Have you lived / visited The DR before? Please come on down to earth...
- Thread starter is mikehunt there
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construction
Have you lived / visited The DR before? Please come on down to earth...
Yes I have been. Also soon to be moving.
Thing is, their designs are geared more to showing off the containers instead of just stucco-ing them or whatever.
It's actually pretty inexpensive too.
: p.
Thing is, their designs are geared more to showing off the containers instead of just stucco-ing them or whatever.
It's actually pretty inexpensive too.
: p.
pablo with all due respect please dont hijack my thread with ...how we can live in containers...consider starting your own thread. im putting a lot of effort into this research and i would prefer you not distract the kind contributors of dr1 from my construction theme. Best of luck with the container thing but man...the dr is hot hot hot....containers being metal and all that i thinks your gonna have problems
foundation for house/complete= $500us
walls made of cemant brick= $600us
all plumbing done $400
all electrics done $400
all tiling $10sqm tile =$1050 +labour $100=$1150
painting house $500
cement roof $500
total $4100-$4500 approx just to purchase these things and have them built into a working house
this is roughly $40 a metre to construct
I'am sorry, but in my opinion these prices are not correct. Only the materials are more expensive, for example the brick walls. You want 105m2, you will need about 2.800 bricksx15 peso is 42.000 pesos than you need cement, iron and 5 people to work. Afterwards you have to make biga, a lot off iron/cement and you pay much money for the carpenters.
I think when you find a cheap maestro he can build the foundation/brick walls/biga for about 200/250.000 pesos, the roof 170/200.000, the floors and plumbing 150.000. Then water/electricity and a septic tank, afterwards windows doors kitchen toilet shower painting and finish the cement floors.
This house will be more expensive than 1 million pesos, if you find a good and cheap maestro. I think the offer made to you is a reasonable offer.
Succes I am in construction for over 1 year.
walls made of cemant brick= $600us
all plumbing done $400
all electrics done $400
all tiling $10sqm tile =$1050 +labour $100=$1150
painting house $500
cement roof $500
total $4100-$4500 approx just to purchase these things and have them built into a working house
this is roughly $40 a metre to construct
I'am sorry, but in my opinion these prices are not correct. Only the materials are more expensive, for example the brick walls. You want 105m2, you will need about 2.800 bricksx15 peso is 42.000 pesos than you need cement, iron and 5 people to work. Afterwards you have to make biga, a lot off iron/cement and you pay much money for the carpenters.
I think when you find a cheap maestro he can build the foundation/brick walls/biga for about 200/250.000 pesos, the roof 170/200.000, the floors and plumbing 150.000. Then water/electricity and a septic tank, afterwards windows doors kitchen toilet shower painting and finish the cement floors.
This house will be more expensive than 1 million pesos, if you find a good and cheap maestro. I think the offer made to you is a reasonable offer.
Succes I am in construction for over 1 year.
For that price i can get a decent house in Belgium. I'm always baffled by the construction prices quoted. In Belgium i can build a house to european standards with double walls, insulation, double glazed windows, heating, bathroom etc and more electricity in it than in an average dominican village for about 100.000 $ this is without the land. So can anybody explain to me how come that a house without heating, without doubleglazing, without insullation, without double walls, without.... and with a labour cost that is far below european norms (in belgium 1 worker 1 day costs you about 400$) in the DR costs the same
I'm at a loss
greetings
Johan
When people ask me these questions I go and ask my neighbor, an incredibly successful builder.
He quotes me RD$15,000-RD$25,000 per sq mt of construction depending on the finish (ie, mahogany cabinets, doors etc vs treated pin)
You go from there. 250 sq mts = $186,000 for a well built house, not including the lot.
HB
He quotes me RD$15,000-RD$25,000 per sq mt of construction depending on the finish (ie, mahogany cabinets, doors etc vs treated pin)
You go from there. 250 sq mts = $186,000 for a well built house, not including the lot.
