Start with a simple design. Figure what materials you will need and price them.

I have a personal/professional issue of whether I should encourage such behavior or not.

Do you have any experience in any of the trades? Concreting, framing, plumbing, wiring, roofing etc? If not, and once the pandemic is over, maybe volunteer for Habitat or equvalent to get some hands on experience. But with or without skills, you're still going to need contractors for some elements of the work.

Design and build a dollhouse first. Then a doghouse. Then a shed. Then extrapolate. If you can do all of the above, with a minimally acceptable level of craftsmanship, within a 3 month time period, then you might have a chance at the 100K cabin without the building permit expiring. Don’t forget the massive amount of specialty tools, and pro level trade skills, that you’ll need to own in order to “do it all”. And the full time job that it will be, with no income coming in. It’s not a “weekend warrior” type project.

yes - you can. You need to be "handy", willing to learn (youtube AND hands on) - people used to do this all the time in the past. HOWEVER - people also had many more skills learned over the course of growing up on farms and building things / fixing things / understanding how things work. If you grew up 'calling the man' to fix x,y,z this would be much harder.

You need to be honest with yourself on your time, your skill set, your ability to get some friends to help, and your ability to really dig deep to learn new things.

Many lumber yards and even big box stores will help you do a takeoff off of plans, and package up your material - even allowing for you to return what you don't use.

My brother built a brewing shed 2 years ago - he and his wife did EVERYTHING - plumbing, wiring, framing, foundation, sheetrock, roofing, windows, garage / rollup door. It's not for the faint of heart - and you have to be willing to lose a lot of weekends and time.

The cost distribution is a bell curve, heavy on the right. I would estimate 95% within $100-$500/sf. Is that helpful?

There is no way for us to make a good estimate of the cost without a set of plans and some information on the lot where it will be located. Other questions would be what type of foundation (slab on grade, crawlspace, basement), what type of terrain (even/uneven) and soil conditions (rock, clay, sand, etc.), and the climate zone.

Its a very interesting project, but don't underestimate the time it will take to research and learn all the various tasks. I went through all of this as part of building a side addition to my house, but I had architect plans to work from, and I was just the helper working with a very competent contractor (one person).

I would only take on this task if you have a lot of time, and access to folks who can help you learn how to complete each task. If you have to research and learn it all on your own using books and the internet it will be a very slow build process.

Bruce

I want to buy a car. How much do they cost? I think I’ll build my own. How much would that cost? Just by asking the question, you declare you have no experience. What have you ever built? What construction project have you planned and overseen? You haven’t done even the most basic research. Does your building department/zoning authority allow what you want?

Thank you @strategery for the only actual answer.

People I know who have built their own cabins are generally very skilled and/or have quite a few helpful neighbors and friends. Or it has taken them an inordinately long time to complete. It may save you a lot of aggravation in the long run to have a builder get it to lockup (that is, walls, windows, siding, and roof), and finish the inside yourself. Even then count on it taking much longer than you're thinking now.

The Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego, California started construction in March 1887 with unskilled labor. They started in an inconspicuous part of the hotel and by the time they started constructing the main lobby area they were skilled.

Love the Hotel Del!

Spent last two Easters at the Del with family. Then walked to church and ate lunch at the seafood place over the marina. Different this year!

Thank you @strategery for the only actual answer.

I question the validity of that number though...

We recently rebuilt our cabin and it was about $50 per ft². We didn't need much foundation work and we had the septic system but that amount includes fixtures and everything else including delivery to a remote site that added significant charges.

Materials for a simple house just don't cost that much, it is all the expertise that is expensive. If you are willing to take a lot of time, and don't have unreasonable expectations you can easily build a 1,000 ft² house for $50,000. Now before you run out and do this, realize that you could also probably get a second job and pay someone else to build you a house and still come out ahead. However, I can tell you that it will be more precious to you than anything you can pay someone else to do, warts and all.

I kinda thought I answered too. Oh well.

