Residential construction consists of skyrocketing costs. Once you decide to build your residential home or a part of it, you must also decide to shell out a good amount of money. Although money is an important factor in building a good home, you should be smart enough to choose contractors and builders who don’t set high mark-ups for materials and labor costs.
Knowledge is power. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you know all aspects of construction, but you should at least have an approximation of the costs. Residential construction cost calculators are available online that allow you to generate detailed material and direct cost estimates based on your home designs.
In general, residential construction costs are classified into soft and hard. Soft costs include labor and materials, while soft costs include title insurance, appraisals, architect fees, etc. There are important variables that accompany the basic costs of residential construction. These are the quality, cooling, heating, material used, shape, geographic area, and design features.
All of the variables listed above are essential to estimating your costs. It will be better to decide on the design of your house first before entering into any construction agreement. Here are some questions to get you started with your design and cost estimate:
1. How many corners will your house have? The shape of the outer perimeter is necessary to estimate the total construction cost. Please note that more complex shapes correspond to additional expenses due to the complicated structure of the floor area. Most residents have four, six, eight, and ten corners; another scheme includes the garage area.
2. How big will your living area be? Of course, smaller houses with small living areas imply lower construction costs than large buildings. Measure the living area and estimate the construction cost for the area, including outbuildings, sheds, and other additions, but exclude the basement, attic, and porch.
3. What is the quality of your house? Residential homes generally depend on quality, and an important cost variable in achieving this is quality of construction. You can choose to have the best at a high price or low quality at a low cost. The quality of the foundation, exterior walls (i.e. wood, brick, metal), exterior finish, windows and doors, roof, bathrooms, kitchen, flooring, and plumbing are the dimensions on which high-quality construction should be applied.
4. Will there be a balcony, outside porch, attic, basement or garage? How much? Additional space and structure means additional costs; in addition to the materials that will be used in its construction. Decide the number of attics or porches needed for your house.
5. Where is the location of your home? Those houses built by commercial builders in suburban and residential areas carry lower residential construction costs than those built in metropolitan areas. For example, new home construction in New York is 34% more expensive than the next 19 largest cities of Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, etc.
6. What cooling and heating system will your house have and how many? Most homes have central heating and cooling systems, while other homes have heating or cooling units designed to cool and heat only part of the house. Included in the heating and cooling system are wall and floor ovens, wall or window coolers, and electric baseboard heat; all adding to your construction costs.
After conceptualizing your house and designing it, it will be the beginning of your estimation. The estimate may only be for a simple house and exceptionally decorative houses will actually cost more. You can seek the help of a reliable home builder in estimating costs. Residential construction costs will still vary by homeowner and the online cost estimator can help you plan to build your dream home.