ᐅ Modifying Floor Plans of Model Homes from Catalogs – Additional Costs?
Created on: 15 Mar 2016 09:16
M
Mizit
Hello,
we are still in the idea stage and are leaning towards either a prefab house or a solid brick-and-mortar house from a larger supplier. A completely custom design is currently not really an option.
We find some model homes quite appealing, but have not found a floor plan that fully matches our current ideas. We would make more or less small changes to every floor plan:
- We would like to turn an open kitchen into a closed one.
- We could quite well imagine a sample design if the house were built 2–3 meters (7–10 feet) larger to the left, so that the rooms along the left exterior wall would also become correspondingly larger.
Every supplier advertises that the catalog homes are just ideas and that each house can be redesigned. But how does that affect costs? So far, our impression is that this information is rather vague.
Adding a non-load-bearing wall surely won’t cost a fortune, but enlarging a house in terms of the exterior walls—should one expect huge expenses or would this still be in the low four-figure range?
Thank you for any experience and advice!
we are still in the idea stage and are leaning towards either a prefab house or a solid brick-and-mortar house from a larger supplier. A completely custom design is currently not really an option.
We find some model homes quite appealing, but have not found a floor plan that fully matches our current ideas. We would make more or less small changes to every floor plan:
- We would like to turn an open kitchen into a closed one.
- We could quite well imagine a sample design if the house were built 2–3 meters (7–10 feet) larger to the left, so that the rooms along the left exterior wall would also become correspondingly larger.
Every supplier advertises that the catalog homes are just ideas and that each house can be redesigned. But how does that affect costs? So far, our impression is that this information is rather vague.
Adding a non-load-bearing wall surely won’t cost a fortune, but enlarging a house in terms of the exterior walls—should one expect huge expenses or would this still be in the low four-figure range?
Thank you for any experience and advice!
Hello!
Why not? With your requested changes, a "standard house" does not necessarily have to be cheaper.
That is usually the least of the problems. However, you should make sure that the kitchen still remains large enough.
That requires a new structural analysis and changes throughout the entire construction. From my experience, some catalog providers have a grid system that allows the house to be widened by one or two meters (3-6.5 feet). I never even asked about three meters (10 feet) at the time. Usually, providers prefer when you only move interior walls.
Widening by three meters (10 feet) definitely runs into five-digit figures. With an assumed width of 8 meters (26 feet), that already adds 24 m² (260 sq ft).
Why don’t you just ask the provider informally for a rough price estimate and the scope of work description for the house you have in mind (with the widening)?
You can’t rely on catalog prices anyway. Then you will have a better idea.
Mizit schrieb:
Completely custom planning is currently not really an option.
Why not? With your requested changes, a "standard house" does not necessarily have to be cheaper.
Mizit schrieb:
We want to turn an open kitchen into a closed one.
That is usually the least of the problems. However, you should make sure that the kitchen still remains large enough.
Mizit schrieb:
We could quite well imagine a sample design if the house is built 2-3 meters (6.5-10 feet) wider to the left, so the corresponding rooms on the left external wall become larger accordingly.
That requires a new structural analysis and changes throughout the entire construction. From my experience, some catalog providers have a grid system that allows the house to be widened by one or two meters (3-6.5 feet). I never even asked about three meters (10 feet) at the time. Usually, providers prefer when you only move interior walls.
Mizit schrieb:
Every provider claims that their catalog houses are just ideas and can be completely redesigned. But how does that affect the cost? So far our impression is that they are rather tight-lipped about it?
Widening by three meters (10 feet) definitely runs into five-digit figures. With an assumed width of 8 meters (26 feet), that already adds 24 m² (260 sq ft).
Mizit schrieb:
Adding a non-loadbearing wall probably does not cost much, but enlarging a house in terms of the external walls? Should we expect enormous costs, or is that still in the four-figure range?
Why don’t you just ask the provider informally for a rough price estimate and the scope of work description for the house you have in mind (with the widening)?
You can’t rely on catalog prices anyway. Then you will have a better idea.
We built with a provider specializing in timber frame construction, who designs and builds all houses individually. It is clear, I think, that this will ultimately come at an additional cost. With most other providers, however, we felt that as soon as you move away from standard house models, a significant surcharge is immediately required.
Thank you very much for the numerous responses.
Structural engineering will probably be the issue; the roof will also have to be larger right away... ah, it’s all not so simple.
So far, we thought (no knowledge of construction, not very flexible with timing, we want to have everything from a single source) that a larger company would be more likely to handle this and provide a more fixed price than an architect, who first designs freely and then contracts out individual trades. For us, having a fixed price calculated in advance for the house is important, and we probably won’t achieve that with a freely designed house.
However, an initial meeting with an architect is also an option.
Structural engineering will probably be the issue; the roof will also have to be larger right away... ah, it’s all not so simple.
So far, we thought (no knowledge of construction, not very flexible with timing, we want to have everything from a single source) that a larger company would be more likely to handle this and provide a more fixed price than an architect, who first designs freely and then contracts out individual trades. For us, having a fixed price calculated in advance for the house is important, and we probably won’t achieve that with a freely designed house.
However, an initial meeting with an architect is also an option.
Of course, that’s possible. From the contract signing until the building inspection, I knew exactly how much I had to pay.
I worked with an architect and a general contractor who advanced all costs upfront.
Our payment schedule was as follows:
5% deposit
Full payment for the basement after completion
The remainder after the final building inspection.
I worked with an architect and a general contractor who advanced all costs upfront.
Our payment schedule was as follows:
5% deposit
Full payment for the basement after completion
The remainder after the final building inspection.
Hi,
why should a building contractor have a hard time designing a house exactly as you want it? Of course, it will usually be more expensive than a standard model home, but not so much because of the structural engineering (which has to be calculated and submitted for every house anyway. Even if they use a standard design, you pay for it!) but rather because custom designs tend to be more complex. That makes it more expensive.
If you only want to slightly increase the size of the house without making the construction significantly more complex, you can roughly scale the catalog prices—so about 10% more living space usually means about 10% higher cost.
Best regards,
Andreas
why should a building contractor have a hard time designing a house exactly as you want it? Of course, it will usually be more expensive than a standard model home, but not so much because of the structural engineering (which has to be calculated and submitted for every house anyway. Even if they use a standard design, you pay for it!) but rather because custom designs tend to be more complex. That makes it more expensive.
If you only want to slightly increase the size of the house without making the construction significantly more complex, you can roughly scale the catalog prices—so about 10% more living space usually means about 10% higher cost.
Best regards,
Andreas
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