You. must. be. kidding. Why not get the house "down" to 5500 square feet ? That will knock off an easy 300k, without worrying about drywall levels. Get beautiful drywall, and finer finishing and surfaces everywhere ?

Rooms flooded with light, and ceilings, benefit greatly from level 5..........unless you are not very picky.

You also shouldn't post your email online.

Downsize like Jan said. Read The Not So Big House. Watch The Minimalists. If you are over budget by that much you will end up with a sub par McMansion at best if you stick w the larger size.

No images online....huh.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0LEVzLpNClacscAkSFXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyNWNiaW4yBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjI5NDRfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=level+4+drywall&fr=yfp-t

No one needs 6700 sq. ft. of space so make the house smalle and have it finished to a higher quality.

If you’re 300K over budget at this stage, you’ll be 700K-900K over budget by the time the project is actually done. Plywood and lumber just doubled. Everything else made of wood will soon follow. Your 100K worth of cabinets will now be at least 160K.

I volunteered at our city’s mid century modern house tour and got to know the owners (a family w 2 teens) who downsized from a 7000 sf house to a renovated 1400 sf ranch. The owners had been living in the finished home for a year and were joyous. They felt physically and mentally free of years of ‘stuff’ trying to fill their huge home. They have pride in their home as its unique and now well cared for. The teens manage just fine in their own 12x15 bedroom and the husband/wife now have a closet where every single item is their absolute favorite and is actually worn and not collecting dust. Just a forewarning that the pendulum is swinging this way and you may find yourself trying to sell a huge home and not finding the buyers. That’s my opinion take it or leave it.

thinkdesignlive: Wow! 7000 to 1400! I tip my hat to those people. We went from two story 2400 sf to single story 1500 sf.; initially with trepidation, but loving it.

The comments above reflect professional opinions. You want to save $300K and you're prepared to sacrifice a few dollars on the plaster finish that will likely be obvious on the finished product and will be enormously expensive in comparison down the road to remedy?

Well then that's all that needs to be sad -not writing "You. Must. Be. Kidding." with the periods in between every word that's just plain childish and unprofessional. I can't imagine if I went to my designer and asked this question and she reacted this way to my question. And again I didn't know that a grade 4 was sacrificing hence my question. This was one of the recs by a gc -he said we have uneccesary costs such as E series Windows copper pipes paper insulation and this. Since I do not want to lose quality I pose the question because I don't know anything about drywall.

Penny wise and pound foolish is no way to begin a build. You’re gonna end up pound foolish and pound foolisher. You dont ever cut 300K by degrading the finish level. You might cut 50K that way. And regret it. But 300K is the bones, and there ain’t no fat on them bones that can get 300K slimmer. You either swallow and up the budget, or halve the size of the house. You have a bad case of “I want-itis”.

Thank you and now I know that a level four is not suitable.

Why don't you see for yourself, compare the difference, if you haven't compared how would you know the difference between the two levels ? I doubt it would make up 300k, probably not even close. When I say see for yourself, I mean in person not online. Good luck on your build, one really has to pay attention,not take anything for granted, and be a 100 percent on that job till it is finished.

Just out of curiosity which finish did you choose? I just did level 4 but haven’t painted yet. Level 4 seems to be the norm in my area.

Level 4K’-totally fine!

Thanks... this forum is super helpful but equally as judgmental. lol. Enjoy your large home and I’ll enjoy my 12’ ceilings which also seem to garner a lot of negativity on here.

Why are people being negative on your ceiling height? That’s silly!

@jeanking - similar situation as yours. Could you share the price difference between level 4 and level5