Do better design work on the front end to eliminate allowances as much as possible. You aren't currently in a position of knowledge, or control, because you haven't done enough research about costs for your expectations.

Well thanks that's helpful.

I actually have a pretty good idea about the majority of our design choices and our plans are extremely detailed. However- I do not have expertise knowledge about the labor needed or whether the allowances include that or not- hence my question. I also know I can do a ton of research and still miss details that someone else who recently built may know. But thanks I will keep researching on my own.

My allowances had to include labor, delivery and sales tax. For flooring labor was 50% of my quote.

This should be in your contract.

Thanks. This will be the initial review of the contract so we are not signing anything today. We've only met with him once prior to now and it was just to hand over a copy of the plans and go over our wants so he could come up with a bid. He called us with the initial bid and we are meeting today to go over it. I was just looking for some ideas on what to watch for. I have some ideas now of things I can do to review before the meeting and what I can compare it to once I have his numbers.

See if you can get a copy of the bid allowances, then share it here and then maybe we can give better feedback. What area do you live in?

On our previous build, the allowances included material only, the cost of installation and labor was part of the base contract. Either way, it's good you are asking these questions so you understand which way your contract is written.

Here's a hallmark as to whether the allownces are realistic. A mid grade kitchen as lrge as yours and all of the bathrooms should cost in the neighborhood of 50-60K for cabinets. What does the builder allow? 15K? Completely unrealistic. Wood floors should be in the $10-$20 a square foot range if you're counting labor. Lighting should be 10K minimum, and that doesn't get you that 2K entry chandelier inside that. That doesn't include cans.

If you haven't priced out the exact items that you want in your home, then you haven't done nearly enough research to begin interviewing builders. You need to have done that research, and hand them the spec sheet with the exact products that you want used. Don't let them guess. They always guess wrong.

And that is what an allowance is. It's a guess, and usually a rock bottom one, in order to make the home seem cheaper than it actually ends up being in the end. Bait and switch.

Because clients have sticker shock and unrealistic expectations going into a custom home project. They have to be conditioned to the eventual price with smaller cost over runs rather than a singe larger, realistic, ''bid''. Do cost plus, and you'll see how much everything really costs. But, you'll have to work harder specifying. Or pay the architect to do that.

thanks I am asking for copies of everything I can to review. We are in central Louisiana- much lower cost of living than most of the US but its a rural area and building has become very popular while contractors are limited- bids are coming in a good bit higher than those who built homes just a couple years ago. All overall bids thus far have been very close together- this is the first one we are looking at in detail.

Thanks- that is exactly what I'm trying to understand bc I know there are several different contract types and I want to make sure I understand the details and/or ask the right questions.

My kitchen is 12x15, painted catalyzed conversion varnish, to the ceiling, eurocab frameless, all drawers, soft close and soft hinge full extension. I'm paying 15K for cabs for the kitchen only. You need to get actual quotes. Someone said 50k. That would have been super high end and way more still than I needed.

Lighting for 3200 sqft was $5k, plus cans since my builder had 35 spec'd.

You can't use anyone's numbers but your own.

thank you! That helps a lot- it can differ so much.

Ask if you can tour a house they have built recently that is similar in price range to yours and ask what their allowances were. Compare your taste to theirs and see if it seems reasonable.

It is extremely important to use allowances only for materials and to include the installation in the base bid. To do that, you should specify the number of recessed and surface light fixtures, receptacles and switches (including dimmers) and specify unit prices where appropriate Nail it all down; it's better to specify the wrong numbers than to have an allowance that means nothing.

Exclude appliances, carpet and any other owner supplied materials but include installation by the contractor if appropriate. Coordinate delivery.

Better yet, select these materials now if you already know what you want. You can always change it later if you don't wait too long.

Also make it clear from where the materials will be bought. You don't want to be limited to your contractor's favorite supplier; be aware that you will never know how much a sub marks up the materials. Don't be handing out blank checks.

I tried to spec out as much as possible, but even so I had some allowance items. Allowances totally suck, imo, because once you get to it, in the midst of everything, you find out the allowance numbers don't mean what you thought they meant.

I agree with others...decide now. For us it saved a lot of trouble when we were able to point to the plan and say "you've known there was this tile on all these walls since the day we signed the contract. So I need you to tile these walls."

Some allowances may be unavoidable so know exactly what is and is not included. I lost a disagreement about lighting. I think I could have pressed it but I had other issues at the time. It cost me almost $1000. It all addsup.

I just finished a 88k cabinet job for a whole house. And another one for 22k. One was Dynasty. One was Aristokraft. I hope you e got better allowances than to go with a builder grade quality. That 88k was only high middle grade BTW.

