Metrics, measuring other indicators and blah blah blah
I like numbers. I like being able to define something in a meaningful dollar value to compare my efforts to commercial/professional results. I’m going to start adding a component to the project costs which measures the cost of our house per square metre right up until it is finished.
Internally “finished” will include the basic livablility items such as bathrooms, laundry and a functional kitchen but exclude items where personal taste can blow the budget – kitchen cabinetry and appliances, floor tiles, carpets, curtains, taps and light fittings for example.
Externally I will include the earthworks, verandahs, pergola, water tanks, hot water system, power system and pre-slab plumbing in the cost per square metre as these are all integral to the livability of the house. I will not include the physical footprint of the pergolas or verandahs in that calculation since they are almost equal to the size of the house itself.
As of right now, the cost of our house per square metre (at 288 square metres) is $205.04 If I include the verandahs and pergola (total of 506 square metres) that would skew the figure to $116.67 which is not representative of the cost of the house.