HB
again: my quote of 200.000 was for finished house, including all appliances, furniture and EVERYTHING, ready to move in.
i have noticed that lots of things cost more in DR than in europe, or at least the same. cement roof is cheap but if you want wood and tiles - more costly than in europe. hand-made kitchen cabinets for our apartment (had to be hand made as kitchen space is small and requires a bar, nothing ready-made fits) came to about 800 dollars (including work tops and mahogany wood) and we are talking sink cabinets plus bar cabinets. in the uk you can have a WHOLE kitchen units for less! a fridge i'd like to have (freezer part in a bottom, fridge part on the top) costs here as much as in london! crazy!
uk of course has ARGOS and IKEA with cheap furniture and household items and you will find nothing of that sort in DR.
houses here can be as much as a few million dollars (in sea horse ranch etc.)
i have noticed that lots of things cost more in DR than in europe, or at least the same. cement roof is cheap but if you want wood and tiles - more costly than in europe. hand-made kitchen cabinets for our apartment (had to be hand made as kitchen space is small and requires a bar, nothing ready-made fits) came to about 800 dollars (including work tops and mahogany wood) and we are talking sink cabinets plus bar cabinets. in the uk you can have a WHOLE kitchen units for less! a fridge i'd like to have (freezer part in a bottom, fridge part on the top) costs here as much as in london! crazy!
uk of course has ARGOS and IKEA with cheap furniture and household items and you will find nothing of that sort in DR.
houses here can be as much as a few million dollars (in sea horse ranch etc.)
I have talked to several builders, architects, realtors, and people who have built homes. the least expensive Ive seen a "complete" home built to turnkey readiness (including plumbing, electric, appliances, etc, but no landscaping, planta, fencing, etc.) is USD $100 per sq. meter...conversely, I have heard of people charging/paying up to USD $1000 per sq. meter. It's a HUGE price gap, but for a basic, but well built, nice home, in an area with utilities in place, I would budget about $200 sq. meter, which would include everything. You can spend less, especially if you are going to act as "General Contractor" and be heavily involved in the the architectural design and planning, but if you expect to spend much less than this, and not be hands-on, Im afraid you'll be VERY disappointed.
To answer the poster above's question about perceived value vs. Belgium or somewhere else: You can buy a house that meets the OP's specs for around $150,000 or less, brand new in a nice gated community in Sosua or PP, for example, but that is because the builder is using a standard design and building several, often many, homes at the same time.
To answer the poster above's question about perceived value vs. Belgium or somewhere else: You can buy a house that meets the OP's specs for around $150,000 or less, brand new in a nice gated community in Sosua or PP, for example, but that is because the builder is using a standard design and building several, often many, homes at the same time.
It doesn't...The problem is that most of the people on this board live in touristy areas where they are asking those prices for pretty much every house so they don't know any better and end up paying through the roof. They come to The DR and compare to prices in their home countries and think "Oh this is so cheap", even though they are paying three times what they need to. Construction materials don't cost more in those areas. Labor probably does cost a little bit more, but not enough to make that huge of a difference.
In DV8's case she's quoting a house that she's seen, but that price probably includes the lot and it's probably much larger than Mike wants to build.
The prices quoted by HB are reasonable for really nice construction (meaning really good quality materials, high end tiles, mahogany, etc.). If Mike used those prices his house would cost around 78,000. He could build it for a lot less if he uses more basic materials...
C
Chip00
Guest
Mikehunt
I know a couple of fellows that can build the house for you well at a good price. One is a contractor/home builder here in Santiago that built my house.
Another is a good friend of mine who is a maestro who has a lot of experience.
Here in the DR like in some places in the US you don't have to have to have an Engineer - sure the City may have a code but this is the DR after all.
As I am a Civil Engineer let me give you some advice: Irregardless of whether you get an Engineer, contractor, maestro ask to see previous buildings thay have done and take a qualified person with you.
The problem with the system here in the DR is that everything is "Design Build" where the Architect or Engineer get the job up front and they then hire the Contractor. Their profit depends on how much they can "cut cost" on building your house - this is bad. For that reason there are many contractors and maestros that will "overbuild" a house becasue they don't have the means to redesind the structural elements.
I live in Santiago and you are welcome to visit me. My house is two stories and 360 sm and I paid RD3.7M. I had to invest another RD120,000 in bars and screen for the window but that was all.
If you are interested in talking to my friends about doing your house just let me know by private message. Just to let you know I won't be asking for any commission or finder fee from anybody - good luck!
Chip
I know a couple of fellows that can build the house for you well at a good price. One is a contractor/home builder here in Santiago that built my house.
Another is a good friend of mine who is a maestro who has a lot of experience.
Here in the DR like in some places in the US you don't have to have to have an Engineer - sure the City may have a code but this is the DR after all.
As I am a Civil Engineer let me give you some advice: Irregardless of whether you get an Engineer, contractor, maestro ask to see previous buildings thay have done and take a qualified person with you.
The problem with the system here in the DR is that everything is "Design Build" where the Architect or Engineer get the job up front and they then hire the Contractor. Their profit depends on how much they can "cut cost" on building your house - this is bad. For that reason there are many contractors and maestros that will "overbuild" a house becasue they don't have the means to redesind the structural elements.
