home builder question
 

My wife and I are considering building a retirement house. As I search the net for info on building I have come across some local sites that are about building steel framed homes . As an example there are " kits " for an 1800 s.f. home for aprox. $45,000.00 . There are lots of details I don't understand yet but just curious what the forum thinks of steel houses ?
This coming Monday I am going to visit one of the local sellers and try to get smarter on these . I can see some advantages to this type of framing but don't fully understand it yet. My goal it to try and build a home of standard ranch style with aprox. 1800 sf for 150,000.00 . That price would be for basement and home the cost of the land would be additional . Pipe dream or possible ?

Possible.

Cost-wise, your best bet is to make a deal with a contractor to build a house only to the degree that you can assume final occupancy. Unfinished basement, cheapest trimwork and detailing, no landscaping etc., then do the rest yourself over time.

Simplicity-wise, your best bet is to do a turn-key arrangement as in, tell me when it's done and I'll turn the key and move in.

Simplicity and cost are pretty much mutually exclusive.

There are a number of pre manufactured homes out there. If you decide to go this route make sure you shop around.

regardless of what you decide - plan on it taking 2x as long as planned to build or remodel and a minimum of 2 -3x what you have budgeted.... it's a slippery slope when you build.

I should have stated I am an avid DIYer so there would be some things I would do myself. The basement as an example I would frame/finish it myself . I just need it to be water tight and rough plumbed . I can install flooring , cabinets and plumbing fixtures . I am looking at some land on Monday and if/when I find some then I will sit down with a few builders and see if we can get there .
And we haven't talked about a man cave either , would need two bays specifically just for me . I'm thinking four bay garage as part of the house , two bays closest to the house would be used for daily drivers and ease of home entry the other two bays would be gearhead specific . All just thoughts and talk but would like to see it come together .

From what I've seen, the price you cite is for a steel frame only--no labor to assemble, no coverings--interior or exterior--no foundation, etc. I guess what you are really asking is, is it worthwhile to use steel framing rather than wood? If so, your plan to talk to a local seller is a good one, as long as you compare only their product, steel framing, with wood framing, and don't forget to include a discussion about costs of labor to erect each type of frame. Additionally, there are costs in running electrical wiring and plumbing through steel as special grommets are used.

It might be better if you talked to a few contractors who have built both types of frame houses. All things being equal, you want to know if the steel frame has advantages you want that offset any additional costs.

ossi you are correct I really am asking cost of steel framing vs. conventional . And then the costs of the finished house steel vs. conventional .

While steel framing for residential applications is becoming more vogue, the labor and materials cost is still more than wood. So, unless you are going to build in a miserably termite infested area, wood would most likely be the way to go. Even though I built a 3,700 sq ft home about 11 years ago for about $75/ft, I doubt I could do that, now. I did quite a bit of the work, myself, while subbing out concrete, framing, rough plumbing and electrical, HVAC, roofing, stucco, a portion of drywall, and cabinets. With that being said, it took me exactly a year to build the house, and when I looked back, the extra interest cost paid to the bank since it took me so long to finish the house was probably a break even if I would have just paid somebody else to do the labor. Since you are a DIY'er, I doubt you would have a hard time subbing the major trades out and getting the house done in a professional and timely manner. Its just a matter of finding good subs and being on site every day to make sure things are progressing. You will make some scheduling mistakes, but with good communication with your subs, you will minimize that. However, there is always a little slippage with the learning process.

Most likely, you can find house plans on the internet that will cost you about $1000-$1,500. However, those are national plans and you will have to turn the plans into plans accepted by the municipality in which you will be building. You will most likely need a soils report, and most probably a structural engineer. You may also need a local architect, as well. The engineer and architect may cost you another $5-7k.

Good luck!

rfuerst911sc,
My wife and I attended a Home & Remodeling Show in Huntsville, AL two years ago. At this particular show, we met with an owner that built Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) homes. He was in process of starting to experiment with using steel framing on some of the interior walls. The manufacturer that he was dealing with is from your area, Marietta, GA. The name of the steel supplier is Metal Benderz LLC. We also meet with these folks and the cost of steel framing versus standard wood was almost the same (steel was slightly higher by about 4% - material and labor)

Fast forward one year... the ICF builder was building a new home that the floor joists and interior walks were all of steel. I visited this worksite several times and the was quite impressed with the sturdiness offered by by the steel. We opted not to go with an a ICF hone ONLY because no builders in our new area had any experience with this type of home building. The price then had dropped and it was slightly less to use steel rather than wood. This was based on the home's entire structure (both exterior and interior walls) using steel. It has a very quick learning curve and the interior and exterior wall treatments down easily and securely be affixed the these steel wall and floors.

See if you can arrange a visit to Metal Benderz LLC and see their operation and ask a plethora of questions. Also, talk to some builders that have used the metal studs to get their opinions.

Fireant the Metal Benders website is one I will look into . There also is a company outside of Cleveland GA. that manufactures steel roofing , siding and home structures . We are trying to move to Cleveland so they would be local and hopefully that would equal money savings . Right now I am not ruling out anything and just doing research . But I am not going to pull the trigger on buying land until I know roughly what the home will cost to build .

https://www.bluhomes.com/visit-us
there are several companies like this one (which is freaking expensive) doing pre-fabrication. Check out Dwell Magazine for more

https://www.dwell.com/collection/prefabs-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-35b30fcb
some prefab houses

Most residential contractors will not be able to finish a steel frame efficiently, due to lack of experience. If you go that route, maybe find a contractor that specializes in commercial construction.

