Hello everyone!
My wife and I have been searching for a home for quite some time. Since we haven’t found anything suitable yet, we are currently considering building a new house more seriously. The plot of land is not an issue, and we have an architect friend who would design the house (according to his information, we should budget around €1250 per m² (about $116 per sq ft) of living space plus 12% additional building costs).
Our "dream house" should have a living area of 150-170 m² (about 1,615-1,830 sq ft), 4 rooms (bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, and an office), a small conservatory, a pitched roof, and meet KfW 80 or 70 energy standards — these are the main points.
Since we currently earn around €2900 net (about $3,190) per month and don’t want to work only to pay off the house for 30 years, we are considering building a large part of it ourselves.
We could either build a solid masonry house or a timber frame construction. With a masonry house, we could save around €20,000 (about $22,000) by laying the tiles and laminate flooring ourselves and doing the painting. For the timber frame house, there would be an additional saving of €10,000 (about $11,000) if we install the insulation ourselves.
My father is confident that we could also build the shell by ourselves. He is a very skilled craftsman and has already built two extensions and a garage (so far, nothing has collapsed). I’m just concerned that many regulations and requirements have changed over the past few years.
Is it really possible to build the foundation and shell by ourselves, and how much could we realistically save? I would leave the roof, windows, and doors to the professionals—mainly because of the warranty. The electrical work could be done by my father-in-law, who is an electrical engineer.
Is it feasible to skip insulation if we use thicker building blocks?
I still have so many questions, but I’ll stop here for now.
I hope you can help me.
Thanks!
Best regards
My wife and I have been searching for a home for quite some time. Since we haven’t found anything suitable yet, we are currently considering building a new house more seriously. The plot of land is not an issue, and we have an architect friend who would design the house (according to his information, we should budget around €1250 per m² (about $116 per sq ft) of living space plus 12% additional building costs).
Our "dream house" should have a living area of 150-170 m² (about 1,615-1,830 sq ft), 4 rooms (bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, and an office), a small conservatory, a pitched roof, and meet KfW 80 or 70 energy standards — these are the main points.
Since we currently earn around €2900 net (about $3,190) per month and don’t want to work only to pay off the house for 30 years, we are considering building a large part of it ourselves.
We could either build a solid masonry house or a timber frame construction. With a masonry house, we could save around €20,000 (about $22,000) by laying the tiles and laminate flooring ourselves and doing the painting. For the timber frame house, there would be an additional saving of €10,000 (about $11,000) if we install the insulation ourselves.
My father is confident that we could also build the shell by ourselves. He is a very skilled craftsman and has already built two extensions and a garage (so far, nothing has collapsed). I’m just concerned that many regulations and requirements have changed over the past few years.
Is it really possible to build the foundation and shell by ourselves, and how much could we realistically save? I would leave the roof, windows, and doors to the professionals—mainly because of the warranty. The electrical work could be done by my father-in-law, who is an electrical engineer.
Is it feasible to skip insulation if we use thicker building blocks?
I still have so many questions, but I’ll stop here for now.
I hope you can help me.
Thanks!
Best regards
M
MelixFagath13 Oct 2014 11:39Thank you all for the many responses!
Of course, I’m still uncertain about building the house myself. As I mentioned in my last post, two of my colleagues almost built their houses on their own as well. The parts they didn’t do themselves (although they still helped) were the roof, windows, and electrical work (but I’m not entirely sure about that). One of them built a 200 m2 (2,150 sq ft) house in about 11 months, and the other a 170 m2 (1,830 sq ft) house in 9 months before they could move in. Both are married with children. The second one is currently calculating the costs for his next house, which he again plans to build himself. So it’s definitely possible. As I wrote at the beginning, my father has also essentially built at least one house himself and would do it again.
It is true, however, that you shouldn’t plan anything else during that time and that it is hard work.
I have done hard physical work in my life and have often cursed during renovations… but my wife was never to blame. You have to be able to separate those things.
The only question left is whether the costs from my architect are accurate…???
I will receive a more detailed cost breakdown from him this week.
Of course, I’m still uncertain about building the house myself. As I mentioned in my last post, two of my colleagues almost built their houses on their own as well. The parts they didn’t do themselves (although they still helped) were the roof, windows, and electrical work (but I’m not entirely sure about that). One of them built a 200 m2 (2,150 sq ft) house in about 11 months, and the other a 170 m2 (1,830 sq ft) house in 9 months before they could move in. Both are married with children. The second one is currently calculating the costs for his next house, which he again plans to build himself. So it’s definitely possible. As I wrote at the beginning, my father has also essentially built at least one house himself and would do it again.
