If you are going to build your own home and want to get more for your money, consider a two story home. There are major parts of the construction process that can save you money over building a ranch style home. The three major areas to cut costs are excavation, the foundation, and the roof.

When excavating for a ranch style home, you are digging a hole for living space all on one floor. Let's say the square footage of this ranch is 2,000 sq. ft. If this house has a full basement that's a lot of dirt to be removed to accomodate a foundation. A two story home such as a Colonial or Georgian style with the same square footage will require half as much excavation. These style of homes usually have close to equal the amount of square feet on both floors. For this phase of construction a single story home requires twice the labor and twice the material to be removed for the foundation. After backfilling the foundation, any extra dirt that can't be spread about the lot, has to be hauled away. This could be a sizable burden to your construction budget.

The foundation is another place to save money on your construction costs. Using the same 2000 sq. ft. house as an example, footings and foundation walls must be poured to support 2000 sq. ft. of deck for the living space. A two story would only require enough walls and footings for a 1000 sq.ft. as the second floor would be stacked on top of the first floor and utilizing the same foundation walls. If both style homes have a full basement its easy to see that the ranch is going to cost double to pour a concrete floor. this cost is usually figured by the square foot.

The third major cost saving phase is the roof system. A two story home has half the roof. This means cutting the amount of lumber in half. If the rafters for this structure are 2x10 or 2x12, this can be quite a savings. Add in for the longer lumber lengths needed for steeper pitched roofs like a 10/12 or 12/12 and the savings become even more substantial. Also, when building this type of home, only half as much plywood is needed to cover our framing. With the rising costs of lumber, this is another good reason to go with a two story home. The roofing materials used is also affected. Again, only half the materials are needed to do the job. This is another task that is figured by the square foot.

There are many ways to save money when building your own home. These three parts of constructing a home are the major ways to save. If you want more bang for your buck, consider a two story home.

(c) Mike Merisko 2006 www.sawkerfs.com