Question

You want a mountain cabin built for weekend trips, vacations, to host family, and perhaps eventually to retire in. After discussing the project with a local contractor, you receive an estimate that the total construction cost of your 2000 ft^2 lodge will be $150,000. The percentage of costs is broken down as follows: (a) What is the cost per square foot of the 2000 ft lodge? (b) If you arc also considering a. 4000 ft layout option, estimate your construction costs if: i. All cost items (in the table) change proportionately to the size increase. ii. The first two cost items do not change at all: all others are proportionate.

Answer 1

(a) What is the cost per square foot of the 2000 ft lodge?

• construction cost per sq foot = $150,000 / 2,000 = $75 per square foot

(b) If you arc also considering a. 4000 ft layout option, estimate your construction costs if: i. All cost items (in the table) change proportionately to the size increase.

• total construction costs for a 4,000 sq ft layout = $150,000 x 2 = $300,000 since all costs vary proportionally to the size of the cabin

ii. The first two cost items do not change at all: all others are proportionate.

• total construction costs = (23% x $150,000) + (77% x $300,000) = $34,500 + $231,000 = $265,500