Well if you are building a house, then you have a design and a set of plans for the house. The structure is going to cost what it costs, so you can either splurge on the finishes and fixtures or you can choose to cut back and save. The good thing is that you get to choose. Granite or tile, stainless steel or aluminum, real hardwood or laminate flloors. It is all up to you. Solurge on what you want and save on the unimportant items. Good luck!

I agree you can get some awesome stuff from Ikea and different suppliers for great savings if you are willing to put in some sweat equity

Just keep in mind that the house needs to be built well now...you can't upgrade that later. Less than expensive carpet can easily be replaced in a few years. Also pick out as many things ahead of time as you can so the contractor can give you an accurate estimate. Changes will happen during the process, but the more info they have the more accurate they can be.

We saved a lot of money using a laminate flooring. It was half the price of hardwood and it gets great reviews and looks gorgeous. Look into Mannington Black Forest laminate. Comes in several colors.

Do not just think about initial cost, think about cost over time. A cheap window may mean greater heating costs, or cheap flooring may need replacing much sooner than other floorings.

You're not gonna like this but the biggest way to lower your cost is on square footage

Grand staircases, wide hallways, large foyers, vaulted ceilings and other dead spaces will tend to significantly add to construction costs. Likewise, larger homes require larger HVAC systems which are a major cost.
Scrimping on finishing such as lighting, hardware, flooring, cabinetry hardware etc could actually cost you more in the long run. Builder grade granite is not that great lol!

How many people will be living there?

Vaulted ceilings add cost but you can substitute with cathedral ceilings to save cost because you can get truss. To save money limit your bump outs. Limit any crazy angles and keep foundation as square as possible.

Do what you can yourself.... we built ours and a "spec" house down the street.... we were able to put in better finishes and unique touches by doing a lot of the work ourselves.

Use standard sizes for things like windows, doors and ceiling height. Simple roof (not designed by Frank Gehry), no gables, no bumpouts, no skylights. A minimal number of bathrooms (e.g., three, not seven) that is not out of line for the neighborhood. Use mid range tile, fixtures, and appliances, all in standard sizes to avoid special orders. Try mid range hardware: a $5 knob for your 30-knob kitchen, not a $20 knob.

Since your first floor will be bigger than your second floor, your design is evidently a non-rectangular-box architecture which is going to cost a lot more than a plain box. You might want to explore classic, economical designs such as saltbox or center hall Colonial.

If resale value is important to you, look at the houses in the neighborhood to see how you can build in keeping with them. If you are selling in five years, for example, and every other house has hardwood floors, laminate would not be a good choice for flooring.

Zoned HVAC systems may be worth the expense in your area.

Also, pick an architect who usually works in your price range. If your budget is $500K for example, do not pick an architect who usually builds $2M houses.

Thanks, all. I'm in the pre-design stage now, and my framer has been great about giving suggestions on how to cut costs such as limiting bump-outs, angles, roof, etc. The HOA limits the size of the house, but I knew that when I bought the lot.

A few other suggestions to those who may be interested: always get 3-4 estimates. It's amazing what you learn from talking with several people as well as the price spread. If you're building and being your own GC, try to join forces with at least one other person who is also building a comparable house. A friend and I are going to all trades as a package deal, and it's definitely making it more enticing to them and helps to spread the work we each need to do.

Thanks again to all who replied.

I inquired how many people are going to be living there because one of the biggest drivers of cost is house size. I design a lot of production/spec housing and the builders are always fighting square footage (which means I'm always fighting square footage!). There's a reason behind their madness!! And a great designer will be very good at packing in more in less space.

And a great house is a proper blend of aesthetic's AND construction economy. Poor architects/designers emphasis the former. Poor home builders/carpenters emphasis the latter. So just be careful listening to one viewpoint. I designed a house recently where I had an 10/12 roof pitch on it for a really nice reverse gable facing the street. The framer talked the owner into a 4/12 (exact words "Hey, it still keeps you stuff dry when it rains AND it's $1.5K cheaper"). The owner now is very disappointed with how the house looks but hey, he saved $1500 bucks on a $350K project.

ARG - good reminders to not listen to everything my framer says :). I love the small house movement, but ultimately decided a neighborhood with lots of young kids (not many options for this where I live) was worth the premium, including building a larger house than I'd prefer. I'm glad to be working with a friend, since if I get stuck on making a decision solely based on cost he's there to remind me to put it in perspective. Of course, he's also the one who's (almost) convinced me to build an ICF house vs. 2.x6 construction. Any thoughts on that?

