Building a custom home gives the homeowner the ultimate luxury of ensuring every wall, corner, and finish exudes their personal style and accommodates their way of life. But one of the immediate concerns is the custom home building costs.
Tailor-made homes naturally cost more than stock houses, even if they have identical features and sizes. However, hiring the right licensed general construction contractors in your area is the best way to ensure you achieve the right build-out within your desired price point.
Here are some tried, tested, and successfully implemented financial tips to guide you through this journey.
Cost-cutting begins with choosing a piece of land that requires minimal site preparation and grading. An even surfaced lot will curtail the cost of land modification by a big margin. In addition, if there is some extra space in the vicinity to store construction materials, this can further slash transportation and labor costs.
Document all the desired home features on paper. Whether it’s the walls, flooring, roof type, materials-to-be-used, appliances, fixtures, plumbing components, anything and everything should be listed and included in your builder’s contract. Ensuring everyone is clear on the deliverables will minimize error corrections and delays during the actual construction process. Minimizing delays is the easiest way to trim down custom home building costs.
While seasoned builders, architects, and interior decorators may have higher fees, they decrease the overall cost. Firstly, experienced home builders have the right resources at their disposal. This prevents delays that occur due to a lack of laborers and other resources required for building a house. Secondly, they are also aware of the gray areas, which are susceptible to mistakes. Their expertise lies in cutting down the mistakes and chances of damage during the construction process. Therefore, investing in the best team will eventually slash down the cost of repairs and reconstruction.
Imagine building a house that uses the available space most efficiently. For example, a room that functions as a study, home office, and reading spot, will cost much lower than building three separate spaces in the house. Sit with your architect and design team to plan a house with multi-use areas. In this case, you may spend a bit more on interiors but will save on the overall custom home building costs. It will also create a more orderly and well-defined home, even on a smaller piece of land.
You can cut back on the cost of construction by limiting the number of exterior corners. The idea is to shrink the costs of material and labor, which are a tad bit higher for corners than for the walls. A value-engineered house will have limited corners on the sides and back area. Instead, the architectural opulence is showcased at the front of the home.
When it comes to building a kitchen, cabinetry typically occupies 30% of the budget. So choosing stock cabinets over custom cabinets is one way to contain costs. Otherwise, choose semi-custom cabinet designs for kitchen areas that are on the visual forefront and have more utility in daily life. For the rest, choose ready-made cabinetry available at cost-effective rates. This will keep your pocket light along with fulfilling the desire to own exquisite-looking cabinetry.
Separating the indoor-outdoor space with moving glass walls brings a wonderful visual impact to a spacious home with expansive views. While huge glass walls prove heavy on the pocket, the same appeal can be generated by a center-meet sliding glass door. Installing a series of French doors can also create the same ambiance. These alternative methods can easily achieve a seamless indoor-outdoor feel for your house.
Solid wooden beams on the ceiling add sophistication, style, and add depth to any room. While solid timber would be the premium choice, you can still fabricate an indistinguishable ceiling with box beams at a much lower cost. Ask your interior design team to use box beams that are made by joining wood planks with a hollow central space.
Ask your architect to plan a house structure that allows for ample natural light to flow in. By carefully designing the areas that allow light to enter and pass through the house, you can reduce the cost of artificial lights by a big margin. Also, it will knock down the costs of heating and cooling the home during different seasons. As a result, you will end up having a naturally illuminated house.
You can select areas, nooks, and spaces that should get a designer touch. Be selective about where to spend and where to slash down. This way, you will have a space with the right emphasis on the right design elements. You will achieve all amenities, interiors, and functionality without splurging extra on adorning every inch of the house.
Implementing the above tips can help contain the costs of building a custom home.
A note from BuildLabs: Our team focuses on ensuring that every home is built with the same quality and care, no matter the project or size. We aim to create a beautiful home that reflects your signature style, within a fixed budget and timeline. Feel free to connect with our team with any questions.
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