When you break down all the items required to build a house and look at them line by line any one item does not cost that much. Increasing the hardwood from $8 a square foot to $10 a square foot in the big picture is not much. Upgrading the carpet from $18 per yard to $22 per yard, again not that much. That 6 burner Viking stove, will at $4000 only add a dollar/square foot. However, if each item is not carefully budgeted, a construction project can quickly get out of hand. We first build a detailed construction budget breaking the projects costs down to 60+ different line items. Then working with the client we look at these line items and make decisions on where we are going with expenses.