Thx again!

To expand on one of rachebro's comments: "1. Fitting out the bedroom closets (two walk-in, two regular) ourselves, with existing furnishings and a minimum of inexpensive Home Depot or Ikea stuff..."

Benefit to building from scratch is that you can control the sizes of closets, pantries, etc. Measure sizes of pre-built closet fittings from Ikea, et. al. and design closets to conform to the dimensions to minimize wasted space.

Don't know exact cost comparisons of ICF vs. 2x6 (probably regional anyway) but an ICF wall is thicker so you're taking away from usable space. You should do a comparison of 2X6 construction using normal R-19 batt insulation as opposed to closed and open cell spray insulation. Spray is considerably more expensive but the resulting wall is incredibably tight. I suggest find out how that compares cost wise to ICF.

Yes, don't base all of your decisions on cost. And likewise, don't base them all on aesthetics either! That's what spec builders do. These a for profit companies but some of it looks very good. There's a reason for that.

We are doing an ICF basement level and SIPS for the main and top floor. I spent a lot of time researching every kind of insulation before deciding as I did. For me, the benefits outweigh the costs.

Oooh - and also a SIPs roof. Forgot to mention that.

I looked into spray foam. It wasn't worth it once you figure in the air filtration system you need. The best was a 2" spray with batt insulation. I was able to get R-23 with batt in my walls and just seal all crevices with foam. I believe ICF is much more expensive than 2x6 construction.

Rachel B in BC what window company are you using, you mention one is near by, but you didn't give a name. Thank you Francesca

(Just a quick comment that I changed my user name from rachebro to Rachel B in BC)
It is Starline Windows in Langley.
Also I forgot to mention that builders usually mark up materials that they supply by 15%. So if you buy as much as you can yourself, you will save 15%. Just specify that the builder is to install it and guarantee installation. We are going to buy, and hand over to the builder to install, the following:
-interior and exterior doors
-all appliances
-all flooring
-windows
-vanities
-toilets and sinks, including kitchen
-faucets, etc.
-light fixtures, except the pot lights
-range hood fan
That's all I can remember right now. There might be more. Look over your specifications and see what you think you can purchase yourself.

Thank you Rachel

All - you won't save anything if you try to buy most of the stuff yourself. You will end up buying things that can't be used. That don't fit. That aren't coordinated with the stuff above the ceiling and behind the walls. You have no idea what actually goes into being a general contractor and it is harder than it looks.

The markup is there because someone has to make sure it all fits together - that someone takes delivery and checks to make sure you got what you actually ordered, that you ordered the right thing, that someone picks up the item and takes it to the jobsite at the right time, stores it until then, worries over security until then, and incorporates all those steps into their life. IF YOU ARE A SEASONED PROJECT ENGINEER, you might be able to do some of this. If you think you know the right quantities to purchase - you will likely be wrong, and you will miss all the little things that go with purchasing the equipment - the ductwork for the fan, the electrical sizing for the appliances, the waste percentage for flooring, don't even get me started on windows.

Look, I'm no longer a general contractor, and when I was I did much more difficult commercial jobs, but I have ordered some of these things myself and managed construction in my home. This is not a job for most people. In the long run, it is much cheaper for most people to let the contractor do the job than to try and be a coordinator and buy direct. He gets discounts that you wont' get. They generally make up for more than the markup and the coordination alone pays for that. Rachel, if you have no construction background, please think again.

On the other hand - the best comment here is on the size of the house. If you are builiding a house, run, don't walk, to your nearest library and take out all the Susan Susanka books - look at her website, select a stock house plan - don't try to reinvent the wheel, but do save enough $ on size to get high end finishes and a cohesive design. That will make your house so much more valuable in the end.

I'm not in construction, but I know what I like and how to find a bargain. I'm lucky enough to have a GC that tells me what I need and I go out and find it for a great price. I am able to get unique items that I love but still work within the size limits. As long as I have stuff to the job site on time, everyone is happy. I store in a indoor storage facility. I save money and have a blast!

