Construction Cost and Timeline

One of the most asked questions I get is: "How much does it cost in total to build an Ecolog home?".  And the next common question is "How long does construction of an Ecolog home take?".

Construction Cost

Both of these questions are not easy to answer in a general way, as they depend on may factors specific to a building site and particular home to build. But I like to give our readers a few "rule-of-thumb" figures, and some background information on what factors contribute to lower or higher cost.

A general estimate for construction cost is based on the size of the building, in North America typically based on "square footage": Calculate the total amount of "above ground" living space in square feet. Add the basement if you are planning to cully finish the basement. If the loft is only "partially" usable space (like the steep roof lofts in an Ecolog home), take the usable amount of space.Ecolog Home under Construction

The cost for a turn key home, including allowances for simple, basic excavation, simple utility connection, and all labour and material to build the home, is in most areas between $300 and $350 per sqft. This is for a Building Code conform 4 season home with "typical" (not highest end) finishing choices.

Example: If you want to build a 24'x40' Ecolog home with an unfinished 8' high basement, and a fully finished loft, calculate your cost as follows: 960 sqft on the main floor, appr. 700 sqft space in the log, gives 1660 sqft finished living space. Total building cost for this home should be budgeted between $498,000 and $501,000.

The following factors can increase the building cost:

  • Smaller buildings (less then 700 sqft footprint) have a higher per-sqft-cost, where bigger buildings (>1500 sqft footprint) have a lower per-sqft-cost
  • Finished basement adds to cost, but by far not as much as the cost for the main floor. Using space in a well finished basement is a great way to create more living space for less money
  • Building on remote islands or in other remote areas increases cost. Transportation and expenses will be higher.
  • Finishing choices: Obviously "the sky is the limit" when it's about finishing choices. You can spend as much money as you want to expensive light fixtures, flooring, tiles, etc.

So how can you reduce your total building cost? Here are a few ideas:

  • Sweat equity: One of the biggest cost elements in building a home is labour. If you or your family can help during construction, you can save a lot of money. Even unskilled workers can be of great value for many tasks like sanding, staining, painting, cleanup, moving material and much much more.
  • Reduce footprint, use space more efficiently: If you keep the design as simple as possible and use the space on each level to its maximum, you can save a lot of money. In practical terms this means:
    • Finish your basement, use it for bedrooms, office, etc. Using ICF walls maybe even in combination with in-floor hydronic heating, and big windows or patio doors can create wonderful comfortable and bright living spaces in a basement
    • Reduce number of bathrooms: Every bathroom adds a lot of cost to your home - not only for the fixtures, but also for plumbing runs, size of your hot water system, required space, etc.
    • No or minimum amount of dormers in the roof: While dormers look really appealing in an Ecolog home, they also increase construction cost due to the required framing, more complex roof insulation and more complex roof finishing with lots of valleys. If you design the loft to have 2 big rooms with stairs in the middle, the gable walls can provide enough light for each of these rooms. And even in a 24'x32' Ecolog home, this will result in 2 fairly big rooms.

Construction Timeline

And now to the 2nd question I want to address in this post: How long does it take?

I normally start "counting" that time after a contract has been signed between Vanisle Ecolog Homes and the customers. At that time we can start working on the detailed design with our drafts person and engineer. The process to create these detailed building plans with various feedback-rounds with the customer typically takes between 6-8 weeks.

Once the plans are done, the customer can apply for the building permit. Depending on the municipality, this takes between 2 and 8Now construction can start. The contractor can now building the footings, basement and subfloor. During this time we will work on assembling the Ecolog kit. In most cases the Ecolog kit gets delivered to the building site at the time when the subfloor is finished.

Assembly of the Ecolog shell typically takes about 3-4 weeks. This means erecting the log walls and adding the roof trusses. Now the roof has to be sheathed, insulated, dormers and gables to be built... typically another 4-6 weeks.

After adding the roof finish (metal or asphalt shingles) and installing windows and doors the house is at the "lock-up" stage. The minimum timeframe from signing a contract to get to this stage is probably about 4 months.Inside   Wright Home Dining 2

Finishing the house can take another 3-4 months.

All these timelines depend on how many people are working at each step, how many changes are encountered, unplanned difficulties like hitting water during excavation, and much much more.

Hopefully the numbers in this article will help you to plan for your own project.




Julia McCaig, Bowen Island



Joel F


Greg MacDonald, Tobermory


Lori Lelonde, Victoria BC

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