The bottom and last line (Day 1000)

July 21, 2011

This may be the last blog entry now that my self-enforced limit of 1,000 days has arrived. There always is a bottom line and in this case it's "What did the house cost to build (time and money)." If you've been following the blog, you know that we started about 1,000 days ago, in early Nov. 2008. We moved in on May 15, 2010, a little more than a year ago. So, in answer to that question posed about money, I'm not going to tell you and the wandering eyes of the Jefferson County auditor's department or the IRS what this little gem cost to build. However, I'll tell you what it cost in percentages based on a hypothetical building cost of say . . . $500,000 (before sales tax). At that cost, this 2700 sq ft house would have been built for about $185 per square foot, or $200 per square foot tax included.

One thing is for sure right now, for the past 2 years, and probably for the next 5—it is cheaper to buy than build. There are just too many houses out there for sale. For example, the house we rented in the Vineyards while we built sold new for about $365,000 plus landscaping, etc. The owner was probably into it for $375,000 by the time she decided she couldn't move there and was going to rent it out until it sold. Well, 5 years later, after renting it for $1200/mo (quite a haircut as they say) she sold it for $260,000 and paid the traditional 6% commission. The way I do math that sale nets out at $244,400, or a net loss of $130,600 (35%). At about 2000 sq ft of finished floorspace, that makes the rental a $130 per sq ft bargain.

Well, I don't care how bad the economy is, no contractors, building supply stores, or tradesman are going to discount there services or products 35%. Plus in Washington you pay sales tax on ALL services, so your entire house has an 8.7% tax on it. (Note, for the present, out of state internet sales are not taxed and often ship for free, so this is the easiest way to save 25-50% on some items.) So the bottom line is its cheaper to buy than build. However, if you want the experience of doing a project like this, want the pleasure of seeing your ideas become a house, make it as custom as you like, and want a job for a couple years—I say Dive In.

So back to the bottom line. Using a hypothetical building cost of $500,000, the house would net out as outlined below. We realized a few bargains, saved substantial money on labor for many items (sweat equity), and occasionally got the rough end of the stick.

Category	$500,000	%	Comments
Architectural		4.4	No interior details
Structural engineering		1.5	Highest EQ haz code
Land surveys		0.4	Boundary and topo
Building permits/fees		2.1	County and HOA
Cut trees, clear land		1.2	60 trees, 0.6 acre
Pre-Build Expenses	$48,000	9.6
Sub Total (Cumulative)	$48,000	9.6
Excavating and regrading		1.5	280 yds removed
Foundation & basement		7.3	750 sq ft basement
Pre-Framing (Cumulative)	$44,000	8.8
Sub Total (Cumulative)	$92,000	18.4
Framing Labor		8.9
Framing lumber		9.8
Windows, skylights, solar tubes (36)		3.6	Installed tubes
Doors (27) and locks		2.8	Installed some doors, all locks
Garage doors & openers		0.6	Good deal
Dried In (Cumulative)	$128,500	25.7
Sub Total (Cumulative)	$220,500	44.1
Radiant flooring system (Warmboard)	$29,675	5.0	Did all Pex tubing
Roof, gutters, drywells		2.7	Laid drywells
Siding and shingles		1.3	Painted & hung 8,000
Plumbing		1.3	Did all rough in
Electrical		3.4	Did ½ of labor, hung all fixtures
Central Vacuum System		0.4	In the wall
Propane tank and piping		0.9	500 gal, buried
Air exchange and power vents, range hood		0.5
Rock facade (exterior)		1.4	Eldorado Stone
Fireplaces (2 gas)		1.4	Propane
Fireplace rock and mantles		0.2	Did all labor
Insulation		1.0	Fiberglass batts, 6-12”
Drywall		3.0	5/8" in garage
Painting (all)		1.3	Did all trim & exterior painting
Pre-Finishing (Cumulative)	$119,000	23.8
Sub Total (Cumulative)	$339,500	67.9
Plaster (Amer. Clay)		0.2	Did all plastering
Interior trim		0.7	CVG Fir or Primed FJ Pine
Tile: flooring and showers		1.7	Laid all tile
Wood flooring		2.8	Finished upstairs
Carpentry (labor)		0.5	Cheap @$20/hr
Cabinets (4 rooms)		6.9	Installed all units
Countertops (rock, 4 areas)		2.2	Big ticket items
Wood counters (maple, 2 areas)		0.2	Bargain
Closet storage		0.8
Appliances (all)		2.9	Top end package
Lighting fixtures (all)		1.2
Bath (1) and showers (3)		1.0	Frameless, 3/8” glass (3)
Plumbing fixtures		0.9	Kohler and better
Sauna (wood and heater)		0.3	Did all labor
Septic System		2.3	Pressure type, 3 bath
Interior Finished (Cumulative)	$123,000	24.6
Sub Total (Cumulative)	$462,500	92.5
Driveway		1.4	Exposed aggregate
Decks		0.4	Trex, 4 areas
Water conditioner		0.6	Kinetico
Tools and tool rentals		1.3	Paid for themselves
Electricity, propane, trash and sanitation		0.3	Expenses during building
House Complete (Cumulative)	$20,000	4.0
Sub Total (Cumulative)	$482,500	96.5
Landscaping		2.7%	Did all plantings and paths
Garden Shed		0.8%	Finished after Rough In
Exterior (Cumulative)	$17,500	3.5%
TOTAL EXPENSES	$500,000	100.0%

