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Small Cabin Forum / Cabin Construction / Estimating costs for a build?
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CabinBuild
Member
# Posted: 16 Jan 2020 08:43
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I tried posting this on the CountryPlans forum, but it doesn't seem very active so I'll ask here

I want to build a small cabin as my vacation home and possibly airbnb it as well. I am thinking about building a 20'x20' a-frame cabin with a loft. I've been watching Youtube videos, reading forum posts, and doing my research.

Does anyone have advice on how much they'd estimate it would cost? Build advice?

I'm leaning toward a sonotube pier and beam foundation, keeping it simple, doing the work myself (except for plumbing/electric) and hoping to keep the cost under $30k. Is that reasonable? Are there lots of hidden costs I'm missing?

Brettny
Member
# Posted: 16 Jan 2020 08:51
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Go on HD or Lowes website and start putting stuff in your shopping cart. You can get a pretty good idea on the price doing this. There are many places to get cheaper products than what HE and Lowes sells but there websites are convenient and easy to use. I find my local lumber yard to be cheaper on lumber 2x6 and bigger.

If you want, need or have to have a well a septic then no I don't see $30k.

JDH83VT
Member
# Posted: 16 Jan 2020 13:31
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It's going to be highly subjective depending on location and the finishes you choose. Brett is right, once you have thought through the planning, utilize those sites to price out your stock list, that's exactly how I did it. It at least gets you in the ballpark.

Just for reference purposes: I'm about halfway through my build of a 16x24 camp with half loft. I have the shell complete (roof, siding, doors, windows, trim, insulated) and I'm sitting somewhere around 10k. This is doing it all myself with metal roof and pine bevel siding (windows and doors were salvaged from job sites). The interior is largely unfinished, just loft framing, partition walls and insulation at this point. No wiring or plumbing yet.

I would think you can ride under 30k if you aren't going too nuts with plumbing, heating, and electrical.

Just
Member
# Posted: 16 Jan 2020 17:14
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I would gess $50 Sq. Ft.Material only.be a good place to start!

hijlehhw
Member
# Posted: 16 Jan 2020 22:27
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X2 for using online suppliers to price out your materials list. I have found the opposite, Menards is cheapest but for some things I prefer local yards for quality and delivery. Lumber is better at the yard vs Menards but they up charge you for it and include free delivery. For instance shingles where cheaper at menards but they would charge me $175 to deliver to my location, local yard included free delivery but I paid about $200 more than what menards would have charged with delivery. They then pick up any leftover. So for some things I think it is worth it. I'll likely buy my sheetrock from the local yard also.

I also keep an excel spreadsheet with line items for every single thing you can think of. Plumbing, well septic, cabinets, flooring etc. Anything you can think of as an expense. Then go online and price things out. I have found now that I am 50% or more through the project that some things I underestimated and some things over. What is nice is that you can see (if you are really trying to stay on budget) that if one line item was over, you can cut costs in another item maybe to get you out of the red. Some things I specifically over estimated and baked some fluff in, that way I know that even if I maxed out every line item I'll be ok, I just want to do it as economically intelligent as possible. Also if one item came in under, I can adjust those dollars to another line item for an upgrade maybe.

As far as cost on your specific project I think that is impossible to tell due to the amount of variables.

silverwaterlady
Member
# Posted: 16 Jan 2020 22:33
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Whatever number you eventually come up with double it, lol.

darz5150
Member
# Posted: 16 Jan 2020 23:39
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If your new at the DIY thing. You can get a material calculator from amazon for about $15 bucks. It can help you figure out how many studs in a wall, stair stringers, plywood, concrete and gravel etc.
I would call the place that you are buying the materials from and talk to one of their salesman. Tell him what your project is, and let him help you figure everything out. Some times if you give them a sketch, they will do a computer drawing and material list/cost for free. After all, your gonna be spending money with them. Then if something is wrong, you can call him and he can fix it.
Also like SWL said. Although your original cost estimate might not be doubled. Its gonna cost you more. LOL

CabinBuild
Member
# Posted: 17 Jan 2020 07:55
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Thanks all! I'm working on my spreadsheet now, and am already up to $8k for the foundation, framing, a-frames, joists, roofing, and interior paneling.

Still to go on the budget list are the insulation (subfloor, roofing, and side walls), windows, doors, plumbing, electric, flooring, furniture, and kitchen.

Am I missing anything?

Also, thank you for sharing your costs JDH83VT. How much do you expect wiring and plumbing to cost?

Also, any suggestions for insulating the floor and walls? I've seen so many pros/cons on closed cell foam, open cell foam, rockwool, flash and bat, polyiso, SIPS panels, etc. There seems to be no consensus, and no approach seems without potential drawbacks.

darz5150, do you mean a Home Depot or Lowes type of place? Or, a local lumberyard?

