To build affordably, every detail counts

Note: Fernando Pagés Ruiz will present his book, Building an Affordable House, on CNU's On the Park Bench on Tuesday, August 27, at 12 p.m. ET. Register here.

No issue in housing is more important now than affordability, and Fernando Pagés Ruiz knows this topic inside and out from the builder's perspective. He is a rare affordable housing advocate who doesn’t focus on policy but on how quality houses can be built as cheaply as possible to serve markets struggling to find shelter. He recently authored the Second Edition of Building an Affordable House: Trade Secrets to High-Value, Low-Cost Construction, which originally came out nearly 20 years ago on Taunton Press. 

Pagés Ruiz has become immersed in New Urbanism in the last two decades, collaborating with CNU co-founder Andres Duany. That involvement adds depth to the new edition because it displays a greater appreciation for how aesthetics and building form impact community, which in turn affects transportation and affordable living. 

Many new urbanists probably ignored the first edition, but this one should be well-received in the field—and new urbanists can benefit greatly from the knowledge inside. It’s a must-read for small developers in particular. Even as a homeowner and property owner, I learned a lot. Pagés Ruiz challenges many articles of faith of new urbanists—including thinking on garages, roof lines, and siding. The construction details are so valuable that you will learn something from Building an Affordable House, Second Edition, regardless of your target market. 

Affordable housing is not just about policy or a big idea—like making houses small or using modular construction. In a section, he discusses the Usonian House by Frank Lloyd Wright, where the architect rethought the construction to achieve affordability. Similarly, affordable housing developers have to pay attention to every detail of how the house is built.

This book is refreshingly free of dogma. Designers may not agree with many of the author’s positions, but he will get you to view a house differently and see more options for its components and how they come together to reduce cost or balloon the budget. There is so much more to an affordable house than size and subsidy.

The book often does not prescribe design but explains the ramifications of decisions. The discussion of garages is a case in point. To cut costs, a builder or architect may consider a one-car garage or a carport in warmer climates. But the author does not mince words on buyer preference: “Architects hate garages. Homebuyers love them. You decide,” writes Pagés Ruiz. And buyers don’t like to walk unprotected between the garage and the house in inclement weather. The tradeoff for a detached garage (or no garage) may be worth it, but so is the no-bullshit analysis. 

The Second Edition includes building types that are new urban contributions to affordable housing: The cottage cluster, corner lot townhouse, three units on a single lot, and interior block wide and shallow townhouses. He shows how to maximize the use of a small lot by allowing for a zero-lot line on one side.

Not every house looks great in this book, and the author doesn’t pretend otherwise, yet many cute and attractive houses are featured. This should reassure new urbanists that you don’t have to sacrifice aesthetics to achieve affordability.

I like how Pagés Ruiz uses “cheap” instead of euphemisms like affordable, attainable, achievable, and workforce. Language is important; word choice affects the information that is given. “Cheap” will turn off many new urbanists, but it shouldn’t because it doesn’t mean ugly or unlivable. Knowing the least expensive option is important, even if you choose a slightly higher-cost alternative. Yet you can’t get a truly affordable house without doing many things as cheaply as possible, Pagés Ruiz claims, and this book will tell you how.

Some of the discussions on foundations, framing, utilities, and paving hurt my head a little, but that’s because they covered nitty-gritty details on topics that I didn’t know very well. As I read, I looked around my home, built as an affordable house in the middle of the 20th Century, with new understanding. I felt like I could see inside the walls.

I had no idea there were so many foundation options, which “even frugal builders sometimes overlook … as a gold mine in potential savings,” he writes. Creative design can minimize the cost of foundations, exterior walls, roofs, and windows while consolidating plumbing, mechanical, and electrical systems for maximum efficiency. “Then you have finishes, the part that consumers touch and enjoy,” Pagés Ruiz explains. “Here you must deploy refinement and good taste to compensate for expensive luxuries.”

He recommends adding a few distinct details to give an inexpensive house some pizzazz. It could be bright colors, a distinctive porch roof, or a masonry wall that turns the corner on the façade. He describes a great project for a small developer: “Constructing a residential rental is one way to get comfortable with building cheaply. This could be a single-family house, or, better, a duplex, triplex, or four-unit townhouse. Apply every element you can from the prescriptions provided in this book. You won’t have to worry about your Realtor’s opinion, what buyers might say, or how your competitors size you up. Focus on designing and building the most affordable house possible. After you have achieved a hyper-efficient design and construction budget, add a few facade enhancements and interior accessories. When you are done, rent the house. If you budget well, your rent will cover the expenses and leave a monthly residual.”

The choices and trade-offs are many and complex. Pagés Ruiz offers costs and benefits for various conditions and doesn’t dumb them down. He usually doesn’t tell you the right answer but arms you with the knowledge to decide. Simply building a small house on a small lot won't get you to affordability. You must pay a lot of attention to the construction cost—and design accordingly. Spending less than $30 and reading Building an Affordable House may be your smartest construction or design investment.