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DerQ007
Joined: 29 Oct 2007
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:17 pm Post subject: practical home today, dream home tomorrow? |
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First off, be advised that I am a complete newbie to home building…
I have aspirations to one day have a nice home (e.g. 5000sqft, ~$1.2mil); we will call this “House B.” It is not practical to buy House B this early in my life…
What I am interested in doing is designing (i.e. having someone design for me) House B, but within this house is the more practical precursor home, “House A” (e.g. 3000sqft, ~$700K)
Ultimately, the plan would be to build and live reasonably well in House A for ~10 years. Then add X additions/addons/upgrades to get to our dream house, House B. Since House B was in the plans from the beginning, this would, hopefully be a seamless as possible.
Is this ever done? I can’t be the first to think of this… Is it practical? How would I go about finding an architect/builder who could accommodate this?
Finally, what is a good (understandably rough) estimate of end construction costs of building A + X vs. just building B? e.g. would building the house in two ‘phases’ cost 110% as much as just building House B right off the bat in a single phase?
Any thoughts, insight, criticism, etc. would be much appreciated. Again, I am new to this and just looking for a little guidance/brainstorming/??grounding… |
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phansford
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 503
Location: SW Ohio
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| Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:13 am Post subject: |
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To answer your question directly, yes - you could design a home with future expansion planned. When hiring an architect or residential designer, you need to inform them that the program for the project is for future expansion and what spaces are to occur in the base house and in the future additions. There are many houses though out history that have grown over the years to match the needs of the owner.
You need to have the architect develop the entire design through Schematic Design, then you only develop construction drawings for the base house.
The cost of doing addition work is always more costly as it requires more care and labor to have new work match. There is also the issue of inflation.
However, your costs v. square footage seem high. (3,000 SF @ $700,000 = $233.00/SF and 5,000 SF @ $1.2 m = $240.00) So the first question is where are you building - Nantucket Island or Omaha? Construction costs vary from state to state - city to city. Does your budget include land? Then you get into the type of finishes, heights, materials and so on. As a comparision, you could buy a 3K vinyl box with a masonry front from Ryan Homes in the $300 depending on the development/community. Of course Ryan is a production builder - you are talking custom home. |
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csintexas
millennium club
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 1719
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:45 am Post subject: |
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I think it depends on the specifics. If you are talking about adding a 2000sq. ft. addition as a self contained unit connected by a door and easily accessible to get construction materials to than it probably won't cost that much more than new construction. If you are adding on a bit here and some more over there and access is limited than it will cost more. Also soil conditions can make add-ons' difficult.
I've done a few additions that where not even attached to the original structure. I suppose ideally we would always design houses with expansion in mind anyway but in reality you never know what people will decide to do in the future.
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Chris Stewart
Modern Texas Home Project |
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birgco
Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 298
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| Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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One fairly simple way to maximize future expansion options without great future expense is to build a house with a fairly large footprint, say 3000 sq. feet. Include the master bedroom and main function rooms on the first floor/main living area. Design a 12/12 pitched roof with numerous dormers/windows above this 1st floor living area. Make sure all future plumbing, electrical, heating/ac spurs and staircase(s) are planned for this "unfinished attic" area.
When you are ready, it's relatively inexpensive to finish the additional 3000 square ft., (less if you have knee walls), now 6000 sq. ft., into your dream home without adding expensive footing/foundation/site work.
And when your done, don't forget to send me the "thank you" check.  |
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