ᐅ What tasks can be done independently when building a prefabricated house?
Created on: 14 Sep 2017 11:22
C
Chico1701
Hello 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!
Joedreck schrieb:
He’s been building for a year now. Bricklaying only on Saturdays took the longest. The number of consecutive days after work when you still have daylight and energy to keep working is often very optimistically estimated.
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