I have a weird shaped lot and couldn’t find any “stock house plans” that would work so a guy referred me to an arch. who came out and one thing led to another and drew some plans that we like- Unfortunately price never came up- Question how much should plans cost for 4000 sq ft french country design 5400 total feet, garages and covered patios- nice but nothing out of the ordinary- Feels like I got ripped but would like some guesstimates before I reveal the bill-thanks
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Source control, ventilation, and filtration are the keys to healthy indoor air quality. Dehumidification is important too.
Featured Video
SawStop's Portable Tablesaw is Bigger and Better Than BeforeHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Can you at least reveal where you are located? Soil type? How odd of a lot? Slope? What type of plans?
sure, these plans are ordinary residential house plans , two story -midwest (oklahoma) nothing special in plans(no split level, walkout, basement etc) basically needed L shaped that contoured around trees and away from a small creek- basic footing, stem wall concrete slab - need any other details- thanks for inquiring
Edited 4/14/2006 5:06 pm ET by maxp
Just a bit more detail--how many pages of plans. Like is this a "four pager" (site, floor, elevations, details) set, or a set ready for bidding?Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
sorry, so far have received a four pager for final review, with the final or whatever the correct term is to follow- The invoice is the only one I've received and here is what he has done
came out to site and I showed him where it was to be located and the configuration. Showed him a style we like and how many rooms and generally where-
From that he drew a front elevation and floor plan- original was too wide so he changed configuration once- All fine - we pushed one ext. wall out with his approval that the change wouldn't negatively effect design. He sent a "four pager" for approval -which we did and is preparing finals, bidders or whatever
Again the bill is for start to finish drawings/plans Hope that filled in some blanks-thanks
Hmmm, a "plan house" would be 'done' after the first four pages, and you'd be looking at $5-8K. Which would not include any of the work of getting the plans through City Site, Development, and Plan review (which vould tack another $5-8K on).
Call it a half-million to build (that's only $125/sf), at 5% that'd be $25K, you're near the 25% 'done' stage, so that'd be an invoice for $6250, round numbers. (Please note, I'm generalizing with a really, really, broad brush here).
So, you could be ok, you could be hosed. Hard to tell.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
thanks for the input- i understand- to clarify I looked at the invoice it states an amount and the footnote that I will receive an invoice for copying and delivery fees with delivery of construction sets.- So are thinking based off your guess that there will be more fees than the 6250 to the arch.-thanks again
5,400 square feet doesn't sound ordinary to me, but then again I'm just white trash with money. (apologies to Toby Keith for plagarism)
I too am poor trash - but the house is four bedrooms 4000 ft living- he charged by the foot I assumed the 4k but the bill was figured at 5400 feet ( 3 car garage and covered patio)-- probably normal - I'm just tight-still would like to hear some guess before I confess
Five figures.... 20.000 or a certain percentage of the final estimated costs.
Did you sign any sort of contract? Or was it just a verbal agreement?
I did not sign any contract- but will pay him whatever he charged - I should have clarified and it may be the going rate- I haven't received many guesses but I will tell you the amount charged was 1.30 a foot or @$7150.00-seemed high to me-what do all of you think-I do appreciate the input
That size house - difficult lot - a design you like - sounds fair in my book
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
That sounds very reasonable to me, but I'm in California. Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
IF and (everyone knows how i am about pay'n for things i can do myself) IF he added value... gave you ideas showed you ways to do things that would save you money & time and give you a better product... he has added value... if he's just a draftsman and make'n boxes and offer'n nothing that makes you go WOW you'll always feel ripped off...
p
My take is like yours.
Did plans for own house and for a couple of church extensions. Own 5300 sq ft house took about 30 hours to draw & get permits, before computers, but then we knew what we wanted for thinking about it for 5 years. Church stuff (2000 sq ft narthex) with all the bickering with other members probalby took 80 hours of time.
I'd guess the archy does about $100/ hr for his time.. Like pt says, if just a box, ya got ripped, if clever use of land (esp if something you likely would not have thought of) and elegant but frugal touches, then you are getting a good deal.
A clear understanding with your subs is only as clear as the plans you give them. Do your homework up front and stick to the plan! The best architect I had the pleasure to work with charged $1.30/ft. ten years ago. (South Central Texas) I miss the pleasure of building from plans that were correct and worked. Cheap plans will cost you more in the long haul with fuzzy subcontractor agreements and fuzzy math and missing details. Don’t “Jump over a dollar to pick up a dime” when it comes to your home plan. So I agree with Piffin and the others that say the price is fair.
A complete and clear set of plans will keep you on budget with complete and clear understandings.
If you cannot visualize your home from a set of plans then go buy a pre-built home. That way you can see what you’re paying for.
This consultation is $00.00/ft. (free) Pay for the rest.
This may be the only time I feel like I got more than my moneys worth (these consultations)- Thanks again- He definately added value and am pleased with the plans and his input- It seems easy to get caught up in the "8 sets of plans for $1150.00" ads- Your point about ease and future added expense to construct make sense- These plans have been designed to save construction costs as well as make full use of the lot and view-thanks again I will sleep easier. Happy Easter
We would charge 15,000 for that set of plans here in NC. $1.30 per foot sounds like not a licensed architect. Should be a good home designer with a well thought out set of plans. I wonder if it includes the structural engineering or if you are responsible for that. I hope you don't hire your builder with out talking about price and signing a contractr with a clearly set out scope of work. Looks to me like you god a post graduate degree for free with that set of plans.
You're welcome Max. Good luck building your new home. Have a Great Easter weekend too.<!----><!----><!---->
<!----><!---->
Mr. Jalp
My wife and I were on the verge of going ahead with having a new home built on a lot that we had purchased, until at the last moment we came across a house that fit our needs perfectly and ended up buying it instead. However, during our planning for building a house, we had set aside an allowance of 20-25K for architect fees, and our home was going to be smaller than what you were planning. If we had been able to get the plans and architect fees for less than 10K for a house we liked, we would have been thrilled, and would not have felt "ripped"at all.
You got plans that were drawn according to your desires and customized to suit the lot. It certainly does not strike me as having paid too much.
...just my 2 cents
You lost me when you said that price never came up. Hellooo!!!!
Do you know this archy? Does he owe you money? Did you have some reason to assume how much he would charge?
I'm even more surprised that he spent time drawing plans without some pretty good assurance that he would get paid.
Lots of my work is done on a handshake, but I always make sure the customer at least has an idea of what I'll be charging - lol.
Dave, to answer your question it is even worse than it sounds. This guy is well known and from a neighboring state. He comes to my area once a week or so and happened to be in town the day he was referred to me. I reached him by cell phone and was met that day at this lot which I told him I had NOT purchased yet (due to the configuration questions)- He looked around, went by and picked up a copy of the plat for dimesions and said he'd sketch something-soon arrived a front elevation and floorplan and lot layout- ALL WHILE I STILL HAD NOT BOUGHT THE LOT- Probably sounds dumb on both our parts but we knew each other fifteen minutes- although there is the mutual friend who referred him and I'm sure told him I pay my debts. Anyway that is how it transpired and after listening to myself I probably owe him an apology for even questioning this- which by btw I never mentioned my price dissatisfaction to him. He had no guarantee I would pay -I just wanted to know if I paid seven grand plus for something you folks buy for "8 sets for $1150.00" You know what I mean?