I live in Santiago and you are welcome to visit me. My house is two stories and 360 sm and I paid RD3.7M. I had to invest another RD120,000 in bars and screen for the window but that was all.
If you are interested in talking to my friends about doing your house just let me know by private message. Just to let you know I won't be asking for any commission or finder fee from anybody - good luck!
Chip
...and basic materials doesn't mean automatically bad materials ! this is just a cheaper choice... like the difference between marble from carrara and a second choice tiles, the difference between high end luxury and basic good material
yep, this is the cost of everything. house is indeed bigger and in a nice area too. i use it as a comparison, i know that smaller, different area etc will lower the price down.
chip00, your house was a very good price, when did you build? the house i am talking about was finished just a month ago...
i have been told that prices for construction went up from january too. more money again :tired:
Dv8: What I've been trying to explain is that the price Chip paid to build his house is not necessarily a really good price, but the normal price you would pay to build in The DR, unless you went really high end.
In my case I spent about the same as Chip on my house and mine is about 450 m2 and that price includes the lot (granted the lot is not in some expensive neighborhood). Materials I used were not really high end, but not cheap either (i.e. I don't have marble, but I do have pretty nice tiles throughout, mahogany doors, etc.). I built it about two years ago so the price Chip mentioned is right on the money to me since prices have gone up somewhat since then.
Advice I would give is everything that Chip said plus buy your own materials, don't hire an "engineer" but a maestro as the engineer will just hire a maestro any way to build it, be there supervising your construction as much as you can, make sure things are leveled and everything (baths, window sills, etc) drains well, pay special attention to the plumbing as once this is put in it is very hard to change unlike here in the US where the walls are easy to break and put back together, spend the extra bit of money and put in high (10 feet) ceilings - This helps a lot with ventilation.
C
Chip00
Guest
I bought my house last April and yes prices have increased a great deal since then.
I think the OP considers looking for someone from the interior to give him a price because the "coastal sankies" are going to milk him for whatever he has got.
Also, to the Op - I don't know if I explained it well but what I was trying to say about the homebuilders/contractors and Maestros is that they will "overbuild" a house because they don't have the ability to recalculate the structural elements like the Engineers do and this is a good thing. I know of examples of buildings here in Santiago that were done by Engineers that are cracking up all over the place because the Engineer has specified less rebar or shallow foundations, etc. in order to "maximize" his profit - at your expense. It happens all of the time - that is why a lot of things are built like shyt here - look at the roads and the sewer system for example.
this discussion is awesome....as i read more and more posts i become convinced that for a basic home i can get it erected for $200-240metre!
can i just thank all that contributed to this discussion. Because now i have tangible figures of what the 'roof' or 'footing' will cost! i travel the world and simply want some 'digs' that i can drop into for a time so i dont need a 'taj mahal'.
Hill billy thanks for your input...i would suggest that your successful friend is so successful because he puts a 100% on everything, and to be far this is what business and capitalism is all about ie the aquisition of as much wealth with little social concern for those that cant afford your price....its all about the money!!!!!!!!!!!!! I on the other hand like another poster suggested simply can't see where the money goes. Well i can actually; as it goes into the builders back pocket.
Great discussion, please feel free to continue it as im still very interested in hearing from those that can give me ideas on what it costs to build a basic house as per my earlier definition
can i just thank all that contributed to this discussion. Because now i have tangible figures of what the 'roof' or 'footing' will cost! i travel the world and simply want some 'digs' that i can drop into for a time so i dont need a 'taj mahal'.
Hill billy thanks for your input...i would suggest that your successful friend is so successful because he puts a 100% on everything, and to be far this is what business and capitalism is all about ie the aquisition of as much wealth with little social concern for those that cant afford your price....its all about the money!!!!!!!!!!!!! I on the other hand like another poster suggested simply can't see where the money goes. Well i can actually; as it goes into the builders back pocket.
Great discussion, please feel free to continue it as im still very interested in hearing from those that can give me ideas on what it costs to build a basic house as per my earlier definition
No actually I don't think he does put 100% on everything. We built in 2000 a property with high end finishings but not in a tourist area, in a 'rich Dominican' area. You can ask dv8 about the type of house ours is because she has seen it. Not including the price for the land, building costs were 2.5 million pesos; size of construction 375 sq. metres (based on a 660 sq. metre lot which has now been extended to 1000 sq. metres by buying some more land). Thus price per sq. metre = 6666 pesos.
Since 2000 building materials have gone up enormously plus we had the 2004 devaluation of the peso. I would think to build the same thing now would cost us around 6 million or 16,000 pesos per sq. metre.