Custom Home411: Designing to cost (continued)

About the Author

Henry Moreau, began his homebuilding career in 1986 as a carpenter working for one of the last “working homebuilders”, Ted Peagler of Morton MS. From “Mr. Ted” he learned the importance of attention to detail, an acquired a working knowledge of the basics of fine homebuilding. From there he spent several years working for Harrell Construction, and developed a detailed knowledge of structural wood framing. In 1996, he hired a crew and launched his own frame carpentry company, later incorporated as Moreau Building Contractors. By 1998 he had passed the State Board of Contractors exam and was licensed as a residential builder. “One of the problems I started noticing as a general contractor was that I don’t think anyone ever brought me a stock plan and said, this is it, its perfect, don’t change a thing. Field modifications can be made, but too often they are not the best solution to the clients needs; a redesign would be needed to be most effective. The idea of doing design-build was appealing to me early on.” By the year 2000, Mr. Moreau had begun to study residential design in earnest. “All of the college texts I acquired stressed the importance of understanding how buildings are actually put together, and advised spending some time in the construction field to acquire that knowledge.” As energy efficiency came to the forefront of the homebuilding industry, Henry realized that the combined effects of designing for a particular site and personally attending to details was having a huge impact on energy efficiency in a cost effective way.

Designing to cost (continued)

So if building costs can be such a moving target, how in the world can you custom build and be able to meet your criteria for your house, and stay within a budget?

This is a problem that the typical design-bid-build process addresses very poorly.

Too many designers will be glad to take your money and draw up whatever you want, with a healthy dose of their own artistic flair thrown in, without ever asking what your construction budget is. After all, they get paid whether you build the project or not. Even if the designer makes an honest attempt to design within budget parameters you give them, this is a difficult task for someone not intimately familiar with the construction process. The miss is always to the low side of actual costs for some reason. (Wishful thinking?)

Next we get to the bid process. This is often times the “Oh My GOD” moment for the client who has already spent a pile of money on a custom plan. More bids are sought. Someone must be able to build this house for what we can afford. After all, my Aunt Martha’s house was built for a lot less than that per square foot. Certainly getting bids from more than one reputable contractor is not a bad idea. But shopping until you find one who quotes the price you want to hear over the phone is nearly guaranteed to end in disappointment or disaster. I can guarantee that you will be much happier in the long run if you adapt your plan to your budget.

This is one of the great benefits of integrated design-build. A designer or design team who truly understands the cost impact of design elements can help make sure your dream home actually becomes a pleasant reality instead of a nightmare. You have to be willing to do your part. First, by honestly prioritizing the rank of importance of elements in your home. Secondly, by honestly assessing your budget parameters and conveying this to your designer.

Most people seem afraid at first to give out the budget numbers in this scenario. The fear seems to center around the thought that if I give away the number, I may somehow have got the same house cheaper had I kept this information secret. This may well be true in the case of some contractors. All I can say to that is, you need to check references, and if you can’t develop a degree of trust that you’re going to be treated fairly, move on to someone else.

I know in the design-build work I have done, having a realistic budget parameter along with the other important design criteria allows me to think about the cost impacts I talked about in the last entry as I think about how to meet the balance of the design criteria. I’ve found that excessive levels of complexity are not needed to make a house visually appealing. Nicely proportioned elements with lower overall complexity are not only more cost effective, but retain the beauty of traditional architectural forms.