ᐅ What tasks can be done independently when building a prefabricated house?
Created on: 14 Sep 2017 11:22
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Chico1701C
Chico170114 Sep 2017 11:22Hello everyone!
I came across this informative forum by chance and, as a complete beginner in this field, I hope to get some ideas and advice. My husband and I are planning to build our own home by the end of 2018 / beginning of 2019. Currently, we are still looking for a plot of land.
Some details/facts:
- Region: Central Hesse
- Desired plot size: 650-800 m² (7000-8600 sq ft)
- House type: Urban villa / Bauhaus style (definitely two stories)
- Living area: approximately 160-200 m² (1720-2150 sq ft), possibly plus a granny flat
- Basement included
- With garage (if space allows, a double garage)
After a consultation with our bank, it looks like a total budget of €400,000 (approximately $440,000) is realistic.
My husband tends to prefer going with one of the many solid brick house manufacturers to get as much as possible “from a single source.”
My preference is more towards managing everything ourselves in collaboration with an architect who supports us up to planning phase 4 at most.
It should be mentioned that both my husband and I work professionally as engineers in project management for construction projects (I am just about to finish my degree). We know all about construction project planning, obtaining and coordinating bids from contractors, and so on.
Additionally, we have a lot of experience within the family. My dad is a bricklayer, my brother-in-law is an electrician, and among our friends, we have gas/water fitters, roofers, scaffolders, and many skilled DIY enthusiasts. So basically, we would not depend on expensive contractors, who are currently charging very high prices due to strong demand (around here, sometimes a 30% markup because their order books are full).
We would actually only need specialist contractors for the following tasks:
Windows/shutters
Underfloor heating + screed
Heating and ventilation system
Exterior plaster/render
Possibly flooring (as my dad says: “If you buy expensive parquet, it needs to be properly installed”)
My dad says, “Child, that’s no problem, we can easily handle it!” (In our family, a semi-detached house was already built this way, and he helped a lot) – but as a beginner faced with such a huge project, I can’t help feeling a bit overwhelmed. Is that a reasonable feeling?
Now to my questions:
Starting from a turnkey house costing €300,000 (approximately $330,000) – how much percentage-wise can one save through self-work? Is the effort worthwhile? My husband leans towards a shell-and-core house – but as far as I know, the shell is exactly the part where we can do a lot ourselves and save the most?
We definitely want to visit solid brick house manufacturers and get advice (we welcome any recommendations). However, I personally find it difficult to compare how much cheaper it would actually be if we did it ourselves.
On the one hand, we want a sensible solution, but on the other hand, we want to get the maximum quality out of the money available to us.
Best regards from Central Hesse!
I came across this informative forum by chance and, as a complete beginner in this field, I hope to get some ideas and advice. My husband and I are planning to build our own home by the end of 2018 / beginning of 2019. Currently, we are still looking for a plot of land.
Some details/facts:
- Region: Central Hesse
- Desired plot size: 650-800 m² (7000-8600 sq ft)
- House type: Urban villa / Bauhaus style (definitely two stories)
- Living area: approximately 160-200 m² (1720-2150 sq ft), possibly plus a granny flat
- Basement included
- With garage (if space allows, a double garage)
After a consultation with our bank, it looks like a total budget of €400,000 (approximately $440,000) is realistic.
My husband tends to prefer going with one of the many solid brick house manufacturers to get as much as possible “from a single source.”
My preference is more towards managing everything ourselves in collaboration with an architect who supports us up to planning phase 4 at most.
It should be mentioned that both my husband and I work professionally as engineers in project management for construction projects (I am just about to finish my degree). We know all about construction project planning, obtaining and coordinating bids from contractors, and so on.
Additionally, we have a lot of experience within the family. My dad is a bricklayer, my brother-in-law is an electrician, and among our friends, we have gas/water fitters, roofers, scaffolders, and many skilled DIY enthusiasts. So basically, we would not depend on expensive contractors, who are currently charging very high prices due to strong demand (around here, sometimes a 30% markup because their order books are full).
We would actually only need specialist contractors for the following tasks:
Windows/shutters
Underfloor heating + screed
Heating and ventilation system
Exterior plaster/render
Possibly flooring (as my dad says: “If you buy expensive parquet, it needs to be properly installed”)
My dad says, “Child, that’s no problem, we can easily handle it!” (In our family, a semi-detached house was already built this way, and he helped a lot) – but as a beginner faced with such a huge project, I can’t help feeling a bit overwhelmed. Is that a reasonable feeling?
Now to my questions:
Starting from a turnkey house costing €300,000 (approximately $330,000) – how much percentage-wise can one save through self-work? Is the effort worthwhile? My husband leans towards a shell-and-core house – but as far as I know, the shell is exactly the part where we can do a lot ourselves and save the most?
We definitely want to visit solid brick house manufacturers and get advice (we welcome any recommendations). However, I personally find it difficult to compare how much cheaper it would actually be if we did it ourselves.
On the one hand, we want a sensible solution, but on the other hand, we want to get the maximum quality out of the money available to us.
