Not much is happening as far as house plans go this week. There is some good news, some bad news and a roadblock.
Good news is we will get the finalized set of "standard construction documents" from Monolithic very soon in the mail.
Bad news is there is apparently a whole separate structural engineering step that still has to happen. I was mistaken in thinking that was part of the current documents. My lack of knowledge shows plainly again.
The roadblock is that the structural engineer that Monolithic usually uses isn't licensed in CT. So now we need to find our own that will know nothing about monolithic domes. So far only one quote has come back and it is more than 3X the cost that Monolithic says is typical.
I feel like people view a monolithic dome as a super expensive custom home because it is unfamiliar. This causes many of them to see dollar signs when they think they might be part of the project. I had a friend assume we were building a million dollar home even though she knows we live modestly. I feel this may be the case with the engineer that gave me the crazy quote. I just want to state for the record that it is about the same as any conventionally built house.
Ok, time for all you mathematically challenged people (like me) to find a calculator and lets talk numbers. Monolithic gives an estimate of $60-$75 per sq ft to construct the shell including the slab foundation. This is roughly equivalent to a conventionally built house, except for paint, windows and doors. Is it more expensive than a stick built home of the same size? Maybe, but not by as much as you would think. In fact a quick search online tells me it is the same as a stick built house. The Home Advisor website says that people on average pay $150 per sq ft to build a conventional house. Monolithic says to estimate the cost of finishing the dome you should double the cost of the shell. If we double Monolithics high end it comes in right at the $150 per sq ft mark.
Of course, you can finish a house however you would like and make it as high-end or as simple as desired. You could finish it all from IKEA, or hire companies to do custom work. The cheapest route is to do the work yourself since labor is the biggest expense. These choices will effect the final cost of any house (not just a dome) and they all have trade offs. We plan to do much of the interior ourselves because we want many design elements that are too expensive were we to hire someone. We are comfortable doing the interior work but believe hiring Monolithic to handle the construction of the dome itself is the way to go. We also plan to move in as soon as the town allows us and continue to finish the interior over time. We are not new to living in construction zones!
For now we are a bit stuck. We need to find a structural engineer that is reasonable and licensed in CT. I have a feeling these problems are just going to keep coming during the whole process.
Good news is we will get the finalized set of "standard construction documents" from Monolithic very soon in the mail.
Bad news is there is apparently a whole separate structural engineering step that still has to happen. I was mistaken in thinking that was part of the current documents. My lack of knowledge shows plainly again.
I feel like people view a monolithic dome as a super expensive custom home because it is unfamiliar. This causes many of them to see dollar signs when they think they might be part of the project. I had a friend assume we were building a million dollar home even though she knows we live modestly. I feel this may be the case with the engineer that gave me the crazy quote. I just want to state for the record that it is about the same as any conventionally built house.
Ok, time for all you mathematically challenged people (like me) to find a calculator and lets talk numbers. Monolithic gives an estimate of $60-$75 per sq ft to construct the shell including the slab foundation. This is roughly equivalent to a conventionally built house, except for paint, windows and doors. Is it more expensive than a stick built home of the same size? Maybe, but not by as much as you would think. In fact a quick search online tells me it is the same as a stick built house. The Home Advisor website says that people on average pay $150 per sq ft to build a conventional house. Monolithic says to estimate the cost of finishing the dome you should double the cost of the shell. If we double Monolithics high end it comes in right at the $150 per sq ft mark.
Of course, you can finish a house however you would like and make it as high-end or as simple as desired. You could finish it all from IKEA, or hire companies to do custom work. The cheapest route is to do the work yourself since labor is the biggest expense. These choices will effect the final cost of any house (not just a dome) and they all have trade offs. We plan to do much of the interior ourselves because we want many design elements that are too expensive were we to hire someone. We are comfortable doing the interior work but believe hiring Monolithic to handle the construction of the dome itself is the way to go. We also plan to move in as soon as the town allows us and continue to finish the interior over time. We are not new to living in construction zones!
For now we are a bit stuck. We need to find a structural engineer that is reasonable and licensed in CT. I have a feeling these problems are just going to keep coming during the whole process.
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