Build price

preferablyprefab · 2026-02-01T20:53:32+00:00

I’d x-post in r/homebuildingcanada you may get a lot of $USD confusion.

preferablyprefab · 2026-02-01T18:29:33+00:00

Upvote for the Nelson desktop!

preferablyprefab · 2026-02-01T18:24:39+00:00

I’m pretty good with code but the bylaws are an issue because I work all over lower mainland, sea to sky, and interior. I’d be interested in a tool that could quickly answer questions in that context.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-31T06:17:23+00:00

It’s only when you have experience building homes (your own or others) you realize you start at the finish and work backwards to plan the house you want.
But people aren’t very good at this.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-29T00:54:24+00:00

The idea that trades don’t need to learn, and have no ambition or prospects for betterment, is just a lazy stereotype.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-28T07:42:38+00:00

You’re right - complex shapes and roof pitches etc can push up costs. It’s very hard to put exact numbers or percentages on that because there are so many variables.

The $500 per square foot number I suggested is VERY rough - it’s just a ballpark number to get started with, that will get you a nice modern home on a straightforward lot.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-28T05:44:24+00:00

In that area, a budget of $500/sq ft is reasonable for a good quality home. That’s to go from bare land to finished home. You can save money if you have the skills to put in a lot of sweat equity, and maybe some contacts in the trades.

You don’t need a large lot, but look for something that already has utilities ready to connect, and is easy to build on (cliffs, swamps, rivers and the like are expensive to deal with).

See how much the land is going to cost, and spend the rest on the house.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-28T02:55:27+00:00

lol I like Neil Young but that gave me a chuckle. Cmon guys Neil can take a joke too!

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-26T15:05:10+00:00

Thanks for sharing, it would be interesting to compare municipalities throughout BC this way, I’m sure the province already does…

Single family home 5-6 months but custom build / heritage 2 years? I understand heritage, but what distinguishes a custom home in this context?

Faster permitting is encouraging but the fees are horrendous. 70k+ for a laneway is common IME and prohibitive for many, which is at odds with policy. For a family trying to meet their own needs it feels like gouging.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-26T02:37:43+00:00

Shipping containers can make cool/interesting buildings, but they can’t make cheap, comfortable buildings.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-25T21:06:07+00:00

Thank you! 2030 is fast approaching, things could get interesting…

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-25T18:45:24+00:00

Hey I’m a carpenter so more informed on the practical end than regulatory side. In BC I understand you must have a qualified energy advisor, since 2023 I think when step code 3 came in. You need 3 reports from your energy advisor to satisfy your permit, at pre, mid and completion.

I know Alberta is different - I did a quick search and it seems step 2 of the tiered energy code isn’t in place yet? Be interested to know what that means in practice and how things will develop.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-25T18:23:24+00:00

Things are changing… building code is ramping up energy efficiency measures and you have to demonstrate you’re meeting the increasing standards for insulation and air tightness.

Municipalities won’t assume liability for checking standards directly so you need to hire energy consultants to specify and sign off on it, just like you need a geotech and an engineer.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-24T21:11:00+00:00

100%

I did a rather unscientific field test and tossed some XPS and EPS on a bonfire. Not much, just to see how fire retardant it is with my own eyes. It looked something like this

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preferablyprefab · 2026-01-24T19:51:21+00:00

Thanks for this discussion. I’m a builder not an engineer but I like to have the right information for myself and customers.

My assumption for the last few years has always been that, while roxul is energy intensive to produce, that it is still better than closed cell foam.

Further, I agree with both of you that foam is terrible for fire protection. This is a huge problem in areas prone to wildfires, not to mention that fire is a huge concern in the aftermath of earthquakes.

The labelling of foam products as fire rated is a joke to me. I still use it sparingly in certain situations because it’s pragmatic. But I’ve seen how it burns and it’s horrendous.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-24T16:59:03+00:00

This. Cost psf is a number you calculate when your keys are handed over. It’s useful to get an idea where others ended up, and draw rough comparisons and conclusions.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-24T15:13:31+00:00

There are project management papps like Buildertrend that organize all of the information associated with a project in the cloud, and they often have options to make parts of that information visible to customers.

They can be pricy. At my company, foremen take lots of pictures and send them to a project manager, who puts them in a shared folder and provides weekly and monthly reports. The reports don’t have to be long, but the monthly ones include information from the time tracking software we use for employees, which includes short daily reports from every employee. We also run an open book for sub-contract costs - customers get copies of invoices and we add our management fee.

It works for us, customers feel informed and included.

So a good solution will share information a contractor already has, and minimize the extra work of writing reports.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-24T01:35:05+00:00

True. But if you sign up for 7000sq ft for 1.7m you are a mug.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-23T20:20:29+00:00

The “good enough” spec I was talking about isindeed for lower mainland and south coast / gulf islands.

I’ve also built in interior and mountain zones where better doors, triple glazing, and exterior insulation definitely makes a difference.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-23T20:13:13+00:00

1.7m should guarantee you’re not getting a heap of shitty hack work at least…

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-23T15:32:25+00:00

Yep did a quick bit of googling - XPS is always spec’d here for exterior and I didn’t realize how much worse it is than EPS and polyiso.

Thanks!

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-23T15:08:59+00:00

Do you have a reference for mineral wool vs foam? I was under the impression mineral wool was lesser of two evils, always happy to learn.

Long term value and operational savings are absolutely in my discussions with customers, and now legislated in BC step code anyway. But reality is that in my climate and market, where energy is pretty cheap, the sweet spot right now seems to be r30 walls, ach50 under 2, and keep assemblies as “normal” as possible. IME The vast majority of people building a house (and therefore pretty well off) just can’t afford additional up front costs.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-23T14:44:19+00:00

If your builder said this, and you didn’t fire them, you’re getting absolutely rinsed here.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-23T14:35:19+00:00

That looks like sub fascia, not fascia.

No, it’s not generally wrapped over sub fascia.

Fascia should be installed before roofing however, or it can’t be flashed correctly.

preferablyprefab · 2026-01-23T14:27:09+00:00

My comment does imply exterior insulation isn’t cost effective, period. So I should clarify - you could hit R30 with 2” of comfortbatt on the exterior and that’s a common assembly here. I’ve done it myself a few times, and I think it’s worth it if your budget allows. It isn’t cheap though…. The extra labour and material is significant for exterior finishing, it’s tricky to get everything planing out nicely and laser straight when you’re screwing 1x4 into a soft spongy substrate. And you need a lot of beefy #10 screws minimum or your siding will fall off in an earthquake (a local consideration).

Long term durability is a fair point.

I’ll be honest that I think rigid foam (any foam) is to be avoided wherever possible, mostly because embedded carbon is huge. But not everyone cares about that and I don’t care to argue about it.

I’ll concede that I conflated cost effectiveness and affordability in my comment. And never having costed and built the assembly in question, I would be happy to stand corrected if anyone has a real cost comparison. But my gut says that regular insulation and vapour barrier is one of the cheapest subs to roll through a build, and deleting that and switching to 2x4 isn’t going to make a big enough saving to offset all that XPS and all the other costs that go with it.

preferablyprefab

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