A few questions - how long do you plan to stay in the house ? How many
bids have you gotten ? Have you picked out the fixtures and finishes ? I am
asking because if you go with less square footage are you going tp be happy with the home 5 yrs. from now and can you add on later ? Also , can you simply go with less expensive finishes that can be changed easily at a later date ? I have found that bids can vary drastically and you should get multiple bids before spending time trying to change your print . If you do change your print - think about making the changes where you can add on at a later date if you can afford it.

We got 2 bids and the builder we chose was substantially lower than the first bid (but still highly reputable in our area).

We plan to be in this home for a minimum of 20 years, if not longer. We will raise our family here.

Our finishes were included in our bid and were mid-grade prices. Nothing too high end. I'm not sure if there is anything we could save for adding on later other than not finishing the basement right away. But finishing the basement was relatively inexpensive compared to the overall bid.

Unless this is a basic home to begin with, there are many ways you can shave costs to get within your budget.

You mentioned "a bid". Get others and investigate the various contractual variations of homebuilding agreements.

You have a LOT of corners, which creates more work for several subs and also complicates the roof line. All of that increases the cost.

Anne

If it were me, I would probably leave the entire basement unfinished till later.

All square footage is not equally priced so, unless you're cutting out some high dollar spaces like kitchens or bathroom, cutting 200 to 300 square foot is NOT going to save you nearly as much as you expect. In fact, the additional architectural fees you would incur in redrawing the plans to make various rooms "fit together" again could easily eat up whatever savings you would otherwise achieve.

Instead of cutting space and redrawing your whole plan, maybe you could drop to "builder grade" materials for the part of the basement that you do finish out. The difference between the cost of builder-grade and even medium quality finishes for those two basement bathrooms and the basement kitchenette could easily be more than what you would save by cutting 300 square feet out of the house.

Agree w/ bevangel...cutting sq footage WILL NOT drop your cost by whatever you are figuring your cost per sq ft to be. So much of that cost is fairly set - it does not make much difference in cost to the framer or electrician or plumber, etc, to do 300 sq foot less (or more). Just like when people, for example, think they can save a ton of money by scaling back from 10 foot ceilings to 9 foot - labor to hammer up a 10ft stud is the same as a 9ft, uses the same amt of nails, etc. Sure, small costs increases in lumber and drywall, but not a ton.

The way to save money is generally to save on finishes. Or, make the house more boxy (ie, you have a ton of corners in the foundation - much more work to to build a house with 15 corners than with 6. I know you like 1 story - but BY FAR the cheapest way to build is up...why do you think 2 story homes have been around 300 yrs...there is no foundation to dig, pour, etc...

Whatever you do, keep in mind when cutting stuff out - cut the stuff that you can change later...dont cut structural stuff that can not be changed...

I think the previous posters know a lot more about costs than I do but from a floor plan perspective, I agree that your room sizes look good. But just to save some s.f., you might make your foyer area narrower, by shifting the master bedroom stairs and study to the right a few feet, thereby eliminating the coat closet on the left side of the foyer. Instead, you could put a longer closet on the right side of the foyer, where the indentaion is. Also, Do not forget to put a door to access all the under the stair storage space under the staircase next to the master bedroom. You could access it via the study or via the master bedroom.

Your breakfast area looks nice and large. Perhaps you could shave off some s.f. here. Again, I know this is small potatoes here and there, but we had to do this also and it was amazing how many s.f. we came up with and still have tons of room.

I love your front laundry/closet area, but again, this could be reconfigured and I think you could cut out some s.f. here. I would not mess with the family room, kitchen, master bed or master bath or kids' bedrooms. Those are all too important.

Would you consider swapping the locations of the study and the staircase??? Move the study next to the master and the staricase next to the foyer? Then you could have an open staircase and that would make the foyer seem larger and the staircase more accessible to the center of the house and the family room. The location of the main staircase seems odd to me. Plus if the staircase was next to the foyer, you would have easier access to the under stairs storage closet and you could make the closet in the mudroom smaller or even get rid of it. ???

I think the overall design is really nicely done. Large square rooms with large closets. Clean design. I agree with above people who say maybe do the basement in a lower finishout grade or do it later on.

Good luck.

