I have Google Analytics on this site, just to satisfy my curiosity and to assure myself that more than the few folks that post comments are bothering to view the site. The hits have tanked in the last 5 days, literally dropped to almost half, and stayed down. Don't know why; it could be the economy has put a damper on viewer's castle dreams or maybe Google has simply adjusted how hits are counted. Hope it's just the latter.
On another note, I was looking at the poll results so far. The results so far seem to indicate that would-be builders are interested in 5,000 sq. ft. plus castles that cost over $300K, would be built with a contractor's services and are made of natural materials. I get the first three just fine; but there seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the first three and the final most selected item, the natural materials. To build an expansive, large building from natural stone using a contractor's services will cost more than $300K, a LOT more. Perhaps respondents are not replying to all 3 polls and the ratio is off. At any rate, there are a lot of big, expensive, stone castles wanting to be built out there.
Regarding cost of natural materials vs contractors, its probably just lack of education on the matter.
ReplyDeleteI admit not having actually priced materials, so I don't know the costs either.
Hi DannyR, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
ReplyDeleteIn the research I've done I may be missing some important piece of information about how contractors work and the cost of materials, but from what I can tell 5000 square feet is expensive unless you do most of the work yourself.
Unless a chosen property has a almost inexhaustable source of natural materials, it's going to have to be imported; and if the castle is over 5000 square feet, that's a lot of material that will need to be brought in. Even if one built on an old quarry with plenty of stone, the cost in man hours of extracting usable stone would be just as high, if not higher than trucking in bulk pre-cut stone.
Not that these polls are accurate or scientific in any way, but the likely answer is that not all respondents answer all the questions, ergo the "all natural materials" crowd is probably not entirely the same as the "5000 sq. ft. plus contractor" crowd.
Location would probably be more an issue than the materials used. I have a few different quarries which are within an hours drive, and can get ashlar block for about 50% more than I can get split faced CMUs.
ReplyDeleteAshlar isn't much more difficult to work with than CMUs (much heavier, but the regular faces and sizes make it much easier than field stone or natural boulders).
Your interior finish choices will likely be more of a factor in the final price of the house. Back when I was a GC, it wasn't uncommon for over half the cost of a stick built house being tied to the flooring, cabinetry and other interior finishing materials.
That said, if you are on either coast without easy access to quarried stone you will have huge expenses relating to the importation of stone to the building site and likely dealing with masons who are experienced with working with natural stone (the further you get away from quarries, the harder it is to find qualified masons and the more they can charge for their services).
If you decide to be flexible with the contractors, you can often save a significant amount of money. Most have down time between jobs and if you work with their schedule, they will usually work with you on their fees.
Good advice, Joe. Quarry distance is definitely a factor, especially nowadays with transportation costs being so high.
ReplyDeleteI think it'd be great to have a solid ashlar constructed building; 50% over CMU cost in the grand scheme of things is not that much, especially if you can contribute a lot of the labor yourself. Skilled masons are not cheap, but indispensable.
I agree that a lot of the expense is in the finish work. Having installed harwood flooring and completely re-done a few rooms from the studs has taught me quickly that the pretty stuff costs more!
Personally, I will be opting for a more "primitive" finish myself; stone or (finished) wide plank flooring, minimal cabinetry in the kitchen (mostly shelves with a subway-style tile backing and a fair sized pantry, counters open below), and a stone and/or plaster interior wall with rough beams. The only room that I think I'll put a lot of work into is the library - wood paneling and all that and the same goes for the "pub", should I be ever so lucky to build.
Simple being the word of the day.
But of course this is just my opinion, and others would much rather have all of the modern interior contrivances, construction and toys. If one has the cash, more power to them!
Stability ends up becoming an issue with the ashlar as you go up in height. Much over 20' and I would start to get lost without resorting to pilasters and buttresses - or resorting to a fairly monstrous taper.
ReplyDeleteOne of the nicest things about dealing with the CMU block is that you can basically follow any design that you want without having to deal with the support issues required to work with natural stone (given proper use of rebar and cavity fills...).
Most likely we will be using a double wall of CMUs and ashlar with an insulated cavity in between in order to increase the comfort level of the overall structure while keeping the more rough look on the outside. Interior exposed stone work will be made of veneer stone which matches the external ashlar.
Anywho, for myself probably 95% of the work will be done by myself or under my guidance. I will likely be able to get a lot of help on the masonry work from one of the local trade schools to save my back while providing instruction on stone masonry - another thing to take a look into when trying to figure out the labor issues.
As far as the actual masons go - yes, they are extremely useful...but masonry isn't quite rocket science. I got my start when I was 13 working with a crew that repaired stone foundations for houses and barns (as well as the occasional bridge and similar item. It can take a bit to get a feel for the stone, but after that there isn't a whole heck of a lot of difference between working with stone, brick or CMU blocks. You just don't have to think a bit more as you try to figure out which stone goes where.