Architectural Designs

Average cost of materials for building a house?

My boyfriend and I plan on getting married next year, at which time we will move in together. I've been looking at housing prices for already-built homes, and came across some empty lot prices at the same time. They seem pretty reasonably priced, and I thought about building our own home instead of buying one that is already built. However, I have no idea how much materials would cost. But my family does own a lumber company, so the cost of all lumber (wood) is of no significance. I'm wondering how much it costs for things like the foundation, concrete, insulation, roofing, siding, etc. I don't know how much difference this makes, but we only plan on having a bungalow. We do not want a two-storey house. I do not need to know the costs for contents of the house. I'm only looking for the cost of materials. We will probably be able to build ourselves, for the most part, as our families both are quite handy.

Public Comments

1. Too many variables to answer this. Costs are going to depend on your site and what's needed for site prep, whether it has a city sewer or if you need a septic field, do you get piped water or need a well drilled, the size of the house, what materials you want to or must use, etc etc. If your family owns a lumber company and both families are handy, you ought to be able to find a local contractor to give you an estimate based on local average per-square-foot prices and who can break it down into materials and labour, but for a real estimate, you need to be able to show them the site and the plans. Prices vary all over the country. However, if none of you have actually built a whole house before, I'll tell you that it's a lot more complicated than it looks and usually costs more than the original estimate unless you hire someone to build you a house for a specific price.