Ginny

This is a HUGE house for 4 people. There are plenty of areas you could downsize however I agree with the other posters. The money seems to fly out the window when it comes to the finishes. You could easily live on the main floor and either scale down the finishes in the basement or leave the majority of it unfinished for a time. Maybe take out a bathroom or two? Does each bedroom have to have it's own bathroom keeping in mind that you were saying only 4 people would be living in this house. You likely wouldn't need so many. Right now you have 4 bathrooms plus a powder room. It looks like the basement is the area where you can save some money.

shelly k, if I'm reading your floorplan correctly, this is a one-story plan with a basement. Not a two-story with basement. Thus the stairways go down, not up, and there is no storage under the staircase. Right?

If you are intent on decreasing the size of the house, I do agree with Ginny that one place to start would be making the breakfast room smaller as it is currently larger than most formal dining rooms. Because it is a bumpout section, its size could also be decreased without affecting the rooms around it - therefore architectural fees for redrawing everything would be minimized.

Another place you most could easily cut some space would be by getting rid of that second closet in the master bedroom that bumps out to the left. This would have the added advantage of getting rid of two corners of the house making the house a bit more "box like" and saving money on roofing and foundation. The master bath could easily much more tightly organized allowing you to gain back closet space if you really needs more than the one big closet. However revising the bathroom would require architectural time (and money) so that would cut into the savings.

Or, if you prefer to keep the nice big open bathroom, by getting rid of the window in the other master-bedroom closet and moving the door into the closet two feet closer to the shower, all four walls of the remaining closet could be used for storage which might give you enough space without decreasing the square footage alloted to your bathroom.

(BTW, IMHO having windows in closets is a bad idea anyway because you either have to keep them tightly curtained or you risk having your clothing fade where it is exposed everyday to sunlight. Having accidentally left a blue jean jacket laying in the back seat of my car at the airport for two weeks, I can attest to just how quickly sunlight can fade things. After just 2 weeks, the part that was exposed to the sun-light everyday was noticeably lighter than the rest of the jacket. Imagine pulling down your best designer suit, the one you save for really special occasions, and finding that one sleeve had faded from exposure to the sun!)

Revising the closet for maximum use would require removing the short wall in front of the shower opening but, if you didn't want to be looking directly at the shower when you open the bathroom, you could center the bed/bath door between the two sinks making your bathroom more symmetrical than it is now... kind of like this:

I think your architect would charge you far less to make these kinds of revisions than to basically start over wholesale with revising your plan which is what would need to happen if you start trying to decrease the size of rooms that are at the center of the house.

Just some ideas but, like I said earlier, if it were me, rather than changing a design I really loved, I would see if I couldn't save enough by forgoing finishing out the basement till later so that I could go ahead and build the house I really wanted.

i didn't read through, sorry short on time...
but did you mention your ceiling height? cutting down from 10' to 9' could do it easily.

Your total expected cost is based up the materials and labor for: the design; the structure; the appliances; HVAC; and the non-structural finishes.

It's easiest to control costs with the initial design. Every corner, bay, alcove, and dormer adds a highly disproportionate percentage to the structural cost. The basic square or rectangle floorplan is the least expensive to build. However, you like the design as is; and I'm in agreement with others that cutting 300 sf will not be of much benefit to the total cost unless they were cut in such a way as to eliminate some of the many corners designed. Unlikely.

The non-sturctural portions are the most effective areas in which to control or cut costs. That is, the appliances, counters, toilets/showers/tubs, and window treatments can most easily be "downgraded" at the time of build, and in the future replaced with more expensive elements.

Most floors may be considered non-structural... shocking though it may seem, builder's grade carpet over padding over moisture-proof OSB is quite acceptable until one wants to pay for the desired hickory or whatever. I know one guy who put down nice but inexpensive vinyl tiles in a parquet pattern, topped them with several layers of polyurethane and is still waiting for them to wear out. Low cost is not necessarily low value. However, ceramic and glass tiles should be considered structural as they require special installation.

Design and plan the kitchen for the cabinets you want, but install Ikea or similar ready-made ones until the budget can afford the fancy doors and knobs (this can save thousands of dollars). Also, check with the trim carpenter -- quite often they can build shelves for ready-made "custom" doors for considerably less cost than buying the cabinets that are usually sold with those doors. Custom kitchen design centers make their profit on selling you their cabinets, and boyoboy what a profit!

