Pricing
How a cottage is priced
What decides the price
A small house costs more per square foot than a big one, because the kitchen, bath and utilities don't shrink with it. The lot check tells us which of these apply to you.
Size, and how many stories
The utility run: distance, depth and what is in the way
The slab, foundation or garage structure we start from
Access: an alley, a gate, a crane or hand-carried lumber
Finishes, and how many windows and doors
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
The estimate lists site work, structure, the envelope, systems and finishes, each with its scope and allowances.
Included: scope by line, named allowances, who is on site, how long each stage runs
Not included: city fees, utility connection fees, survey and soil work, landscaping, furniture
The lot visit
Two of us, about an hour, after the desk check. Clear a path to the back of the lot and the garage, and tell us who will live in it.
The design agreement
Drawings and the permit application are a separate, written agreement with their own fee. We tell you that fee before any drawing starts.
When you get the number
In writing, after the drawings. A build price is firm for the period it names. Anything the drawings can't show, like what is under a slab, is an allowance, and we say so.
Payments
Written into your contract and tied to stages of the work, not to dates. We follow Colorado rules on deposits. The last payment is due after the walk-through.
No prices here: the lot sets them, and the lot check is how we find out.
Inside the estimate
The five lines of every estimate
Every estimate has the same five lines, so two of them are easy to compare.
Site and utilities
Locates, trenching, the sewer, water and power connections, drainage and the foundation.
Structure
Framing, floors, walls and roof, and anything the existing garage needs to carry the plan.
Envelope
Roofing, siding, windows, doors and insulation.
Systems
Electric, plumbing, heating and cooling, with the permits and inspections each one needs.
Finishes
Floors, cabinets, tile, paint and fixtures, as allowances you choose from.
Borrowing
Paying for it
We don't arrange loans. These are the common routes, and the estimate is yours to bring to your bank.
Savings
Pay by stages, as the contract sets them.
A loan against your house
Your bank or credit union will want the estimate and the drawings. Ask them early, before the design agreement.
A construction loan
It pays out in stages and often has its own inspections. Ask your lender how it matches our payment stages.
Why no averages
We don't print an average
An average is a number nobody has paid. A short sewer run to a garage and a long run to the back of a deep lot aren't the same job, even when the buildings are the same size.
So we print what moves the price, and we put the number in writing after the drawings. If a figure here would help you decide whether to call, the lot check is the place to start.
Ask for the lot check
It comes first, and the design fee is quoted before any drawing.