You hear people talking about high-end finishes all the time. But what exactly is high end?
Let’s start by discussing what is not high end. If you would like to build some thing as cheap as possible, the finishes of your home will be mostly carpeting, drywall, thin painted trim work, laminate counters with 4” backsplash on press board cabinets, tub inserts, small and bulky white vinyl windows, and vinyl or hardie siding with thin roof shingles. This is as cheap as it gets. It is essentially a plastic house on the outside and drywall on the inside. These sort of homes are currently $350 or more per square foot in the Seattle area.
Notice the tiny slider windows with bulky white frames, white corner trim boards, the belly band across the middle, and thin shingles. There is a lot more wall than window area, and it is all hardie lap siding with nothing special. This home is nothing but beige drywall in the inside. This is the cheapest house you can build.
For mid-range quality, you can expect most of the same as above, but swap out some of the trim for thicker material (maybe stained instead of painted), some non-carpet floors here and there, granite countertops, some wall tile, thinner fiberglass black windows, and maybe some isolated accent walls on the interior and exterior that are of a bit nicer material. It is essentially a plastic house on the outside and drywall on the inside with better windows and a few natural accent materials for interest here and there. These kinds of homes are currently $400 to $600 per square foot in the Seattle area.
Notice the window frames are black and thinner than the previous example. They are also bigger, so there’s more window area compared to wall area. But, the space between the windows is ideally supposed to look like a thin structural column - not a bulky wall covered in hardie panel and cedar siding. The facade does have a bit of variation, but notice how the cedar siding is arbitrarily flush with the hardie panel siding to the right. This is a nice home, but the concept was bastardized from what was intended to make it more affordable to build.
A high-end house uses nicer, natural materials. Real stone, real wood, and exposed steel, concrete, and/or wood structure. There is not much drywall exposed. Instead, it is either covered with a nicer material or, better yet, the finish materials are an integrated part of the actual structure of the building. The exterior fits into the natural environment with its use of natural materials, and the windows are larger with thinner frames and either no trim or very well conceived trim that integrates with the architectural elements of the building. A high-end home also has more advanced systems for heating, ventilation, structural framing, home automation, insulation, and waterproofing. These kind of homes are usually around $1000 per square foot or more. Most homes you see in magazines cost over $1000 per square foot.
Notice the structure is exposed. It is not covered with siding. The glass abuts all the way to the structure, and the window frames are essentially non-existent. There is barely any use of drywall on the interior since the actual structure is exposed and glass spans between that structure. Also, notice how the exterior materials continue to the inside. This home has more window area than wall area, and this is very expensive to build.
Early in the design process, we help advise our clients on construction cost, and much of this is factored into the types of finishes desired. The same floor plan can be later developed to be high end in any style, or it could be kept simple and cheaper. The cost is all in the details.
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help