Almost 10% of the bucks were spent before a shovel was turned in the ground. However, changes really started with the tree felling, stump removal and brush clearing.

By the time we were ready for the Ellis boys to nail wood together, we had spent almost 19% of the hypothetical half million. The next real threshold is when a house is dried in (framed and secured), which takes up to the 44% point, or roughly $220k. By then, you're wondering when and when the rest of the money is going to mystically appear in your bank account.

By this point, we started to take on some jobs and reduce labor costs. This phase is what I call the owner-go-slow period. Its when you have visions of savings buckets of cash by doing such trival tasks as the rough-in plumbing and electrical (probably a 6 month delay over having it done). Yeah you save money, but you having to do apprenticeships in both trades. Thank god we had patient and helpful subs for both that kept us on the straight and narrow. The shingle dipping and hanging process was sort of tortureous, especially for the Dipping Lady. Who thought 8,000 shingles would take very long to hand dip—everyone said it was the way to do it , and had obviously never done it themselves or they were just having a giant laugh on us. Anyway, by the time the house was ready for the Kala Point HOA stamp of approval, we'd been building for 12 months and spent 2/3rd of the dwendling hypothetical half mil.

Next came the really labor intensive process for me (Michael) because I wanted to do it all. You'd think that after a year of this and 60 under my belt, I'd have thought a bit more about it. But I'm a type A guy who can't stand to be idle. So I took on the doors, trim, all the tile floors and 3 tiles showers, the plastering, and a host of other things. Now that I'm a fairly skilled home builder, I know that I'd never build another one (at my age). If I was 40, I might try 2 or 3 over a 20 year period. A good/bad thing about building your "one and only house" is that you really can't compromise on anything, or you would be haunted by it for the rest of your pre-Alzheimer life.

Best and Worst

Some good things we did in terms of building the house:

1. Radiant floor, and particularly Warmboard and Pex tubing.
2. Sierra Pacific Windows and Doors, Harvest Cranberry color
3. Gary and Troy Ellis, great framers & nice guys
   
4. Richard Berg, Architect for the roof lines, balance, and interior flow and most earthquake proof house on the Quimper Pennisula (see no. 4 below)
   
5. Bill McCutchen for cedar boards, maple tops, and a lot of help
6. Craftsman style—ease of construction for trim details
7. Discount Cabinets of Washington for all but the kitchen cabinets
   
8. Laid all the Pex ourselves—like playing with legos
   
9. Hung all the cabinets ourselves. Just some simple rules to follow
10. Hide a Hose central vacuum—I actually like using it
    

Some bad things we did in terms of building the house.

1. Started construction in Nov; April would have been much better
2. Underestimated the job in terms of time (2x) and money (30%)
3. Missed the start of the recession by 6 months for construction labor and materials
4. Over the top structural engineering, which complicated construction and drove up costs (5-10% overall)
   
5. Got sideways with the Architectural Committee owing to their 7-month building time limit (they only care about the exterior)
6. Spent too much time on the electrical and plumbing rough-ins
7. Probably have too much space upstairs that will only be used occasionally
   
8. Cleared too many trees and brush (salal). These take time and money to replace
   
9. Didn't put lawn sprinklers in. Was undecided about lawn with this came up; we'll see how it works out.
   
10. Should have added a drain across the driveway next to the garage. Water pools here—still can fix
    

In retrospect, its been a fun, educational, fulfilling, tiring, and expensive adventure. Nancy and I managed to stay married through it all (some don't), and both of us are happy with the result. There are a few things we'd do differently if we had to do it over again, but won't. Little mistakes become Architectural Features, each of which have an interesting story behind them. Now we need to start relaxing a bit more, enjoying the house with friends and neighbors, and getting out to know the Pacific Northwest better. That's it for this blog . . . unless something really noteworthy should happen.