Calling all self-builders for help!

zag

We have found a nice site in Carlow. My girlfriend is from Carlow, so we have a good chance of permission.

We are thinking about building a 2100 sq ft dormer, with a contractor. How much, roughly, should I expect the total cost for everything down to the handles on the doors?

yop

pieces of strings can be long

from what people are saying here going with a contractor looks to be heading at about 130-150 per sq ft so u are looking at between 273-315k euro.

Only way to get a definate costings is to send off your plans to 4 or 5 contractors.

prospect

Yes there are alot of things that can affect cost.
Put down EVERYTHING you would like in your house, and get itemised pricing, then eliminate things tomatch your budget:
We asked for a price on a 2800sq ft 1.5 story house. Then we got the prices to add on, a natural stone front, hollowcore floors, underfloor heating etc. We eliminated the things we decided were bottom of the list of requirements to make our budget.
Also, never underestimate the cost of finishing your house, paint, curtains, varnish, lawn, fence, site clearance, hedges, cutlery, furnshings, tv, connect phone, water, electricity, council contribution etc. etc.

patrido

The Housebuilder's Bible by Mark Binkley (ISBN 0954867408), is an excellent guide to specifying and building your own home. It has details on loads of different options for everything from foundations to lighting and decoration, costs (materials and labour seperately), dealing with contractors, managing budgets, etc.

It's UK focused, but it mentions Ireland in places, and it's a good benchmark.

There are software packages advertised in the self build magazines, for costing and budgeting but I don't know anything about them.

zag

Wow! I wasn't expecting to cost that much at all! The site is 70,000 euro, we were hoping to walk into the house for 300,000 euro. Is that very un-realistic? That using a contractor, it would cost more than 230K for the house?

rooferPete

Hi zag,

The self build is great in theory but most who have done it will tell you about all the details they didn't budget for.

The successful ones usually owe their success to the fact that they and their family are in the trade, but they work extremely hard to save the initial outlay, one young carpenter told me if he added up all the paid hours he donated to his home he would be showing a nett loss.

What you might consider is building the house in such a way that you can move in downstairs and finish the upstairs in stages.

Sorry there is no cheap way of building a quality house.

.

Macy

Certainly an option to consider would be having dormer trusses (if thats the right description) in the attic and allow enough hall space for stairs and concentrate on the downstairs. It will cost slightly more compared to standard trusses, but means it's not too big a job once you need to go upstairs, and will be a saving compared to building a dormer. Certainly there's enough to be done in one storey to start with, believe me.

The final cost also depends on how much you're willing to do yourself, even with going with a builder, i.e. after it's handed over to you. Shopping around for the decoration, tiles, floors etc can bring down the costs. Putting them in yourselves, if your competent, and a significant saving compared to paying someone to do it (hell of a lot more hard work).

Think there is potential to make savings going direct labour, but also potential for costs to spiral. There can be problems trying to track down who's responsible for a problem, and it can be hard getting people on site when they're required.

Another thing to consider is the time frame of the build. Presumably you'll be paying rent or living with one set of folks. It will take longer with direct labour. Even down to researching all the options. In the time frame that I've been visiting this forum I've started, built and am living in our house built with a contractor - others that would've have been at a similar stage when I discovered here who are going direct labour are only at foundation level....

lomb

zag wrote:

Wow! I wasn't expecting to cost that much at all! The site is 70,000 euro, we were hoping to walk into the house for 300,000 euro. Is that very un-realistic? That using a contractor, it would cost more than 230K for the house?

