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Self building your home

  • 08-10-2009 10:06am
    #1
    joehandyman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24 ✭


    Hello

    Our intention is to build a two story house in Co. Monaghan in 2010. We have heard that there can be significant savings by project managing the self build ourselves rather than engaging a builder to do this on our behalf. On this basis, we would appreciate some help in relation to the following matters.
    • Our house will be roughly 3000 sq ft. We would appreciate it if you could recommond a reputable builder that we could depend on to do a good job at a reasonable price;
    • What timeframe could a house of this size be build?
    • Given the fact that we intend to project manage the project ourselves, how could we safeguard ourselves against shabby work. In particular, is it possible to bind a trades person by way of a written agreement, to ensure that they are fully accountable in the event that the work is not completed to a high standard;
    • If anyone has went through this process, we would appreciate some help in relation to the development of a project plan to assist us in organising the project
    On the basis that we will be operating from a tight budget (probably about Eur 240,000 assuming our mortgage is approved), we would appreciate some tips from anyone who has previously went through this process.

    Many thanks.....


Comments

  • #2
    ThePiedPiper
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,643 ✭✭✭ThePiedPiper


    Joe,

    Are you looking for one contractor to do the job, start to finish or are you going to sub-contract out the various parts yourself? It's not quite clear from your post which route you intend taking...

    Our house is about the same size as yours and we started at the end of April. We'll be finished up at the start of December. approx 7 months from foundations to moving in.. but we've kept things moving very well, one day there was 14 people working on site!! And only one day with no work done on site since we started so...

    Your budget is tight but it might be do-able depending on what spec you are doing in all areas.. No doubt, you could build a decent house for that money but if you're doing lots of extras such as building in stone or brick, landscaping, Underfloor heating, natural slate, oak carpentry, detached garage, etc, it'll all add up.

    There's loads of good tradesmen in Monaghan. Let us know if you intend on one principal contractor or whether you're going to sub-contract out the various parts. I'll then PM you with names of various people I used in Monaghan.


  • #3
    ThePiedPiper
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,643 ✭✭✭ThePiedPiper


    Joe, another point in your post...

    Regarding getting written guarantees from tradesmen, I'm not sure if you'll get such a thing. If you pick the right tradesmen to do the job, that's as much guarantee as you'd need. There's enough good tradesmen with not much work on without having to resort to the cowboys...


  • #4
    Poor Uncle Tom
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,546 ✭✭✭✭Poor Uncle Tom


    Also you will not get a high standard of finish throughout for a 3,000 sq ft house for € 240,000. You will however, most likely get an average standard of finish.

    There are other threads on this subject around here, take a look at those, I think they will answer a lot of your questions regarding the pitfalls of a self-build.


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