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Our recent focus was Structural Insulated Panels or SIPs as an alternative to normal lumber framing. This week, we're getting more personal. Build Livable courses contain brief stories from the planning and construction of our custom home, completed in 2021. The story below is from a chapter on project roles and responsibilities.

Ask Me Anything

Custom home construction can feel bewildering for homeowners. I've been there and I know how it feels. That's why I'm encouraging you to ask me questions. I may not have all the answers, but I'm here to be a resource who can speak from the homeowner's perspective.

Consider your questions to be anonymous. I will not share your name or information with my answers.

I'm serious: Ask Me Anything.

Personal Story: The Cost of Steel

Early in the design process, we worked with our architect, John Stoeck, on the essential elements of the design. We quickly fell in love with a few big ideas regarding the house, which has a west facing water view.

First, we imagined an open-feeling great room with kitchen, dining, and living.

Second, we imagined the west wall being made of glass doors. Third, we imagined a roof with a large overhang with no supports to block the view.

These ideas would ensure that the future home would take full advantage of the location.

We didn't ask a lot of questions about the cost of these features. We hadn't yet received an estimate for the build and assumed they would fit our budget. It was difficult for John to predict the cost because so much depends on the time and materials required and that's not up to him. At the time, it was easy to focus on the potential beauty of the design.

Looking back, I can now see that there were factors in the design that I didn't fully understand. The cantilevered roof overhang, for example, is not a cost effective feature. The glass doors along with a large great room required a lot of support in the ceiling and floor.

Our design required the strength of multiple large steel beams, as seen below.

In the planning phase, it was difficult to research or understand the potential costs of the design decisions we were making. We hoped for the best and fell deeper in love with the design.

The Hand-off

Once the design was complete, we sent it to structural engineers, who provided specifications for what was needed. Then, we shared the designs and engineering specs with Drew Reed, our contractor, for an estimate. The bottom line ended up being much more than we expected, almost double.

Everyone was surprised. Drew added notes to the estimate regarding what drove the costs up. One of the biggest items was steel. According to the engineers, the cantilevered roof had to withstand up to 140 mph wind and our design increased the chances of the cantilever becoming a sail that could pull the roof off the house.

This put us in an interesting situation. The design ideas looked amazing on paper. We knew steel would be needed, but not how much and at what cost. The only way to know that number was via engineers and builders. Once the numbers came in, we realized it was more than we could afford.

Keeping the Dream Alive?

To move forward, we needed to offset around 25% of the costs and worked with our architect to find solutions. We removed a large cantilevered bedroom, changed the shape of the deck, and more. We passed the new plans back to the engineers and requested ideas for value engineering, which means making cost savings a bigger priority. This revision helped us save significant money, even after the additional architectural and engineering work.

Thankfully, we were able to keep the dream alive. Having an unobstructed view of the water was one of keystone design ideas that needed to be a priority. We feared that we would regret not making it happen.

What Could Have Helped?

Looking back, we didn't ask enough questions about the potential costs of the designs we loved. We didn't fully understand what would be required, structurally and financially, to do what we wanted in the early stages. John, our architect, was designing for beauty and aesthetics more than budget. At the time, that was what we wanted.

If I could do it over again, knowing what I know now, I might have requested additional designs that compromise on the aesthetics, but save on structural costs. We might have reviewed designs that use wood as the only structural material or ways to support the overhang with columns. These options would be a compromise, but we'd have more context regarding what was possible and understand the trade-offs more clearly.

At the end of the process, we chose the steel and the view in our modified plans. We have no regrets.

👉 We cover this subject and much more in our Custom Home Planning Navigator Course.

In The News

The housing market continues to react to interest rates, inflation, labor shortages, and supply chain issues. One of the data points to watch is Builder Confidence, which has fallen every month of 2022.

Good News for You?

If you're planning to build a home, this environment may slowly be working in your favor. It may eventually reset the market and hopefully, make home building more affordable once we get past inflation and supply chain issues. I'm a little biased, but I think now is a perfect time for sharpening the skills you need to get the most out of your construction team.

Did you find this helpful? Do you have ideas for future issues? Reply to this message or email me anytime at lee@buildlivable.com.

Lee LeFever, Build Livable​

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