Glassed in porch, instead of deck; small sunroom on right corner, instead of small corner porch

From the Frank Betz website, on this page, there is a link to see a slideshow of the details and specifications on their floor plans. (This is a nice feature.) http://www.frankbetz.com/products/plans.html# This is from slide 3 of 9: Floor Plans Each plan consists of 1/4" or 3/16" scale floor layouts showing the location of 2x4 walls, doors, windows, plumbing fixtures, cabinetry, stairs and decorative ceilings. These plans are complete with dimensions, notes, door/window sizes and a schematic electrical layout. If you look closely at this slide you can see the schematic electrical layout. Did your plan not have this? Or did your local government office require a separate page with only electrical? If your plan did not come with the schematic electrical layout, I think you have a reasonable gripe about Betz and they should provide that at no additional charge. They have disclaimers about some features of their plans, but not the schematic electrical. I have to agree with other posters, though. If $215 makes your blood pressure skyrocket, you'll need to go ahead and find a cardiologist to hold your hand through the building process! Good luck!

mclendon -- We actually did very little of the hands-on work ourselves. My DH helped one the framing guys expand a room, he framed the arches, laid tile in two bathrooms, and that's about it (well except for all the stinkin cleanup!!!). This has cost us right at $90/sqft. We were hoping we'd be closer to 80 - but we've added some expensive finishes -- tile shower, granite countertops, hardwood on entire bottom level (except baths), expanded kitchen, etc. Our land work was about $10k more than we budgeted, so that accounts for $3/sqft right there. So, as far as advice, I'd have two or three bids done on your landwork if you have anything other than a straight flat lot (we have a basement). I'm not sure where you live or your financial situation, but it wasn't hard to get the bank to give us the money we needed, so I'm not sure on that one. They just asked us questions about what we were planning and we gave them answers and they gave us money ;o) Thanks for the compliments -- we are hoping to be in this weekend!!

Have you gotten a written detailed spec. list of what $88 sq/ft. includes, not just a verbal promise? In my area, for that price, it would be the cheapest builder grade materials available, (unless I was building it myself). No brick, no granite, cheap cabinets throughout, cheap windows,etc. Plus, the corners alone in your house plan would be a lot of money here as well. Do you have to use the builder's suppliers or are you free to shop prices? Are your appliances included? Please be sure you know what you are getting for that price before you build. I would suggest to have this plan completely done before breaking ground. Any change orders during construction will be very costly. Check and recheck your written contract with the builder. What type of contract do you have? Be sure it does include your spec. list too. As far as children in the future, just be sure you have plenty of closet and storage space. Your laundry room is small. I wouldn't worry about bumping out the keeping room since you already have a great room, but I would expand that laundry room into a mudroom with a closet and putting a powder room in there. Once you have kids, you will understand how wonderful a mudroom really is. Also, I would increase the size of that pantry. Also with kids, you may change the type of vehicles you drive. 20 feet deep does not seem deep enough. You might want to measure that out with your vehicles now and decide if you are going to have any storage or workspace in there. I'm not a big fan of fireplaces facing the outside wall as in your great room, but that is just my personal thing. I love looking out at a view without interruption. Would that bother you as well? I prefer my fireplace on an interior wall. In your master bath, do you mind walking through the bathroom to get to your closet? I know there are many people that do not like doing that. I also see that your door on your master toilet is opening in. I've read many times how dangerous that is. If someone were to pass out, you may not be able to open the door to help them if they are laying against it. If you plan not to do a high ceiling in your great room, what will you do to the space that you would then have upstairs? Will you finish it, make a laundry or storage area? Cost to finish it included in price? Do you know the size and type of heating and cooling system you will be using? You might be making changes/additions that might need to be factored into that size decision. If you decide to finish your basement, in our area it could be a cost of 30k to well over 65k depending upon your finishes. Educate yourself before you build. I would hate for you to learn the hard way that that 88 dollars in the end is really a lot higher. Are you prepared financially for that? For building delays? Also, I'm posting a link that is very, very educational. I don't mean to scare you, but you never know. Maybe you've aleady seen it? You have to protect yourself as best you can. And there are plenty of posters on GW that have some nightmare stories with builders, subcontractors, etc. If you know your contract, arm yourself with knowledge, and get things in writing in advance, you can have a great build. And there are plenty of GW posters that have done that and have beautiful homes. Good luck and keep us posted! Here is a link that might be useful: Defective House