Construction, How do you cut costs when building a house?

By Richard Earls | November 7, 2020 | Web Traffic

Construction is typically a cost intensive activity that can leave your pockets empty and bank accounts dry. In fact, many people are forced to seek financial assistance in form of loans and cash advances in order to complete projects. However, construction does not have to be costly if you know how to cut costs when building a house. There are several ways you can reduce the cost of building a home without compromising on quality. Below are 5 tips you can follow to reduce the cost of building a house in any part of the country.

1. Size of Your House

The size of a house has a direct impact on the amount of money needed to build it. The size and scale of any structure is critical when coming up with a budget for a construction project. For this reason, it’s important that you keenly consider the housing and accommodation needs of your family when determining the size of your house.

A smaller house may have a higher cost when it comes to costs per square foot due to lack of economies of scale. However, a smaller house is more affordable to build and maintain in the long term when compared to a larger house.

When determining the size of your house, always stick to a figure that matches your budget. Also, you can consider reducing the number and size of doors and windows as this can help reduce the overall cost of building a house.

2. Floor Plans

Floor plans greatly influence how simple or complex a construction project will be. In most cases, a complex floor plan leads to an expensive construction project while a simple floor plan translates to a cheap construction project.

With that said, if you want to cut costs when building a house, it’s highly recommended that you go with simple floor plans. A simple house plan will mean that fewer workers, tools and equipment will be needed to complete your house. Also fewer construction materials will be required to actualize a simple floor plan. Basically, simplicity brings about efficiency.

3. Building Materials

Construction materials take up a huge part of your budget when building a house. Most homeowners assume that expensive construction materials are of higher quality and more durable, but this is not always the case.

Some suppliers take advantage of this assumption to sell substandard construction materials at exorbitant prices to unsuspecting customers. You should always be on the lookout for suppliers who hike the cost of materials without a valid reason.

To protect yourself, it’s important that you do some research and due-diligence when shopping for construction materials. Buy building materials in bulk to take advantage of wholesale discounts and offers. Also, look for low-cost building materials from reliable and trusted suppliers.

4. Build Taller

Building up is cheaper than building across. This is a well-known fact in the construction industry. If you have to choose between building a one-storey house that occupies a huge chunk of your property or a two-storey house that occupies a smaller part of your property, then go for the latter.

Both houses mentioned above have a similar amount of living space in terms of square feet. The only difference between the two houses is that the roof and foundation of the two-storey house are smaller, and by extension cheaper.

5. Type of Roof

The roof of your house is usually the first thing that people notice when they see your house. For this reason, many people tend to go all out when it comes to the type and design of a roof. However, complex and fancy roofs do not come cheap. Some roof types and design can cost as much as an entire home.

It is advisable to go with an affordable roof design in order to cut costs when building a house.

Richard Earls
Richard Earls
Richard Earls Construction is a general contractor that has 28 years of experience and provides the New Orleans area with foundation specialist, new home construction, residential construction, commercial construction and more.