but not including the attic space above garage{bonus room}).

Patrick (hoping for a miracle)

 

[GSS]

We just put a double back porch on our 1877 farmhouse. We decided on 10' deep so we had room to maneuver around people as they sat, etc. As it was being built, we were thinking, "Wow, this might be a little too big..." But now that it's done, we love it. In my opinion, a porch cannot be too big. Our's is 37' x 10'. First floor ceiling is about 9' and the second is 8' 6", which both match the ceilings inside.

I never thought about $ per sq. ft, but I guess we paid about $45, which included gutters, wiring, custom "lamb's tongue" carved posts, salvaged barn foundation stones, beaded tongue and groove ceiling, etc.

Sorry but all the pics I have here are too big. Go to the URL in my profile and open the House folder. There are some in there with a good view of the porch.
- G

 

[patrickg]

Gee thanks, G!!!

I sure do appreciate the motivation you have lent me. Hopefully someone might come up with some cost saving ideas, especially for those of us (ME) who are not really into being fully period authentic/compliant and can compromise if needed. I should have said we want to be sort of victorianesque farmhousish. Sure want big porches but can't allow a budget buster to contort the rest of the house too much. Maybe I can find a way (several ways???) to cut costs, some of which could be undone in favor of better detail later. For example: Columns arent cheap. Maybe I could go with temp columns and change them out later. Bare bones railings to be completed/improved later. Anyone else got any ideas for saving money on porches and or defering certain completion items?

Patrick

 

[cstocks]

Patrick,

It was a reality check for my wife and I too. We wanted a porch all the way across the front of our house to give it the farmhouse look. However, we want a huge back porch too and could not afford both so the front porch turned into much more modest, smaller affair and the house does not look very much like a farmhouse anymore.

Our back porch will be L shaped and is 10' wide x 32' long. We started with an 8' porch in the drawings and decided more was better so we went with 10' instead. It will be screened in to keep the skeeters out and we intend to put a 7 or 8 ft. jacuzzi at one end. Our house will have 9' ceilings and so will our porch.

My dream house has a wraparound porch but I may die of old age before I am ever able to afford that house. I hope you get your miracle and your dream becomes a reality.

 

[RobS]

The house we're building right now has a large wrap around covered porch.l We had the builder/framers do the roof and we're doing the rest ourselves. I suppose the answer to your question will depend on the level of detail you intend to put into the porch. We're using 1X4 T&G porch boards, primed and painted on all four sided (by us as well), beadboard plywood for the ceiling and fairly elaborate posts/railing. Also brick piers. I have no idea on the costs per sq ft, but I would guess at least as much as you were quoted to have all this done by someone else. We're getting the contractor pricing on all our materials (through the builder) and are able to work at our own pace as not much else is dependant on the porch.

I will warn you, the painting of all the natural wood is EXTREMELY time consuming but essential to having it last.

Feel free to E-mail me if you have any more questions /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif