builtacabin
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# Posted: 6 Mar 2024 20:43 - Edited by: builtacabin
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In Western NC up in a mountain... where carpenters are booked out a year or two in advance, I just received our final inspection in January 2024 for a small 500 sq ft rental cabin I began in early 2022. As someone not in the construction field but rather an insurance agent, I couldn't find a general contractor for our projects, so I got licensed as a GC myself. That license hurt me more than not, as I can pass a test but had no idea what the hell I was doing. And as a GC I was mostly expected to know. Wow lots of suppliers and other people told me to ask my GC. At least I'm slightly more prepared for the next one, but it didn't come easy.
Reviewing these other figures in this thread leaves me feeling foolish. I set out to build what you all describe. But all my expenses were at least double, mostly triple, and a lot quadruple, compared to others. The plans alone cost more than $2k, rental scaffolding was going for $100 per buck per month not including planks - if they had any (usually they didn't), and since it's up on a mountain on a fire service-type road, shuttling materials delivered by semi in town up to the building site on smaller trucks cost an additional, I think, nearly $8k! The cabin dealer estimated a crew would cost around $30k for assembling the shell, a service he neither provided nor knew anyone for. Eventually, he secured someone for $55k, nearly double the initial estimate, but instead, I did it with day labor from a local employment agency. The exorbitant costs were crazy. But once I started, I really had no choice but to continue until it was done.
I was so disgusted about 6 months ago, I stopped entering expenses into my spreadsheet. It's an obscenely embarrassing number. But as I unpack the events that unfolded and update my numbers, I'll be documenting and sharing all my expenses and experiences. I'm thankful the outcome is undeniably beautiful, but it took a serious toll, financially, and overall. More details to come soon...
Construction Photo
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Putting in micro vent soon
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Looking down from behind
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Looking up
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