Studio Costs: Total $$$

Update: So far, here's my incurred expenses: Exterior finish materials; $2500 Sand for floor (32 Cu Yd); $750 - 3 delivery charges totaling $150 hurt! R19 Insulation; $300 (Got a LOT more to get!) Studio audio wiring; $7200 (Tracking room plates to console area-Input, Cat6, midi and headphone mixes) Initial Electrical (including a tone of LV PVC) $2900 5/8 Gypsum/furring strips for exterior stud cavities $400 8 (more) Cu Yd of sand, 32 tons of 6/7 stone and 10 tons of ABC $1300

Got the bill from the block mason... $1200 First round of PT lumber... $75 (a bit more to get) maybe another $75 so we'll call it $150 So, expenses to date.. $16,700 (plus a couple hundred for screws, nails and caulk) I have started to get quotes on door hardware... about $600/door x 6 doors= $3600

I was trolling through the construction forum and making calls this morning for delivery costs for the drywall I am putting in my room. I am growing tired of muling 4-6 sheets per visit to home depot for 5/8 drywall and wondered if I could just order the remaining 30 or so for delivery. I assumed it would be around $50 for the delivery based upon other deliveries we have to the house (loam, mulch & fire wood all have a $50 fee until you exceed a yard or cord delivery amount...) Home Depot 59 for the driveway delivery. @6.77 per sheet -------------------- Total Cost - 261.10 Local Store A - .75 per sheet delivery cost. @ 10.24 per sheet. -------------------- Total Cost - 329.70 Local Store B - $50 delivery cost. @ $9 and change(I forget the amount) per sheet. -------------------- Total Cost - More than both (forgetting the .00 designation is too much of a variance at the time of writing this...) The Rub: Although that 6.77 price per sheet looks cool when I walk through home depot, the local building supply store with a per- sheet delivery cost of .75 brings the cost to a marginal advantage. PAY ATTENTION TO DELIVERY COST IN RELATION TO PRODUCT PRICE. I see this all over the place - the tires I got for my jeep were advertised at less of a cost in a store, so I went there and was hit with installation costs that brought the price up and beyond their competitor. Really though - it's only $30. I could rationalize for either way over the other, but when we're building these projects every bit can count and if there's not a dip in quality from one place to the other (as we'd expect in drywall) I would go with the lesser price. How this all would change - If I were ordering twice the amount of product, home depot would win in the price comparison as that 6.77 cost would knock the overall charge down.

703 For Less Actually, it's a 703 Alternative. For those looking for 703 insulation - I'm linking to this thread because if you're hoping to save money - BradJacob linked information that he found Johns Mainville as a much cheaper alternative with similar performance. http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... sc&start=0

OK... a bit more expense to tack on... Lumber for lounge ceiling joists, studio walls - $1200 Lumber for the roof rafters of the lounge - $250 Plywood for lounge roof - $160 Contractor (including shingles for lounge) - $600 Contractor Labor to put on the Hardie Plank siding, soffit/facia, birdboxing, etc... $2000 Exterior caulking for Hardie Plank - $100 2 (more) cases of OSI SC-175 - $75 2 doors worth of door hardware - $1043 Sub Total = $5428 Grand Total = 22,128 Still left: Doors/Door hardware - $3000 Plumbing - $5000 Front porch/parking/sidewalk (concrete/lumber) $3000??? Electrical - $5000-$7000 HVAC (dumping the Mini-Split idea per Rod) - $20,000 - $30,000 MDF, Gypsum, 703 - $1000 Flooring finish - $1500 Lounge cabinets/counter tops/fridge - $10,000 Total left (est) =$48,000 - $60,000 (GULP! clutches heart... GASP!) 1680 Sq Ft / $70,000 = approximately $40/Sq Ft

Cram, what about renting a truck to haul the drywall home in? Lowes here in TN offers a flatbed truck really cheap for the first hour or so. That's using your own manual labor of course, but that's the DIY motto: sweat equity.

