How to minimize home construction costs - is it true that... (houses, plan)
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We want to have a house built by a custom builder (most likely) but since our budget is tight I've been doing a lot of research on ways to minimize construction costs and basically get the most bang for the buck and the builder make a decent profit too. We plan to have a design that is simple in form and hopefully cost-effective to build. Is it true that...
a house that is more than 32 ft deep is likely to cost more due to special needs with roof construction? I've been looking for house plans that are simple in form and no more than 32 ft deep (not including porches since they often have a separate mini roof). I have to say it has not been easy to find house plans I like that are 32 ft deep or less. If it would cost about the same for the house to be say 40 ft deep, it would greatly expand my options. This is my main question but here are some others:
I have also heard that the fewer exterior corners, the better. What I don't quite understand is how the front porch fits into that - should the porch be part of (inside of) that basic square/rectangle or does the porch not count towards the number of corners? What about the attached garage? I assume the garage doesn't count.
I have also heard that it is cheaper to have all the plumbing consolidated (such as upstairs bathrooms over the kitchen). I assume that's true, but does it add much to the cost to have the upstairs guest bath not consolidated such as would be the case with a jack and jill bath that is not near the master bath?
Is it more expensive to build a room behind the garage than it is to keep all living areas within the main part of the house?
I'm no builder but like you we have been researching a new house for our lot and tear down this 100 yr old house.
I've been researching a great deal and a lot of it depends on who you get to build it and where you live. If you live further north you should consider high efficiency to reduce heating/cooling costs. Also some people like a more sophisticated look and others can live with a "box" design.
We really couldn't find any of the simpe floor plans you talk about either. I've worked on several floor plans for our house and we finally have one we agree on that still may need some tweaks.
One of the key aspects of our design is the house is 30ft deep with only 4 corners. That way we can order roof trusses. The builders just have to build 4 walls and they can quickly start lifing the trusses up and attach them rather than framing complicated roof lines, etc.
Also we are going with a concrete slab on grade for even further reduced costs as well as the comfort of radiant heat in the slab.
There are other things that save a "little' bit of money like advanced framing but the savings aren't that much unless thermal bridging isn't addressed, which should be anyway.
To us the key factors to look at are what is going to be the most cost effective to heat and cool in the long term. To others that may not matter.
As far as the porch an garage being part of that square. I believe an attached garage is certainly figured by square footage when it comes to construction costs but if you opt to not insulate or finish the inside, then obviously that will reduce the garage costs. Porches can vary greatly depending on design but typically are not counted as living space in the total square footage.
True, the simpler the design, the easier to build which equates to lower construction costs. How much lower can only be determined by numerous quotes.
There are so many variables involved that it becomes a full time job just trying to decide what is best for you. We are still doing major research after a couple months into it. Hope to build in March next year.
Yeah I've come up with a design that is like 28x30 for the main living space plus a mud room and extra room behind the garage (these rooms are aligned with the main part of the house). I plan to talk to builders at some point to get other cost-saving ideas but I'm hoping to first get some input from some of the builders and architects on this forum.
Thanks K'ledgeBldr! I see a lot about making a home more energy efficient which is helpful, but I'm not sure how that relates to construction cost-efficiency in terms of the home design. But it looks like there may be some stuff about that on the website and I just haven't dug deep enough so I'll plan on taking a closer look at this website tonight.
Look for terms like "Common Wall Plumbing" or "Wet Wall Plumbing". "Value Engineering", "Advanced Framing".
And also look for "America's Best Building Practices Series"
That will certainly help. But above all make sure you hire a reputable builder through words of mouth and good job reference. It will cost you way more to rebuild if the builder makes horrible mistakes during construction or build with poor building practices, just imagine a leaky basement. IMO finding a good builder to do the job will certainly minimize your construction cost somewhat. All the great research and good floor plans wouldn’t help if it is built by a gorilla.
BTW, I wouldn’t worry too much about the depth of the house or number of corners it has if you’re going to build your own house. You need to satisfy your taste and preference properly or else you might as well stick with subdivisions.
Almost every "custom builder" is taught how to extract the most money from a client as possible.
1. Buy cheap, sell high. = This will effect the quality of your home and will eventually cause issues with plumbing, cracks, leaks, sound thin walls, etc.
2. Happiness = This is what happens to the contractor. He becomes happy once he gets paid. You get your house and seem like you should be happy, but you'll end up more miserable then before. You'll have less money and a house that you don't really like that much to live in. You'll start worrying about other problems and new problems will arise because you don't have as much money and have to work harder and longer.
3. Peace of mind = What you coulda had if you live below your means. For example, just bought one of those "mini houses" or a trailer, or bought a small house for real cheap.
Almost every "custom builder" is taught how to extract the most money from a client as possible.
1. Buy cheap, sell high. = This will effect the quality of your home and will eventually cause issues with plumbing, cracks, leaks, sound thin walls, etc.
2. Happiness = This is what happens to the contractor. He becomes happy once he gets paid. You get your house and seem like you should be happy, but you'll end up more miserable then before. You'll have less money and a house that you don't really like that much to live in. You'll start worrying about other problems and new problems will arise because you don't have as much money and have to work harder and longer.
3. Peace of mind = What you coulda had if you live below your means. For example, just bought one of those "mini houses" or a trailer, or bought a small house for real cheap.
Here we go again-
You feel you got raked over the coals because ONE builder didn't meet YOUR EXPECTATION- so ALL builders get lumped together.
What I hear- "I'm mad at the world".
What I read- someone didn't do their due diligence.
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