Shop carefully for the countertops; in-depth shopping may find the granite [or whatever] you want at a competitive price to standard tops; or you may find that finishing butcher blocks with tung oil is less expensive. And there is no question but that sharp shopping for standard kitchen appliances can save many thousands of dollars, more if your original plans included such things as an 8-burner BigName stove.

Save big bucks on luxury items in the plumbing and electrical departments. Faucets and chandeliers can be easily replaced down the road so do a lot of price comparisons to buy low-cost now, again they can be easily replaced in the future. Also peer carefully at the cost of different finishes; it is possible to buy top-of-the-line items in a finish that is not presently popular for little more than the cost of the ElCheapo brands. BTW, well-designed toilets have little variance in cost so shop to get the best-recommended ones at a reasonable cost.

Doors are a non-structural item which are often overlooked when computing the budget. If your builder has carpenters capable of properly hanging a door (and not all are capable so honesty is required), this is one area where I'd highly recommend shopping at the local recyclers and junk dealers. Time spent with paint remover, sanders, and refinishing can rescue a solid wooden door of far better quality than most commercially available, for an astoundingly lower cost.

As you may have noticed, I constantly said "shop" ~~ this is the big secret to saving money.

One other way to cut costs would be removing a set of stairs. I understand the convenience on having the two, but it would a cost saving and you could also pull in the garage some that way.

Thank you for all of your suggestions!

Bevangel -- I love your reworking of the master bath and removing the second closet. I think we could get by with one closet by maximizing that space. and I love the separate sinks -- that make make it easier to find a remnant piece of granite/counter top or cheaper cabinets as well since it won't be all one unit. I will definitely show that to my architect.

Our basement bid was around 60-70K to finish all shown on the plan. Very small amount compared to the total of around $500K for the main floor of the house. We were already figuring builder grade cabinets/counter for the kitchenette and inexpensive materials for the bathrooms. And we also considered not finishing the basement initially. But like I said, it wasn't a huge cost savings to not finish the basement in comparison to the main floor cost.

Re: size of the house. We have overnight guests and family guests often and plan for that. It is a luxury to have space for a family to sleep (with kids) -- totally understand that. If we didn't finish the basement right away, we would do without a guest room and make do with putting an air mattress in the study or something.

We are and did plan to do alot of shopping around for finishes. We are very intent on finding the best prices and best "deals" for all that kinds of stuff and have done it many times in the past with past home remodels. Our builder estimated high (unlike most builders) on many of the finishes. He prefers that his customers do not go over the bid price, unless it is a change request given by the customer and not in the bid.

I like the idea of switching the stairwell and study around and possibly making the foyer less wide.

I understand corners -- we have alot of them. I want a decent closet in the bedroom next to the garage but that necessitated alot of foundation corners for that WIC. Any ideas there on another option?

Is there any other wasted space that you see?

Since you asked...

Eliminating bump-outs is a good way to reduce SF and the cost of your roof design. I agree with nixing the closet bump-out in the MBR, nixing one of the basement baths, and your own suggestion to change the main full bath to a single sink design.

As for your foyer/entry, you could resize the section from your study to your laundry room. The study could be a little smaller (10x10) and the foyer a little narrower. The laundry/utility area could be resized by eliminating the walls separating your W/D and closet, removing the closet section jutting into the entry area, and making it a little more open for maximum shelving. As a utility area it's a personal preference as to whether your shelving needs to be in an enclosed closet. You could redesign the powder room for access via your hallway if you don't want guests to see your utility area. Having said all this I am not sure if it is worth it unless you also reduce the size of your great room & kitchen.

A more doable option would be to remove the pocket office and the closet for BR #1, and move your breakfast space to the BR #1 space. This eliminates another bump-out and another 300 sf between main flr & basement. Your children are young enough to room together in BR #2 for a few years, giving you time to finish your basement according to your needs.

Getting back to the laundry room -- I recommend you change the door at the top of the stairs (CC) from LH swing to RH swing. It appears awkward to open the door and step into a corner area. Also, check code on the location of the door at the bottom of the stairs (AA) as it may be too close to the stairs and be considered a safety hazard.

Finally, don't waste time defending the size of your house. You know your needs/wants and you don't need anyone to tell you how to spend your money.

