Building timeline

twenty8

I am looking for people's nuggets of information. As someone who is very inexperienced in the area of building houses I would love if you could help me on the timeline for construction.

I have finally finished the design phase (took bloody ages!!) We spent a very long time researching what we wanted, orientation of the house etc. Finally we have a design that we are happy with and have now submitted it for planning. It is in the lap of the gods now.

But can anyone advise me what I should be doing now? Is it too early to get prelim quotes from builders? Should I be looking for costs with regard to the windows / slates / geothermal / UFH etc etc etc. Looking at interior décor? Or just wait and see what the planners are going to advise changing?

If so – when should I start doing the above or other things that I have forgotten?

Thanks in advance

James

Soledad

MY husband costed EVERYTHING as soon as we applied for planning as it gave us a rough idea of what things were going to cost. And amazingly in a lot of cases the companies stood over their original quotes when we began construction almost two years later.
No harm to start costing things.
The planners changed the type of windows we were allowed but we still had a rough estimate of what the type opf windows we were going to end up with would cost.
Explore all sources for products now when you are not rushing and it will be one less job to do when you are in the middle of the build.
There is so much to decide on.
These are just a few examples of areas where I wish I had done a bit more exploration before the tradesmen were on site and waiting for products:

Flooring, wood solid, semi solid, floating, do you nned to drop floor levels?

Front and back doors We got ours made by a joiner and it was a lenghty process made longer by the fact that we hadn't fully decided on our design, so now I am trying to get stained glass panels made after the door has been installed instead of before and making the one job.
Also sourcing knobs and knockers are taking time.

Stairs if you will have one, material to use, who will make it, style type etc.

Kitchen this takes absolutely AGES to organise and decide on, flooring, wiring, actual kitchen units, granite etc

BAthrooms sanitary ware varies dramatically in price and also there are so many different styles to choose from, we spent one full weekend looking for bathroom taps!

Radiators where will you put them decide early.....think about it!

Heating system research as many types and suppliers as you can.

If you are building by direct labour then now is your time to check out their work when you have time to decide to use someone or not and still have time to pick an alternative option.

Landscape, entrance and what paving to use, tarmac etc, a BIG decison and one I would suggest geting plenty of advice on.

In short these are the types of things which have taken up our time. We knew what we wanted and how we wanted the finsihed look to be but we didn't realise how many small but essential decisons there are and how time consuming they are.

Get a big note book and go out sourcing ideas, manufacturers adn tradesmen asap.......record every single number and price you will need......

GOOD LUCK, it takes vision and courage to end up with a house you can be proud of.

harto

As Soledad pointed out, it is never too early to start researching products and more importantly new building methods. The really important area of consideration which is going to become very prevalent on the building scene this year is energy awareness. The new Energy Performance for Buildings directive is going to ensure that this becomes one of the most important topics for commercial and self builders.
Do some serious research into how you are going to build your house, insulate and heat it. Now is the time to question traditional methods and whether they will stand up to new requirements. The fossil fuel debate is out in the open now and the renewable energy providers are coming to the fore. look into what alternatives will suit your requirements and of course budget. Just because something is the cheapest is not not necessarliy the best solution for the long term. Similarly a large capital outlay on something now, may still not give you payback long term. As I said plenty of research and questioning .

Our guide here to a construction programme will help get you informed at least.

http://www.helpmebuildandrenovate.com/Selfbuildconstructionprogramme.pdf

Good luck,
AndyH
http://www.helpmebuildandrenovate.com

KAGY

to help you with the costs, here's a link to a thread I posted some time ago with my costs in a spreadsheets (I stopped keeping it near the end so some decoration costs and landscaping isn't in there) http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054851419
Before you start building you should have nearly everything planned out as soledad said, especially the plumbing and electrics if you are having a solid conc floor (for example, we forgot to install a gas pipe for the cooker which was on an inside wall and wiring for an island both of which required chasing the floor avoiding the underfloor heating pipes!)
Karl

twenty8

Fantastic - thanks a million for this!

dras

Twenty8

watch out for windows as they can take a good while to get made and delivered if you are going for scandinavian ones (10-12 weeks plus). Get quotes from builders asap - it took us 6 months to get enough quotes together (they more unusual or innovative the house I think the longer it takes to get quotes back).

Alternative heating systems, solar or wind power takes a lot of research so get started on that soon.

G'luck!