Question

Mrs. Ginger Rodgers and her husband, William, are planning their dream house. The lot for the house sits high on a hill with a beautiful view of the Appalachian Mountains. The plans for the house show the size of the house to be 3,000 square feet. The average price for a lot and house similar to this one has been $120 per square foot. Fortunately, William is a retired plumber and feels he can save money by installing the plumbing himself. Mrs. Tolstoy feels she can take care of the interior decorating.     

The following average cost information is available from a local bank that makes loans to local contractors and disperses progress payments to contractors when specific tasks are verified as complete.

24 %	Excavation and framing complete
8 %	Roof and fireplace complete
3 %	Wiring roughed in
6 %	Plumbing roughed in
5 %	Siding on
17 %	Windows, insulation, walks, plaster, and garage complete
9 %	Furnace installed
4 %	Plumbing fixtures installed
10 %	Exterior paint, light fixtures installed, finish hardware installed
6 %	Carpet and trim installed
4 %	Interior decorating
4 %	Floors laid and finished

(i)   What is the estimated cost for the Rodger’s house if they use contractors to complete all of the house?

(ii) Estimate what the cost of the house would be if the Ginger and William use their talents to do some of the work themselves.

Answer 1

a) The estimated cost of Ginger Rodgers house if they use contractors to complete the entire house is calculated as

3,000 squarefeet * $120 = $360,000

b) The cost of the house is calculated as below

Plumbing roughed = $360,000 * 0.06 = $21,600

Plumbing fixtures installed = $360,000*0.04

= $14,400

Interior decoration = $360,000*0.04 = $14,400

Total cost = Plumbing roughed + Plumbing fixtures installed + Interior decoration

= $ 21,600 + $14,400 + $14,400

= $50,400