Des Moines Custom Rural Home Building

Septic systems typically have three tiers of pricing, and the determination of the type of system is achieved after a soil analysis has been performed.

• Conventional: $8,000
• Peat: $14,000
• Sand Filter: $20,000

Rural water service is laid out in a two-step pricing model:

• If the rural water line has not been extended to your lot frontage, the Rural Water Association (RWA) will have to come out and provide an estimate to extend the line from its closest point of termination. From there, a meter pit will be installed on your property, which is similar to the stop box (round iron valve) that is typical with a city lot. The cost of the meter pit will be around $3,500. However, if the water line is on the opposite side of the road from your property, the RWA will have to bore under the road to connect to the water line and additional costs will be incurred. If the water line is on your side of the road, a standard connection will occur.
• Once the meter pit has been installed, standard connection to the house is performed by a plumber. The first 40 feet are part of the proposal for the plumbing package associated with the house. Eight dollars per lineal foot (LF) of trench is a common number to use thereafter.

Due to the number of variables in rural electric installation such as overhead or buried electrical service along the road, and location of the electric service (opposite side or your side of the road), rural electric is priced on a case-by-case basis. The typical process looks like this:

• The electric provider will come out to your property to provide a free estimate of what the cost will be. This cost can be anywhere from a few thousand dollars to over six thousand. This is why K&V encourages homeowners to obtain an estimate.
• Once the power has been installed to your property, you will see a standard green box (transformer) or green obelisk (pedestal) similar to what you would see on a city lot. Again, the first 40 feet are included in the electrical proposal after which the additional cost is eight dollars per lineal foot, which would equate to the same cost as the rural water connection to your home.

Although gas service is rarely installed in a rural setting, it is always good to check if it is present at your lot.

• If the gas service is present, the cost is also eight dollars per lineal foot to install to your home.
• If gas service is not present, a propane tank will be needed. The homeowner should contact their rural co-op for tiered pricing of purchasing or leasing a tank, size of the tank, and rural association covenant rules.

In order to access your home, a culvert may need to be excavated and graded across a roadside ditch. The county will provide the sizing required for this, and our excavation contractor will provide the affiliated cost of grading and installation. After the culvert is installed, or if a culvert is not needed, the approximate cost for the lane is factored at 20 dollars per lineal foot. The LF pricing assumes a 12-foot lane width which includes the following:

• Road liner fabric to allow water to pass through the rock driveway while preventing the rock from being compressed into the soil
• Three-inch clean rock used during the construction process
• One inch clean rock installed at the completion of the construction process
• If paving of the driveway is preferred, a bid is obtained from the paving contractor, which has pricing for both concrete and asphalt options.

Soil condition is important to keep in mind when building a new home. Expansive soils are a condition in which the bearing capacity is inadequate to support your new home. When an engineer is hired to perform a soil analysis, the results will determine what remediation (additional work) will need to be performed to ensure that the soil has the ability to support the weight of your new home. Costs to remedy expansive soils can range from a few thousand dollars to upwards of $30,000. Having the soil tested prior to purchasing a lot can help determine if expansive soils are present, which will help with the budgeting process of your new home.