New House Build – Questions

Bump with more questions:

We do not have anything set up for a driveway pad yet. We would need a rectangular area approximately 48′ wide x 30′ deep for the pad in front of the 3 car garage with it reaching 1 spot beyond the garage to park trailers.

I know concrete is probably the best bet, but this also connects to about 1100′ of driveway. Should we consider doing just blacktop? I ask this because we will likely eventually blacktop the entire driveway in 1 or 2 shots as well. We have an “in” with one of the companies that contracts a lot of the local road blacktop and will pull the trigger on some when they are in the area. If we blacktop the area in front of the garages and the driveway, it’d all be uniform and not bother the OCD parts of me as much…not to mention I’m assuming it’d be a bit cheaper. I know blacktop has to be seal coated and everything periodically, but it also seems to hide blemishes and stains better. Fresh concrete is beautiful…until it eventually gets a crack or stains.

If your parking and/or doing a lot of turning in that area, then concrete.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

If your parking and/or doing a lot of turning in that area, then concrete.

Any concrete guys want to weigh in on estimated costs…or costs between the 2? Yes, I know there are a ton of variables – but ballpark guesses would help.

No question in my mind, concrete pad where it takes the most abuse. Excluding site prep 48×30=1440 sqft X $5.00 (ballpark amount) = $7,200. 5 is a very gross estimate. I haven’t had anything poured here since Oct and pricing has been fluid as you know. If your concerned about the appearance or look of BT matching to concrete, stains, dyes, or stamping is an option and naturally more $$$

Randy is about spot on with cost per square foot, $5-$7 in that area. That’s what I’ve seen also for a cost in Goodhue county mn , pierce county wi.

Thanks guys.

Speculating is tough…but like everything else, would you anticipate those costs rising as Spring comes? We’ve got to decide what we are doing by the walkout patio as well with concrete vs. pavers, etc.

buckybadger wrote:

Thanks guys.

Speculating is tough…but like everything else, would you anticipate those costs rising as Spring comes? We’ve got to decide what we are doing by the walkout patio as well with concrete vs. pavers, etc.

Here is my thoughts on what people run into come spring time.

Flatwork guys have a crap load of walks and driveways that they didn’t get done in the fall because of weather – they push to spring.

After January, there is always a push in new construction and EVERYONE wants to get rolling as soon as the ground allows – this is garage on slab, new homes, and everything else that involves excavating and concrete.

So typically around April +/- depending where your located and weather you have a crap storm of work to be done with everyone wanting to be next on the list. Builders that give flatwork guys a lot of work will get preference. Falls into don’t bite the hand that feeds you thing. However, this is where I use extreme caution and I carry a lot of resentment against the guys that do this part. ——-))) If market is running $5.50/sqft you might have a guy toss you a quote at $7.25 per foot. If you bite, he makes a killer price on the job and he bumps someone back to do it. Is it wrong to do this?? not really but I hate the ethics in it and its not the way I do business with anyone. The other thing you run into is guys that over commit to what they can do. They give you an honest price and then blow smoke up your rear for timing. You get strung along li8ke your only a couple jobs out and it keeps pushing and pushing. Next thing you know your June time frame turns into Sept or later. Worse is you have almost no one else to turn to. Most flatwork guys are booked out for the year by May/June for driveways and little bit larger scale pour outside. If you get sucked into hitching your trailer to one of these guys and figure it out by July, you could be screwed for getting it done before winter. In the grand scheme of things, I’m a small builder. Yes, many of my homes are a mil plus, but I don’t do 30 homes a year. Over time, I’ve had plenty of issues with some shady concrete guys. If you know and trust someone, stick with them and don’t get dumb trying to save a few hundred bucks chasing a possible deal

Awesome info. Thanks for the expertise.

I’ve got 2 options in-mind that I trust. One did the main house pour and does quite a few bigger projects. Our 1900ft basement and ICFs were comparably small jobs for them. We’re probably the smallest home they’ve done recently. They are harder to pin down than some concrete outfits with timing but have worked with our GC for years. The other option is a smaller 2 man show that has done local projects for quite a long time that our family knows. My concern with them is they take on a lot and are workaholics. They do more work on Sundays then some crews do in a week, but with that comes the inevitable scenario where they get behind.

Does it make sense to have both come out and ask for pricing now to get on their radar? Our GC has worked with both before and didn’t have concerns with either. He’s just waiting on our green light to what we want to do.

It’s always fair to have multiple quotes and nothing wrong with being up front about. One may give you more options or catch something you over looked. Sooner you make a comment, the sooner you get it done. Btw, I like work-aholics that are totally honest and straight shooters on things

Bump with more questions:

Has anyone here used a downdraft range hood before? The Mrs. despises the idea of a range hood over her large island where the cooktop is. It’s a non starter for her as she wants a view out into the formal living area, fireplace, etc. and thinks every one we’ve looked at is ugly. One custom build we walked through that our builder did previously had no range hood of any sort over the island cooktop and the owners claimed it wasn’t an issue. I’m a bit more concerned that if/when she is cooking something we need a spot for that moisture to go. Thoughts? There is a large patio door close to the island that could easily be popped open if needed for more ventilation that she references as being “enough.”

