FAQs
How much will it cost me?
Every project is different, prices can vary greatly depending on size, materials used, lumber prices, do you want just a watertight shell or fully finished, etc.
​
The material cost is probably the biggest component and beyond any builders control, we all pay the same or similar prices...and if you know what is needed and have a bit of time, anyone can look up these prices at Home Depot, Lowes, etc.
​
If you need land, septic, well, etc. those are beyond any builders control as well.
Labor and profit to build are the components that vary and are controlled by each builder.
​
Of course labor is a product of time spent designing and building. For a 2 person team, we charge $45/hr and can do a small project in a week and larger in a month...two at most for the biggest and most involved projects. A 4 person team is $90/hr but can be done twice as fast, etc.
​
Knight Affordable Housing Solutions doesn't build in a large profit like other builders do. We keep our overhead low and just want to make enough to cover that and make a fair hourly rate ($15-$30/hr).
​
There are a lot of estimates online, just be careful to compare apples to apples, most are just building costs and don't include things like septic, well, land, etc. Here is one that talks about all kinds of different building sizes and styles, including small and tiny houses towards the end:
​
https://homeguide.com/costs/cost-to-build-a-house#cost
​
Our goal is to get much lower than online estimates and other builders, even for a smaller house, which do tend to cost more per square foot than a larger house, even though the total cost is lower.
​
For your free quote, please shoot us a message with what you want to build. We will do our best to work with any budget. And if we estimate high and there's money left at the end of the build, that goes back to you.
Do you mark up materials?
No. In fact, you can buy the materials yourself if you want once we determine what is needed.
How much do you charge for labor for building, consulting, and training?
$30 per hour.
Do you offer financing and other payment plans?
Yes. Our mission is to work with everyone's budget if at all possible. We can offer financing for qualified individuals on the labor portion, but not the material portion. On the material portion we encourage folks to save for that on their own or look into one of several traditional financing options available, which we can help facilitate as well. And if needed we can help by taking periodic deposits until the full material cost is received. We remain open to other creative ideas to get the job done.
Do you offer discounted or free services?
Yes for qualified individuals on a limited basis and depending on donated funds from outside sources.
If I want to build my own house, but not sure how to do a particular part, can you come show me how?
Yes. We can come on site and train you on any aspect of building a house, from framing a floor, wall with door and window headers, roof, shingling a roof, installing and flashing windows, etc.
​
We can come out once, every week or as often as needed, depending on availability of course.
What kinds of houses can you build?
We typically stick to traditional stick built houses but are open to consider other types as well. But we're limiting the size to around 600 square feet. There are plenty of other builders that build bigger than that.
Are you working on building a community of small houses?
Yes. We are currently working on raising funds to purchase land, develop it and make it available for individuals to buy and build small houses. Contact us if you're interested in this type of project.
What cities/states can you build in?
Our main focus will be in Southwestern NH, but can easily cover the rest of NH, VT, MA and southern Maine. Will consider other areas as well depending on availability.