And agree with Bry - making something with your hands and pouring your guts into it - is fulfilling. It's much more fulfilling that just working more (and more) to pay someone else.

Your answer was well thought out Janni.

How come it's always the folks who come here with one singular post with no evidence of helping anyone else out in the community which is ok but then note they don't like the responses of some of the regulars who have given much of their free time posting thousands of times helping other people.

@bry911, 2 things: 1. OP said house, you said cabin. 2. I don't think you understand stats. I'm estimating 1 out of every 20 houses built will cost either more than $500/sf or less than $100/sf. If you have a diff estimate, don't hesitate to share.

I apologize for answering your question with questions, but asking how much it would cost for you to build a home without information about the particular plan, site requirements, and your skill level is akin to asking "how much does it cost to go on vacation?" or "how much does a college education cost?"

The answer to each is "It depends...."

1. OP said house, you said cabin.

No. The OP specifically described the structure as, "I’m talking a small retreat with maybe a bathroom, kitchen, main room, and bedroom." Can you tell me the difference between that and a cabin. Furthermore, a well built cabin will often exceed the cost of a house of the same size. Energy efficiency becomes a lot more important when your energy is all generator and solar panels, we are talking 2 x 6 construction covered by 4" of XPS foam, drywall, etc.

2. I don't think you understand stats. I'm estimating 1 out of every 20 houses built will cost either more than $500/sf or less than $100/sf. If you have a diff estimate, don't hesitate to share.

I may not. You know I do work with Stata a lot but I admit it does the heavy lifting for me. However, since we are discussing knowledge of statistics... You actually said, "The cost distribution is a bell curve, heavy on the right. I would estimate 95% within $100-$500/sf. Is that helpful?" A bell curve can't be heavy on the right. By definition a bell curve is a normal distribution that follows the 68-95-99.7 rule, so if your curve is skewed...It is not bell. It is a skewed curve and a completely different distribution, but you are still way off. Statistically...

Here is some useful data on your "average." On "average," construction costs total 55.6% of the final sale price which on "average" was $320,000 for a 2,800 ft² house in 2017. Land improvement and contractor overhead made up the rest of the cost. So let's calculate the AVERAGE in 2017... ($320,000 x 55.6%)/2,800 ft² = $63.54 per ft². Or we can find some other data...

The average custom built home was $100.91 per ft² in the South and the median was $92.56. The very highest region had an average of $159 per ft² and a median of $161 per ft².

The entire U.S. had an average of $120 for custom built and a median of $107 in 2017. So no way is only 1 in 20 cheaper when almost half of the average 2.5 years ago were cheaper.

There are various lumber yards that will sell you a 1,100 square foot house with everything other than HVAC, electric, plumbing, appliances and finished flooring for $28,000 (including fixtures and cabinets).

---

So yes, I think your estimate has some serious deficiencies.

ETA: If you want the actual number of houses that cost under $100 per square foot to build in 2017... It was 43%. Now I know prices have really gone up in 2.5 years, but have they gone up that much? By the way only 15% cost more than $150 per square foot.

We have really good data on home sales.

Have to admit to having a chuckle when Bry was accused of not understanding statistics. No one on an internet forum should ever assume anything about another poster's knowledge/background.

Just to throw out something else that I haven't seen in this thread - it is often said that 50% of a house construction cost is labor and 50% material.

So if you go with $100 per sqft as a somewhat reasonable guess, then materials alone is about $50. Now no one has the time or expertise to do everything. And then there is the equipment - which could be rented - but isn't included in that 50%.

Even if you build it nearly entirely yourself, there are items that most likely favor some help.

Grading for example - there is a fairly steep learning curve with a bobcat and the rental is pricey. You can do it but you aren't saving much money.

I personally put drywall in the same category. So heavy too. But mostly, I am just terrible at mudwork - I mean it looks fine in the end but takes me forever. And no N95's available for all the dust....