330000 would be realistic inc council contribution and architect/surveyor fees/ and site costs. thats just the bare minimum and u wont have a great house for that, 350-370 ish all in is more realistic tbh. at the end of the day morgaged with a 20% deposit thats 1100 per month, still affordable for most for a fine house.

yop

Lad
we have a 2100 dormer, we are doing it self build and ex the site we will and I have about 90% of quotes confirmed have all rooms painted tiled, floored, all furniture and fittings etc for 200k.
So as you can see doing it self build will save you money.

lomb

yop wrote:

Lad
we have a 2100 dormer, we are doing it self build and ex the site we will and I have about 90% of quotes confirmed have all rooms painted tiled, floored, all furniture and fittings etc for 200k.
So as you can see doing it self build will save you money.

mayo might be different to carlow though..........

patrido

Macy wrote:

Certainly an option to consider would be having dormer trusses (if thats the right description) in the attic and allow enough hall space for stairs and concentrate on the downstairs. It will cost slightly more compared to standard trusses, but means it's not too big a job once you need to go upstairs, and will be a saving compared to building a dormer. Certainly there's enough to be done in one storey to start with, believe me.

I wholeheartedly agree - having build ours ourselves, dormers are a pain in the a$$, and are expensive too. I'm open to correction, but each dormer will probably cost you well over a grand.

You could put in 3 big veluxes in place of each dormer, for that money. They are much easier to install, and they're even easy to retrofit if you do decide to postpone the upstairs for a while. They also claim to let much more light into the room per sqm of window. It's simple to clean the outside of a velux too - I'm starting to sound like my wife

Dormers are fashionable in Ireland, and done well, they can look nice, but if I was doing it again, I would have a big pile of veluxes. Or keylites, who have this fab magnetically operated integral blind.
http://www.keylite.co.uk/frame_1280.htm

prospect

I finished my house last september/october.

I went with the cheapest builder, an old 'traditional' type builder guy.

I am happy with:
The physical structure, which is most important. There was enough foundation in to build the Eifel Tower on. The stone mason did a beautiful job, and the roof/slate and block work were done brilliantly. The engineer I hired was most impressed with the soundness of it all.

My regrets:
He cheaped out on a plumber, and we are paying the price now.
Being 'old school' he wasn't comfortable with anything out of the ordinary. He refused point blank when i suggested solar panels in the roof!

Regarding self build:
I organise my own windows, and electrician, and these were the two most painful parts of the build (apart from paying ). Organising these guys to interact, and timelines was painful, eg. whos holding who up, whos fault it is that that window doesn't fit right, etc. etc.

But IMO, figure the absolute maximum amount of money you can spend. And go for proven tradesmen, and quality materials, because in the long run, anything else WILL come back to haunt/cost you.

Macy

yop wrote:

Lad
we have a 2100 dormer, we are doing it self build and ex the site we will and I have about 90% of quotes confirmed have all rooms painted tiled, floored, all furniture and fittings etc for 200k.
So as you can see doing it self build will save you money.

Judging by the amount of research you've done, I wouldn't put it past you coming in at budget, but at this stage that is best case scenario all on budget.

yop

The old contingency fund will kick in then lad

Tbh - the only things I have not confirmed is the price of the semi-solid/laminate floors and the light fittings.
The rest have been have confirmed, believe it or not even the web and shops have been trawled and quotes got on the cots and furniture, too much time on my hand

Macy

yop wrote:

The old contingency fund will kick in then lad

That's what I was getting... It'll be interesting to see whether you can get it in on that budget with all the work you've put in. Me, I'd rather pay more and let the builder worry. :cool:

yop

I'd rather pay more and let the builder worry

lazy wastard ya

rooferPete

Hi yop,

Have you got a deal on the publishing rights for the book you wrote "Self Build The Planned way" ?

Seriously I do admire your forward planning and commitment to your project, I wonder have you kept any log on the time you have spent sourcing everything ?

If you were to charge by the hour for the research and now managing your construction I would guess it it would surprise even you or maybe not, but you know what I mean, it's a labour of love for you and the finished project will be priceless because you have put so much into it.

Wishing you every success (and waiting on the invite to the house warming

.

yop

Pete
Sure been from Meath I am sure your people could be 1/2 Mayo!!!

Thanks for your compliments, as said labour of love but I really do enjoy it and get a great buzz from it all and enjoy the learning experience and boy am I learning, i would change the whole house again if I got the chance!!!!!!
Would love to get into a project management side of things but unfortunately am not qualified

Still a long way to go, loads of headaches but look forward to the night we (me and the wife ) can sit in front of the TV in OUR house.

There will be a cot for ya alright!