Irrigation Guy
Member
# Posted: 17 Jan 2020 12:42
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Another thing to think about when comparing big box to local yard is the ease of loading. Like the other day we needed to load 30 sheets of drywall in my truck and at the local yard I was able to back my truck 6” from the pile.

cspot
Member
# Posted: 17 Jan 2020 16:35
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Carefully sit down and calculate all of your costs. Spend alot of time getting it right down to the penny. Lowes and Home Depot will give you online prices for the stores in your area. Once you have everything calculated down to the penny, then you double it and that will be pretty close to your cost.

Brettny
Member
# Posted: 17 Jan 2020 19:58
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Have you figured in any hangers, nails, screws, siding, facia, gutters, drip edge and peak cap for roof? Soffit, flashing, house wrap, staples, some kind of membrane flashing for the windows. Stairs to get in the place...that's all I got off the top of my head

Irrigation Guy
Member
# Posted: 17 Jan 2020 20:26
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Don’t forget about your driveway too. What good is a cabin if you can’t get to it in the wet season? I spent a small fortune on a drive way this summer at the expense of not getting much else done so that I could be sure I would be able to access the cabin in late fall and winter when I am not busy at work.

darz5150
Member
# Posted: 17 Jan 2020 23:42
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Quoting: CabinBuild
darz5150, do you mean a Home Depot or Lowes type of place? Or, a local lumberyard?

I usually go to local lumber yards. So I dont know if the home depot or Lowes can offer the same service.
Everyone has posted good advice. Brettny had a good list. You are basically building a box with many many parts. Thats why I suggested getting a salesman to help if possible. Also Irrigation Guy brought up the driveway. Thats something else that will eat your budget pretty quick.
I think everone one will agree that whatever your first estimate is. Will not be enough. Its just the way it goes. Good Luck with your build, and post pics if you can.

Princelake
Member
# Posted: 18 Jan 2020 07:18
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I got a price on my 16x24 cabin from a local building store here in Ontario. Cabin will be on post and beam, 2x8 floor, 2x6 walls, and 7/12 pitch trusses, metal roof, soffit,fascia, basic vinyl siding, also included 4 windows, man door, and patio door. So all that will be a weather tight shell for just over $10k Canadian. I recommend going to the building stores see what they have for wrong ordered windows and doors. They practical give them away. I know you said you wanted to build an A frame but I'd reconsider that. You can find deals on trusses or frame your own and it'll provide more space. Searching on here you'll see A frames are way over rated. You can pick up OSB plywood for cheap and can even get OSB t&g for the floor for cheap. Local lumber yards here will sell weathered full skids of lumber at discount prices. So I say if your under a tight budget there are deals to be had all the time. My quoted $10k cabin is not going to cost me $10k. Depending on how fancy your going with the interior it will not cost you 20k.

RCPaulie
Member
# Posted: 18 Jan 2020 07:44
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Definitely look on craigslist or marketplace on Facebook for windows! I bought my French doors that were new wrong size originally $2300 paid $400.I also purchased 4 Pella windows that were only a year old removed for an addition for $200. And 2 Andersen brand new in the box 400 series for $100 I also bought 100 square feet of stone vaneer for $3 a square foot. Originally $12! If are not in a hurry and look, you can save alot of$$ And the more you can do yourself the more you will save! I think you can easily build it with your budget!

Brettny
Member
# Posted: 18 Jan 2020 09:06
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Good thinking on the driveway. Ours is about 700ft, I used driveway fabric ($360 for 12'x360') and when we have a good coating of gravel we will have roughly 100yrds of stone. You really need to price out stone and delivery localy as th price varies a lot. We also needed a culvert in our driveway. That 12"x20' pipe was $120-150.

I own an excavator so I'm roughly $1700 into our driveway and still need another $3-400 in stone/delivery. Access can be very important after all if your getting materials delivered no one wants to hike up sheets of plywood or sacks of concrete.

Turtletownman
Member
# Posted: 18 Jan 2020 11:39
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Habitat for Humanity has stores that sell at good prices, but may not have what you want in stock. Salvage building material stores also have better prices than the big boxes. Again stock varies.
Interior and exterior paint or stain, caulk, trim, door and window hardware are among other items which seem easy to forget and always cost more than you ever dreamed.
Lowes and HD prices vary from store to store even within a short distance so if buying there price each store. Lowes has a credit card with a discount on the initial order and 5% for subsequent purchases.

Bob

toyota_mdt_tech
Member
# Posted: 18 Jan 2020 11:58
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Quoting: silverwaterlady
Whatever number you eventually come up with double it, lol.


Lots of truth right there.

moneypitfeeder
Member
# Posted: 18 Jan 2020 20:03
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Depending where you are, if you have an Amish (or other) shed builder, you may be able to take your design/size specs to them and get a pre-made A-frame they can roll-off to your foundation. Granted the inside finishing, electric, insulation, plumbing costs wouldn't be accounted for, but you'd know what the shell would cost upfront. Where our cabin is there are plenty of guys that build custom "shabins" for people. Then you can spend as much or little as needed to finish the inside to your liking.