Best regards from Central Hesse!
For a 200m² (2,150 sq ft) house with a budget of 400,000, you would basically need to have the land given to you for free.
I would advise against doing the shell construction yourself, unless you are unemployed, can take a year off, or have many years to dedicate to building.
Interior finishing is a similar matter; you can save a lot of money, but it also requires a significant amount of time.
I would advise against doing the shell construction yourself, unless you are unemployed, can take a year off, or have many years to dedicate to building.
Interior finishing is a similar matter; you can save a lot of money, but it also requires a significant amount of time.
Chico1701 schrieb:
My dad is a bricklayer, my brother-in-law an electrician, and among our acquaintances we have gas/water installers, roofers, and scaffolding builders In this case, I will exceptionally not advise against self-contracting (which isn’t bad, but during boom periods requires a lot of luck to have the work completed quickly).
Chico1701 schrieb:
that both my husband and I work professionally as engineers in project management for construction projects ... on one hand, this qualifies you for self-contracting, but on the other hand, it also enables you to identify the parts of submitted specifications that should be changed. In other words, you can better than other homeowners "modify" given technical specifications (or evaluate where a proposed alternative can be accepted, even if you would have done it slightly differently from scratch). This is very valuable in construction when the contractor carries out their work routinely (which is why I advise against, for example, retraining a bricklayer specialized in clay bricks to work with concrete blocks or similar).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I think your situation fits well here. Having a mason in the family is especially great. Using facing bricks would be a good option in this case.
By saving costs, you can also handle the double financial burden for a longer time, meaning the construction does not have to be finished so quickly.
But planning is everything in this. It can and will be very complex. Everything also needs to be well coordinated.
For many things, you will only pay the material cost. Bricks, roof tiles, and electrical cables cost almost nothing. It is the labor that is expensive.
By saving costs, you can also handle the double financial burden for a longer time, meaning the construction does not have to be finished so quickly.
But planning is everything in this. It can and will be very complex. Everything also needs to be well coordinated.
For many things, you will only pay the material cost. Bricks, roof tiles, and electrical cables cost almost nothing. It is the labor that is expensive.
C
Chico170114 Sep 2017 12:14Lumpi_LE schrieb:
For a 200m² (2,150 sq ft) house and a budget of 400,000, you would basically need to get the land for free.
I would advise against doing the shell construction yourself, unless you are unemployed, can take a year off, or expect a very long construction period.
The interior finishing is a similar matter—you can save a lot of money but it also requires a significant time investment.These numbers come from the consultation with the bank.
Does a shell construction really take years? It would be a combination of helpers who can work full-time (because they are currently unemployed) and others who can help after work and on weekends or take 2-3 weeks off.
Our rough estimate was more like 3-4 months for the shell construction.
11ant schrieb:
Then, exceptionally, I recommend not ruling out self-management (which isn’t a bad idea, but in boom times it takes a lot of luck to complete the project quickly).
... on one hand, this also qualifies you for self-management, but on the other hand for identifying the parts in the provided scope of work descriptions that should be modified. That means you can better than other homeowners "remodel" given scope of work descriptions (or assess where it’s acceptable to take a suggested alternative, even if you would have done it a bit differently from scratch). This is really valuable in construction, if the tradespeople carry out their work with routine (which is why I advise against retraining, for example, a bricklayer specialized in facing bricks to do standard bricklaying or similar).That’s true, of course! The purpose of this thread is not to decide on a single approach. But suggestions like these are very valuable. Thanks for that.
Joedreck schrieb:
I think your situation suits this well. Especially having a bricklayer in the family is great. Using facing bricks here would be a good option.
By saving costs, you can manage the double financial burden longer, meaning the build does not have to be completed so quickly.
But planning is everything here. This will be, and is expected to be, very time-consuming. Also, everything must be well coordinated.
You pay mostly just the material price for many things. Bricks, roof tiles, and electrical cables cost almost nothing. Labor is expensive.Regarding material costs, I should mention that my dad has worked in construction in this region for 25 years and maintains good relationships with all building material suppliers and heavy equipment rental companies. He gets very good terms—after so many years, people know him, so he also gets private prices comparable to the small construction company he works for.
Thank you for your reply!
Chico1701 schrieb:
These figures come from the consultation with the bank.
Does a shell construction really take years? It would be a mix of helpers who can work full-time (currently unemployed) and those who can help after work and on weekends or take 2-3 weeks off.
Our rough estimate was more like 3-4 months for the shell construction.Accurately assessing yourself here is the biggest challenge.
We know experts living eight houses down. They bought an existing house, planned to renovate and extend it, and intended to do almost everything themselves.
They started last spring and planned to move in this summer.
Currently, they are still laying bricks for the upper floor walls... and the shell construction is still the smaller part.
We also planned to do quite a bit of the interior work ourselves. It didn’t sound like much on paper, yet I have spent every spare minute on the house build for a year now.
I’m also a professional and have carpenters and electricians in my circle of friends and family...
So just my advice: be very critical when estimating your own capacity, and then multiply that time by three.
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