The Money and The Sweat Equity

So how much does this thing really cost?

The Index

This page updated June 2, 1999.

Good Question

The costs, they are a changing!
Most of the stucco/mud supplies are in. The numbers are pretty close to complete, so examining them will give you a good idea of what my sosts were.

There were some supplies that I had on hand and were donated, such as the high tensile wire, bamboo, wire/gripple ratchet, cement mixer, some wood and a few other odds and ends.

This the is part of the reason for this project, to see what the read cash costs are in order to get the job done.

I did not cut all the corners I could have. The goal this project was to build in the city of Edmonton limits first. This required it to be code compliant, but also I wanted the first one to be built to last. No use in having it collapse in a year because I wanted to save tons of money.

There are two major costs in this project. First, there is real money being spent and secondly there is sweat equity, or doing it yourself (and luring unsuspecting friends to help out!)

This project also required ripping down an old garage, and the original specs called to reuse the concrete that was there. Upon demolishing the old garage, it was found that the old concrete was in very poor shape and so it had to be broken and removed. This was a good thing as the old pad wasn't reinforced with rebar and it was resting upon topsoil. The removal of the old concrete pad added significant costs (for me). I have broken everything down into discrete parts so that calculating costs can be done depending upon other job requirements.

The numbers are pretty much in, just the mudding to go and some landscaping. The surprise costs was the demolition and pouring of the new concrete. As you will see from the numbers, the roof and foundation are the real big expenses, as they would be in any project. One could save a significant amount of money looking at other ways of doing the foundation and roof. That for another time.

Comments and suggestions are welcomed.

-rob


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  This page updated June 3, 1999.

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