What an Arena Home Includes: The 13-Category Build-Up
Ask most builders what a home costs and you'll hear "starting from." That phrase is doing a lot of work — it's the door to a year of change orders. Arena builds every price the same way instead: one turn-key build-up, 13 categories, for your plan and your lot. Here's exactly what lives inside it, and why we can lock it when others can't.
The "starting from" trap
A soft opening price wins the first conversation and loses you the war. The low quote rarely includes site work, permits, upgrades you'll obviously want, or the overruns baked into stick-building — so the real number arrives in pieces, after you're committed and can't walk away. Since 2020, with materials up roughly 40% and borrowed money about doubled, those surprises have only gotten bigger.
What an Arena home includes: the 13 categories
Every Arena quote is built up from the same 13 categories, each priced from what your home actually contains. You see the build-up before we break ground, and the number you sign is the number you pay:
Permitting, engineering and planning
Your plan set, structural engineering for Utah's seismic code, the zoning check and every permit carried through your city.
Site work, foundation and utility laterals
Getting the lot ready, the engineered foundation, and the water, sewer and power runs to the home — the most common hiding place for "extra" costs elsewhere.
Exterior finishes and basic landscaping
The finished exterior and the ground around the home put back in order.
Complete structure, walls, floors and roofing
Kinetic Steel USA cold-formed steel framing; exterior walls of Kinetic Steel HFW-40 insulated metal panels (insulation, weather barrier and finish in one panel); an MgO structural subfloor on upper floors; and Kinetic insulated steel roof panels. See the whole engineered spec.
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing
All-electric heating and cooling, the electrical service and the plumbing throughout.
Kitchen
Cabinets, counters, sink and fixtures, sized to the plan.
Living spaces
Finishes for the living and dining areas.
Bathrooms
Each bathroom, priced for what it actually holds.
Bedrooms
Each bedroom, with its closet and doors.
Laundry
The laundry space and its hookups.
Stairs, flat roof, garage
Stairs on multi-level plans, the flat roof under a rooftop deck, and any garage — priced only where your plan has them.
Appliances, small systems and finishes
Appliances and the smaller systems and finishes that make the home move-in ready.
Construction management, inspections and contingency
The team that runs the build, every inspection through final sign-off, and a contingency held for the unexpected.
Why Arena can lock the number
Factory precision is the whole secret. When walls and trusses are CAD-cut steel assembled on site — instead of lumber cut, re-cut, and left in the weather — the labor doesn't balloon and the material can't rot or get wasted. Predictable inputs make a predictable price. For the deeper story on why the old method got so expensive, read this.
See your number
Request a quote and an Arena advisor prices your plan on your lot, category by category — or compose your own home in Build Your Own. No "starting from."
Get your number
An Arena advisor runs your address, your goal, and your budget — and calls back with a fixed price and a floorplan that fits.
Have an advisor call me →Keep reading
The Arena Way: Why We Engineer Every Wall on Purpose
Most homes are assembled from whatever came off the truck. An Arena home is engineered — every wall, panel, and system chosen on purpose. Here's the difference that makes.
Your Roof Is a Deck: The Rooftop Living Space on Every Arena Home
Most homes waste their roof on a dead attic. Every Arena home turns it into an insulated steel rooftop deck — hundreds of square feet of outdoor living at a fraction of indoor cost.
How to Finance an ADU in Utah: 5 Ways to Pay for a Backyard Home
HELOC, cash-out refi, renovation loan, home-equity loan, or cash — the five ways Utahns fund an ADU, when each makes sense, and how the rent and a fixed price change the math.
How Long Does It Take to Build an ADU in Utah?
Two clocks decide your timeline: permitting and construction. Here's a realistic schedule for a Utah ADU — and why a steel, factory-built Arena home goes up in weeks, not a year.
The ADU Tax Play: Cost Segregation & Depreciation on a Rental Backyard Home
A rental ADU isn't just income — it's a depreciable asset. Here's how cost segregation can accelerate the deductions, in plain English, and why CPAs love the move.
Building an ADU for Aging Parents: The Utah Multigenerational Home
Keep family close without giving up privacy — or paying for assisted living. Here's how a single-level, accessible backyard home works for aging parents in Utah.
You Inherited Land in Utah. Here's How to Actually Develop It.
A quarter acre, a half acre, family land you weren't expecting — most people freeze at step one. Here's the real path from a raw Utah lot to a finished, income-producing home.
Why New Homes Got So Expensive — and What Actually Fixes It
It isn't just lumber. Every link in the chain found a way to win, and the homeowner is the one who didn't. Here's what really happened to the price of a house — and the fix.
How an All-Electric Utah Home Stays Warm at -13°F
No furnace, no gas line, no mechanical room — just cold-climate heat pumps rated to -13°F. Here's the building science behind an all-electric Arena home, and what it does to your bill.
New Home vs. Existing Home in Utah: Which Actually Costs Less?
Sticker price says one thing; the real math says another. We compare new construction to an existing Utah home honestly — repairs, efficiency, and what a fixed-price build changes.
How Much Does an ADU Cost in Utah? How Arena Prices a Backyard Home
What moves the price of a Utah ADU, the 13 categories every Arena quote is built from, what's included, and the rent math.
Utah ADU Laws in 2026: What Homeowners Need to Know Before They Build
A plain-English guide to Utah's ADU rules in 2026 — what state law allows, where cities differ, and how permitting actually works for a backyard home.
Steel vs. Wood Framing: Why Arena Builds Every Home with Cold-Formed Steel
Cold-formed steel vs stick framing, honestly compared: fire, water, mold, termites, straightness, speed — and what it means for your home's value.
House Hacking in Utah: Turn Your Backyard Into $1,400–$2,850 a Month
The complete Utah house-hacking playbook: which ADU plans rent for what, how the financing math works, and what a realistic month looks like.