It is true, however, that you shouldn’t plan anything else during that time and that it is hard work.
I have done hard physical work in my life and have often cursed during renovations… but my wife was never to blame. You have to be able to separate those things.
The only question left is whether the costs from my architect are accurate…???
I will receive a more detailed cost breakdown from him this week.
MelixFagath schrieb:
One person lived in their 200 m2 (2,150 sq ft) house for about 11 months, another in a 170 m2 (1,830 sq ft) house for 9 months before they could move in. Both married with children.Then I wonder why our home builder took so long when a tradesman with some friends can manage it alone in that time? Tsk.
B
Bauherren201413 Oct 2014 12:33Musketier schrieb:
Then I wonder why our homebuilder took so long, when a tradesperson with some friends can manage it alone in that time? Tsk.That is definitely a valid question.
Why don’t we all just build our own houses if it hardly takes any longer? Well, seriously. It may be true that they moved in after 9 or 11 months, but ask them how long it really took until the construction was fully completed. Because having a completely finished new build, inside and out, after that period is, in my opinion, not realistic if you are working full time and taking a normal amount of vacation days — not to mention if you have a partner and children you might want to see from time to time. And I see relationship challenges as the least of the issues here (though building a house is always a test for any relationship, even if you don’t build it yourself). But try explaining to young children why Dad is not home again to read a bedtime story or to go visit grandma and grandpa, and so on (the list could go on indefinitely).
In the end, everyone has to decide for themselves what to do. If you want to build your house mostly by yourself, that’s your choice. But please don’t underestimate it and think it’s as easy as you might believe right now. It will cost you a lot of energy, time, and nerves. And you (and your father) should keep in mind that building a whole detached house completely on your own is an entirely different challenge than just adding an extension.
D
DerBjoern13 Oct 2014 13:19I already moved in February
But it’s still not finished.
But it’s still not finished.
Hello,
we also did a lot of the work ourselves. At that time, my husband had a relatively low-hour job and, due to a job change and vacation, had 8 weeks off for the house construction. After about a year, we moved in, but not everything is finished yet. The garden is still a muddy mess, and instead of a paved entrance area, there is just an old carpet for now. The exterior plastering is also not finished. Inside, everything is almost complete, even though a baseboard is still missing or the railing hasn’t been painted yet. But I can live with that for now.
We saved the most money by doing the shell construction ourselves. However, we have a good friend who is a professional and who supported us regularly and helped out physically as well.
For the trades we felt confident doing ourselves or had friends/family who are skilled in those areas, we always asked for material prices separately and then got quotes from different companies for the labor. This quickly shows what is really worth it. Some companies are also willing to send fewer workers if you take on some of the helper tasks yourself.
Another thing not to underestimate is the ability to make last-minute changes. For example, we quickly moved two non-load-bearing walls.
Luckily, there have been no physical injuries so far. However, I would never build again. If I had known what was coming, I would have just chosen a move-in ready house. My husband is already planning his next building project, though. Our garage is too small for all the tools that have accumulated and our vehicle fleet, so he now has to build an additional large garage/barn...
Oh, and what really helped us a lot is that someone in our family has been working as a building material dealer for years and knows a lot of people, which is very useful when you need something quickly.
we also did a lot of the work ourselves. At that time, my husband had a relatively low-hour job and, due to a job change and vacation, had 8 weeks off for the house construction. After about a year, we moved in, but not everything is finished yet. The garden is still a muddy mess, and instead of a paved entrance area, there is just an old carpet for now. The exterior plastering is also not finished. Inside, everything is almost complete, even though a baseboard is still missing or the railing hasn’t been painted yet. But I can live with that for now.
We saved the most money by doing the shell construction ourselves. However, we have a good friend who is a professional and who supported us regularly and helped out physically as well.
For the trades we felt confident doing ourselves or had friends/family who are skilled in those areas, we always asked for material prices separately and then got quotes from different companies for the labor. This quickly shows what is really worth it. Some companies are also willing to send fewer workers if you take on some of the helper tasks yourself.
Another thing not to underestimate is the ability to make last-minute changes. For example, we quickly moved two non-load-bearing walls.
Luckily, there have been no physical injuries so far. However, I would never build again. If I had known what was coming, I would have just chosen a move-in ready house. My husband is already planning his next building project, though. Our garage is too small for all the tools that have accumulated and our vehicle fleet, so he now has to build an additional large garage/barn...
Oh, and what really helped us a lot is that someone in our family has been working as a building material dealer for years and knows a lot of people, which is very useful when you need something quickly.
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