Costs Simplified

After reviewing budget after budget here is the bottom line. Cai (tm) House has 1860sf of surface areas, they include floors, walls and roofs. The SIP panels that are used throughout the structure are $5 a square foot. On the inside there will be finishes attached to all these surfaces assuming no one wants to look at painted OSB? A good budget for the inside finish of these areas is $2.50 a square foot. I know we can get pine planking for $1.25 (see interior finishes post ). The outside of these surfaces will require siding, roofing or a painted sheet metal coverring underside of the floors. Again we can budget $2.50 a square foot. Now we have a total of $10/a square foot of surface area times 1860 square feet.



Post and Beam Frame $7300
SIP and finishes $18600
Exterior Trim (composite) $1600
Hardware and Jacks $2000
Labor 2 men 4 weeks $9600
Facilities $2000
Total $41100
Over Head and Profit 20% $49320


So this is what a budget for the basic structure looks like, and a customer can have influence these numbers by the choices they make. There is a less expensive structural option to the post and beam frame too. There is also the option to use SIP panels that are seconds. Instead of $5/sf they are $1.75 but they come with no warranty and slight dimensional deviations and there is a limited supply. The trailer is separate and can be purchased separately from the manufacture. See (the Trailer post) It cost $14,000. Plumbing and electric are also separate and can consist of grid tied or solar electric with or without a generator. I will be posting more info on these items.