Seriously curious... How can it be close to $300? I just got done building 4 and using the cheapest material I could find & it was no where near that. Those brackets you have the 4x4's stuck to are like $100 per blind or something like that (I can't remember, bro got those but something like that). Windows, all I could find, the cheapest were still somewhere in the ballpark of $30-$75 each & I had $200+ into windows alone. Then buying all the screws, treated lumber (4x4's, 2x4's, 2x10's, treated panel or plywood), paint, hinges, carpet for base, staples, caulk, roofing (wood, then tar paper then metal), etc, etc, etc - things get way more $ into them than I wished - not even in the ballpark of $300. If you have some ways to save some serious $, I'm open for sure.
here's more detailed on what I have into mine, I'm missing a lot of things, I know & I may be off a little/ballparks. I'd really like suggestions on saving some funds for sure.
per blind:
- Paint, $30 per blind
- Windows, $200 per blind
- Hinges, $20
- Caulk & foam, $20
- All roofing from wood to tar tape to metal, $60
- Treated 4x4's & 2x4's & 2x10's - $125
- treated plywood, $150
- Deck screws, $30
- Brackets for base to raise to attach 4x4's - $100
- foam strips for sealing things - $15
- Carpet $20
- Staples & fasteners for roof, etc - $20
- Misc extra costs I'm missing & all the other things I didn't plan for $50
- Time, 10-12 hours per blind - FREE
TOTAL: $840.
In all honesty, I did upgrade a lot of above items to nicer things on 2 of the blinds, better carpet, better wood, some custom things, blah blah blah and I have another $200 but most folks would never do those things, so I'm over $1000 but $840 was about as cheap as I could do it or did one. If I billed myself for time, electricity on tools & my building, wear on tools, etc - oh man.
