Is $100 per hour the going rate for engineers these days?

[RicodJour]

Since you're contemplating building the whole house yourself, you must be a pretty handy guy. The fact that you haven't dealt with engineers means you're probably not in the business and may or may not be up on construction techniques. If that's the case, you should have someone "keeping you honest". There are sequencing and other concerns that aren't necessarily obvious to even a skilled craftsman who hasn't built a house.

The supervision doesn't have to be the engineer. It could be a builder with experience in commercial & residential construction since yours will be a hybrid.

R

[zeb7k]

No, it's just a small residence. I had the opportunity to design my dream house several years ago and this is what I came up with. I wanted the qualities of strength, security and longevity with minimal maintenance and I didn't find that in traditional wood residences. Everything is about the surface --looking like something better than it really is. It is OK if the thing disintegrates in 5 years, it will give the 2nd owner something to do.

I am by no means wealthy. I love building and working by myself. I figured by doing most the labor myself I could offset the extra cost of better materials and techniques.

[Bob]

You can build a super quality house with conventional home building methods. You don't have to use commercial techniques and spend $9K on engineering. For that kind of money you can hire a good contractor to do and show you how to do a lot of things.

[zeb7k]

Ah, but where's the fun in that? One of my criteria was to use no wood

--at least for structrual purposes. This is all masonry, concrete and steel. When I say I've never done this before I'm just talking about the engineering. I'm plenty handy --both metal and wood.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

They don't use wood, use concrete. Check out

Saves a bundle on energy, strong enough for a tornado (except the roof, but the structure will stand) and very quiet inside. May options for exterior finishes that will last for years.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, How come? I had a plan(blue print) my builder thought he needs structural engineer's input. He looked at it, revised it. Builder took out a permit and we had our addition completed. Inspector passed everything. BTW, I had original blue print for the house as well.

[RicodJour]

An addition is a smaller project than a house and the engineering of it is usually straightforward. A non-typical house such as the OP's, utilizing commercial construction, is a different matter. There is nothing wrong in selecting a builder before the engineer, but some builder's would not want to be responsible for the engineering or selection of the engineer.

Since the OP will be his own contractor, it's moot. He needs to have drawings for the permit, so he needs an engineer sooner rather than later.

R

[Tom]

Well back in the late 80's I worked for a structural engineer in a small outfit and he charged $75/hour then so I'd guess the going rate is more like $125 to $150/hour today. BTW, that was in Texas.

[yellowbirddog]

Indeed. Many firms have to pay not only for engineers and their building, but for extremely expensive software that can run tens of thousands of dollars per seat, per program, each year.

[Tony Hwang]

Hmmm, The addition I was doing involved tearing down half of house vertically and horizontally. If one wants to be own general contractor he better know all aspects of building trades(more or less 40 different ones) from start to finish.

[Bob]

[EXT]

[Steve B]

Last time I used a lawyer, it was to get rid of my ex wife once and for all. He charged me $800, and did what I think amounted to two hours of work.

He was an idiot. I would have given him twice as much.

Steve

[Bob]

A lot of lawyers will give a "free initial consultation" and if you don't hire them, they don't charge, but if you hire them, then they charge for that consultation.