Libra, while I appreciate your comments and agree completely that a builder will get some discounts that an individual won't, I also don't want you to scare off anyone from purchasing some things themselves. The trick is figuring out where the value is from going through the builder and where it isn't. Once you have a plan, you have what you need to purchase. I've purchased directly using a building company, who figured out what I needed with very little waste, and had builders tell me what they needed and I purchased. Especially things like appliances, cabinets, lighting and some other things lists by a prior poster where the builder just has a plug in number and really doesn't want to get involved. Or, you'll be able to get better stuff, such as appliances, if you purchase directly vs. having the builder do it. For lumber, concrete and building materials, it often is best to go through the builder. Yes, he'll add on, but he'll probably get a better deal. The way to find out who's getting good deals and also who is passing some of the savings on to you is to get multiple estimates.

I've also saved $$ up front by shopping around for an architect. I found one whom all the builders use and like and had him use a design I liked as a template along with touches that I want. Big difference in cost/sq ft to design.

btw, nice to see people still responding to this. Bummed however at how long it's taking me to just finish the design phase!

Hi. I think I know what you mean - you want to see something - enough talking, and numbers, and details and waiting.... :)

The design phase is very important.

Libra,
Most of the money-saving ideas I posted here were passed on to me by friends of ours who built a house about 2 years ago. They followed a professional "House Building Guide" which had many of these suggestions, INCLUDING to buy as much as you can yourself. Which is what our friends did, and they saved a lot of money.

If you look at my list, you will see that items like ductwork, pipes, floor joists, etc. are NOT listed. I would not be able to select the correct items. For the items I HAVE listed, they are listed by brand, model, etc. in the Specifications Document which is given to the contractors when tendering for bids (along with the house plans and all the other information the contractor would need to know about the project). If there is something listed that will not work with the house plans, I expect to be told so by the contractor and will select a different item on his recommendation. If he believes he can acquire a listed item less expensively, I would expect him to tell me and we can make a change to the Specifications Document before it is signed off on.

The contractor can also tell me exactly how much flooring to order. The document also specifies that a certain number of weeks notice is to be given before each item is needed at the jobsite (different times for different materials/items) . I am not planning to buy all this stuff in advance and store it somewhere, or to bring it to the jobsite weeks too early and expect them to secure it! The contractor's team can receive items I have ordered or brought to the jobsite just as easily as they could for items the contractor ordered.

As for windows, the window manufacturing company will do all the measuring and everything else needed; I just need to select the style. Our friends used the company I am planning to use, and their windows, like their entire house, are absolutely perfect. They also purchased all their doors themselves and stained them themselves. The doors all fit where they were supposed to and work beautifully.

I just thought I'd pass along some of the ideas that were passed to me by a pair of non-professionals who had actually done this fairly recently.

you have some great advice so far. If you choose to handle some of the buying yourself and you will do some shopping at big box stores like Lowes, etc... Introduce yourself to the Manager of the store and tell him what you are doing. Our local Lowe's manager works very hard to beat anyone's price and keep my business with them. Same for paint and flooring stores (if you go thru independent stores) - tell them the size of your project and they will discount substantially for the entire job. Big savings from having your GC do the buying.

Thanks, Triple "A"! Great advice - I had already worked that out with the place I am going to buy all our doors. I didn't think to do it with all the different stuff from Home Depot or Lowes, though. And will get sales prices from other stores to bring in when the time comes for each item, just to make sure they know the price to beat!

I actually really disagree with your first responder who stated that the stucture will cost you what it costs. We build deep green homes as our business and we typically can take 10+k out of the cost of a home by just value engineering the structure by using a structural engineer who cares about those types of things and then working with a builder that is going to follow the plans and not just build they "way my pappy built". OVE, or Optimal Value Engineering, is always where you should start.

And then there is the easiest way to save money yet: Builid a home using recycled or reclaimed building materials. They are beautiful, and often stronger, than new materials. though rarely are they more efficient. Modern technology is much better than 30 year old technology.

yw :) We do most of our shopping for that stuff at Lowe's. FYI - our Lowe's will give an immediate 11% discount every time Menards is running their 11% rebate. Lowe's rings up the total and then deducts 11%. Use a Lowe's credit card for additional 5% discount. Also, our Lowe's will price match Menards (or whomever) even on DIFFERENT BRAND items. Example: Menards had vinyl siding cheap. Printed out the Menards specs and went to Lowes... said "what can you do". They did not have same VENDOR, but did have an identical composition siding for quite a bit more than Menards.... they said we'll sell you this siding for same price. Using our Lowe's credit card brought it down 5% more. Just did that with hardwood floors too. Best of luck to you...