FINAL meeting before the barn is built..any thoughts?

[oz in SC]

Okay we are meeting with the builder this Saturday(driving up and back in a day-always makes for a full day ) for the FINAL(we hope) discussion on building the barn.

Any and all thoughts and ideas on what we should ask would be appreciated.

We are thinking of reducing the size of the barn a little(currently 36'x36', full loft with 12' sheds off both sides) so as to get the price down a little.

We aren't sure how much the side sheds cost or how much a square foot price is...

He quoted us $22,000+ for the structure:
$8500 for materials
$1000 for doors
$900 for windows
$3000 for dormers,cupola and misc.
$8600 for labor

This barn is going to have an apartment in the loft and a full bathroom downstairs that we will finish out.

We would like to get the price down so we can have the concrete slab and plumbing roughed in for under or around $20,000.

How negotiable do you think the price is????

Thanks for any and all replies.

Just thought I would add a picture of the barn we are looking at getting built

[Queen Bee]

I would ask him --point blank--" What can I do to get the price down to 20,000." Ask about clean up, paint/stain, finish work OR anything else that you are able to handle... Your barn will be beautiful... Please take pictures and post your joys/headaches for those of us who will be building in the future... QB

[Snowdancer]

That's a nice looking barn/home. That's very picturesque for a mountainaous area; I like it. What type of siding are you going with?

I've never build yet so I don't know how negotiable the builders are; but it wouldn't hurt to come right out and ask.

[Rockin'B]

That's a sharp looking building.

I'm building a shop building next year and would love to have plans for a structure like that. I need to find some...

[DrippingSprings]

anything you can do yourself...do yourself.

Put the windows in yourself etc etc

I have a 50x56 and it was quoted to me at 25 plus. I got them to build the basic structure. They put up the supprt posts and the steel rafters. I put on the metal roof and sides the windows etc and got it down to 12,500 give or take a couple hundred.

I did the concrete slab myself as well. I leveled it framed it put the gravel and wire and rebar in it and bought a used cement mixer for 300 dollars and put it down in 10x10 squares as I could on days off. I drive a large ford tractor over it with implements trailers etc and leave same parked on it etc and have had noissues with it.

[Morning Owl]

Beautiful barn, I'm jealous.

[mightybooboo]

Looks like a lot of bang for the buck.Very nice.

BooBoo

[Michael W. Smith]

Okay, now I'm confused. Is this structure actually a barn with an apartment overtop of it to be used to house animals, or is this actually a house that is to resemble a barn?

A barn (or a house for that matter) can never be too big. I wouldn't want to reduce the size any. Ask the builder if there is another way to reduce the cost.

What are the sheds for? Perhaps you could skip having them built right now until once you are living there to decide if you need them, and where you want them if you do need them.

[oz in SC]

Originally Posted by KY Guest

That's a nice looking barn/home. That's very picturesque for a mountainaous area; I like it. What type of siding are you going with?

I've never build yet so I don't know how negotiable the builders are; but it wouldn't hurt to come right out and ask.

The siding will be wood planks.

I guess we can simply ask him how to cut costs.
We really want it built so we can start the process of leaving here,mentally if not physically.

[oz in SC]

Originally Posted by Michael W. Smith

Okay, now I'm confused. Is this structure actually a barn with an apartment overtop of it to be used to house animals, or is this actually a house that is to resemble a barn?

A barn (or a house for that matter) can never be too big. I wouldn't want to reduce the size any. Ask the builder if there is another way to reduce the cost.

What are the sheds for? Perhaps you could skip having them built right now until once you are living there to decide if you need them, and where you want them if you do need them.

It is a barn with an apartment above.

The barn part will be storage mostly-we have nothing else to put in it.

We could skip the sheds off the sides but we were thinking that they most likely aren't very expensive.

[oz in SC]

Originally Posted by DrippingSprings

anything you can do yourself...do yourself.

Put the windows in yourself etc etc

I have a 50x56 and it was quoted to me at 25 plus. I got them to build the basic structure. They put up the supprt posts and the steel rafters. I put on the metal roof and sides the windows etc and got it down to 12,500 give or take a couple hundred.

I did the concrete slab myself as well. I leveled it framed it put the gravel and wire and rebar in it and bought a used cement mixer for 300 dollars and put it down in 10x10 squares as I could on days off. I drive a large ford tractor over it with implements trailers etc and leave same parked on it etc and have had noissues with it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

We could always have the basic barn built and dried in and then go back and do other things as $$$ comes available.

As it is the interior of the apartment will be bare subfloors and walls without insulation...

It will be like camping without a tent.

[seedspreader]

Oz, normally I would say do everything you can yourself, but it seems to me as if the time to get up there and back (along with the costs) should weigh heavily in on your math.

I mean, it's what a 600 mile round trip (is that right?) Surely that has to cost something. So if you figure out your time traveling, vs. the time to get other things done there, you (in YOUR circumstance) may be better off paying and getting it done A.S.A.P. if you can afford it.

