Condiotioned vs Unconditioned sq ft included in per sq ft price

14 years ago

When asked what did you pay per square foot would you include the unconditioned space, which would bring down the overall per square foot price?

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Comments (5)

imwonderwoman
14 years ago
I guess I would use both, because you do have to pay for it all, conditioned or not. Give the higher price for conditioned, take a breath and give the lower for unconditioned.
srercrcr
14 years ago
mb: Finally a topic I can contribute to. I had the same question many months ago and most responses were of the nature "who cares" or "what does it matter". Being of an inquisitive mind and trying to relate to the common language of "what did you pay per sq ft" I now can say I have new info and I believe it resolves the issue IMO.
In Texas it is normal to quote conditioned space. It could be all space but it just isn't. My case involves a large amount of porch area covered by the roof, over the slab, and finished out probably more expensively than an extra bedroom. They have wood 1X4 floors, 2X6 cedar railings, 10' deep, real 1X4 wood beadboard ceilings, and exterior ceiling fans. So you can see they contribute alot to the total cost.
House cost was $150K, built 15 years ago. Total sf is 3000 sf, conditioned is 2150 sf. Garage is detached. It is oversized so that would drive the cost up per sf.
Bottom line: Cost was $70/sf using conditioned, $50/sf using total sf. I believe the latter is more appropriate because of what I explained plus I notice my homeowners insurance policy states (and is priced at I'm sure) 3000 sf. Hope this helps answer your Q.
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Virgil said: "More to the point, cost vary due to complexity, quality and frankly, lack of thought resulting in change orders during construction." Exactly. Are you building a basic house with clamshell molding or no molding around the windows, inexpensive carpeting throughout, minimal tile, laminate counters, etc or are you building a top of the line house with 10" crown moldings, 8" baseboard molding, calcutta marble tile in the bathrooms, Sub zero quality appliances, hand scraped hardwood floors throughout, and fireplaces in every room? Are you building in a HCOLA area or in you in a rural area where land and labor are inexpensive? A great example is my house which is custom. If I go with his basic features, which are still very nice, my cost per square foot will be $217 a square foot. Not cheap but it does include granite, tile, wood floors, a pool with hot tub, security system, a Bosch appliance package, tankless water system, semi custom cabinets, Kohler quality fixtures and many other options. However if I add every single option at the maximum price, meaning I decide I can't live without the $50 a square foot tile, or need more expensive wood flooring, the elevator, a full outdoor kitchen, upgraded moldings, a fancier staircase, etc, etc, the price could jump to as high as $279 a square foot. I can go outside my target area to an area that is 5-10 miles from where we're building and can build a house for 1/2 the price per square foot. Same zip code even. So as Virgil is saying, it really means nothing what the square foot price to build is.
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phillipeh
14 years ago
We paid $111/sq ft if you just factor in conditioned space, $71 if you count total space (but we have a garage that is over 1000 sq ft, a large back porch, and a balcony above.
brickeyee
14 years ago
Per square foot is, at best, a gross metric.

Certain rooms are very expensive (kitchens and bathrooms particularly) while bedroom (and other 'blank') square footage is often about the cheapest.

And as your own question illustrates there is no real consistency to how it is computed.
wkate640
14 years ago
This is very interesting, although I know square footage cost varies depending upon finish choice and many other things. It would be helpful to know in what part of the country you built your home.

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Condiotioned vs Unconditioned sq ft included in per sq ft price

Comments (5)

imwonderwoman

srercrcr

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phillipeh

brickeyee

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