What I would do to start is get initial estimates - septic, well, utilities and foundation. And check with local jurisdiction about permit cost. These numbers can total under $10k or be over $50k. This maybe an eye opener for overall costs although these are incredibly variable. Even a modest retreat needs these things. I have had permits cost $500 and $10k and the vast majority of the difference was jurisdiction and not structure. Wells are typically $7k around me but have a pretty good range. Septic is $5k to $25k. And foundation is very location dependent - frost line and all. Might get away with a slab for $3k. Might need a basement (or close to it) for $30k.

The other reality is that most people who could reasonably accomplish something like this have a fair amount of experience is similar, smaller scale projects. You don't mention that - so that is a bit of a red flag.

I personally would try it but I have done major renos - just hiring out certain parts.

Statistically the cost of cabins constructed by their owners in the past 73.5 months in the north eastern region of the United States did not include the cost of visits to emergency room or urgent care units by the owners during the construction period.

(humor)

You need to buy a kit house. I'd budget 30K or so.

We self built a 1500 foot shop for right at $50 a square foot in today’s money. The dirt work and slab pour were hired out. No plumbing, so that’s a BIG chunk to add septic, a bathroom and kitchen. Everything else was “overbuilt” for a shop.

I think it’s certainly possible to build a basic cabin for just a bit more. The thing is though, it’s SO much work, and takes SO long to DIY, that if you aren’t ending up with something better than a basic no frills cabin, you lose motivation halfway through. Plan for some visible upgrades as your reward. A nice shower. A fireplace. A bit more than a basic kitchen. Taller ceilings. Nicer windows. Make the end result worth all of that work.

Watch “Life Below Zero”. Many of these homes are built for very cost- just hammers, nails, and chainsaws. So, I extrapolate that to be about $756.83. Since you want exact dollar amounts.

He said "roughly".

Seems to me that the poster describing a number as on "a bell curve, heavy on the right" is the person who does not understand statistics. A bell curve is symmetrical.

It could be a curved bell?

It could be a curved bell?

It... melted...?

I kinda thought I answered too. Oh well.

The OP only wanted confirmation of what he/she wanted to hear.

Ok, David Cary, $750 to $560.00.

Wait a minute. $756.83 does not fall between $750 to $560.00. This virus thing is really taking its toll.

Mark, that’s the least of the problems for the OP! He never told me how much a car would cost, either!

Bell-shaped curve. Your response is pedantic.

RE/MAX lists the cost to build per sqft for major Canadian cities as follows:

• Vancouver: $130 – $230
• Calgary: $115 – $150
• Toronto: $110 – $210
• Montreal: $95 – $160
• Halifax: $115 – $150

Consider how many homes are built which lie within these ranges. How many lie outside the $100-500 range in comparison?

And since you appear to have missed the real point entirely, the range is so large that OP's q cannot be answered with a useful number.

since you appear to have missed the real point entirely, the range is so large that OP's q cannot be answered with a useful number.

Can you please tell me where I missed that point?

I know you made up the number for dramatic effect, so do most people here other than the OP. However, when the OP thanked you for providing a real number, I felt I should give some anecdotal data that was based on reality rather than a made up number. My post was not overly optimistic or unrealistic about the task of building a home yourself.

You were the one who then took issue with my real numbers to try to defend the numbers you made up for dramatic effect. It was a surreal journey...

Had the OP not said, " Thank you @strategery for the only actual answer," or if you would have clarified your point to the OP in the day that followed the OP's thanks, then I would not have commented at all.

We are building a 1550 sf cottage on the shore of Lake Erie in Northeast Ohio. We hired a builder to take us to under roof which included plumbing. We did all the electrical, drywall, flooring, finishes ourselves. Hired out only insulation and kitchen countertops. When all is said and done we'll come in slightly under $150,000.

Also, this is not for the faint of heart. My husband and I love doing this type of work and have a good amount of skill. But we are on year 2 of the build. It's a second home and we aren't in any sort of rush but we each have full time jobs and two daughters who are both soccer players on a couple different teams each. The house is over an hour away so we have to fit it in when we can. Sometimes it's a lot but it is very rewarding if you can handle it.