Good luck

Just a couple suggestions if these have not already been mentioned? I agree that maybe you could put the door to the powder room coming off the foyer or the hallway, instead of off the utility room. I like to close my utility room when we have guests because it is the worst place in the house. :)

I agree also that you should look at making the breakfast area smaller. How about pulling the back wall about halfway closer in toward the kitchen, then move the wall on the right side of the breakfast area over to the right to line up with right side of the pocket office. Then remove the doorway and wall between the pocket office and the breakfast area but keep the built in desk where it is. You would have narrower longer breakfast nook that might be less s.f., and still have your desk but no separation between the 2. In fact, you could make that desk into a L shape by adding a desk on the right hand wall as well. Just an idea. I love my L shaped built in desk off the kitchen area.

Building onto what terry t just said, I would take off the entire bump out that says laundry on it in front. Shift the W/D toward the house and you would still have plenty of room for them and some shelving. Also, the space between the cleaning closet and the powder bath is over 6' wide ? Can you condense that down to 4' by shifting one side toward the other??? Also, the closet for bedroom 1 is really large. Maybe you can make that smaller but not sure how that will help out in the scheme. You could shift the pantry toward the closet for bedroom 1, and then perhaps put a linen closet into the space when the pantry was off of the hallway. (This would allow you to make the bathroom smaller and still have 2 sinks.)

Contrary to terry t's suggestion, I am not sure I would give up that 2nd sink in the guest/kids bathroom. Only if you need to fit a smaller vanity. It is so nice for kids to each have their own sink or for a guest to have their own sink. Well, since you are planning doing the basement, maybe this point will not matter.

I would totally eliminate the front bumpout that says laundry on it. Shift the W/D toward the kitchen and you will still hve room for some shelving. Also, the hall between the powder bath and the cleaning closet is over 6'. Can you condense this down to 4'?

Also just noticed that the closet of for bedroom 2 is a bumpout also. Take that off and put the closet for bedroom 2 where the cleaning closet is or just south of it and use part of that space where the garage door is for a closet. I know this is getting picky.

Good luck. It is fun to try to come up with ideas on layouts. Good luck.

A couple of observations. First, your design has at least 24 corners, more if the unseen portion of the garage has more than two. That is a big driver in your costs. Your architect has designed an expensive house to build.

Second, you say that you need to eliminate at least 300 sf of a 3,000 sf house. That's ten percent of the floor space. With an estimate of 500K to build, you can't be projecting more than roughly a 50K savings, yet you seem to downplay the 60-70K you might save by not finishing the basement.

To me, this seems a bit of a contradiction. Chopping any space is going to generate offsetting additional design costs. Eliminating floor space inevitably means relocating and redrawing other space, including the roof. This is going to cost money in additional design fees, which will reduce the savings somewhat, while not finishing the basement should not result in any additional costs.

I really think you should look at the latter option. If that does not provide enough savings, then look elsewhere for savings in addition to not finishing the basement.

Eliminating the stairs from the garage to the mechanical room would be my first choice for additional savings. No drawing changes would be required. Just have your builder leave them out.

If you really like this home; I wouldn't cut it down. Instead, I'd get at least three bids, and, if they don't fall WELL within your budget, I'm sorry, but I would not build. Nothing is worse than building something far short of dreams.

Thank you for the helpful feedback. I've been looking at ways of eliminating all the corners -- why do architects do that, anyway? Good grief!

I am confused on how to completely eliminate the laundry bump out as some of you suggested. I think you meant that I should use the closet there for the laundry room instead -- which would leave no coat closet in the mudroom? Not sure if I want that...

The dining area is pretty large, but since we have no other dining area or formal dining room (other than 4 stools at the island), I am looking for a space that could accommodate a large table for when family and friends are over.

I am not downplaying the 60-70K saved by leaving the basement unfinished. I know that is a substantial savings. However, we had planned on not finishing the basement initially. It is the main level that came in way over budget, so even planning for an unfinished basement, the main level is more than we want to spend.

Thanks again for your suggestions... keep them coming if you have any more!

I'm no expert, but I've heard many times that builders can come up with simple ways to cut costs if only the architect had designed things a little differently. Personally, I'd schedule a sit-down with the builder and architect together and ask them to help you figure out a way to save 50k or whatever the magic number is. Also I'm still not understanding your logic on how money saved from finishing the basement is worth less than money saved on the main level, but to each his own. Good luck to you.