To fit four bedrooms and two baths upstairs, he raised the roof to increase the ceiling height from 6 to 9 feet. This allowed them to turn what was crawl space under the eaves into living area and to install 5-foot-tall windows.
By raising the rafters and adding a 102-square-foot bumpout over the passageway to the garage, Jeff gained room for a walk-in master closet.
How They Saved
Jeff served as his own GC. This meant juggling subcontractors’
bids and schedules, ordering and inventorying construction materials,
visiting the site at least once a day, and staying on top of costs. But it also meant he could look for savings at each stage—and forgo a contractor’s
20 to 30 percent markup on goods and services. Estimated savings: $100,000
Chose to have vinyl siding with a shingle pattern installed instead of
painted
cedar shingles. Estimated savings: $13,600 up front, plus
at least $1,000 a year in upkeep (repainting every five years)
Went with faux-stone veneer made from cast concrete for the exterior walls
of the new mudroom entry and on the front wall of the garage. It cost $5 a
square foot less than Pennsylvania cut stone.
Estimated savings: $750
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