Building a house within budget
Whi Uwanna
6 years ago
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getting house within budget
Comments (7)I know that you already made your decision but I'll chime in anyway. I wouldn't increase the spacing to 19.25" for the reasons that live_wire_oak stated (insulation, sheathing, drywall, etc. dimensions). I priced out using optimal value engineering which uses 24" on center studs instead as 16" OC. With the wider spacing, 5/8" wall drywall is needed instead of 1/4" to eliminate waves in the drywall. Even though the lumber was less expensive, the additional cost of the drywall made the whole thing more expensive. I don't know if the 19.25" would require the thicker drywall, too, or not but you should ask around if you reconsdier the wider spacing. You don't want wavy drywall....See MoreGet plan within budget
Comments (22)Having had a new home built in the last seven years, a custom home was quoted at over $200.00 a square foot. We did a lot of work ourselves and hired our own subs. Moving back to Florida, we bought a foreclosure that was built in 2002 with over 3100 sq. ft. with an additional 1000+ sq. ft. for an indoor pool, surrounded by 9 sliding glass doors. The entire home is built of stuccoed cement block with tiled roofs. wait for it....for $225,000 in a gated community. Then we redid most of the house ourselves with hired subs. It took us a long time to find, but existing houses will give you a much better deal. Please don't let your home put you into financial difficulty. Do you have a large savings for emergencies, college funds for your children, 401k plans at work that you are active in or an IRA? The best gift you can give yourself is peace of mind. I have not had a mortgage for many years (20) and am 62 and retired. My daughter lost her beautiful dream house that she just had to have, and ended up divorced. Just a reality check....See Morewhat is the proper order for building a custom house?
Comments (44)Thomas - I have to disagree about going modular. If you want a truly custom high-end home, stick-build. We have a semi-custom modular (I modified a stock floor plan and showed a pic of exterior I liked to builder's regional rep who did elevations for us). They missed things like centering the bathroom window on the wall b/t the tub and corner (plans didn't show how deep tub and soffit were), lighting and outlet placement, have had bad framing issues (high/low/twisted studs, drywall past window jambs in some places, under it in others so trim doesn't lie flat, cracked main beam), etc. My cousin who is a carpenter (has done structural and finish) and cabinetmaker says that this is typical of stick-built construction as well, but basically (whether modular or stick-built) it's all time (get it done as quickly as possible) and materials (they didn't want to "waste" drywall so used cut edges on corners and built them up so baseboard doesn't lie flat, they used 16ft long pieces of baseboard and scarfed them with smaller pieces even if cutting 6 inches off the 16ft and making the smaller piece 6" longer would have put the joint over a stud). There are "custom" or high-end builders who will (for higher price) make sure that the finished product *looks* good as well as being structurally sound. It costs more to frame/drywall to make things easier for the finish carpenter, but I believe it would look much better than having to skim out walls or cut and caulk drywall just to get the trim to lie flat and mitre joints to stay together. Have your architect design the house paying attention to details (like my bathroom windows - one too close to tub, the other right above where we were going to put a stovepipe for woodstove) and make sure he keeps an eye on the builder to make sure it actually gets built to the plans (again, I had final plans and certain outlets/switches/vent stack locations got changed during production). I don't know if an architect will actually check that framing is straight though a good GC should. There may be higher-end "custom" modular companies out there, but my company supposedly did "custom" and were one of the oldest, respected companies out there, but the framing and the finish work was not up to my expectations. We're working around the framing as best we can, and redoing the trim and some of the electrical. Eventually we'll get around to replacing the poorly-installed laminate countertops (probably with the same laminate, I picked it and like it, didn't want solid surface or stone with kids right now)....See MoreBuilding a custom home in NJ
Comments (18)EJ M, I completely understand your thought process and perhaps I was not clear in what I wrote. I am not suggesting that a builder is brought in at the end of the architect's process, more in the middle, once a builder can accurately gauge what is being designed and therefore provide a proper take-off and bid. A builder cannot provide accurate numbers to a client without having enough information to calculate their materials and time. If a builder is brought in and provides a bid that exceeds the client's budget, one of two things occur: 1. The architect revises the plans in order to meet the client's budget with that specific builder 2. Other builders are brought in to provide bids so that the client can determine the best course of action (i.e. go with a different builder who better understands the build process and therefore can provide a lower but accurate bid - OR - instruct the architect to revise the drawings in accordance with the cost per sq ft from the chosen builder) Being in this industry for such a long period of time, I have seen more than my fair share of clients who come in initially telling us "My builder says a 2500sqft house will cost $250k". My response is always the same. There is no way a builder can tell you how much something costs when they have no idea what the design entails, the materials necessary, or the foundation design based on a geo-technical survey of the property. Builders love to throw out numbers to entice clients. None of that matters until the builder is presented with a plan set for bid that allows them to calculate everything the build entails. I hope that explanation clears up the confusion....See MoreWhi Uwanna
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoUser
6 years agoSummit Studio Architects
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6 years agoMark Bischak, Architect
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoPatricia Colwell Consulting
6 years agoSummit Studio Architects
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