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Page 1 of 2 Is the American Ingenuity Dome Shell KitLess Expensive than the Materials Costfor the Exterior Walls and Roof of a Conventional House?Yes. American Ingenuity's dome shell kit price is about one half less in cost than what the materials cost for the exterior walls and roof of a wood dome, monolithic dome or conventional house (exterior walls, roof trusses, plywood, tar paper, shingles, 3 1/2" thick insulation, siding, soffits, gutters, drywall for exterior walls & the ceiling, etc.). This above statement does not mean that the Ai Dome can be finished for one half the cost of a conventional house. This is because:
If you desire a 2,000 sq.ft. house then the American Ingenuity 40' dome might be the right size for you. The Ai 40' Dome Kit with entryways and dormers (places where your locally purchased doors and windows are installed) is about $34,000.
The exact pricing of the 40' dome shell kit is determined by your floor plan selection. Your floor plan determines the number of entryways and dormers that will be included with your Building Kit. To learn more about entryways, click on Building Options. Once you choose your stock floor plan, refer to this file for the Stock Plan & Stock Kit Prices.
All the money you save by purchasing the Ai Dome Shell Kit can go towards the costs for shipping, fork lift rental to unload the truck, temporary supports to hold the panels during assembly, the renting of a hoisting mechanism to lift the panels into place, etc. Why do you not see hundreds of Ai domes in your area? Financing is the single biggest hurdle to owning a dome. Lenders want 25% to 40% down based on the finished price of the house. If the square foot cost to build a conventional house in your neighborhood is $85 and you want to build a 36' dome (two bedroom, two bath) with about 1,500 sq.ft. then your finished cost is $127,500. (This price does not include the land or utilities hook ups.) The lender will want $32,000 to $51,000 down. They will accept some of the equity you have in your land towards the down payment....but they want a large cash down payment. As a result of this financing problem, many of Ai's clients purchase a smaller piece of land and build a small 22' or 27' dome and live on their property in a super energy efficient, super strong home...saving money and later add on a larger dome and convert the smaller dome to a garage or bedroom suite or study or work area. To learn more click on: Materials Cost-Finished CostTotal Materials Cost: If you select standard items to finish the interior of your dome, the materials cost for your dome might be $50 or more per square foot. So the minimum materials cost for a 40' dome of 2,000 sq.ft. could be $100,000 (this includes the kit cost of $34,000). Finished Cost of the house: This price is more than the materials cost because it includes the labor costs plus the materials cost. So how does dome finishing costs compare to conventional house finishing costs? If the finished price per square foot to build a conventional house in your area is $100 per square foot and you desire a 2,000 square foot house then the finished price for the conventional house would be about $200,000, if you do no labor yourself. The finished price of the dome would be the same about $200,000 less the savings on the dome shell materials..... But you end up with more with the American Ingenuity dome. You receive a super-insulated, hurricane, earthquake, tornado proof home. Your interior materials cost varies depending on your selection of locally purchased interior items such as:
Estimating CostsThe following information came from the book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Building Your Own Home by Dan Ramsey. Can you afford to build the house you want? In Chapter 9 it states: I'll help you get a comprehensive estimate of your construction costs. For now, though, let's make a rough estimate. First, understand that whatever house you build will probably cost as much or more than that of your neighbors -- unless you plan to do it all yourself. Based on this fact, let's look at your neighbor's houses. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the typical house built today is about 2,300 square feet in size, and sells for around $225,000 depending on where you live. The actual price in your area may be half of that or 10 times that amount. So, how can you get a good rule-of-thumb for your area? Of course, you can talk with contractors who will throw out numbers like $100 or $200 per square foot. That's a wide range. What does it include? House only? House and land? Landscaping, too? It's smarter for you to get your own local building costs. Here's how. Talk with a local real estate agent about new construction. It's best if you can compare apples to apples, so ask about new homes and lots in the area you want to build. The agent should be able to tell you the lot cost, the asking price, and the square foot size of a few comparable homes. You can figure things from there. For example, a $250,000 new home (comparable to what you want) on a lot costing $60,000 means the house is valued at $190,000. It's a 2,200 sq.ft. home, so you calculate the value at just over $86 sq.ft. You do calculations on a few other comparable new homes and come up with a local rule of thumb of $90 sq.ft. You now have a base from which to guesstimate the approximate cost of your new house. Then you can factor in the following:
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