Everything Costs Something
April 9, 2009 9:22 PM Subscribe
What It Costs provides information on the costs associated with a wide variety of services and concepts. Whether you want to know the price range of practical activities — such as what it costs to replace a kitchen countertop, building a nuclear aircraft carrier — or are interested in unusual articles — such as the cost to build Fenway Park, being cryogenically frozen or cleaning up a murder scene — you will find all this and much more.
I was going to laugh at the kitchen counter entry, since it listed a range from $5-150/sq ft then I saw that it went on for 4 pages. I'll keep checking entries out, but this might be pretty cool.
posted by Science! at 9:39 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by Science! at 9:39 PM on April 9, 2009
forgive me if i am gone for a short while to read this neat site.
posted by the aloha at 9:47 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by the aloha at 9:47 PM on April 9, 2009
...or cleaning up a murder scene...
Bookmarked.
posted by arachnid at 10:02 PM on April 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
Bookmarked.
posted by arachnid at 10:02 PM on April 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
i'm back. i can't afford to do anything that this site writes about. still a neat read.
posted by the aloha at 10:15 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by the aloha at 10:15 PM on April 9, 2009
A friend of mine was getting quotes from kitchen renovation places; to get drawers that went "whoosh" and automatically braked their close was quotes an additional $1k.
He went to the local hardware store and bought the "whooshers" for $4 a pair and installed them himself (no, he did not have 250 drawers in his kitchen).
posted by porpoise at 10:19 PM on April 9, 2009
He went to the local hardware store and bought the "whooshers" for $4 a pair and installed them himself (no, he did not have 250 drawers in his kitchen).
posted by porpoise at 10:19 PM on April 9, 2009
God bless the Internet. I was just debating whether to spend my tax refund on a kitchen refurb or a nuclear aircraft carrier.
posted by rokusan at 10:52 PM on April 9, 2009
posted by rokusan at 10:52 PM on April 9, 2009
Neat site. Practical.
Wow. When I worked for 5-1/2 years as a building super and had to clean up the remains of a dead tenant (it was not murder but was gruesome), I should have been paid for it. $600 an hour. whoa.
posted by nickyskye at 11:05 PM on April 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
Wow. When I worked for 5-1/2 years as a building super and had to clean up the remains of a dead tenant (it was not murder but was gruesome), I should have been paid for it. $600 an hour. whoa.
posted by nickyskye at 11:05 PM on April 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
I've put in a request for an article on a handjob in Manila.
posted by rhymer at 1:41 AM on April 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by rhymer at 1:41 AM on April 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
Sidewalk: No results
Spoke wheel: No results
F-22: No results
Treehouse: No results
Result: Disappointment
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:42 AM on April 10, 2009
Spoke wheel: No results
F-22: No results
Treehouse: No results
Result: Disappointment
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:42 AM on April 10, 2009
I think the translation of historical costs into modern money is always misleading. For example, it says the Panama canal cost $14 billion in 2008 dollars to build. That might be a literal translation of money then to money now based on something like the CPI, but does anyone really think the canal could be built today for that? I bet it would be something much more akin to $140 billion, plus or minus a couple of hundred billion.
posted by maxwelton at 2:57 AM on April 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by maxwelton at 2:57 AM on April 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
So the ballpark estimate for a new kitchen counter-top is somewhere between five and one hundred and fifty dollars?! That's not a ballpark. That's not even a friggin' stadium. That's a green. That's like saying cars cost somewhere between $100 and $50,000,000. Just. not. helpful.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:39 AM on April 10, 2009
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:39 AM on April 10, 2009
(er... per sq. ft., that is.)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:40 AM on April 10, 2009
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:40 AM on April 10, 2009
1) Jackson Pollock - No. 5: $142.7 million.
What I think is a greater work of art is the con job dreamed up by the gallery owner who ordained Pollock as a great artist.
posted by digsrus at 5:42 AM on April 10, 2009
What I think is a greater work of art is the con job dreamed up by the gallery owner who ordained Pollock as a great artist.
posted by digsrus at 5:42 AM on April 10, 2009
Cars do cost between $100 and $50,000,000. It depends on the car.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 5:42 AM on April 10, 2009
posted by kuujjuarapik at 5:42 AM on April 10, 2009
Civil_Disobedient: So the ballpark estimate for a new kitchen counter-top is somewhere between five and one hundred and fifty dollars?! That's not a ballpark.
As the article explains in meticulous detail, an inexpensnive laminate countertop will run you $5 per square foot, a tile countertop in the neightborhood of $20/sq. ft., synthetic will be approximately $50, stone moves us to about $70, engineered stone weighs in at $120, and if you really want one of the $150 per square foot countertops they mention in the headline, then you want to go for marble. The information in the article offers a lot more than just a ballpark estimate.
posted by netbros at 6:23 AM on April 10, 2009
As the article explains in meticulous detail, an inexpensnive laminate countertop will run you $5 per square foot, a tile countertop in the neightborhood of $20/sq. ft., synthetic will be approximately $50, stone moves us to about $70, engineered stone weighs in at $120, and if you really want one of the $150 per square foot countertops they mention in the headline, then you want to go for marble. The information in the article offers a lot more than just a ballpark estimate.
posted by netbros at 6:23 AM on April 10, 2009
Very handy and interesting. Thanks!
posted by jopreacher at 8:22 AM on April 10, 2009
posted by jopreacher at 8:22 AM on April 10, 2009
$600/hr. for murder scene cleanup. Damn. I'm totally in the wrong business.
At least I get paid more than what you can expect to pay for Doggy Daycare!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:07 AM on April 10, 2009
At least I get paid more than what you can expect to pay for Doggy Daycare!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:07 AM on April 10, 2009
I can't imagine any formica countertop that costs only $5.00 a sf. I love my formica, because I could get it exactly the color of dark forest green I wanted, and could get a groovy beveled edge drop in a contrasting shade, and it's unbelievable tough; heat, caustic chemicals, soap curing...none of that has damaged it, but I'm pretty sure I paid a whole lot more than $5 a sq, 10 years ago.
posted by dejah420 at 12:22 PM on April 10, 2009
posted by dejah420 at 12:22 PM on April 10, 2009
Great think! I appreciate it!
posted by ragtimepiano at 2:56 PM on April 10, 2009
posted by ragtimepiano at 2:56 PM on April 10, 2009
OOps---sleep deprived---I meant GREAT LINK!
posted by ragtimepiano at 2:56 PM on April 10, 2009
posted by ragtimepiano at 2:56 PM on April 10, 2009
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posted by Pants! at 9:28 PM on April 9, 2009