CREATING A PROJECT BUDGET FAQ
How much will my new home/ remodel, addition/ renovation construction cost?
As the owner, you need to develop a project budget. While you may not know what construction costs are going to be, you should get a handle on your finances.
At the very least, you'll know what you can really afford.
Some items to be aware of:
There are many factors that govern what drives the costs of construction. Obviously the type of construction or building materials used, play a significant role. You may have a budget for stucco but yearn for Italian marble (or another anology is wanting steak and potatoes with a french fry budget). Market factors can affect the cost of your project. Imagine your home will be built with wood studs but a sudden epidemic of green horn bole weevil termites (we have no idea if such a bug exists but humor us) creates a wood shortage and drives prices up. Well your project budget just went out the door. Some costs can be anticipated but natural disasters and other factors can throw a wrench in the works.
Working Together to Stay on Track
Your architect will work with you to maintain your project on course and on budget as long as you have one and made it clear to the design team.
Nobody can design to a moving target.
Other controlling factors: the number of floors in your building, difficulty or complexity of the site (on a steep hill, forested lot with tree restrictions,
high water table with a basement, neighborhood or region (urban vs. rural)), special needs or equipment, mechanical systems (radiant heat floors, whole house vacuums,
air conditioning), types and number of doors and windows, etc, etc. In addition a custom home is not a builder or tract house. If you wanted one of those, you would never
consider a custom home.
Just as you should be careful of an architect/ designer who qoutes you a fee without knowing much about your project or site, you should be wary
of a contractor who qoutes you a construction price without ever seeing the site, design or drawings.
There are many ways of staying on budget and your architect can outline the procedures for you. Some of these involve working together with a contractor early in the process
and or obtaining cost estimates from cost estimators or from reputable contractors to ensure the project is on track.
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Design Fees & Construction Costs
To help you better understand the costs associated with a project, we'll present different examples over the next few pages.
project budget
architectural fees
example "A"
scenario 1
scenario 2