Estimating

scubastieb

Hello... i'm taking the step and building my own home but i'm going to be playing the GC... I'm a laborer by trade and wanted to ask how to estamate materials and when asking subs to give bids on labor only what are the going prices for the different phases...so my questions are

I know roofing is lenght x width to get sq' and divide that by 32sq'...

I have an idea of figuring out 2x4's for a wall lenght of wall in inches and divide by 16" but how to figure for top plate and bottom plate and windows and walls is there a set way to estamate for lumber for the job...

How to estamate matterials for the job... lumber, plumbing, electricle,

What is a good programe to use to back up your own estamets?

MarkNoV

Why are looking for labour only bids?

Mark

jmic

With no disrepect to you, but you ought to get a second job and just buy something already built, cause from reading your posts you're gonna be way over your head.

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Joe

joasis

Acting as a GC without a clue as to basic estimating skills will be a disaster in the making. The best advice you will get is HIRE a competant contractor, and get with it. The home shows that deal with "be you own contractor" scenarios are not always revealing about the depth of what really goes into a home. And, you will notice most of the portrayed "contractors" had experience in the construction field first.

Your questions are showing a total lack of understanding of basic construction, and if you want to pursue this, I would advise to to get a good book on house contruction, and begin reading. This won't give you any experience, but will educate you on how complex or simple, depending on your confidence, this will be.

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tcleve4911

Please learn to spell estimating first

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Tom R

Scubastieb,

Every story you've ever heard about how much money you can save by being your own GC is true . . .

But . . .

YOU have got to be AS CAPABLE as a GC to do it!!

You're going to get EATEN ALIVE out there!!

It's hard enough to even FIND a GOOD GC out there.

NOW YOU WANT TO INVENT ONE??

dayspring

Tom, I agree with ya! They don't want to hire someone that knows thier stuff, they want to learn it themselves in one job! Possible? No Way. What they will learn....is respect for a good GC, with the EXPERIENCE that didn't come off some TV show.

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Bradracer18

My advice....other than what has already been given, is try to get on a framing crew of some sort....learn the trade....become respected by your boss and your crew enough to learn to layout and to learn how to estimate(or the basics anyways). You don't have to be a genius, but a good knowledge of how stuff is built would be a plus....along with a knowledge of how to build it, and the amount of time it takes to build it. Good Luck.

kodiak_island

Wow save money I dont think so. I would definately get an construction estimating book or computer program and learn the formulas to properly estimate your materials.

rpb1967

personally i would not work anyone as a sub who expected me to work as a hired hand. i buy material where i buy it, i buy what I use, and i pay what i pay. I never work for a home owner that insist on doing it thier way. remember as a GC you will have to make sure all your subs are compliling with codes for thier trade. i am a cert. HVAC tech and do light home improvements, and would never consider being a GC, because i know id lose my butt by spending all my time figureing out what to do instead of making a living.

Tscarborough

It is the little things that will get you, scuba.

I had a lady (used loosely), who with her husband was building a spec home. They were real estate "people", and so thought they knew construction.

They purchased Cultured Stone from me, and masonry cement to lay it, and later her "masons" bought more masonry cement to finish the job. Unfortunately for them, they used illegal's who did not appreciate the difference in color between the various brands of cement.

She approached me after it was in the wall, insisting that it was my fault that she was too stupid to know to buy the same brand of cement, and that I "should have known" what she was using on her job. Yeeeaah, right, Ma'am, it is my job to make sure your Mexicans buy the right cement. She had to tear down 4000 SqFt of wall and redo it. As she said, she and her husband had learned some valuable lessons in the process of building this spec home.

Pardon me for not feeling sorry for her.

scubastieb

I want to thank you all for your feed back....lots of neg feed back and lots of poking at my ability of not being able to build a house as a owner builder. I've built two homes using a GC and that was fine and i was a construction major in college then went into teaching.... I was hoping for more support from you all with my question than shooting down my idea of wanting to do this... I was hoping you would give me your best advice with the idea of me being one of the few that could do this... I hope the next replys are more positive to help me and give me tips.... Thanks.. buying the land next wk...

maj

You mean for sheathing, or where does this 32' come into play for roofing? A square of roofing is 100 sq. ft.

What about corners and trimmers? Just figure one per lineal foot. Plates are lineal X 3. Do you KNOW how to measure off the prints?

ESTIMATE


You sure had us fooled!!!!!

I thought they all handled themselves very well. And I might add that they were trying to help you. Honestly, from your original post, you should not be tackling something like this right now.

