Design / Architectural

Design and Architectural is an area where costs may be reduced somewhat during the planning stages. However, such details should not affect the appearance of the custom homes or home remodeling, but rather the room arrangement and other factors. The following plan elements might be considered before final plans are chosen.

The size of the house or project, width and length, should be such that standard length joists and rafters and standard spacing can be used without wasting material. The contractor will have this information available. Also reflected in the house size is the use of standard width sheets of sheathing materials on the exterior as well as in the interior. Any waste or ripping required ads to both the labor and material costs.

The rooms should be arranged so that the plumbing, water, and heating lines are short and risers can serve more than one room. An expandable house may mean the use of a steeper pitched roof to provide space for future rooms in the attic area. It might also be desirable to include second floor dormers. Additional rooms can thus be provided at a much lower cost than by adding to the side or rear of the house at a future date. Roughing in plumbing and heating lines to the second floor will also reduce future costs when the second floor is completed, yet not add appreciably to the original construction costs.

While a rectangular plan is the most economical from many standpoints, it should not always govern final plan. A rectangular plan of the house proper, with a full or crawl basement, can be made more desirable by a garage or porch wing of a different size or alignment. Such attachments require only shallow footings, without the excavation necessary for basement areas.

The type of foundation to be used, such as slab, crawl space, or basement, is an important consideration. Base this selection on climatic conditions and needs of the family for storage, hobby, or recreational space. While space in the basement is not as desirable as in areas above grade, its cubic foot cost is a great deal lower. The plan of a slab type house usually includes some additional space for heating, laundry, and storage. This extra area may often cost as much as a full basement. Many multilevel houses include habitable rooms over concrete slabs as well as a full basement. Consult local design or architects or contractors for their opinions on the most desirable type of home in your area from the cost standpoint.

Many contemporary house designs include a flat or low pitched truss roof which allows one type of member to serve as both ceiling joists and rafters. This generally reduces the cost compared to that of a pitched roof, both in materials and labor. However, all styles of houses are not adaptable to such a roof. Many contractors incur savings by using preassembled roof trusses for pitched roofs. Dealers who handle large quantities of lumber are usually equipped to furnish trusses of this type. Pitched roofs are of gable or hip design, with the gambrel roof a variation of each. While the hip roof is somewhat more difficult to frame than the gable roof, it usually requires less trim and siding. Furthermore, painting is much simpler in the hip roof because of less wall area by elimination of the gable and because of accessibility. In the gambrel roof, which is adapted to two story houses, roof shingles serve also as siding over the steep pitched portions.

Residential Consulting & Estimating provides a detailed written estimate for labor and material and has a description of line item detail, material to be used, quantity, unit cost of each item, total cost calculation (sq/linear ft) and labor. Our material list has a description of the product, quantity, and the unit price; i.e. gallon(s), cubic yard, linear feet, square feet, or pound, then total price of the calculation. (See Estimate Sample)

See "FAQ # 10" for estimate pricing.

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