Thanks for the help everyone! we met with the contractor this evening and went over the initial cost sheet. There ended up being very few allowances given. Many of the costs were fixed in to the bid. We have allowances on flooring, granite, plumbing fixtures except for the tile shower, and lighting excluding the 50 can lights which were figured into the electricians bid.
We are looking over it for a few days and will make a few changes while he gets a couple of the bids through different subcontractors to compare bc a couple areas came back high. I left feeling good about it all things considered.

the cabinets we are still working out. He gave us the initial prices with some wood choices etc.

re cabinets -- ask to see them and the boxes. Or, have the cabinets specks in writing if that is something you care about. Our last attempt to build ...cabinets were a deal breaker.

>I just finished a 88k cabinet job for a whole house. And another one for 22k. One was Dynasty. One was Aristokraft. I hope you e got better allowances than to go with a builder grade quality.

Ok Dynasty cabinets are nice , but not worth the $$$$. Aristokraft - is a builder grade. And so what? What is wrong with Aristokraft , Merillat cabinets. Who is going to verify if the back of your cabinets are solid? There is a reason why ppl installing IKEA. If everyone stopped dumping $88,000 into cabinets with barely $20k recoverable on resale. Install better crown and under-cabinet trim, couple of end panels, inserts - "totally custom kitchen."..

I like builder cabinets because production is quick, if you need more or a replacement they could ship in an instant.

CBS -- In our situation, we don't want lipstick on the proverbial pig.

Good discussion...peering in from the outside as I'm in the process of researching a lot and builder.

CBS--interesting perspective. We have 60k in Wood Mode cabinetry in our 10 yr old house in the kitchen alone. Doing a little updating in the kitchen in preparation to sell. Let's see if any potential buyers even notice my cabinets. Or just ooh and aah at my appliances. If not, I am going with cheaper cabinets in the next house.

yes, this is a good discussion. Thanks to the OP for starting it. I know little about allowances. We built this house on cost plus.

this has been an interesting discussion. I'm still learning so much. every time I look over the cost sheet I have more questions.

Yes. I know my change from a SS kitchen sink is going to cost -- but when nothing else in the kitchen other than a few touches on my coffee maker and that George Foreman grill are going to be SS -- changing this out is worth it to me. (Besides, this coffee maker has lasted nearly ten times longer than any I ever owned before! If I put in a matching SS sink, fate will have it that the coffee maker will be on its way out before I can catch my breath!) ORB faucets and SS sink? Nope. My fault so no problem sucking that one up. He's working with me on another change I'm making in the guest bathroom with no extra fee although I am buying the tile (not pricy) and paying for the shipping (well, yeah, tile is heavy).

Plan as much as you can -- And accept your financial choice where and if you do ultimately decide to adapt. Or leave it as-is.

I think a previous poster hit the nail on the head. If the entry grade cabs will give you a 20 yr life, the next buyer doesn't care if you spent 10k vs. 60k on them. It's going to be demo'd anyway. It will sting your pocketbook more to rip them out if you remodel. Styles change. So long as they will not fall apart I see no reason to get a super high-end cabinet.

Do know what drives up the price: full extension, drawers, soft close, cheapest is partial overlay, then full overlay, then inset. Paint vs stain. Do you want a glaze? That's extra. Inserts for cutlery, trays, knife blocks, pull outs, spice racks, trash bins.

I'm getting a nice mid-range semi-custom job for a fair price. The drawers but not dovetailed. I'm doing dowel glued though, not stapled or nailed.

The cabs I spec'd are alder. Not fancy, but the stain doesn't look 3x the price nicer for walnut. Plus I'm painting most cabs so why upgrade the wood species?

What cost extra was how much cabinetry we chose. I added several built-ins and did a more functional configuration in the master bath.

I'd really encourage you to pick stuff out. My plumbing fixtures were well out of spec from the builder selections. That added up.

If you do an allowance consider something like $10 sqft tile materials only. That way if you choose $20 tile you know where you stand. Find out if what you want can be found for $10/sqft.

Building 2150 sqft 4B/3b 10/9' ceilings in east Texas. Our allowances excluding labor: 6800 plumbing (fixtures and tankless heater), 5000 appliances, 4000 electrical fixtures (not including can lights), 1200 hardware, 800 fiberglass front door w no sidelites, 1800 for 2 steel doors, 2000 master shower door and hardware, 3000 master shower tile, 4200 butcherblock countertops, 600 backsplash, 7000 generator and transfer switch.

Who knows if that actually helps you, but throwing it out there! :) So far, they've been very close (over-estimated on the generator bc we found a deal). I'm having to limit myself a bit on lighting and appliances, but it's probably for the best! Good luck.