Has anyone used the SNAPP Screen system on a porch? It allows for large pieces of screen to be installed and held tight in a sleek way. Our builder asked if we were interested in going that route and trusted it, but I’ve personally never seen it.

If anyone on here is in SE MN and wants a straight cash job doing a large driveway slab, PM me.

I don’t recall the specifics but on vacation got to know a concrete contractor who was down in Nevada, certain materials are getting hard to come by.

Personally I would’ve had something locked in last fall for this year. Good luck.

I wish I was closer if take that driveway in a heartbeat

Bearcat89 wrote:

I wish I was closer if take that driveway in a heartbeat

We are looking to probably put it down early summer. We are a couple miles from Pool 4. Bring the boat down and make a long weekend out of it. I’d gladly point you in the direction of a few great early summer spots

Deuces wrote:

I don’t recall the specifics but on vacation got to know a concrete contractor who was down in Nevada, certain materials are getting hard to come by.

Personally I would’ve had something locked in last fall for this year. Good luck.

The same guy who did our ICF foundation, garage, and front porch is an option…but he’d rather not do it until late July. The Mrs. doesn’t like the idea of having dirt/mud/gravel up to the front of her new house that long, so I’ve been doing some checking around.

Must be getting closer Bucky. What’s the current state? Do you have your cabinets in line? One of my subs came a week early because all his jobs were delayed due to cabinets.

As to your question of a downdraft hood, my builder answered the question by how often do you use yours now because they meet the code but do not get anywhere close to the ability of a standard hood.

I’m hopefully a week out from move in day. Electrical and plumbing final inspections today. Carpet and stone seem to be the only larger items until spring work when it warms up.

Installed and lit up the exterior cans last night. brr.

I’m also trying to figure out my screens for the deck.

Attachments:

1. 

   Deck-2-24.jpeg
   

2. 

   House-exterior-2-24.jpeg
   

That looks awesome! Congrats on the progress. That place looks like it has quite the footprint. How many finished square feet is it? Is that a cedar ceiling on your porch? We’ve got to decide what we are doing with ours here shortly.

We’re making progress, but it really slowed due to our plumber being overrun and then having Covid go through their family with some pretty heavy symptoms. By this time next week our plumbing rough-ins will be done and the electrician should be close to done with his as well following right behind him. Then our general will get the LP siding on once all the exterior vents, outlets, lighting, etc. is laid out. Still no drywall up to really have things look like a finished project though or help the Mrs. visualize before she starts burning money on decor and furniture

We do have our cabinets ordered and in-line. Luckily we haven’t had any significant delays beyond the extended lead times that we knew about ahead of time. The Marvin windows were just a few days late from the original date and one of the transom windows shipped with the wrong color jamb extension. The one thing that should have been here 2 weeks ago and hasn’t showed up yet is our front door with sidelights. It’s fiberglass with woodgrain, dentil, etc. and evidently more of the detailed products were put-off for a few weeks to try and get standard doors caught up (or is what we’re being told). Garage doors are here, but we are waiting on a warm spell to pour the floors and be sure the frost is out in the garage. I’ll start pumping heat in there next week with our 750,000 btu diesel heater after the contractor and I throw some plastic on the garage ceiling and hang concrete blankets over the door openings.

House looks deceivingly large from the front. What you see to the right is a lot of garage. 5-6 spaces worth. If you drive around the house to the right, there are another three stalls worth below with one 10′ garage door access. The house is 1988 sq ft foundation and I finished two bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs to the tune of about another 500 – 600 sq ft.

Its a crazy time to build right now. My builder had my house re quoted from scratch last week. It’s over $300K more to start to build it right now.

Luckily for him, we did a ton of allowances for things we did ourselves (cabinets, trim, heated floors in bathrooms and all garage space, electrical) Although every one of his allowances came in 20-30% short of what was actual. I couldn’t imagine how bad he would have fared if it was a turn key price contract. He would have lost a lot of money to build our house.

I got a bit carried away on the electrical. Here are the two panels in the basement and there is another full panel in the garage. $7000 in copper wire and probably another $1200 in breakers so far. Damn codes.

Yes, that is cedar. We will clear coat it in warmer days ahead.

Attachments:

1. 

   Basement-panels.jpeg
   

2. 

   deck-fireplace.jpeg
   

These rough pictures are a few weeks old but show somewhat where we are at. Significantly behind you from the looks of things. When did your project break ground?

For reference ours is 5 beds, 3 baths, with walkout basement and 3780sq ft finished.

Attachments:

1. 

   house-5.jpeg
   

2. 

   house-4.jpeg
   

3. 

   house-3.jpeg
   

4. 

   house-2.jpeg
   

5. 

   house-1.jpeg
   

Looking great! As much as it looks like fun, it’s been super stressful on the marriage. We moved to a 900 sq ft apartment when we sold last April and from the looks of my old photos, we broke ground in mid August.
Long mostly boring story best told on either of our boats on Pool 4 this summer, but we started two years ago and had to put everything on hold as I didn’t know if our company would survive Covid as we build trade show displays.