Something that you may want to consider. If you build a steel framed home, then you buy a big screen TV and want to hang it on the wall. But the thing is huge, and you need to "mount it on studs". I'm not sure you'll be able to do that, or at least, not easily with a steel frame. Maybe there is an alternative, but a buddy lived in a high rise apt and couldn't wall mount his TV because they didn't have any wooden studs that he could mount to. I would assume that other things may pop up from time to time that were similar.

What Crowbob said is the safer way to go, the builders in your area would be able to give you a price close to what it will really cost to build, they already have trades that they deal with so they will have approx prices for there work, and know the local codes. The price they get will probably be less then if you hire the same people. Also they should have the insurance coverage if someone gets hurt. Once the structure is up and roof on you would have a easier time to complete on your own.

I am getting close to finishing a ICF build, have been at it for almost three years, myself and two helpers did the ICF blocks, 30,000 lbs of rebar in the walls. We are not in the house yet.

Pretty much given up on finding trades it took months to get someone to quote roof and siding, jobs that I did not want to consider doing on my own, but almost everything else I have done including ducting, electrical and plumbing and interior framing, just working on the drywall now, I would not recommend this to anyone.

Why do people think that? The good or custom builders do not take on lots of projects so they can have some breathing time to finish up the house. One more tip is to make sure to have this on your contract:

The actual Cost of the Work shall constitute the Guaranteed Maximum Price of xxx THOUSAND xxx DOLLARS AND NO CENTS.

$ xxxxx.000

In the event the Contractor shall produce the work in excess of the Guaranteed Maximum Price, the Contractor shall pay 100% of the excess out of his own funds.

Any additional work requested by the Owner outside the scope of this Agreement shall be evidenced in writing and signed by both parties. Such work shall be charged to the Owner on the basis of the actual Cost of the Work, plus $75 per hour Supervision Charge, if necessary, and the 20% Contractor’s Fee on the total. Completion time shall be extended accordingly.

The last part or as they say, the ball is in your court.

One thing to keep in mind is to be able to control your subs. The subs know you are a one time deal and will never call them again unless they know you are building three more homes in the next two months. You may very well be in their back burner, so getting them to give you bids and showing up to meet dead lines may present a challenge. I know that my subs dislike working for home owners. They feel its too much hassle having to answer too many questions (that's my job) and are constantly asking for advice on their trade or others. TAlking do not make them money. That's just the way it is, tough business.

As far as steel framing is concern, I see not issue with it. Walls are true and lack of expansion and contraction is always a plus. Aint no more creaky creaky. As someone mentioned earlier, most residential builders are set up for steel framing.

You will have to find a hungry contractor that will only take on the foundation, framing, roofing and closing up the building for you only because their name is on the permit and are responsible for the final project. Personally, I would let you muck (no offense) it up and still be responsible for the finish product with my name on the building permit. Lots to think about.

Sent you a PM...I can help with local knowledge on anyone in the Cleveland area that you may consider.

Slightly off topic, but important. My wife and I are building a summer home on a lake in NY. You won't have the NY related issues we are having: protecting the lake from runoff, protecting any trees over 8" in diameter, 100' setback from any wetlands, local approval (neighbors) of home plan, and the latest ensuring the long eared bat is not nesting in the area.

Site preparation on raw land can be very expensive. Ours is wooded and perched between a mountain and the lake. We do not have any utilities other than electric and internet/cable at the entrance. Between the well ($8-10k), septic ($12-20k), driveway (1/4 mile, $30k), clearing and grading ($7-10k/acre), electricity ($10/foot), permits, surveying ($5-20k) and other costs you would be surprised how quickly site prep adds up. Spend some time analyzing the entire cost if you haven't already. Be prepared, don't be surprised. A watertight shell may be a small part of the overall project cost.

mreid,

I think you're getting hosed on some of your costs. I've prepped hundreds of sites out in the middle of nowhere and never had costs like that. You do make a good point, in that lots of people don't think about things like that and most residential builders do a lousy job of site work. I couldn't count the number of times I've seen them grade a site after building the house.

Back to metal studs, few residential builders will have a clue about them and if you don't take advantage of their other features (running electrical in conduit, etc.) I see no point in using them for the average house. They are better suited to very contemporary designs. The issues mentioned above, like hanging a TV on a wall, are non-issues if the house is designed and built properly. There's really no difference there with a wood-framed house. Some trim is a little tougher but anything can be done if you know what you are doing.

It's impossible to generalize about costs. I could build you houses that cost $50/ft, $250/ft, or a $1000/ft. There would be differences, for sure, but they are all in the details and without getting pretty deep into those, it's a pointless question. Sort of like, "How high is up?"

If you choose wood-framing, take note that the average residential builder will use fairly crappy wood and not be too concerned with how it gets slapped together. I'm amazed how poorly many houses are framed these days. Choose your builder very carefully. Then, specify all of the details and make sure they are followed.

JR