Home building questions

[Cascadia]

I am currently building a house and I bought my plans on-line from a company here in Ogden, cost me around $1,200 for the plans and to have them engineered.
http://www.habitationshomeplans.com/

If plans are already drawn then they are cheaper. The prices I was referring to are fully custom drawn. But it can always save money if you find a plan that you like that is already drawn.

 

[ricsrx]

I was thinking of not doing a full basement on my next home is that a mistake? it used to be that the basement was cheap sq-ft, is that still true?

 

[Cascadia]

Yes, basements are still cheap. $20-$25 a sq. ft. for a basement as opposed to $70 sq. ft. for above ground. I am building a spec right now with no basement or crawl space. There is a lot of interest but I also think that most people are looking for future space. If it's for yourself then I think its fine. But it is only about 15-20k cheaper for a slab on grade as opposed to an unfinished basement.

 

[idahoyj]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of slab on grade vs a crawl space? Slab on grade is fairly rare here in southern Idaho.

 

[Cascadia]

I'm not really sure of any advantages or disadvantages of both. We had to do slab on grade on this lot due to the water table being too high. The crappy part of slab on grade is there is no extra storage in a crawl space. Another thing is there is nowhere to put your furnace and water heater out of the way. It'll with take up space in your garage or house. These are just personal thoughts though. These may be positives to someone else. A crawl space is always dirty because the floor is still dirt. It creates storage but it is annoying to get stuff in and out unless it is tall enough. With a slab on grade your underground plumbing has to be perfect before the floor is poured. Otherwise the pipes may not be in the wall. Two things I like about a slab on grade is the floor feels very solid and you don't ever have to worry about your subfloor getting wet and rotting or becoming weak.

 

[jackjoh]

Second thoughts, In some areas a water softener is a must. I would use PEX, it is cheaper and easier to run and seems to hold up as well as copper which is expensive. 2x6 in the walls. Automatic dimming outside lights. Lay the concrete padding you want at the end of the build. I do not think metal roofing is necessary unless you are in the mountains, use the highest wind rating shingles you can find. Low E windows that can be cleaned easily from the inside. Use tile and laminate flooring only. Run fiber optic, cat5, and coax to all rooms even if you do not use them now.

 

[Cascadia]

Are you saying don't put any carpet in the house? Why not?

 

[jackjoh]

Throw rugs are less expensive and it gives more design latitude. I would only use carpet in bedrooms and not in high traffic areas.

 

[Cascadia]

When good carpet is only $23 per yard installed and cheap tile works out to $5 a square foot at the least it's not cheaper to do tile or laminate. Then you've got to buy rigs on top of that. I think where carpet goes is preference. But carpet is cheaper to do than tile or wood.

 

[Houndoc]

I was thinking of not doing a full basement on my next home is that a mistake? it used to be that the basement was cheap sq-ft, is that still true?

We did not put in a basement because of high water table, just a crawl space.

The advantage is we had to actually unpack everything when we moved in, compared to the last time when we had unopened boxes 10 years later. I am also looking forward to the decrease junk build up as we lack the easy storage.

Downside is lack of easy storage and inability to ever expand (although we used bonus space above the garage to put in everything we would have done in the basement of the previous house.)

Crawl space vs slab. Crawl space does give area for some storage and furnace etc.

 

[Tonkaman]

Bringing this thread back from the dead...
How did the house building process turn out for you?
Can you help me break down the extra costs of building?

Help me with a list of expenses so I know what I'm missing

Cost per sq/ft- does this include things like excavation, driveway, utility connections, and permits?

Plans design and engineering-

Lot- what should I stay away from? Any advise?

Help me fill in the rest! Any additional words of wisdom would be appreciated

 

[MattL]

I didnt end up building a home, I bought a fore closed home in an area I wanted to live in. Proceeded to gut and rebuild the whole thing.
Best of luck.

 

[Cascadia]

Text sent.

 

[joshbmx1201]

Text sent.

are u still building? we are looking to build in saratoga springs.

 

[Cascadia]

Pm sent.

 

[thefirstzukman]

Pm sent.

Pm sent to you.

 

[jackjoh]

We bought a smaller house to downsize and now it looks like it will take another 80 K to make it what we want.

 

[Jeepj667]

I have an architect. The last 2 homes I've built have been specs. I drew them up on graph paper, gave them to my architect and he drow up some plans. The engineer them also. I've never paid more than $1800 for a set of plans and that was for a home that was 2900 ft above ground, finished basement, 3 car garage. a lot of times I will look at plans online and find something I like, make some changes, and give it to my architect to draw up. Costs less than online and they are a lot cleaner and more understandable and drawn and engineered for your area.

PM sent.

 

[nnnnnate]

We are looking at moving to a new subdivision just a couple miles from where we are at now. Its new construction and we sat down with the builder on Friday to talk about what we need and then sprinkled in some wants to see what they would cost to add. Reading through this thread I realize that this builder is definitely high base price with better standard features as opposed to lower base but more things to upgrade.

I really appreciate the list of things that were recommended to upgrade or add during construction as I've been scouring the internet for ideas like this. A big thing for me is having wired data in the rooms for future use and putting in some extra electrical in the garage. I do want to run data cable for a outdoor cameras and it would be neat to have some low voltage lights under the kitchen cabinets and in the stairways.

The garage is already a split 3 car (double door side entrance and single straight to the street if that makes sense) but we're looking at having them make the deep 3rd into a deep 4 car so that bay would be 24' wide and 28' deep. I'm thinking that I'll have them just put in a sub panel then after move in add the outlets where I want them to be. I could even run a bunch of smurf tube if I am able to decide where and how I want the outlets laid out.

Other things we are going to upgrade at this point:

- ceiling braced in all bedrooms to accept ceiling fans (master and family room come standard) $110 per fan
- gas line in garage for potential future heater $250
- 2 banks of switch outlets in eaves for christmas lights $400 (i'd pay double or triple if I had to)
- hot and cold water spout in garage (wash cars with soft water)
- finished basement/mother-in-law apartment
- 9' garage door on the 3rd/4th space, the 1st/2nd will be 8'

There are a few things I'm on the fence about:

- gas line in basement for potential free standing gas stove $250
- more can lights (kitchen and family room come with 9 standard) $75 each

The house is a 2 story with two furnaces. One on the 2nd floor and a second for the basement and main floor. My inlaws will be living in the basement so I'd like them to have the ability to tailor the temp down there to their preference but I'm not sure exactly how to go about this. I thought maybe doing a standalone gas stove they could turn on and off would be suitable but don't know if there is a cheaper/more efficient alternative.

 

[Tonkaman]

Wow, sounds like it will be a great place