KCRag Forum

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone knew a good method to obtain construction cost estimates for new build multi-family housing/ high-rises. I was curious if Kansas City had some sort of list that was visible, or if they are kept secret.

RS Means is the old school standard for cost estimate data. It’s not anywhere near cheap for an individual to buy into, but I have seen older editions in some libraries for use over the years.

https://www.rsmeans.com/

Thank you

horizons82 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:12 am RS Means is the old school standard for cost estimate data. It’s not anywhere near cheap for an individual to buy into, but I have seen older editions in some libraries for use over the years.

https://www.rsmeans.com/

They have a free online cost estimator based on 2011 values. Just inflate those to today.

FWIW our recent cost estimates have been significantly higher than the eventual competitive bids. No idea if that's COVID-related or not.

chaglang wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 6:51 pm FWIW our recent cost estimates have been significantly higher than the eventual competitive bids. No idea if that's COVID-related or not.

Major issue is supply chain and big increase in construction material costs. Lumber has skyrocketed making traditional building see a big cost increase. There’s still a skilled labor shortage issue too.

2021 will be interesting considering the massive decline in state and local government income means government funded construction projects will stall.

DColeKC wrote: ↑Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:19 pm

chaglang wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 6:51 pm FWIW our recent cost estimates have been significantly higher than the eventual competitive bids. No idea if that's COVID-related or not.

Major issue is supply chain and big increase in construction material costs. Lumber has skyrocketed making traditional building see a big cost increase. There’s still a skilled labor shortage issue too.

He's saying estimates were higher than the final cost.

I would guess there's been a rapid decline in commercial projects like tenant fit outs to the point that while materials are up, a lot of businesses are bidding competitively and reducing profit margins to maintain their business

So if your project is more labor intensive than other projects costs could be way down.

flyingember wrote: ↑Thu Dec 10, 2020 10:36 am

DColeKC wrote: ↑Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:19 pm

chaglang wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 6:51 pm FWIW our recent cost estimates have been significantly higher than the eventual competitive bids. No idea if that's COVID-related or not.

Major issue is supply chain and big increase in construction material costs. Lumber has skyrocketed making traditional building see a big cost increase. There’s still a skilled labor shortage issue too.

He's saying estimates were higher than the final cost.

I would guess there's been a rapid decline in commercial projects like tenant fit outs to the point that while materials are up, a lot of businesses are bidding competitively and reducing profit margins to maintain their business

So if your project is more labor intensive than other projects costs could be way down.

A strange thing we are seeing. Wood prices up big but competition has increased. Suppliers in rural areas willing to offer free delivery, etc into the city over some of the urban suppliers who are charging + have higher prices.

https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@LB.1

Wild fluctuations in wood prices. Double what it was in 2019. maybe 3-4 times higher than this time last year.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/hom ... costs-soar

This Fox article from today says lumber of SFH construction up 170% yoy.

[url]https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/18/lu ... rcent.html[/url]

Is it time for housing made from rammed earth and old tires?

I am working on getting bids for finishing our basement, contractors have said lumber is definitely higher but it's not overly prohibitive really, more like 10-20% for 2x4s. Copper, on the other hand, is up like 100% from where it used to be.

Considering the bids we've received are around 34-39k for 1000sf finished, the cost of lumber is only $1200 and copper $200. When you are building a house from scratch I could see where it could start to eat away at margins, however.

I wonder if Biden will drop the tariffs on Canadian imports, and once COVID is under control and supply chains catch up, if prices will come back down?

We built new fall 2016-17 and we’re finishing our basement right now pay as we go. we’ll pay around $40 per sq ft when it’s done +/- $2 per.
It’s 14x40, so about 560 sq ft.
Started 2.5 years ago and doing it in pieces around other projects. It was a good winter project.

We paid a few local companies to do work on it during covid as our stimulus. Figured helping keep local trades employed was a smart use of our money.

The big cost still isn’t materials, it’s labor. I’m doing a huge amount of the work myself.


I did all the framing myself, nothing was load bearing since the house is supported on a full length steel beam and the outside walls. The wood, nails, floor anchors cost me $700 total across 2018 and 2019.

Plumbing I did the drain P trap for a shower. we paid for water lines and this included the pex and fittings inside the wall that didn’t come with the shower valve
$1250. I would estimate the materials at $200-300 worth.

I did half our electrical myself and paid someone for the other half.
If they had done it all, I would estimate $4000 for labor and $1500 for materials. They gave me a nice itemized quote with both split out.

Sheetrock we hired all the work and it was $3450. Probably $250-300 worth of materials. The amount of work they did in a week, this was so worth it.

Put in flooring myself this winter, a decent waterproof vinyl plank. The materials were $1600.

Painting the ceilings and main wall color we had five gallons and some primer left from the original build, so far in $475 for more doing it ourselves.

Bath vanity and one 2x2x8 cabinet for built in storage, we bought from the same mill work place that did the rest of our house so they match, $890 all in. Could have spent less here but the faces are hardwood, even painted they’ll hold up well for a long time. Materials probably cost 25% that.


Up next is trim wood and paint for the trim. I expect to spend $2000-3000 in lumber here, I’ll probably put an order in with McCray for paint grade end joined to save money.

Housing, lumber prices soar because of COVID-19 pandemic

https://www.kmbc.com/article/housing-lu ... c/35930577

KC market supply of homes under 1 month. A 5-6 month supply is the typical border line of buyer vs sellers market. My sister sold her condo without putting on market, just by mentioning to a neighbor she was planning for this year. Offer was within days.

What The Rise And Fall Of Lumber Prices Tell Us About The Pandemic Economy

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/08/10138197 ... ket-newtab

FangKC wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:16 am What The Rise And Fall Of Lumber Prices Tell Us About The Pandemic Economy

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/08/10138197 ... ket-newtab

Wonder when it will actually fall. Bought some plywood a month ago and it's even higher since then

A lot of it depends on those who haven't been vaccinated -- not just in the USA, but worldwide, because the economy is global.

^Moved here..
viewtopic.php?p=623503#p623503

Lumber below 2018 peak