GOOD LUCK

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Tscarborough

Prepare to learn some valuable lessons.

scubastieb

That is what i was looking for ... i appreciate your wisdom and of course me being very raw at this help me not make my mistakes and help me do a good job if you will... "when you all see someone adding up 2+2 and getting 5... help them to get to =4 please don't poke at them and call them out for being not as good as you at this.... I'm a special ed teacher at three colleges in california and when people are trying to do their best when they really are not good at it does it help them to point out that they can't do it.... I never told the guy with west nile that he would never walk again... i told him i will help him even if his 1% of walking is all he has... i ask the same of you... when someone is lesser than you does it make u feel good to lessen them more... maybe when ur at home u can say i helped him or i lessed them ... i hope for the better of the two... Thank you Maj for teasing me but giving me some very good learning points... i will let you all know how this turns out... any more helpful hints will be great and I hope the best for all of you who read my not spell checked... not clear... and raw notes to you all.... thanks

Dave-Raleigh

Lets see...you were a construction major in college. Constructing what? You must have slept through the whole 4 years if you can't do basic estimating.

So you are a special ed teacher at 3 colleges in California? I applaud you for that but it seems you lack the basic sense of how to figure out roof sheathing or wall studs/plates. Your command of the printed english language could use some cleaning up too (considering that you teach in college)

So you built two houses using a general contractor? Did you ever go on site while they were being built? Did you learn anything from those two experiences other than you think GC is easy to do?

Your stating that you are a laborer confuses me. Can't you hire on to a more challenging position where you will learn something other than hauling stuff, sweeping floors, pushing a wheelbarrow, or turning stop sign back and forth.

Nothing wrong doing those things but you seem way over qualified to be stuck in that kind of job.

Good luck in being a GC on your own house. Seems to me you don't have a clue and wouldn't know which end of a tape to hold to read the measurement.

Maybe you should go back to college and get a masters degree in construction. I'm sure they teach how to estimate at the masters level (if they didn't at the bachelor's level).

Bah Humbug.

Mike Finley

Hey, I want to applaud your pioneering spirit, that's what made this country great. Back in the 1850s when men would go west to find fortune, they didn't know everything, but they would go do it and make some mistakes and figure it out along the way.

Alot of them died along the way, but hey. There are lots of great slogans to remember as you are struggling along with your GCing that will lift your spirits and keep you going like : "Pioneers get all the arrows!"

scubastieb, plus building our own shelters has a long and proud history here in America, don't let them get you down, just keep going and keep remember the 2 things that will always get you through any problem you face: TIME & MONEY, you usually end up having to spend lots of both for what you will run into so always remember to keep extra checks in the glove compartment and your project will keep on moving along in the right direction. Also keep in mind some of the greatest advice you were never given, this advice will get you through those sleepless nights when you wake up in a cold sweat about 1/2 way through the project. If you were looking to hire a GC to build you a house, would you have hired one with no experience? Because that's exactly what you just did when you decided to do it yourself!

Keep a good humor through the project and keep a well stocked bank account and be ready to spend it to dig yourself out of the holes you will put yourself in and the great expiriment you are putting yourself in the middle of will go just fine.

Brushslingers

Scuba, I got out of GC'ing due to the large amounts of BS you have to deal with... too old for it now however. Start at the libarary, really... there are tons of books out there that will answer your questions about how to estimate in minutes. You shouldn't be looking for labor only quotes though, if I am asked for "labor only" I give the same quote for mats included. Let your subs do the estimating, YOUR job as GC is to keep it to code... meaning, you walk around with a level and check behind them, make sure they aren't butchering a stud to stick a 3" drain in a 3 1/2" wall, etc. Get the project management books and learn that carpet comes after floors, etc... just like teaching school there are certain steps that have to be followed in a certain order. You will loose your butt this time, sorry but you don't even know how many studs to build a wall yet, but... the last two and this one by yourself... the next one you'll have the information. My favorite college prof used to say all the time, I will teach you nothing except... where to FIND the information.

He was right.

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Tom R

Scube,

No one's intent is to 'lessen' you, - - the intent is to enlighten you on how hard this task really is.

GC's make it look easy because they've already made all the mistakes, - - and paid for 'em, too . . .

Anyway, on another note, - - although I've got next-to-no experience at mechanical stuff, - - I'm gonna try and build myself a car, - - so's I can save some money, y' know??

Could someone please forward me a list of the parts I may need??

Maybe even the order they should go in??

I'm sure I can handle the rest myself.

AtlanticWBConst

Well Put Tom. That pretty much really does sum it up.

ALOT of good advice here Scubastieb.

My suggestion is that you really think about what is being said and WHY it is being said.
Through all the sarcasm (Which I did find rather entertaining) ...

All joking aside, People here on this thread..... really are trying to save you from what is sure to be your own worst nightmare....

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