Specifications and Estimates

IF YOU undertake to build a cabin or one of its relatives for someone else, it will be necessary for you to prepare specifications and an estimate of the cost of materials and labor. If you are building for yourself, it will pay you to work out carefully such a plan of action. Specifications and estimates are out­lines that serve as a basis upon which to act. The one shows what materials will go into the building and ex­plains how they will be used. The other lists the amounts and costs of these materials and of labor and other items of expense. Specifications tell the prospec­tive builder just what he will get, and the estimate will show him approximately how much it will cost.

There is no building expert living who can estimate exactly how much a building will cost. There are so many variable factors that some guesswork will be in­volved. However, the estimator who has had consider­able experience will be able to come reasonably near the truth. Large contracting companies employ experts who do nothing but figure probable costs. The indi­vidual who would do work for another must be his own estimator, basing his figures on current prices for labor and materials, and on his ability to anticipate results. At best, estimating is speculative in nature; but it is far better then haphazard guessing.

A contract between an owner and a builder is merely a legal instrument that binds the owner to pay so much for a certain piece of work such as the erection of a tourist home. Specifications are fundamentally a part of the contract, but they are more in the nature of a working outline for the contractor. They point out what he must do and how he must do it. Specifications such as the cabin builder will be preparing, either for his own use or as part of a contract, need cover only the fundamental points such as the type of cement mortar to use for fireplaces, and not go into exhaustive detail about things which are generally taken for granted.

Before making an estimate of the cost of a building project, the estimator should visit the site on which the building is to be erected. A study of this will tell him much about the probable cost of digging holes for foundation piers, hauling material to the job, etc.

Some other general suggestions for estimate-makers might include the following: Take the probable weather into consideration. The time of year will in­fluence costs of excavating, hauling materials, etc. If men are hired for doing masonry, carpentry, or other work, they should he covered by insurance against acci­dents. Remember that a small job, like building a cabin, cannot be estimated as closely as a larger one where mistakes will tend to neutralize one another to some extent. In estimating the amount of sheathing re­quired for a building, calculate all areas as if they were solid, deduct for openings, and then add about 16 per cent for floors, 22 per cent for roofs and 18 per cent for sidewalls. The same plan can be followed for shiplap siding. For flooring, add from 25 to 33 per cent to the actual area to be covered.

Suppose, for example, that you are going to build a Colonial type tourist home. You might prepare specifications and an estimate like the following. Of course you would find, when carrying out the actual work, that numerous changes could be made with ad­vantage, and that you guessed wrong on many of the items; but you would have a useful guide to follow.

Your first task is to prepare plans showing the front, rear, and end elevations of the building; the floor arrangement and details of special constructional features.

Continue to Example Of Cabin Specifications

How To Build A Log Cabin