Lowe's delivers.

I just came back from scouting some "Home Depot"-like places here in France for material prices following the guidelines in the "Bible" of home studio construction. The prices are outrageous compared to what y'all pay in the States. Yippy. Good news is, I found the materials. The only downside is the thickness of the drywall (I'm from Wisconsin--Gypsum board I guess to the rest of you). 13mm is the thickest I could find...almost 10 euros a sheet, that would be over 15USD. Something that approached a 2x4 is like 7€...well over 10USD. The rockwool didn't strike me as shocking, but I don't remember how much. But given my LOW CEILINGS :evil: I'll be going through a lot of that too.

pianojam wrote:

Cram, what about renting a truck to haul the drywall home in? Lowes here in TN offers a flatbed truck really cheap for the first hour or so. That's using your own manual labor of course, but that's the DIY motto: sweat equity.

I only posted the review of prices because I found that with the various pricing arrangements and perceived benefit of a bulk order of drywall. The point of local shops catering with better prices to larger (commercial) orders makes sense for who they serve. While home depot ("you can do it [ya'moron] and we can help") serves a larger base of smaller consumers. For me - I got it from home depot as they were the lowest price per unit. Getting a truck isn't an issue and that's finally what I did at one point to get the last 15 sheets. But I went with 4 per trip on the top of my jeep for a while. If I were constructing on the second foor or something that was exposed and able to be boomed in, I CERTAINTLY would have done that. The tipping point for delivery on my project would have been if I were doing another room or two. I don't think I could have taken another 30 sheets. I'm glad this thread was bumped because I didn't see your reply there..

home depot ("you can do it [ya'moron] and we can help")

...I have always said "You can do it, and we can watch!" Often there are several around yielding an HD orange apron busying themselves with Home Depot business but not a lot of aid available, if ya know what I mean :)

I just calculated my studio build costs for 2007, and it came in just over US$10,000. I have spent some more money this year ($2K???), so that gives you a rough estimate of my costs so far.

xSpace wrote:

home depot ("you can do it [ya'moron] and we can help")

...I have always said "You can do it, and we can watch!" Often there are several around yielding an HD orange apron busying themselves with Home Depot business but not a lot of aid available, if ya know what I mean :)

My priceless moment there was when I was there to pickup some sawzall blades about 4 months ago. This guy, all roughed out from a days work - think of sawdust on his flannel and fingerprints that could be matched via photo because there is so much grime in his hands. I hear him repeat the question loudly and sarcasticly from the contractor services desk - Delivery??? Do I want Delivery for my lumber?? Everybody knows you don't have hd deliver your lumber.. you gotta pick through 100 to find 10 good peices. He sounded like a true salt of the earth type guy... Made me chuckle. BUT - having said that - I've come to the conclusion that lumber quality indeed, can be managed via smarter purchasing, but any lumber of the same quality will kick and cup in the same ways if it is not moved through stock regularly after being untied (uncompressed). When I buy lumber in small quantities (like the 5/4 door frame wood I have now) I clamp it together so it stays tight and straight. I've seen the best lumber yards have kinked wood. It's just the nature of the beast. My Wood Paradise for example... The most wide and beautiful selection of nearly every species on the planet. I love going to that place... [/u][/quote]

OK... a bit MORE expense to tack on... Sub Total Fwd = $22,128 Front Parking Pad and ADA Sidewalk - $4200 Misc Lumber for Framing - $400 2x12's for CR Rafters and 2x6's for CR Framing - $1000 Sub Total= $5600 New Running Total=$27,728 Still left: Doors/Door hardware - $3000 Plumbing - $5000 Electrical - $5000-$7000 HVAC - $15,000 - $30,000 MDF, Gypsum, 703 - $1000 Flooring finish - $1500 Lounge cabinets/counter tops/fridge - $10,000 Total left (est) =$45,000 - $60,000