Looking a building a house have questions

[daddycreswell]

Sorry if this is in the wrong area, but the wife and I are looking at building a house. We are in the planning stage of it, looking at plans and lots. We haven't talked to any builders or anything else yet. Here is my problem, we are wanting a 2700 sqft home, and I want a 3 car garage. I've looked at countless plans and thing I have found one, my problem is the sqft don't add up. The plans show 2738 sqft but when I add everything up that is shown on the plan it comes to 1900sqft. Is the garage being counted as the living space? I've attached a couple of pictures. Thanks

 

[keperkey]

You are probably missing some hallway footage and maybe some closets that they are including. Although typically not included in plan square footage, you also need to add the bonus room.

 

[daddycreswell]

Re: Looking at building a house have questions

You are probably missing some hallway footage and maybe some closets that they are including. Although typically not included in plan square footage, you also need to add the bonus room.

I add the bonus area but the numbers still don't add up. A Realtor friend of mine told me that closets etc don't count toward living space but I don't know.

 

[daddycreswell]

Ok I found the plan on another site with more details. If you add all of it up it's 2072 SqFt, so is the other 666sqft closets, bathroom etc?

Details
Heated/living area 2,738 sq. ft.
Bonus area 676 sq. ft.

First Floor 2738 sq ft/ height 9
Bonus 676 sq ft/ height 9
Bedroom 2 153 sq ft / 13' 2'' x 11' 8''
Great Room 441 sq ft / 18' 0'' x 24' 6''
Master Bedroom 243 sq ft / 14' 4'' x 17' 0''
Bedroom 3 170 sq ft / 12' 0'' x 14' 2''
Dining Room 174 sq ft / 14' 4'' x 12' 2''
Den 132 sq ft / 11' 0'' x 12' 0''
Nook 108 sq ft / 12' 0'' x 9' 0''
Bonus Room - Unfinished 651 sq ft / 21' 0'' x 31' 0''

 

[readhead]

I don't think I have ever come across anyone that was specific about how many square feet they needed. Why the square footage vs. type of living space? Not giving you a bad time, just curious about your thought process.

 

[garrett1812]

It definitely matters when you calculate cost per sq ft, which is commonly used for valuing a house, appraisals, insurance, etc.

 

[daddycreswell]

I don't think I have ever come across anyone that was specific about how many square feet they needed. Why the square footage vs. type of living space? Not giving you a bad time, just curious about your thought process.

Not that I'm looking for a certain size, but more of a price point. It is running $120-$125.00 a sqft to build. So we are looking in the 350k price range.

 

[readhead]

That makes sense.

 

[Jo Diesel]

Your sq ft is length times width from the outside.

 

[daddycreswell]

Your sq ft is length times width from the outside.

I hear that all the time, but if the length is 108 ft x 65 ft deep that's 7020

 

[theoldwizard1]

The house I am living in is listed on the tax roles as having a couple hundred more square feet than I calculated, including closets and hallways. One Realtor told me that is because I have cathedral ceilings ! ******** ! I can't walk,stand of sit on the ceiling !!

 

[8man]

Some architects produce plans and measure to the edge of the slab when calculating living footage, others will stop at One wall on the outside and on the inside of the other wall.

However, your concern isn't about how SF is measured, it's about building costs. If you were to put porches around the whole house, that would not be living SF, but it will cost you about 1/2 of what the living SF will cost. Slab, outside wall support (or support columns and beams for open porches) and roof will add up quickly.

So pick the rooms and room sizes you need and find something that fits. Then get a couple of builders to look at it and price it out. Then you can fine tune it.

 

[pmiranda]

For the purposes of real estate listings and property taxes it's usually the heated/cooled sqft and a pittance for each vehicle parking spot. Sadly porches, shop space, and patios sell a house, but don't count for the banker so most new houses are lacking in the things that make a great house.

 

[MushCreek]

Heated square footage is generally measured on the outside of the house, but does not include porches, garages, and other areas that are not heated. There's also 'square footage under roof', which would include unheated areas. In your case, they haven't counted hallways, closets, and the area used up by wall thicknesses.

Cost per square foot can vary tremendously, from under $100 to many, many hundreds. The finish levels of the house will have a much bigger impact than square footage. Certain kinds of square footage, such as bathrooms and kitchens also have a much bigger impact than basic space. Also, the complexity of the exterior affects price. Houses with a lot of jogs in the walls, and 57 different gables cost a lot more than a basic rectangle with a simple roof line.

 

[JettaGetUpandGo]

As a designer for a residential builder, we have standards for calculating square footage. We calculate the square footage of the actual floor deck. Essentially wherever you have subfloor in a heated and air conditioned space counts. This includes all of your exterior walls, interior partition walls, hallways, closets, dead space between walls, staircase, etc.

If you have a staircase between the first and second floor, it would be counted on either the first or second floor, but not both. Any areas on the second floor that are open to below do not count (the balcony does, but not the open air space). A garage or 3-season room (slab on grade with no HVAC, but typical walls and windows) does not count.

Regardless of what a realtor tells you, this is industry standard for single family residential and how the city wants it (at least in Wisconsin).

 

[MushCreek]

Jetta put it much more clearly than I did. I was able to argue to have my square footage measured at the inside of my exterior walls, because my house is ICF, and the walls are a foot thick. This reduced my 'heated square footage' by 152 square feet, which means I save a little on my taxes, but will have a 'smaller' house if I ever go to sell it. I was surprised that the county agreed with my definition without argument.

 

[larry_g]

Some years back we had to have some property appraised for estate purposes. One 20 acre property came in way low so the estate lawyer had a real estate agent appraise it and it was some 25% higher. I asked her which one she was going to use. Her reply was "it depends on who is asking".

I can imagine that it is the same in your case about the square footage. Who's asking, the builder who has to build it, the tax man who is assessing it, or the real estate agent who is selling it for you, or the owner who has to pay the bill. Each has a reason for wanting a different number.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Bluedodge]

When talking to the builder(s), casually ask "...how much would it cost to add a fourth stall?".

The answer may pleasantly surprise you.