4 Surprising Things that Will Drastically Increase Your Building Cost

We are about six months into this build and I can already see that the budget has been broken! You would think we would learn considering this isn’t our first go around at building a home. But, it never fails. We go over budget every single time.

There are obvious things that can add to the overall cost of your build, such as a gourmet kitchen, added square feet, and high end building material. This might include cedar shake roof or lots of natural stone.

Then there are things that can add cost that you might not consider. I’m going to discuss these below.

Roof Pitch

One of the number one things that can easily take you over budget is a high roof pitch. Yes, we have an extremely high roof pitch on our current build that has ended up costing us so much more than our previous builds.

Several things will drive this price up significantly. First of all, a higher pitch usually means increased surface are for your roof. This means more shingles will be needed, and if your are using a more expensive roofing material like cedar shakes or a designer shingle, the price will go up even more!

You can also factor in a lot more for labor if your roof is not considered walkable. It also will increase the time of installation because added safety measures will have to be used.

Sadly, we ran into all of the above. We did realize our roof pitch was steep, but didn’t completely consider everything that would go into it. I have to say, our roof pitch is part of what makes our home look so amazing, but it was a huge added expense.

Number of Corners

The complexity of your building design will for sure affect your building cost. It is much cheaper to build a home with less corners than one that is full of ins and outs and a more complicated floor plan. More material will be used for extra corners and of course more labor hours. There will be more measuring, cutting and installation of materials for each wall section, not to mention drywall and baseboard trim.

Vaulted Ceilings

Vaulted Ceilings were a must have for me, especially in the kitchen.

Vaulted ceilings require more building material and more labor. Other costs associated with vaulted ceilings are beams and more lighting for a larger space. Also, keep in mind, the floor plan of your home will be larger due due to no square footage over the vault.

This leads to a larger foot print, which means more building material everywhere, especially the roof.

I do love the look and feel of vaulted ceilings, but it has affected our building cost and made the amount higher.

Porches

As much as I love porches, they do drive the building cost up. Did you know a covered porch can add on easily another $10,000 dollars per porch? Take in consideration all the extra material and labor that goes into the porch. On top of the basic material to build a covered porch, you may also have added expenses such as a fireplace, television, outside heaters, screens, fans, and lighting. All of these items quickly add to the total cost.

So, how do you get around draining so much extra money into a new build? I truly think its a fine balance, not necessarily cutting all of the above things out. A custom home is custom because we get to incorporate things that are a little more special.

Doing without these things doesn’t make it very fun and enjoyable. We have found that with some planning and thinking through your design, you can afford to add in a few of these features without going overboard.