How long has it taken you to build your home?

**Anna320** · 01-20-2011, 09:22 AM

If anyone doesn't mind sharing the information, could anyone please tell me how long it has taken to build your home? And, perhaps, how much it has cost, not including the land? I would very much like to get a general idea of the averages.

With much appreciation and admiration,

Anna

**Upers** · 01-20-2011, 09:49 AM

Estimates

Anna,

I am in the very early stages and wondering the same things...
These are my estimates
10 years to build - hopefullly (of those 10 I will probably take 6 years off when kids are in college in terms of spending $ to build)
approximate costs - $190,000 ($70,000 for land and $120,000 for 35 x 35)
-- biggest $ Foundation $20K and Roof $20K and Kitchen $15K

**panderson03** · 01-20-2011, 09:50 AM

hi there. welcome!
as far as cost, it varies greatly depending on how much planning you do and how much work you do yourself vs hiring out. as an example, I can go grocery shopping myself, coupons in hand and get by rather cheeply but if I choose not to use coupons or compare prices or even if I order on line and have my groceries delivered to my doorstep the price is much greater. building a log home follows the same concept. you can to it pretty cheeply if you take the class and learn how.
as far as time, we took the class May 2009, started with site clearing May 2010 and hope to be weathered in on both the garage and the cabin by snow fall 2011 (mid October or so).

I know this isn't the sort of answer you wanted. you were likely looking for details so you can make plans but so much depends on what you want to build, how long you have to do it, whether you want to be able to hire some of it/all of it out, whether or not you have time to look for deals on tools and materials that its just not possible to give you any concrete answers. sorry

**panderson03** · 01-20-2011, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by Upers

approximate costs - $190,000 ($70,000 for land and $120,000 for 35 x 35)
-- biggest $ Foundation $20K and Roof $20K and Kitchen $15K

OK Upers you show off

now I have to go and give dear Anna some numbers as well.

foundations for garage and cabin including excavation (which we hired out) cement, AND ICF (including the walkout basement walls) all came to about $15,000. We're planning on ~$16,000 for roofs of both structures (materials only as we will be supplying the labor) and kitchen ~$4000 (including the cabinets that we've already purchased for $1800 and refinished)

**StressMan79** · 01-20-2011, 10:37 AM

if you want to get it done quickly, live on site. Mine is 7 hrs away, and I have to make a real trip to get anything done. course land inside of 3 hours would have cost 5x as much... Mine is much smaller, did block, filled with crete. Footer cost ~1000, block cost another 3k, and the crete to fill it was another 300. My floor will also be crete, I figure another 700, so total foundation will be 5k for a 24x24. Course that includes the first floor slab.

all the dimensional lumber and roofing was another 9k.

Tools (that I did not need them all) will run ~ 20k (include a telehandler)

my outbuildings cost me roughly 4k.

My camper cost me 1200, and my truck cost me 6k.

then there is logs, site clearing/excavation (another 7k)....

Gas back and forth costs me ~150 each trip.

I have my out buildings, camper, logs peeled, foundation in, and it has been 4.5 years since I started this and 2.5 since I started building. Main structure will be put up this summer.

-Peter

**rocklock** · 01-20-2011, 09:51 PM

The general rule of thumb is that one man can build in two years. Two men can build in one year. Three men may never get it finished...

Your progress is dependent on many decision and plans that you make. Are you going to build to sell and then build another, or is this little puppy the very last...
I am building about 6 months a year. I am also the king of double work... This next summer will be my sixth (2006 to 2011). We also only build what we can afford... So we go a little slower than others... I intend on getting very close to finished this year and having the final inspection early in 2012...

**WNYcabinplannin** · 01-21-2011, 04:57 AM

Perfect time to repeat the old saying. Cheap/fast/good: you get 2 of three at a time. I started wanting cheap and good- but realized that it wasn't for me with Upstate NY weather looming. My budget for the log walls went up 8k when I hired some pros and hired out a crane, but it was worth every penny. Time is $$, IMHO, and safety and quality went way up having the crane.
More power to people planning 5+years to build, and many that be a necessity- but if you live in a place with a serious winter...
well I didn't want to think about winterizing a partially built log shell. That and I don't think my marriage could survive a 5 year build.
While I'm at it, the LHBA technique of buying surplus windows (irregular sized, wrong color made,etc.) didn't end up making sense for me. All of the extra windows the manu.'s here had were vinyl and white. Any savings I would've had would've been short lived. Good thing Bill L.'s friend is a pro window installer, and is passing on his 40% discount.
So there's my ramble. I guess you just dig in and do what you can do, with your budget, your time requirements, your ability. Just be prepared to go 30k over with your life intact and then if you don't need it, pay it back or reinvest.

**dazedandconfused** · 01-21-2011, 07:36 AM

Stress you state you paid 20k for tools, what was the large costs here, it does not seem they all will fit in your trunk, thanks all for the numbers that helps, I wonder with the basment issues if a slab would be best for me

**StressMan79** · 01-21-2011, 01:15 PM

yeah... you don't need a 20,000 # telehandler. You may not need a generator or two.... you need some pulleys, rope, sledgehammers, regular hammers, peavies, etc... I have all of this, and the telehandler, two demo hammers, extra screw guns, etc.... I guess I am something of a collector.