There are a number of costs in home construction that can only be estimated. For example, we estimate how much equipment, manpower and material will be required to excavate the foundation, haul away unwanted material, and haul in proper back-fill material, back-fill the foundation and rough-grade the building site. We are usually close or a bit high in our estimate, the final cost to our clients will be exactly what we pay. Typical items included in the variable costs are:
Excavation equipment
Compacting equipment
Operator time
Trucking expenses
Tipping fees
Road-building and back-fill materials
This cost is totally dependent on the site location, typography and soil conditions. Flat city lots and acreages can be $8,000 to $20,000. Difficult conditions including large excavations, hill-sides and hard rock blasting can easily run over $40,000