Construction Costs on 30a

[TooFarTampa]

We got the most outrageous quote to paint our 2000 sf house ... more than 15K, twice what we would pay for our 3000 sf house+ garage apartment here in a very nice Tampa neighborhood. I hope this means in 6 months we will have more painters to choose from, and better bids.

 

[Smiling JOe]

We got the most outrageous quote to paint our 2000 sf house ... more than 15K, twice what we would pay for our 3000 sf house+ garage apartment here in a very nice Tampa neighborhood. I hope this means in 6 months we will have more painters to choose from, and better bids.

There are enough house built here that painters will continue to be busy repainting for the rest of their careers.

If your bid came in at only $15K, be thankful. I have friends who paid $30K for the exterior alone on their 2000sf home and the owner of the business sat in his wheelchair in the back yard, supervising (drinking Budweiser all day) and hitting on all the young ladies walking by in bikinis.

 

[TooFarTampa]

There are enough house built here that painters will continue to be busy repainting for the rest of their careers.

That's an excellent point ... seeing as how it needs to be done every 4-5 years, minimum. I was taking the guy seriously (we have a lot of balconies which need to be hand-painted and there are three stories) but he lost me when I saw him driving the neighborhood in his Hummer. :roll:

 

[TooFarTampa]

If your bid came in at only $15K, be thankful. I have friends who paid $30K for the exterior alone on their 2000sf home and the owner of the business sat in his wheelchair drinking Budweiser all day, hitting on all the young ladies walking by in bikinis.

Our partners in the house have a relative in the business. We are considering asking him to do it for his regular rate, putting up the crew in the house AND giving him a free week's vacation on top of it. We expect we will still save significant money.

 

[SHELLY]

We got the most outrageous quote to paint our 2000 sf house ... more than 15K, twice what we would pay for our 3000 sf house+ garage apartment here in a very nice Tampa neighborhood. I hope this means in 6 months we will have more painters to choose from, and better bids.

By that time the "cheap worker bodies" will have migrated West to the NOLA area to do the painting there. What you'll have left are the "high priced" local workers with enough work to go around who will set the prices--and as they say in the biz--it will be a Seller's Market.

 

[Uncle Timmy]

By that time the "cheap worker bodies" will have migrated West to the NOLA area to do the painting there. What you'll have left are the "high priced" local workers with enough work to go around who will set the prices--and as they say in the biz--it will be a Seller's Market.

Hmmm, but didn't you also predict $30 hamburgers as the norm by this point a few months ago?

 

[Pirate]

I had a local crew ( Atlanta ) go stay at my house (1900s.f.) and paint it in 4 days in and out for 8k. I might recommend you try the same with a Tampa crew. 15k is ridiculous and 30k is laughable. I will come paint it myself in my pirate outfit for 20k.

 

[Pirate]

The labor component of the equation is what is coming down. Labor costs in south Walton have been highly inflated over the past few years because of the demand. Demand slackened and now labor costs are becoming more competitive.

At one point the labor cost in the south part of the county was 3X the same labor cost north of the bay. Folks were charging what they could get away with and people were willing to pay for it.

Labor cost drops faster than material cost increases = overall construction cost comes down.

Maybe you haven't been buying material. I have paid 50+percent increase in drywall, 60+ percent increase in concrete products and 25+increase in wood products since the beginning of the year. The subs that use machinery have all added a gas surcharge to their bills and the delivery of products now has a gas surcharge. The subs lowering their rate by 10 percent won't overcome what boils down to corporate greed in this case. In addition, my punch out carpenters all raised their rates by 15 percent because of ??? GAS PRICES. I have no new starts planned or in process for the first time in 12 years.

If you start now you would be in pain in my estimation.

 

[Uncle Timmy]

Maybe you haven't been buying material. I have paid 50+percent increase in drywall, 60+ percent increase in concrete products and 25+increase in wood products since the beginning of the year.

Pirate,

Where are you buying your materials?

A quick call to Couch Concrete has shown the cost of a cubic yard of 3000psi, line pump mix concrete at $111/cubic yard.

I paid $79/cubic yard for the same mix when I poured my house foundations in 1999.

That represents a 40% increase in the cost of concrete in the past 7 years.

 

[Pirate]

Pirate,

Where are you buying your materials?

A quick call to Couch Concrete has shown the cost of a cubic yard of 3000psi, line pump mix concrete at $111/cubic yard.

I paid $79/cubic yard for the same mix when I poured my house foundations in 1999.

That represents a 40% increase in the cost of concrete in the past 7 years.

I paid $106 yd. for a sidewalk I just poured and paid $72 yd. for the same houses' foundation concrete 6 months earlier. Same company delivered the product. I am guessing I paid in the mid $50 in 1999.

I don't gain anything by sharing this Timmy, it's just a fact. 72 x 1.6 is 115 so I am $4 off and I apologize for that. I do this for a living so I assume it hurts me as much as anyone here.

The last 2 houses I sold at a loss as well FYI, both were more than 20 percent over budget.