Building by direct labour, bast aproach?

tdiman

Hi,

Planning is through and now ready to begin looking at the build.
I'm hoping to go the direct route, rather than have a builder come in a do everything. My question is - what is the best approach to lining up builders, roofers, electricians, plumbers, etc ? Do I need to source these myself, speak to each one directly, get a cost estimate, schedule a time when I would be ready for each?

Ta

yop

Not been smart but if you are going direct labour how else do you expect the workmen to be sourced and completed?

YOu have answered the question above yourself "source these myself, speak to each one directly, get a cost estimate, schedule a time"

Be prepared to have to sit on them though and deal with the potential (may not be any) headaches associated with them, but if you have the time and an under standing of what you expect from each then you will save yourself money.

kkelliher

Step 1 spend some decent time working out a budget for everything. Tis will involve agreeing and signing off in your head a specification.

Sep 2 break the budget down into trades

Sep 3 get a trade to do that element for less than or equal to your budget and make sure its done right and to a good standard. Check out references and previous work for different trades.

Step 4 be patient rome wasnt built in a day

Step 5 sit back and enjoy the house you built and the enjoyment of knowing you saved a fortune by doing it yourself.

tdiman

Thanks guys.

KKelliher - how do I come up with a budget for each area before speaking with each trade, when I wouldn't know how to cost these? For example, how can I determine what my budget for electrics / plumbing / building without getting costs breakdown from the electrician / plumber / builder?

Jollyman

tdiman wrote: »

Thanks guys.

KKelliher - how do I come up with a budget for each area before speaking with each trade, when I wouldn't know how to cost these? For example, how can I determine what my budget for electrics / plumbing / building without getting costs breakdown from the electrician / plumber / builder?

Tidiman,

Coming up with the budgets for each can be tough, as myself and Keith are in the buisness its not as bad. Best bet for you is to try and set a realisitic budget overall for the square footage of the house and depending on the Spec of your finish you can take a certain % of your final cost and allocate it against each!
Most self builders id imagine once you have the planning will be speaking to plumbers, electricians,roofers and suppliers getting quotes sending out tenders seeing where the value is and negotiate from there. For instance on my build i have just priced the materials for the roof 15K, Electrian at 9K Plumber at 11K, carpenter at 6K Plasterer at 14K it all depends on the finishes and systems you use, but in your case the best way to get an idea of price is to talk to your local trades and get quotes.

Best of luck with it,

Check my blog i will be updating it weekly once i have started will be posting actual costs.

Regards,