Why your cost to build can vary so greatly
Since building practices, contractor labor, materials, land, and
permitting fees vary greatly from location to location, it
is impossible for
Design Basics to predict or provide accurate building costs
for your
location.You actually have control on so many of the materials
expenses in your new home.
Consider the countertops in your kitchen
and bath rooms. The most inexpensive material
is laminate. Laminate is common in entry level homes and some
lower end
move-up homes. However other materials like granite, solid
surfacing, quartz,
tile, soap-stone, stainless steel, and even concrete have
wide
costs per square foot. Consider these costs for
materials and labor per square for the materials just discussed:
- laminate - $10 to $30 per sq. ft.
- granite - $35 to $100 per sq. ft.
- solid surfacing - $35 to $100 per sq. ft.
- quartz - $40 to $90 per sq. ft.
- tile - $10 to $80 per sq. ft.
- soap-stone - $70 to $100 per sq. ft.
- Stainless steel - $65 to $125 per sq. ft.
- concrete - $75 to $125 per sq. ft.
Looking at just one material type, it is easy to see that costs
vary greatly. In a kitchen with 35 square
feet of countertop, and choosing the midpoint of these
material examples, your costs range from $660 to $3300.
Choosing laminate is great for controlling
costs. However, selecting any of the other material
drastically changes your cost very quickly.
So while Design Basics cannot give you an accurate cost to build
for a particular home design, builders can ballpark
the cost-per-square-foot for the type of home they build. You
can use this guide to ballpark your cost to build.
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