Cost Feasibility - Log Homes

Cost Factors

Turning your dream home into a reality starts with more than just a perfect plan. It includes designing a home at a cost you are willing and able to spend. M-T-N Design will contemplate all cost factors as we design your home. We believe that designing a home that fits within your building budget is one of the most valuable services we can offer.

Turnkey Budget

When we say turnkey we are referring to the total cost to build your log or timber home, excluding land or land improvements such as septic, utilities or roads.

Other influences to your final cost to build will include the condition of the site, such as steep cliffs or remote access issues, and the local cost of labor.

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Square Footage & Layout

The size, or square footage, of your design will have the most impact on your cost to build because size affects all of the other variables. Your M-T-N designer will explain how your layout will affect the total cost to build and offer ideas for getting the most from your space.

What Is Livable Square Footage?

Spaces included in livable square footage must be conditioned spaces. This means that they are heated or cooled for normal use. This usually includes the main level, second stories and basements.

Garages

You might have a vent coming into the garage, but unless you are planning to keep it at the same temperature as the rest of the home it is not considered conditioned. The cost per square foot to build a garage often depends on whether it is attached, detached or in the basement.

Outdoor Living Space

While outdoor spaces like decks, patios and porches are not counted in “livable square footage”, they do add to the total cost to build. Covered areas, built-in kitchens and elevated decks will cost more per square foot than a simple uncovered patio.

Basements

Basement square footage costs less than the rest of the conditioned space. Unfinished basements are less per square foot, while daylight basements tend to cost a little more.

Complexity

The complexity of a design can be hard to quantify since complexity is not as easily defined as other elements, such as square footage. The best way to grasp a design’s complexity is to examine the number of roof ridge lines, roof pitches, the number of corners, and the number, size, and type of windows. You can rely on your designer to help point out how the complexity of your design is impacting costs.

Complex Extras

Complex aspects of a design can include large or custom window configurations. While these windows can add a great deal of architectural interest, they can have a bigger impact on your total turnkey budget.

Corners

The plans above increase in complexity from top to bottom, as the number of corners and non-right angles increases. More materials required to construction complex layouts, and construction times are longer as well.

Roof Ridges

Roof lines can add character to your log home or timber home. Dormers, turrets, eaves and awnings are all elements that can be added or removed from your design.

Roof Styles

Homes designed with hipped (or dog-eared) ends, or turret roofs are more complex to build than those with single planes.

Log & Timber Product Mix

PrecisionCraft offers a range of log and timber materials to choose from. Your design team will help you find the product mix that achieves the aesthetic look you are seeking and fits within you budget parameters.

Choose Any Mix Of Log Or Timber

As you search through our floor plan gallery, keep in mind that any of our plans can be redrawn using an alternative product mix. See an example on our customization page.

Type Of Material

The type of material you choose to build with will impact your budget as well as the final look of your home. For example, handcrafting takes more time, and uses larger diameter wood than a timber frame home.

Density Of Material

The amount of log or timber product you choose to include in your home is referred to as the density of materials. Density will be one of the key cost factors we discuss during the design process.

Complexity Of Material

More simplistic log or timber trusses will cost less to produce and install than trusses with curves, or metal ties. Your M-T-N designer will suggest truss styles that fit both your vision and budget goals.

Finishes

Most everyone has purchased a refrigerator or carpet for their home, so it is easier to identify with the cost factors associated with finishes. Finishes needed for a new home include just about everything that is not structural. Clients who choose our BuilderSelect™ or Design Build construction solution will receive a preliminary finish estimate to use during the design phase.

Finish Allowance

Most builders don’t give detailed quotes for every plumbing fixture, appliance or exterior siding in their estimate. Instead you will establish an allowance for finishes and make selections along the way, using that budget as a guide.

Exterior Finishes

Stone, for instance, is an important design element of your mountain style home, but there can be a big cost difference between using real stone, real stone veneer, or cultured stone. We will review the design concept for your exterior and discuss all possible finishes.

Appliances / HVAC System

Choosing between multiple forced air furnaces may not affect your budget as much as choosing between a furnace and radiant heating. Different systems can require more room or changes to floor and ceiling structures.

Interior Finishes

The level of finishes you choose for the interior of your home will impact overall costs to build. We will generally ask if you intend to use low, medium, high or custom interior finishes. This will help us design to your overall budget.

Is Your Project A Candidate?

The best projects for the PrecisionCraft Design • Fabricate • Build construction solution are ones that are near one of our Design-Build offices, have a qualifying building budget, and for which we can meet your construction timeline. If your dream home is outside of these parameters, we would still love to design and fabricate the shell of your mountain home, via one of our other construction solutions.