Starting New House Finally!

[Alan L.]

I can't believe the way prices have went up in just the 2 years since we built our house. Our place is 2150 sq and we have a buddy in the A/C biz. We got the geo set-up for 12k, what a deal. My FIL is an excavating contractor and he did all the trenches, 5 of them 7' deep an 150' long. He hit some VW size limestones and tore up a ton of bucket teeth moving them.
Wait until you go to buy the copper wire, talk about sticker shock! What kind of insulation did you go with, expanding foam? We put this stuff called Nu-wool in the walls and I put 1" ridgid foam over all exterior walls. We ended up with an R-25 wall and R-38 in the attic. The place is all electric and highest bill has been $108.00. I was after an energy efficient house
Have fun and good luck.
John

From what I understand geo with wells for my house would be > $30K. I could get 3 x 2-ton Rheem 13 SEER systems with ERV for $13,500. We wanted the 2-stage for better humidity control and the higher SEER (16 or 17) for energy efficiency. Plus, we are adding the mini-split system. And, Tranes cost more than Rheems anyway, and are supposed to last longer and be more reliable.

The pier drillers showed up this morning, here are some pics.

 

[LarryRB]

I have a dumb question. How come houses in that area are on slabs and have no cellar? Here in New England, a cellar is a must..

 

[EddieWalker]

Larry,

I'm not a cellar guy, nor have I ever lived or worked on homes with cellars. Saying that, I believe that homes with cellars are usually in very cold climates that require deep footings to build a solid home. If you have to dig down ten feet or more for your foundation, it's not that much more to make a cellar in that space.

Here there is no need to dig down very deep since we don't have a frost line. One foot is all most homes have since that's all you need to suport the exterior walls of a home. Anything more is just spending more money. Other places down here have very high water tables and if you dig a hole four feet or more in the ground, it's very likely to fill up with water.

The other reason we don't do it here very often is the expense. I can build a very nice, brand new house for $60 to $65 a foot and sell it for $72 to $75 a foot. That's brick siding, tile floors and some very nice moulding. Most of the country can't come close to doing this, and if you have to put a cellar in, it's totaly impossible.

Eddie

 

[DUMBDOG]

Why is it so reasonable to build a home down there? Does 60-65 per foot include the land? The neighbors are building a home, 1500 down 700 up and without the land and dirt work, they are at about $60 per foot. The only work that they subbed out is the framing, pvc work and the Sheetrock finishing. The pvc is subbed out due to local regulations that a plumber has to do it.

 

[capt jack]

$60-$65 per sq. ft. does not include land here, and the price can go up, WAY UP. But North Texas is still a bargin compared to most of the country ( keep it quiet). Watch those "flip this house" shows and see where people are paying 250-400K for houses that need to be gutted. We have livable homes here for 35K, new brick (tract homes) starting at 110K. And no state income tax!

 

[Alan L.]

$60-$65 per sq. ft. does not include land here, and the price can go up, WAY UP. But North Texas is still a bargin compared to most of the country ( keep it quiet). Watch those "flip this house" shows and see where people are paying 250-400K for houses that need to be gutted. We have livable homes here for 35K, new brick (tract homes) starting at 110K. And no state income tax!

I just sold a perfectly good 1500 sq foot rent house, a brick home with garage, custom cabinets, nothing fancy but nice for $115K. The house was 5 years old, in a good neighborhood right across from a new middle school.

When you take 2163 square feet and add 900 square feet of porches that right there adds alot to the "per square foot of living area" even before you use any premium items. Those porches have concrete, roof, and trim, as does the garage.

Then you put quality wood windows and doors, hardwood floors, and solid or granit countertops, high efficiency HVAC, foam insulation, etc, the cost really goes up. My builder built a 2200 sq ft house about 1500 feet away from me 2 years ago for $120,000, but mine will be about $100 per foot. He has no garage, very little porches, brick veneer but with vinyl siding trim, no fireplace, basic HVAC and interior finishings, etc. Not what I wanted for my last house.

And, we are giving up some things we wanted, mostly rock and metal roof.

Another factor about having slabs instead of cellars here is the expansive clay soils we have. I don't think a basement could hold up in our soils, and they are not recommended. Too bad, as I envy the people up north that have them.

I think building costs up north are higher somewhat because they require better standard building materials, plus most of the trades are union and expensive. When I watch "This Old House" it amazes me sometimes the expense they go to up there for boilers and radiant floor heating and such.

 

[Alan L.]

Not much activity on my foundation this week. Here is the cable that will be used for the "post tension". In place of the surface rebar, they will pull these tight, and retighten them after 14 days of curing. Note the sleeve with grease so the cables will tighten up after the cement cures. They then patch the holes in the side of the slab, and they can come back and retension again if necesary.

One concern I have is the plastic vapor barrier. The box says the stuff is 4 mil and each box is 3200 square feet, which is about the size of my slab. I sincerely hope they plan on putting two layers, since the hardwood sites I have read say the barrier should be 10 mil minimum.

 

[capt jack]

The piers are the BEST money you will spend on your house. Just make SURE the tops of the piers are CLEAN of all dirt/debris as the slab itself is poured or you wasted that pier.

 

[Alan L.]

The piers are the BEST money you will spend on your house. Just make SURE the tops of the piers are CLEAN of all dirt/debris as the slab itself is poured or you wasted that pier.

I'm not sure if I will be here when they cover the beams with the black plastic, but I would hope the foundation contractor would make sure the foundation will be in contact with the top of the piers. I hope.....

 

[Alan L.]

Slow progress. Almost ready to pour, on Tuesday!