Not a good sign for construction in My area.

[TAB]

don't forget HVAC


you need a lic to install and service those every where in the country.

I'd say its more like 90%  and 75% of the total cost.

[PegLeg45]

so he built a 2 story that used wood Ibeams and gluelams every where? 

You have to remember, this is a duplex, it has twice the mechanicals as a normal house.


the hook up fees here alone are just nuts.  sewer is just under 10k, gas is about 7k, power is about 3k, just to bring it from the pole(undergroundis a bunchmore),   water starts at 3k.   


no BS you can have 30k+ in just hook up fees.   Then there are things like school fees, where this house is located they are $37 per square foot     for a 2600 sqft house thats almost 100k.

And I had the nerve to grumble about the $95 it cost for the 1500 sq. ft. building permit to build my shop.  
$55 was for the build permit and $40 was for the electrical inspection.
My wife and I did all the electrical inside and out to the meter base and my electric company came out (after the inspection) and set a pole, installed a transformer, and ran the underground lines to the meter base. No charge from the electric company either.

[fightingquaker13]

No charge from the electric company either.

Wrong Peg. You, and your neighbors got charged. You're paying for it in your light bill. Now, I can go either way on this question, do we stick the builder for the full cost so we aren't forced to subsidize someone else? Or, do we spread the cost out over everyone's bill as more construction equals more jobs and is to everyone's benefit, and no one wins from a prohibitvely high fee that might have kept you from building that workshop? There is merit to both sides, though I lean towards the former, but in neither case is it "free".
FQ13

[Timothy]

don't forget HVAC

you need a lic to install and service those every where in the country.

I'd say its more like 90%  and 75% of the total cost.

Now you're just nit-picking.....   I don't know about MA but in CT back in the 90's I could install my own boiler, with permits, and all the licensed guy had to do was the final like the electricity.  We didn't have gas in the neighborhood and most homes are heated with a forced hot water boilers.  Pretty simple stuff, buy it, plump it and light it......it was the oil tank and supply lines that needed the Pro to finish.  Once done, he'd do an efficiency test and sign off..

[TAB]

I was speaking more about AC systems.

[Sponsor]

[Timothy]

I was speaking more about AC systems.

Never lived in a house that had central air, it's not that common out here but I'm sure you're right about the final installs.  I did design and build ventilation systems for 14 years so I have no problem with the work.  Just never had to do it for a home.

[tombogan03884]

In Me and NH you can do all the work yourself only permits needed are building permits in most, but not all, towns,  Perculation test of the soil if you are going to have a septic system Leach bed and electrical have to be inspected. (Electric by town building inspector or Electric Co. before they will make the final hook up, You pay for everything from the last existing pole, first 300' are free. Leach bed has to be inspected by the the engineer who did the Perk test before you cover it. )

[Timothy]

In New England where they get you is if you contract for asbestos or lead paint removal you're going to pay through the nose for a contractor to perform the work.  

If the homeowner chooses to do the work, he can basically rip the stuff out of the house and throw it into the trash at the curb.  If the contractor does it, then all the regulations kick in and it makes a 2K job run to 20K...or more.  About twenty years ago, they changed the regs so that no home could be sold with lead paint or asbestos in it and the seller had to remove it or pay someone to do the work.  You don't hear about it much anymore.

[tombogan03884]

 There's a house up the street from me, $180K Beautiful, inside and out, worth easily double the asking price, Been on the market for years.  Furnace works fine and has been well maintained for the entire 80+ years it's been under that mound of asbestos. Knob and tube wiring is in excellent shape as well  

[TAB]

Sorry, I don't buy that about asbesto   there are federal laws that come into play about the transpertation and diposal.
  You can sell a home that has asbesto and/or lead paint here, you just have to disclose it. I delt with it all the time, as long as you don't mess with it, its fine.

there are alot of things you can do, does not make them legal.  Tom, you paid for that hook up, every time you pay your power bill.