JDH83VT
Member
# Posted: 18 Jan 2020 20:28
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Quoting: CabinBuild
How much do you expect wiring and plumbing to cost?


Might not be a lot of help to you on plumbing and electric... We are on a pretty remote mountainside, so septic and grid power aren't really an option. Our electric will be limited to 6-8 outlets and a few light fixtures powered by our small solar setup and generator. We have a separate bath house with a sawdust toilet and then a shower/sink into a gray water pit. I will have a couple sinks in the camp (kitchen sink and sink in a small water closet that will be gravity fed from a small tank in the loft). I don't expect this particular setup to cost me any more than $1500 (again, doing this myself).

If you're going to have someone else handle the electrical and plumbing, it's gonna get pretty steep in a hurry. Tough to say what it would cost without knowing the particulars of your plan.

As you can see from all of the responses above, this site and all of the people who use it are a fantastic resource. When you have a question or run into a roadblock, use it! Odds are that someone on here has an answer or has been through it already.

CabinBuild
Member
# Posted: 19 Jan 2020 16:12
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Y'all have given me much to think about I've slowly been adding more of the new categories to my budget and the costs are rising fast. It's helpful to hear what costs are like for everyone who posted them.

I'll post here when done to see if there are places I can bring the costs down (and apply Turtletownman, RCPaulie, darz5150, Princelake's, and others' cost-saving suggestions).

Thanks again for the help so far!

Brettny
Member
# Posted: 19 Jan 2020 16:16
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There are places to skimp on materials, joists and other structural lumber is not one of them. Don't skimp on the foundation, doors or windows either.

CabinBuild
Member
# Posted: 19 Jan 2020 22:05
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What type of wood would you recommend for joists and structural lumber? I was thinking 2x12’s for joists and a-frames and 6x6s for the beams on top of the foundation piers.

Princelake
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2020 06:49
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6x6s for piers that's perfect.
2x12s are recommended there will be zero bounce but you can potentially get away with smaller and save you $$. There are calculators online for joist spans. I'm going with 2x8 cause I'm only 16' wide and with a beam in the center so I have under a 8' span.
To frame your Aframe walls I'm unsure. I've never framed one but if I were to frame one I'd look into I joists because you can get them in just about any length. I've done Reno's in Aframes and if I remember correctly I believe they only used 2x6 for the A and I'm in a very snowy climate but going larger is better for added insulation and strength but then cost goes up.

Princelake
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2020 07:00
Reply 


Also if I were to build an Aframe I'd build my floor. Then I'd frame 4' knee walls then start my A from there. It would give you a ton of floor space lost. Without it when putting cabinets, couches, beds,etc. Youll have a good 3' of unused floor space and everything will be pushed forward 3'. On the outside you can do a large overhang to give the full Aframe look and will help with water flow away from the foundation.

Irrigation Guy
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2020 08:23
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I did what Moneypitfeeder suggested. I bought a 14x36 Amish built semi custom shed. It has 2x6 walls, 12x12 metal roof, and loft with 6’ of Head room. They insulated the floor for me and put it on my pad. I had my own windows so they just gave me rough openings. It defiantly cost me more than it would have for me to build but I wouldn’t have had the the time to get it closed in before the weather would start to damage things. So I figured it would be better to pay extra to get a weather tight shell day one. Since then I have done most everything myself with exception of the driveway. The costs add up fast and I should probably keep better track of them but I would say I am at around $40,000 which includes cabin, driveway, septic, water (had well on site needed new pump tank and piping), electrical service (meter on site already), trenched 400’ of 4/0 4/0 4/0 2/0), wired cabin like a real house with 16 high hats and 20 outlets, insulated with batts, built bathroom with shower stall. Still have to finish sheet rock and wood paneling for walls, install kitchen, floors, porch, and lots of other stuff I am sure I am for getting. I expect another $5000 or so to get it to the level of finish I want (wife wants).

CabinBuild
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2020 08:27
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The four foot knee walls sound like a great idea Would that transfer the roof load to the four foot walls? Would I need additional support for them?

Engineered I-joists look like a good deal for the A. I'm like the look of some exposed beam on the inside, so am torn between the cost effectiveness and ease of I-joists and the look of 2x8 or 2x10s for the A.

CabinBuild
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2020 08:29 - Edited by: CabinBuild
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Irrigation Guy, you're giving me hope! Good to hear how your costs have been going, especially with you getting so much done (cabin, driveway, septic, water, electric, etc.). I can't seem to find any Amish-built a-frames though. Do I need to special request it?

Irrigation Guy
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2020 09:22 - Edited by: Irrigation Guy
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Cabinbuild, keep in mind that I already owned all of the tools and have the technical knowlage to do this project. If you do that’s great but hiring out things like septic system, well pump replacement, and running electric services costs will add up quick. Good luck!

spoofer
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2020 12:46
Reply 


I would build a 20x24 single story structure. What you would spend on the loft, spend it on 4 strait walls and your foundation.

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