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Total Square Footage on Plans

3 years ago

We are looking to build a 2480 sq ft house, with a 361 sq ft bonus room above the garage. So total square footage would be 2841 sq ft, correct? We will also have a 580 sq ft garage and a 716 sq ft wrap around porch. when calculating price per square foot, is it all taken into account or only the heated/cooled parts of the house?

sorry, I’m sure you can tell we are newbies to this and very early in the process.

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Comments (7)

PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
3 years ago
Square footage costs for estimating the cost of construction is a little better than a WAG (Wild Ass Guess). A square foot of kitchen is going to cost more the a square foot of garage or bedroom. They are good for preliminary purposes but the more a design is refined the more the cost estimating should be refined.
Aaron Bucher thanked Mark Bischak, Architect
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
3 years ago
Inferring the cost of a custom home using a cost/SF metric gets folks into trouble. There are simply too many variables that effect the "cost" component. A better approach is to consider your needs, preferences, and your intended budget and tour homes in that price range. Then compare the real-world prices with what you have in mind. Do keep in mind that the cost of a custom home will be some premium over the cost of a builder's home built on speculation. Also keep in mind that prices in the covid-19 world continue to escalate. In our area, we're bracing for increases in window prices from one manufacturer of 5% to 12% depending on the window construction, drywall price increases of 25%, aluminum price increases of 7% and the list goes on. Caveat emptor.
Aaron Bucher thanked Charles Ross Homes
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Taking Worthy's comment one step further, you might be able to do the math by taking the overall sqft cost and deduct the non-changing majors (HVAC, windows, doors, appliances). The figure you have left can then be divided to determine the adjusted sqft cost. As an example, 2000 sqft @$105 per equals overall cost of $210,000. Taking figures out of the air to cost HVAC, windows & doors (low priced), appliances, mediocre roofing shingles, and tiling for kitchen and bath, I came up with a majors cost of $40K which was then deducted from the $210K; that gave an adjusted sqft price of $85. That means removing 250 sf from the original 2000 would save you about 10% of the dollars while losing 12Â½% of the space. Personally, I think that's a bad deal. It is far more likely that you can save an equivalent amount (or more) by buying the least expensive for all replaceables. "Replaceables" means anything which is not actually structural, and which can be replaced without excessive effort. That means all appliances, kitchen and bath counters and cabinets, flooring, and doors. i.e. that lovely $2K front door should be put on hold and a $300 one used instead (or refinish a discarded antique for even less cash out of wallet) and using vinyl tiles instead of terrazzo. Some may disagree, but I consider roofing to be a replaceable -- unless you are spending big bucks for tile or metal, roofing IS going to be replaced at some point. Therefore it is not unreasonable to use elcheapo-15 year warranty now and in five or ten years replace with the wonderful bigbucks-50 year warranty stuff. The difference in cost is considerable. Unless you are planning to use insulative layers of window covering [$$], it is *not* cost efficient to not use sealed double-pane glass. However, using standard sized ready-made windows instead of custom sizes can save quite a bit (multiplied by the number of windows). Using elcheapo hollow-core interior doors can also provide a nice savings. Some savings can be less obvious, such as standard chrome faucets from a box store (the price difference can easily be $100 per, times the number of sinks). It can be painful giving up "I-wants" for the new house, but if you think of the less expensive stuff as temporary and the wanted stuff as deferred pleasures, it can be bit easier to accept the differences.
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ulisdone
3 years ago
The standard for square footage has been to calculate the “conditioned” space by measuring the volumes including exterior walls. So the garage is not included, nor are porches. But tax appraisers do include such areas as Total Under Roof, or similar.
Aaron Bucher thanked ulisdone
remodeling1840
3 years ago
Are you wanting a $300 bathtub or a $3000 tub? They are the same square foot measure.
Aaron Bucher thanked remodeling1840
PRO
Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
3 years ago
All true.

Covered porches, decks, oversized garages, two-story rooms, extensive bathrooms, outdoor kitchens, hillsides, unfinished basements, ... are just a few of the things that don't fit into cost per foot calculations.

Homebuilding costs are an Algebra 1 calculation of fixed + variable costs.
Aaron Bucher thanked Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
millworkman
3 years ago
"If your area averages $300 a square for new construction, that’s for all of the square footage being built. That’s your ballpark. It isn’t your individual seat in the bleachers in that ballpark. "

BINGO!!
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
3 years ago
It's unfortunate that Realtors and appraisers continue to dumb things down to a cost/SF metric and to promote its use. It gives credibility to a metric that gets folks into trouble. I wish I had a dollar for each time a prospective client asked "What's your cost per square foot?"

The only thing I purchase on a SF basis is floor finishes and even then, the cost depends on the pattern, roll width and seam orientation for carpet, width and orientation for hardwood, etc.

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