Material & Budget Guide
Build With Confidence, Not Guesswork. This detailed budget and material guide is designed to remove one of the hardest parts of building a small house: decision fatigue. Instead of starting from a blank spreadsheet, you’ll receive a clear, organized breakdown of materials, quantities, and cost categories—all aligned with the house plans. Whether you’re pricing the build yourself or handing information to a contractor, this guide helps you understand where your money goes and why. This guide takes you from drawings straight into materials and budget. It supports you in accurately planning a budget. We give you a real budget that we used to build the Nest - This budget includes three scenarios: owner acting as contractor, Hybrid budget- partial subcontractors and partial DIY, and 100% DIY budget. Budget sheets are broken down by labor and materials so you can itemize your own working budget.
We give you the most detailed material list ever. It Includes the regular material list for framing, exterior siding, and windows/doors. We take it a few steps further to also include the make/model/color (or a link) for the appliances, doors, shower fixtures, window make, hardware, door pulls, paint color, kitchen cabinets, retaining wall types, and so much more. This eliminates decision fatigue on all the details of your small build. We also include a list of the top tools and equipment needed for DIY portions so you can budget plan accordingly. And for a cherry on top, we throw in details for furniture that fits the space.
Staying on time and on budget are two things that can make or break a project. The planning guide lays it out all out. It includes an excel spreadsheet with tabs for 3 budgets, detailed material lists with links, and furnishings. It also includes a pdf with general overview to the permitting process and a sample site plan.
Getting a building permit is one of the big stressors of a project. The permitting portion of the guide gives an overview of site plans, variances, setbacks, easements, zoning, and details on how to create your site plan to go with the construction drawings for your specific site. We include a sample site plan for reference. Each municipality is different but this should set you up for getting to a final product that fits your region. The downloadable file includes 3 budgets, extensive material list, permitting process with samples, and links for purchasing items used in construction. The construction set of plans for The Nest are purchased separately.
