How Much Cheaper To Build Up/Down vs Outward?
beatboy77
10 years ago
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Awnmyown
10 years agoChrisStewart
10 years agoRelated Discussions
How do you determine "how much" you can build?
Comments (21)"How did you determine how much you can afford to build / how much you need / etc.? We started with discussions on desired lifestyle and goals for house. What activities did we need to plan for? What sort of space would they need, and could it be shared? You need to have these discussions before you start drawing up floor plans. Many of the construction details and materials are driven by the desire to use minimal energy for heating and cooling, to have low ongoing maintenance, and to minimize water usage. Did you say, "We can build this many square feet", or "We can spend this much money"? We have an upper limit, based on wanting to fund the building out of the sale of the current house ... square feet is determined by life style. And we're not into McMansions, we're into efficiency. One goal is to get it into as small a footprint as possible. Did this change much as you built and your budget dwindled? We've identified places where costs can be cut, and what can't be cut. We could do some DIY, and leave some things unfinished, use less expensive finish materials. Did you start with your wants and downgrade as necessary, or did you start with the budget and determine what you could have for that money? After the "how do we want to live in a house" discussions, we started with the dimensions of and the desired view from a California king bed ... seriously that was what has driven about half of the floor plan. The plan was radically revised a couple of times as the possible lot to build on changed ... you HAVE TO take the site into consideration. To get the view, the bed has to be placed against an inner wall on the second floor, facing a large, low window or a door, aimed in a certain direction. To the bed's dimensions we added clearance for access (in a walker or wheelchair - we're geezers) and the desired bookshelves and small wardrobe. Bed placement determines door placement ... which controlled bathroom placement, which controlled ... you see where this goes. To get to the second floor bedroom, we needed stairs ... and the SO's size 14 shoes controlled the tread depth, and the building codes controlled the riser height. That in turn controlled the height of the main entry. Kitchen size was determined by appliance sizes, workspaces, need for certain size walkway, etc. We will have a large pantry because it's a small town. Need to buy in bulk and have a place to store it. It's mostly been lifestyle, activity and traffic pattern driven after that. The need to "age in place" meant that one bedroom and full accessible bath had to be downstairs. ============ Some of the things we are doing to keep cost down: * Square floor plan with almost no hallways (American Four Square influenced) * Kitchen designed to use "standard" appliances - niche for frig instead of counter-depth, etc. * Straight run counters (galley kitchen) and simple layout, simple cabinet design, probably local cabinetmaker. * Standardizing bath fixtures and finishes (you get a better deal on the tile, and the contractor doesn't go nuts remembering what goes where) ============= I could easily increase the cost of the house by 50% by using the fancy stuff: designer tiles, "pro" appliances, ornate trim, and expensive lighting fixtures. I'd rather spend the money on books, art, and travel. =========== What about resale value? Screw resale value. That's the heirs' problem :)...See MoreCheaper to build up than out?
Comments (47)Well...as a retired architect and educator, I've never heard of the term "purpose based or driven architecture". Bob tells me I'm old and don't get out much any more...which is true. Why do you feel that every set of words must be an official term? No one is claiming that there is a term purpose based architecture or anything of the sort. They are simply three words used in sentence, a compound predicate with an object (don't quote me on that, my sentence diagramming is a bit rusty). I am most definitely not talking about form following function. Form is a purpose as is function. You can pretend that most tract builders don't have an architect, but they do. So you can defend the idea that tract homes aren't architecture, which again is getting a bit into silly semantics. Architecture is unfortunately a very broad term. Tract builders and drafters aren't architects Architect - from the Greek Arkhitekton which means master builder. It later came to mean superintendent and eventually what we have today. What we have today is a word with very broad acceptable meanings. In the U.S. architects have licensed the title, yet the term architecture is still very broad. You can assert that it means the earth is flat if you want, however, that doesn't make it so. I too have this friend who I feel can contribute our discussion, his name is Richard. Richard is mostly a great guy but a bit territorial, whenever I step into Richard's yard he will start yelling at me and then start chasing me until I leave his yard. The problem being that Richard often leaves an obstacle or two on the sidewalk so that walking into his yard just seems appropriate. The moral of this story is, don't be a......See MoreIs Building new Home always cheaper than purchasing an existing home?
Comments (11)I suspect that this question really can't be answered in any meaningful way without very specific information. In general, buying an existing home is cheaper than building a home, however, renovating is much more expensive than building. So the question becomes at what point are the costs of remodeling greater than the savings from buying existing, and the answer is simply not that concrete. For starters, some homes lend themselves to additions much better than other homes. Siding vs. brick, crawlspace vs. slab, etc. Additionally, there is the location problem. While it might be cheaper to build a house on an available lot, the total cost of ownership for a more suitably placed home might be lower. Parks, schools, groceries, etc. within walking distance will often make a house more suitable and lower commuter costs sufficiently to make up for the marginal costs of remodeling. Not to mention general quality of life issues when the location of a home enhances the way you live. Finally, depending on location, lot development can be a pretty important consideration. I have personally paused my home design as I labor over an extraordinary piece of property. It is absolutely everything I want, however, it is going to cost me seven figures just to develop the property into something I can build a house on, so those costs can be significant if no satisfactory lots are available. ---------------- As others have said, assuming there is a satisfactory larger home available, it will always be cheaper to find a way to acquire that rather than remodeling, however, if nothing works, you might not have many options. At some point a tear down starts making a lot of sense. I suspect your friends are actually naive about the costs of remodeling and are overvaluing the infrastructure available. However, we should allow that, that might not be the case....See MorePool right up against house vs down the hill?
Comments (1)You should find out from your town bldg dept where you can build based on the easements you mentioned. There may be some pretty stringent set backs. I personally would not recommend building a pool in known flood zone. You can, we have, and we are presently building in an area where the water table is extremely high. It's not a flood zone. In order to control the water, a permanent sump pump has been set 12' below grade. It's a costly effort. That being said, closer to the house may be your best idea. I would consult a structural engineer to be certain on how close you can the pool to your house without compromising it's foundation and surrounding area. This too is tricky but if you get professionals to review this aspect, you'll get a better handle as to the scope of the work and the costs involved. Having the pool closer to the house makes for ease of running food and drinks outside and most important keeping an eye on kids....See Morebevangel_i_h8_h0uzz
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