It goes against conventional homestead wisdom, but then again you aren't a conventional homesteader (yet).

[ChuckinVA]

OZ said "We could skip the sheds off the sides but we were thinking that they most likely aren't very expensive."

I'll bet they are at least $2000.00

Might be enough to get started.

[oz in SC]

Originally Posted by ZealYouthGuy

Oz, normally I would say do everything you can yourself, but it seems to me as if the time to get up there and back (along with the costs) should weigh heavily in on your math.

I mean, it's what a 600 mile round trip (is that right?) Surely that has to cost something. So if you figure out your time traveling, vs. the time to get other things done there, you (in YOUR circumstance) may be better off paying and getting it done A.S.A.P. if you can afford it.

It goes against conventional homestead wisdom, but then again you aren't a conventional homesteader (yet).

It is about 600 miles,and it will take about four hours to get there.

What we were trying to figure out is can we expect to get a dried in barn of that size and material(all wood with metal roof) for less???

[rambler]

I would not reduce the size. You would live to regret that.

You can leave an open pourch thingy, or both, off if you have to. Those are not too hard to add on later.

But remember: Adding on later will greatly increase the overall cost of your building. Fellow has to come back next year, bring all his tools, set everything up again, dig the footers again, pull out fascia & match up shingles, etc. etc. As well building materials seem to be on an upward trend. You will pay more if you leave something out that you will add later.

If that is what you want, it will really be cheapest to get er done now in one deal.

--->Paul

[Macybaby]

"It is about 600 miles,and it will take about four hours to get there."

Just how fast do you drive in that area LOL!!

That looks like a real nice place. If you design in to add on in the future, putting the sheds on the sides afterwards should not be too hard, though there will be some dismantalling to do so.

BTW, try to get things nailed down and in writting. I've only met ONE person so far that a building project came in below what the buidler "estimated" at. I've been told a good rule of thumb is to allow at least 10% overage for stuff that got misestimated and price changes. I don't like that at all, I always want to know up front what it is going to cost me.

Since you can't be there, see if the builder has a digital camera and can take pictures (several a day) to send to you so you can see the progress. Besides it will be real nice to have those pictures.

Cathy

[CatsPaw]

I'd say you're probably getting a pretty good deal. I'm getting ready to start my shop at 24' x 40' x 9'. Materials are about $10K with less than $1K allocated for labor. Can't get it lower. tried and tried.

Client: "What can you do to get the price down?"

Me: "Build a smaller building."

When I quote something...that is the price. If I could do it for less, I would quote it for less. If someone asks me to lower my price, they obviously can't afford what they want. If they want to cut out some things they can do themselves or do in the future to lower the price....no problem.

Nobody can predict the price of lumber anymore. It is a commodity. My quotes are only good for 30 days. If I start a job and there is a hurricane and the price of OSB goes from $7 a sheet to $18 a sheet I don't pay for it. My labor is my own but materials are what they cost (and I don't pay for them.)

Make use of the builder while he's there. Get the things you know you can't do done. Go for the shell weathered in at least. Sheds you could do later. You need to get it to where you can live in it. Be aware that if you're financing you may have problems with the bank. Banks don't want a mortgage on an unfinished structure. Building dept. could refuse you final occupancy is it's not finished to a certain level.

[Shygal]

Originally Posted by oz in SC

It is about 600 miles,and it will take about four hours to get there.

Holy cow Oz, thats driving at 150mph!

Seriously, nice barn, Id love to have something like that

[Bluebird]

We are just finishing remodeling a barn with sheds on each side for a boarding kennel. Do it now. Pain in the back side to get the metal off the areas you need to get at and then have it look right and weather tight. You can do it but material costs just keep going up and you'll save money in the long run doing it now. It's a beautiful building. Good luck!!

[oz in SC]

Okay,we just got back in(well about fifteen minutes ago-had to let the 'kids' out and clean up their kennel) and it was a VERY frustrating trip!!!

We left about 7:30am,good drive up there got to the property around 12pm and met the barn builder.

First thing out of his mouth is the news that the sawmill he uses burned down so the lap siding we had been quoted for wasn't available...

NEXT thing he tells us is price of metal roofing has gone up and the quote is no longer correct...

THEN he takes a look at the building site and it isn't wide enough for the barn as it had been planned-seems the guy doing the site prep and driveway had made a mistake.

So we talk about siding options and such and he suggest we do metal siding-something we REALLY REALLY do not want...he also suggested board and batten but said it would cost more than the lap siding we originally wanted...

As to WHEN he can start.....it is the standard three weeks away.

It has been three weeks away for months now it seems...

SO the gist of it is the barn siding we wanted is gone,the site isn't big enough and needs to be made wider,the cost has gone up some amount and we drove 600 miles and wasted a whole day when a phone call would have worked out better for all concerned...

We aren't sure WHY he didn't tell us that the siding was no longer available due to a fire but he didn't...

Oh and thank y'all about the barn,hopefully one day it will be built...