Costs for Building a New Straw Bale House and Greenhouse and Retroffing a Mobile Home at Solar Haven

Drafting of Plans - $1380
Permits - 1200
Design and General Contracting (Solar Haven Contracting) - "peanuts"
New/Used Materials (windows, doors, lumber, fixtures, sheetrock) - 3000
Pre-engineered roof trusses and perlins - 1700
Recycled cotton/denim batt insulation -1500
Radiant foil barier under roof sheets - 300
Footer and stem wall (concrete block, rebar, grout, labor) - 7000
Fill dirt/backhoe rental to build up floor to level of the stem wall - 700
Professional lime-cement plastering of both inside and outside walls - 2900
Termite barrier - 100
1500 ft. PEX hot water tubing - 800
Straw bales - 1400
"All-thread" rods - 200
High clay content soil for earthen plastering - 400
Satillo tile - 800
Labor/window and door frames - 400
Labor/roofing - 1200
Labor (carpentry for partitions and soffits, sheetrocking, plumbing, electrical) - 5700
Electrical materials - 500
Plumbing and gas lines/materials - 800
Cooling system (ducts and used swamp cooler) - 600
Tools we needed and did not have (circular saw, cordless drill, cement mixer, shredder, hauling wagon, small hand tools such as trowels and several construction books) - 600
Rental Equipment (panel lifter, trenching machine) - 200

"Damn, how could I have forgotten that?" - 1500

Greenhouse
(23' x 48' - 1250 square feet)

Foundation: concrete work for footer and stem wall - $1200
Walls and roof panels: 8 mm twin-skin polycarbonate sheets, trim,
and shipping costs - $2500
Wood for framing and roof, 2 6' patio doors, nails, and straps - $1950
Paint (and primer) for all wood - $170
Additional lumber and paint - $550
Extra 8' sliding glass door for south facing wall - $330
Labor: 60 hours @ $20/hr - $1200

North Facing Roof Section (5/8" plywood sheets and rolled roofing) - $700

Total Cost: $8,600
($7 per square foot)

Retrofitting Our Mobile Home
(14' x 60' - 875 square feet)

- 4' x 8' EPS Foam Sheets (2 inch thick), 48 @ $10.24 each - $492

- Stucco Netting, 4 rolls @ $30.95 each - $124

- Plastic film, 1 mil. (9' x 400') - $16

- Expanded Metal Corners (2" x 2" x 8'), 30 @ $.78 each - $23

- Expanded Metal Corners (3" x 3" x 8'), 20 @ $.95 each - $20

- 25 gauge Metal Studs (2" x 2" x 10'), 85 @ $1.76 each - $150

- "One-Coat" Fiber Reinforced Stucco Mix, 33 bags @ $9 each - $315

- Portland Cement, 4 bags @ $6.35 each - $25

- Lime, 4 bags @ $5.50 each - $22

- Latex Caulking, 2 tubes @ $1.15 each - $2

- Green Float Sponge - $3

- Blue Mesh Fiber Tape, 2 @ $5.25 each - $10

- Sealing Tape, 2 @ $2.95 each - $6

- Shipping Charges for above - $35

- Concrete Blocks, 30 @ $.69 each - $21

-Rebar (20' sticks), 2 @ $3.25 each - $6

- 3" dry wall screws (5# boxes), 8 @ $16.49 each - $122

- Washers (#10, flat), eight boxes - $22

- Metal Skuppers (16"), 4 @ $10.25 each - $41

- Rent cement mixer - $150

- Haul water to mix the stucco - $100

- Labor (framing, insulating, building parapets, and stucco work) - $2400

- Painting - $200

Total Cost: $5,290
($6 per square foot)

(Note: The above figures do not include the costs of building the front deck, storage shed, and carport as shown in the photograph. These in fact had be torn down because of alleged permit violations (see our PROBLEMS page).

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This page copyright by Jim Phypers, 2005-2009