How to Choose a House Plan

"How to Choose a House Plan "," If you're trying to figure out how much it might cost to build a house from the plans you're considering purchasing then you should tattoo that statement onto your forehead.
only local costs count.
Handle With Care!

When evaluating the costs of building a new home, many homeowners use square foot pricing as a basis for comparison.


Square foot pricing is a method to roughly compare construction costs for two similar houses, houses in different parts of the country, and houses with different characteristics.


I can tell you, for example, that a typical production starter home (a standard plan built by a large-volume regional or national builder) will cost around $80 to $100 per square foot to build in my part of the country.


Show me a house plan, and with a few specific questions, a builder can place it within one of those ranges.
 You most definitely don't want your cost estimate on a $250,000 house to be off by $50,000!

But with a little research, square foot pricing can be a useful tool.
 Find builders who build homes in that range and have them prepare a more detailed take-off for you.


House Plan Size

Many things affect the cost of building a typical house but there are three big ones: size, complexity, and the level of finish.
 But it's not quite that simple.
 It's obvious that a kitchen, with appliances, cabinets, countertops, plumbing fixtures, tile flooring, and other expensive finishes will cost more ""per square foot"" to build than a bedroom - which doesn't have much more finish than carpeting and paint.
 In fact, you'll likely not do much more than simply raise the cost per square foot of the entire (now smaller) house - and maybe not change the overall cost at all.


House Plan Complexity

The effect of the complexity of a house on the construction cost is frequently misunderstood and it's one of the sources of many an unpleasant surprise for house plan buyers.
 But what makes a house complex? Mostly it's a function of the shape of the house and the relationship of the amount of roof and the amount of foundation to the area of the house.
 Both houses are 3,000 square feet and both have the same level of finish.
 So while the entire house is 3,000 square feet, the foundation and the roof are each only 1,500 square feet (I'm ignoring the garage for this example).


The French County plan is the same size but less efficient; with the master bedroom suite moved from the upper floor to the lower, the roof area and foundation area increase by about 500 square feet - but the overall size of the house stays the same at 3,000 square feet.


Colonial homes have simple gabled roofs.
 That's a huge sigh of relief for the truss fabricator and the framing crew - every truss is the same! And without any intersecting roofs or dormers, there's no overlay framing and no flashing or valley metal to install.
 French County roofs are typically hipped rather than gabled (hips are more expensive) and are often steeply pitched - more lumber is required and the roofing labor is more expensive.
 If you're comparing two house plans, watch for complexities in the layout that may make one significantly more expensive to build than the other.
 One has a fiberglass tub in the master bath (about $500) and one has a $5000 whirlpool tub.
50 per square foot.
 Perhaps you were quoted a base cost of $120 per square foot for your house.
50.


Finishes and fixtures (flooring, cabinets, countertops, trim, etc.
 You may only increase the cost of each item a little but because so many items fall into this category it's very easy to lose control of the total cost.
 More importantly, assemble a list of the finishes and fixtures you want at the beginning of the project and stick to it.
 Budget creep happens slowly, one decision at a time, creeping up and devouring your building budget before you know it.


A little planning, patience, and foresight can help avoid it.
 Don't assume that your builder is in tune with your ideas about finishes - discuss your expectations in detail and whenever possible, see the actual finishes and fixtures.


Poor quality drawings cause additional unplanned work during construction, and always end up costing homeowners money and time.
 Sloppy drawings are an open invitation to Project Creep.
 When everyone understands the project's financial goals the chances for success are greatly increased.


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