How many jobs does it take to build a house?

Second in a series

When we finished Phase 1 of our house, we had used about 10 percent of our construction budget and needed between 36 and 42 jobs. We now move to Phase 2 as our series examines the human impact of the construction downturn.

Our pilings are now set and the house is ready for the interior “skeleton.”

Builder Carl “Pogie” Worsley will need to hire a framing crew. But being a frugal builder, he buys his own nails. A call to his nail vendor, Bayco, adds two more jobs to our roster — the salesperson he deals with and the office clerk who handles the paperwork and sends the nails on their way.

Next stop is Kellogg Building Supply, where he orders the plywood, studs and rafters. Here we add an amazing 12 jobs.

There are salespeople and office clerks. The materials are stored in the “yard,” the order assembled and loaded onto trucks with hoists. Several of our jobs involved the process of moving this lumber from inventory to the delivery vehicle. The truck brings the materials to the job site in several loads. In some cases, a separate worker will operate yet another hoist to drop the inventory on site.

The actual framing of the house requires a crew that usually consists of four workers. They install the flooring material, the interior studs, exterior plywood or other coverings and attach the rafters to the roof, as well as plywood roofing that will hold the shingles. Framing also includes all exterior decks and stairs.

Sixteen more Outer Banks jobs have been required to get our house framed.

All dried in

Builders say the house is “dried in” once our next set of jobs is complete. Worsley will order windows and doors; sometimes from the same supplier and other times from different vendors. Counting the sales staff, warehouse, delivery and clerical employees, another six jobs have been used. The framing crew will actually set the windows and doors, so no new jobs are required for installation.

Our house is now ready for the roof. Purchase and delivery of our shingles involves about four jobs, again involving sales, clerical, warehouse and delivery personnel. The crew that affixes the shingles to our house usually requires a crew of three.

We are now ready to dress up the house’s exterior. Typically Worsley will purchase the siding material from the same building supply companies where he purchased our framing material. Thus, no new jobs are added, but it is important to remember that these same sales, clerical, warehouse and delivery employees rely on more than the mere sales of lumber to justify their jobs.

A local siding company is hired and four more workers complete the dressing up of the home’s exterior. The process of “drying in” is complete and we’ve added 17 more jobs, for a running total of 33 workers so far in phase 2.

The electrician: Gil Myers

It would be safe to say the downturn in the local construction economy has thrown Gil Myers a bigger curve than his military injuries.
full story »

Roughin’ it

The process of running all of the pipes, wires and ducts used for the home’s plumbing, electrical and heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) uses three different subcontracting companies.
Almost always, these are small, locally owned entities, often times sole proprietors who employ one or two other workers. Each rough-in segment requires a crew of four, for 12 more local jobs. Our total in phase two is now 49.

Down Under

Concrete is delivered in many phases of home building. In many areas, homes are built on slabs. There are also driveways, porches and, in some cases, concrete is used around swimming pools in place of decking.

Our house is built on pilings, but once the structure is roughed in, “underneath concrete” is poured. For those familiar with elevated, piling homes, this consists of the concrete directly under the house where carports, storage rooms and outside showers are often located — all under the actual first story of the home. This process also helps to stabilize any portion of the house (for example, a storage room under the first floor of living area) not supported by the pilings.

Five workers are required in the process of ordering the concrete: the owner, one clerical, one dispatcher, one to load the concrete into the mixer and the truck driver. Another four laborers are called upon to install the “forms”, spread and smooth the concrete once poured from the truck. Indeed, the raw material for the concrete is picked up from a vendor in Moyock, which would add even more jobs and companies to our total if we wanted to include them.

Nine more jobs, and phase two has made 58 local jobs possible. Added to the phase one totals, 94 to 100 people have their livelihoods tied to this one modest-sized home. We have consumed another 30 percent of our construction budget, for a total of 40 percent through the end of this phase.

About this series: We are retracing the construction of a house and how many people it takes to get the job done each step of the way. The surprising numbers underscore the impact of the housing slump on the Outer Banks.

see the first installment »