What Does Turnkey Include When Building a House?

When contemplating the cost of building your timber frame home, you may think in terms of individual pieces. For example, the foundation, the frame, and the roof are separate pieces, and you may think of each as a separate cost. However, you may prefer to think in turnkey terms—considering the entire home as a whole. But, why contemplate turnkey cost? Is there an advantage?

We all dream of that ideal timber frame home that is perfectly suited to our needs and wants but it is also important to align that with the overall budget for the project. Like everything else in life, cost is a crucial consideration on the road to your custom timber home. The best way to ensure that your design, lifestyle, and budget are in-sync throughout the process is to establish a realistic turnkey budget before you begin.

What Does Turnkey Mean?

The term ‘turnkey’ originates from the act of a homeowner “turning the key” in the front door and walking into their finished home. Turnkey cost typically refers to the total cost of building a timber frame home. (It does not include buying land or site improvements.)  In the building world, if a builder claims they provide turnkey construction, it means they will build the entire home.

How Thinking Turnkey Better Prepares You

Some timber frame companies provide package prices, giving you a percentage of how much the total cost will be. This is in direct contrast to Riverbend. Instead, we use turnkey estimates. We do this because it helps you see if the home you designed is feasible to build. And, it shows you that feasibility within the context of your complete, wholehome budget. By thinking in terms of turnkey, you receive a clear understanding of how much it will actually cost to build your home. Further, you receive it upfront. Subsequently, turnkey costing gives you the confidence needed to move forward into construction.

How Does Design Affect Turnkey?

The most important factors that influence a turnkey budget are a home’s square footage, its complexity, the level of finishes, and its location.

Square Footage

The bigger the house becomes, the more affect it has on other aspects of the design; which, in turn, increases turnkey cost because of the need for additional building materials.

Design Complexity

Complex aspects of a design, like multiple corners, roof ridges, and valleys, (in contrast to footprints that feature only four corners and one roof pitch), cause a design to be more expensive to build.

Level of Finishes

While granite countertops and wide plank flooring are luxury finishes that look beautiful within the home, they are more costly than Formica counters and carpet.

Geographical Location

What many people forget when they go to build their timber frame home, is that where they choose to build also affects turnkey costs. Lake Tahoe, for instance, is a resort area where materials and labor are more expensive than a non-resort build location.

How Riverbend Determines Turnkey

Riverbend leverages more than 40 years of design experience, along with attention to detail, ensuring our homes fit within their turnkey budgets. While many companies provide clients general kit prices, we pay attention to your entire turnkey budget. Further, our team contemplates that same budget throughout the entire design process. As you suggest or make changes to the layout, size or style of your plan, we relay the impacts to the overall cost to build. By doing this, we design your home to better stay in line with the turnkey budget you had in mind.

Turnkey is a tool that gives the client not just an accurate estimate of their costs throughout the conceptual design phase, but also the confidence to move forward with financial security to create the home they’ve been dreaming of. Visit Riverbend’s whole-home cost page to learn more.

Contact Riverbend for Your Timber Frame Home

Our experts at Riverbend have brought to life countless award winning dream homes over the years and have experience in all types of different situations, build requests, design specifications, terrain considerations, along with expert guidance on getting your timber fame home started. Contact our team today and make your dream a reality.