save money
Your Ideal Home

I think that you can save quite alot of money by building yoru own house. But only if you know what you are doing. Soif you are oging to do it take some time to make sure you do things right the first time.

Yes, you can save wads of cash. My wife and I were out own contractors and we saved thousands when we built out house. We have lived here for 25 years and it is still standing and in great condition!

Yes, that is a great idea. It is not like you can go all that wrong because everything has to get inspected anyway.

Just a few notes on my experiences. I've just finished building my own house (200m2 timberframed); and I've made many of the typical mistakes, partially due to thinking that I could project manage the build myself (being a Mechanical Engineer). But with time restraints I could only get on site at the weekends and maybe one or two evenings and builders being builders short cut everywhere. [b] make the builder sign your specification and drawings [/b] [b] get a quote for any additional work [/b] [b] Deal with issues as they arrise [/b] I arranged for one builder to do the most of the construction work, supposedly up to, but not including, decoration. I typed up a full specification for the house, down to insulation levels and materials and gave this to the builder for the quote.But the builder's quote had a much reduced list, for example omitted paths, second fix capentry... and charged my over the odds for the difference, foolishly I just wanted the house finished and didn't start the quoting process again :oops: [b] builders build to what they know, and "feck the regs"[/b] my builder only installed half the cavity vents that are required, omitted fans, ramps were too steep... [b]Inspections don't spot most small mistakes[/b] Inspectors come only once every few months and by that stage builder will have covered up poor workmanship; one example is my builder left 10cm gaps in the fibre glass insulation in the walls, but this was p-boarded over by the time of inspection. [b] even if the builder is known to you, he may use cowboy contractors [/b] don't even talk to me about the plastering job, terrible mess around sockets and the patch up job by the builder was even worse. and he wanted to charge me for it. in conclusion, it cost me an extra 20g on top of an already inflated price, and the garden and drives are still as they were when it was a green field site! If I spent that, or less, on a site manager I would now have a much higher quality house. I would suggest using a experienced site manager and contract out each part of the build that you can't do yourself, not quite as cheap as full self build but cheaper and better quality than a one stop builder. Doing parts yourself is very rewarding, but allow 3 or 4 times the duration and don't expect to see your partner unless they are as handy as you! I'd be happy to expand on this or answer any of your questions, especially on insulation levels and heating and if your in the westmeath / longford area I'll give you the name of the builder to avoid :evil: [/list]

Hi there, I think I have a similar idea to yourself Kagy - I'm a scientist with an environmental backround and my husband is a mech. eng also. We have a site (family owned so not too restricted in terms of size) in County Galway, and all in all, the site is very suitable - I've done a pre-planning assessment with the County Council which shows no major issues arising - I had anticipated this as I deal with planning applications myself at work on a day-to-day basis and know what they are looking for. However, when it comes to design and where to actually start, we are not quite 'in the know'. We have a fair idea of what we want it to look like and the number of rooms etc, but I don't want to get an architect/draftsman to draw up something that we won't be able to afford, yet it is very difficult to price something without a drawing? Have you a build price per square foot that you worked to? and how did it compare with final budget? And what does that actually include in terms of finished product and higher spec things? I have a neighbour who is a contractor and would probably build the whole thing but others say that there is a lot more to be saved by project managing yourself and subbing all the various tradesmen. I don't work too near the site but could be there every evening and weekend if needs be and could also get the parents to throw an eye in every now and again. Do you know anything about registering for VAT and claiming back against the building supplies? Finally, being environmentally consious (but not wanting a timber frame house!) we would intend to try some sustainable type forms of heating etc, including solar water heater, geothermal heat pump and possibly wood pellet stove? Obviously insullation will also be very important. Any tips? and where did you get your advice on insullation? Thanks

Can anyone give a guide as to the costs per square ft / square metre for doing a self build. I have heard estimates of appox €120 Sg/Ft Interested in Hearing opinions, Based in Galway

Hi, I'm hoping somebody out there might be able to give me some advice. My partner and I are looking to build a house in Dublin, I've been trying unsuccessfully to get a realistic cost per square metre/foot of what the house may cost (house size is just under 157 sqm/1700sqf). Does anyone know or can anyone steer me in the right directions to find this information. Although we're hoping to do the decorating, plumbing and electrics ourselves, we'd like to know what the "highest cost" might be which we can then compare when getting prices. Cheers

Some of these links I found useful before http://www.axa.ie/home/flexible_sums_right.html http://www.scs.ie/publication/hritoc.asp or http://www.scs.ie Thanks, Lisa www.furniture.ie

Building you own home can be a great and diasterous experience. I have seen it from both sides from building my own house and working in that sector. A good building contractor will handle a lot of the the day to day hassles for you but he is getting paid for it, doing a self build will be stressfull but can give you a great deal of satisfaction. A [u]good[/u] architect or quantity surveyor will be able to give you a cost/m but this will vary dependant on location and specification. Accurate and comprehensive plans are a must, when its in black and white or in a drawing it very hard to argue against it. Try and not make to many changes from the plan, they will cost you extra. It would be far better to redraw a plan several times than move this or add that when the building is going on. Look at examples of a tradesman work and speak with his previous customers. The saying that a good man is always busy still applies but seeing as there is so much work out there the bad ones are busy too. I have never seen a project that didn't go over budget except where the person couldn't completely finish rooms in their house. You always see a better product or new idea, some come close to their initial budget but l would always allow for overspend. Here is another link that maybe useful http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=116

[quote="CoriC"] I had anticipated this as I deal with planning applications myself at work on a day-to-day basis and know what they are looking for. [/quote] Can you give us any idea what they might be looking for? www.jw-tools.com

Some useful information here http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPol.nsf/wvNavView/Planning?OpenDocument&Lang=#I17 each county council has information about planning on their website as well. http://www.mayococo.ie/mcc4/Planning/Planning.asp Thanks, Richard

[quote="Sophie"]I think that you can save quite alot of money by building yoru own house. But only if you know what you are doing. Soif you are oging to do it take some time to make sure you do things right the first time.[/quote] That's so true but i dont have time to do so.. :cry: www.jw-tools.ie

Rent & enjoy life no need to have the hastle of all the work organising things, You can live anywhere you want then.