An experiment, build new, like the old
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:59 pm
So unfortunately, my prized 105 year old possession will soon be for sale . It's been about 5-6 years of part time labor getting it restored, including building new windows, cabinets, etc to match the old and re-create what was once there. I've posted pics along the way at the old OHW and at HistoricHomeworks so people who know my name from those two have seen the progress. But the catch is, that house is in Little Rock and I'm moving to Dallas. Worse yet, not the old neighborhoods of North Dallas, my fiance has her daughter in a school that she likes in the suburbs for the next 5 years (daughter is 13).
And oh yes, there are McMansions galore, and middle-class plastic/particle board Home Depot cut-outs as far as the eye can see. Worse yet, there are no old houses to buy and live in. Everything old that's still standing has been converted into retail space in the smallish downtown area of the city.
Now, like you all, I have a certain lifestyle I'm accustomed to. And needless to say, drywall, 3" baseboards, laminate floors, vinyl windows, and fiberglass doors ain't gonna cut it.
So we've been kicking around the idea of building a new old house. While we can't get an old style neighborhood in town, we can get country neighborhoods just a few miles out of town, and remain in the school district in question. That's an acceptable compromise, and the catch then becomes, how we go about building a new old-style house without a multi-million dollar budget.
So here's what we're looking at, as a base of numbers to work with...
1) The average home price in this city is about 300k.
2) The upper end out in the areas that are still 'country' will bear 750k resale values, so that could be considered a "hard limit" on what we can spend and reasonably expect to sell at some point.
3) We're talking about something in the range of 400k, disregarding the lot which will be about 100k, so a 500-600k total budget.
4) We are shooting for 3000-3500 square feet total living area.
5) There will be no plywood/OSB/other laminate type material in or on the building whatsoever.
6) Pier and beam foundation, stucco exterior walls, clay tile or metal roof, just as you would have in a so-equipped older home.
7) Interior appropriately trimmed with wall to wall floors, 6+" baseboards, patterned tile, solid wood doors, etc., as you would have in an older home.
Starting with the givens, we're firstly planning on a single story, not a two story design. I'm partial to Wright prairie knock offs, which would fit in the setting and help us on some of the cost (by being more open, eliminating multitudes of interior doors, for instance). Something like this, for example....link.
Givens that we are not able to do ourselves...
Best guesstimate I can come up with on pier and beam foundation work is 40-50k (assuming 40-50 piers @ ~1000 per pier, high estimate).
Best guesstimate I can come up with on a new clay tile roof is 75k (assuming 15 dollars a square for 5000 square feet, also high estimate).
Stucco and plaster I'm familiar with the exact cost of, I have a plaster guy on speed dial , 6-7 dollars a foot at 4000 square feet of outside stucco is about 30k, add the inside plaster another 15k so call it 50k total (another high estimate).
Framing, electrical, plumbing, A/C, should be able to get all done on a house this size for 100-125k total?
That leaves us with 100-125k to spend in interior finish details to make the 500k, plus whatever to stay under 600k, so the crux of the issue is now how to fit a proper elaborately trimmed interior into a 100-125k budget. That's where I come in, with the ability to do a lot of this work myself, having done it before. I don't know how to build roofs and piers and plaster walls, but I do know about floors, doors, windows, cabinets, and moldings, so can do a whole lot on a limited budget inside the house...maybe.
I have some experiments to do along those lines . Will be pics later.
And oh yes, there are McMansions galore, and middle-class plastic/particle board Home Depot cut-outs as far as the eye can see. Worse yet, there are no old houses to buy and live in. Everything old that's still standing has been converted into retail space in the smallish downtown area of the city.
Now, like you all, I have a certain lifestyle I'm accustomed to. And needless to say, drywall, 3" baseboards, laminate floors, vinyl windows, and fiberglass doors ain't gonna cut it.
So we've been kicking around the idea of building a new old house. While we can't get an old style neighborhood in town, we can get country neighborhoods just a few miles out of town, and remain in the school district in question. That's an acceptable compromise, and the catch then becomes, how we go about building a new old-style house without a multi-million dollar budget.
So here's what we're looking at, as a base of numbers to work with...
1) The average home price in this city is about 300k.
2) The upper end out in the areas that are still 'country' will bear 750k resale values, so that could be considered a "hard limit" on what we can spend and reasonably expect to sell at some point.
3) We're talking about something in the range of 400k, disregarding the lot which will be about 100k, so a 500-600k total budget.
4) We are shooting for 3000-3500 square feet total living area.
5) There will be no plywood/OSB/other laminate type material in or on the building whatsoever.
6) Pier and beam foundation, stucco exterior walls, clay tile or metal roof, just as you would have in a so-equipped older home.
7) Interior appropriately trimmed with wall to wall floors, 6+" baseboards, patterned tile, solid wood doors, etc., as you would have in an older home.
Starting with the givens, we're firstly planning on a single story, not a two story design. I'm partial to Wright prairie knock offs, which would fit in the setting and help us on some of the cost (by being more open, eliminating multitudes of interior doors, for instance). Something like this, for example....link.
Givens that we are not able to do ourselves...
Best guesstimate I can come up with on pier and beam foundation work is 40-50k (assuming 40-50 piers @ ~1000 per pier, high estimate).
Best guesstimate I can come up with on a new clay tile roof is 75k (assuming 15 dollars a square for 5000 square feet, also high estimate).
Stucco and plaster I'm familiar with the exact cost of, I have a plaster guy on speed dial , 6-7 dollars a foot at 4000 square feet of outside stucco is about 30k, add the inside plaster another 15k so call it 50k total (another high estimate).
Framing, electrical, plumbing, A/C, should be able to get all done on a house this size for 100-125k total?
That leaves us with 100-125k to spend in interior finish details to make the 500k, plus whatever to stay under 600k, so the crux of the issue is now how to fit a proper elaborately trimmed interior into a 100-125k budget. That's where I come in, with the ability to do a lot of this work myself, having done it before. I don't know how to build roofs and piers and plaster walls, but I do know about floors, doors, windows, cabinets, and moldings, so can do a whole lot on a limited budget inside the house...maybe.
I have some experiments to do along those lines . Will be pics later.