The Importance of Establishing a Realistic Log & Timber Home Turnkey Budget
Most of our clients dream for years about building the log home or timber frame home of their dreams. Whether as a refuge for their family, a place to get back to nature, a custom designed log & timber home is a reward for a lifetime of accomplishment. But like everything else in life, cost is an inevitable consideration — the best way to avoid surprise and disappointment over the cost of your log & timber home is to establish a realistic turnkey budget at the outset of the conceptual design process.
Our experience in designing and producing over 2,000 log & timber homes has taught us that the critical first step in the design process is to calculate an estimated turnkey budget. Your turnkey budget is based on a number of factors: square footage of the home, complexity of the home, level of finishes in the home and geographical location being the most important factors influencing cost. The impact of square footage in the home is fairly straightforward — the bigger the house, the more building material that goes into the house. The complexity of a home’s design is probably the least understood factor impacting cost — the more corners, roof ridge lines and roof valleys, the higher the cost. On the other hand, a simple rectangular design with one roof ridge line is simpler, and therefore less expensive, to build. The level of finishes that you choose also has a dramatic impact on overall cost — granite counter tops, jacuzzi tubs, wide plank flooring, etc. are beautiful amenities, but are more expensive than formica counters, fiberglass tubs and carpet.
Lastly, the location of your land is a huge factor in turnkey costs — labor and some materials (though not the log & timber package that PrecisionCraft furnishes) are more expensive in Lake Tahoe or Aspen than in other, non-resort areas. Mountain Architects, Inc. — our architectural design firm, excels at designing beautiful homes, within your budget, whatever your budget. The last important fact to remember when going through the design and construction planning process of any log home is that, in addition to being the realization of a long-held dream, chances are good that it will also be a great investment for you and your family.
October 1st, 2007 at 12:55 am
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article Timber Home Turnkey Budget, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
October 1st, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Daniel - We have started a new service at PrecisionCraft Log Homes that brings together a focus on turnkey budgets. Check out this new service to our clients - my hope is that it helps to clarify a bit.
Turnkey Cost Estimating for Log Homes
Also, don’t hesitate to give us a call with your questions - 800-729-1320. We are happy to discuss.
October 8th, 2007 at 5:01 am
I like the idea of providing an estimated turnkey budget. I noticed that you give an estimated turn key for the Alderbrook at $530,000 (depending on a lot of factors). We’ve been looking seriously at the Crested Butte and Beartooth. We own our site. Can you estimate what it would cost to build the Beartooth or Crested Butte turn-key? Since we’re on a slight grade, we’d need a basement or crawl space rather than it sitting on a slab. Our lot is in the central area of West Virginia.
Thank you
October 8th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Jean - we are in the process of creating these national turnkey estimates for our other standards, like the Crested Butte and the Beartooth. But, given the work involved and the many factors to consider, it will take us some time.
The best part about having our own architectural firm here at PrecisionCraft is that we can take the plans you love the most and create your own unique design and create a design that meets your budget expectations.
I am going to have our Customer Service Consultant email you directly to give you more specific information on the Crested Butte and the Beartooth. Ryan Fontaine, your area representative, is more familiar with the specific building costs in West Virginia and can also help us bring together the different cost factors for these two plans.