I built the majority of the cabinets two years ago pre-Covid and they were in my storage unit.

Attachments:

1. 

   Kitchen-early.jpeg
   

I’m jealous on that garage situation. Ours is 38 wide by 26 deep, but I already regret it not being bigger. We originally looked at going with just 4 bedrooms, eliminating a basement storage room, and going with the prestressed concrete floor under one part giving us essentially another lower garage on the backside. Once the Mrs. saw that quote on “my side” of the wants list – she was quick to axe it. If memory serves me right it was about a $26k upgrade.

We were lucky/strategic to have all our structural lumber, roofing supplies, flooring, stone, etc. bought last summer already when the prices dropped to nearer normal levels. Our lumber was purchased when the market average was $480 per 1000 board feet. Today it’s hovering just over $1300 per 1000 board feet (so almost triple what it was in July).

Is that build in the country? We are ~1100 feet from the nearest rural road and power. That bill to get connected will haunt me for a long time even with us handing cash to the electrician to do most of the distance. Xcel has to be owned by Putin or some of his associates.

We broke ground in late October once the corn on our land in front of the house came off, with the concrete work done in early November. The 1200′ driveway project started with me ripping out a ton of fence line and moving what dirt I could with our family equipment back in August.

buckybadger wrote:

Xcel has to be owned by Putin or some of his associates.

Lol, I was happy to switch things up to lighter topics after reading the Ukraine II post this morning. All my problems are trivial to what others there are dealing with…

We are on around 4 acres. Mostly woods. We cleared about an acre for the build site. It was a stupid $1000 large lot fee to Dakota Electric to spend 5 minutes to hook up to the transformer already up by the road. The rest was on me. $300 trencher rental, $1500 for the cable and box and 4 hours of trenching very rocky soil.

Hey Greg, did you use span Crete in your garage then?

Greg Krull wrote:

I got a bit carried away on the electrical. Here are the two panels in the basement and there is another full panel in the garage. $7000 in copper wire and probably another $1200 in breakers so far. Damn codes.

You just can’t have too many breakers,,,,,,

Hahaha, HRG

Attachments:

1. 

   20220225_124733_Film3-2.jpg
   

IF you can find them, $67 each for the AFCI/GFCI. And that’s a big IF. But those 11% off rebates. Oh boy. I’m gonna be able to buy a lot of bacon when it goes on sale.

Yes, we did span Crete / pre-cast concrete. It came from Molin. They are 22′ spans and 48 ft worth. I think they are 3′ wide maybe?

Greg Krull wrote:

Yes, we did span Crete / pre-cast concrete. It came from Molin. They are 22′ spans and 48 ft worth. I think they are 3′ wide maybe?

Thanks, do you have a Rough cost per sqft? Looking using that on a project.

Can’t tell you what the install was as it was rolled into my foundation part of the project. The pre-cast themselves was $17,500 for 1056 sq ft, sooo my math skills say around $16.50. I’d guess with the crane, you’d be looking at around another $8K to set and fill.

Thanks Greg

buckybadger wrote:

For reference ours is 5 beds, 3 baths, with walkout basement and 3780sq ft finished.

That’s an enormous house! Very nice. We are looking to build in a few years, but we wouldnt be building anything that big. In 6 years all the kids will have graduated so something so big really wouldnt make sense to us, but I suppose resale down the road it may. My wife has a plan picked out, which my eyes rolled back into my head when she showed me so I dont really remember too much about it.
Our plan was to sell our current house to our oldest. That way we could get him a nice first home at a discount.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
For reference ours is 5 beds, 3 baths, with walkout basement and 3780sq ft finished.

That’s an enormous house! Very nice. We are looking to build in a few years, but we wouldnt be building anything that big. In 6 years all the kids will have graduated so something so big really wouldnt make sense to us, but I suppose resale down the road it may. My wife has a plan picked out, which my eyes rolled back into my head when she showed me so I dont really remember too much about it.
Our plan was to sell our current house to our oldest. That way we could get him a nice first home at a discount.

It sure doesn’t seem enormous once in it and compared to most our contractor has done, but the original plan did swell a bit. We have substantially more storage in the basement than most comparable homes (which is significantly cheaper sq. footage). Id say nearly 1/3 of the basement is dedicated to storage.

Family is a big part of our lives and our homes have always seemed to be an open door to family, friends, and neighbors almost daily. It is hopefully a forever home on our 40 acres butting up to 200 acres owned by our family.

That plan you talk about would be a dream come true. I don’t like handouts and not “earning” things, but in today’s world I’d love to pass this off to a child down the road at a reasonable cost to let them raise a family in. In today’s world I worry for future generations what the cost of living will be. We could easily be heading into a part of history where future generations actually live in worse financial conditions than previous ones due to the sheer cost of day to day necessities.

Bucky-

I saw on the Xcel bill thread you looked I to efficiency options through your build. Did you look into two stage versus single stage HVAC equipment? If so, I’d be curious on what you found