ᐅ What is the most effective way to contribute your own labor?
Created on: 2 Feb 2015 12:25
E
elVincent
Hello Forum,
My wife and I are planning to start building around the middle of next year. At the moment, the whole topic feels incredibly overwhelming, making it difficult to keep track.
We are planning a detached single-family house (approximately 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) of living space) with a granny flat (as a home office in the basement, since I work from home) and a double garage.
Our families include a wide range of skilled craftsmen, so it seems sensible for us to reduce construction costs somewhat by doing some of the work ourselves. My father will retire in April 2016 and will then be available to handle the entire water and sanitary installation (he has worked as a site supervisor at his company, mainly on large projects such as new hospital constructions, but has also worked on single-family houses both professionally and privately from time to time). My father-in-law is a master carpenter and works as a salesman for a window manufacturing company. For interior finishing, we can rely on experience from previous projects, where my two brothers and my brother-in-law also helped (e.g., two complete bathroom renovations in 2013, full interior finishing of a two-room extension at a cousin’s house, complete renovation of a 100 m² (1,076 sq ft) rental apartment including wall demolition and a new bathroom, etc.). We are a well-coordinated team and feel capable of handling most of the necessary work.
Regarding the overall approach, the question is how to best use this potential. With a shell-and-core house (e.g., an Allkauf house), you get everything delivered and then do all the finishing work yourself. However, the windows are already installed, and I believe we can get better quality at the same price or the same quality at a lower price through my father-in-law. How do prices for building materials compare? Would I get a better deal buying directly from a building materials supplier, or does a company like Allkauf have an advantage through larger purchase volumes that ultimately benefits me as a customer?
Or, considering price/performance and our skilled workforce, is it better to have just a shell built and then take over the trades we can do ourselves while subcontracting the rest?
Basically, we are currently wondering if it is even necessary to consider prefab house suppliers, or if, given our circumstances, we are generally not suitable customers for prefab houses and should instead look for a traditional masonry builder.
Thank you in advance for all tips and advice.
Best regards,
Holger
My wife and I are planning to start building around the middle of next year. At the moment, the whole topic feels incredibly overwhelming, making it difficult to keep track.
We are planning a detached single-family house (approximately 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) of living space) with a granny flat (as a home office in the basement, since I work from home) and a double garage.
Our families include a wide range of skilled craftsmen, so it seems sensible for us to reduce construction costs somewhat by doing some of the work ourselves. My father will retire in April 2016 and will then be available to handle the entire water and sanitary installation (he has worked as a site supervisor at his company, mainly on large projects such as new hospital constructions, but has also worked on single-family houses both professionally and privately from time to time). My father-in-law is a master carpenter and works as a salesman for a window manufacturing company. For interior finishing, we can rely on experience from previous projects, where my two brothers and my brother-in-law also helped (e.g., two complete bathroom renovations in 2013, full interior finishing of a two-room extension at a cousin’s house, complete renovation of a 100 m² (1,076 sq ft) rental apartment including wall demolition and a new bathroom, etc.). We are a well-coordinated team and feel capable of handling most of the necessary work.
Regarding the overall approach, the question is how to best use this potential. With a shell-and-core house (e.g., an Allkauf house), you get everything delivered and then do all the finishing work yourself. However, the windows are already installed, and I believe we can get better quality at the same price or the same quality at a lower price through my father-in-law. How do prices for building materials compare? Would I get a better deal buying directly from a building materials supplier, or does a company like Allkauf have an advantage through larger purchase volumes that ultimately benefits me as a customer?
Or, considering price/performance and our skilled workforce, is it better to have just a shell built and then take over the trades we can do ourselves while subcontracting the rest?
Basically, we are currently wondering if it is even necessary to consider prefab house suppliers, or if, given our circumstances, we are generally not suitable customers for prefab houses and should instead look for a traditional masonry builder.
Thank you in advance for all tips and advice.
Best regards,
Holger
B
Bauexperte2 Feb 2015 15:40Hello,
If your question concerns things like electrical wiring, sanitary fixtures, or tiles, you generally need good connections (“Vitamin B”) to get branded products cheaper than bulk buyers.
For everything else, Tox gave the right answer.
Best regards, Bauexperte
elVincent schrieb:No, I don’t think you can buy cheaper than a specialist trade supplier. The real question is, what is the purpose of this? Surely, you want the structural builder to provide warranty for their work? Or is your question aimed at supplying the materials yourself, which the structural builder, carpenter, and roofer would then install? In that case, you are in a difficult position, as the labor costs will be higher if no mixed cost calculation is possible.
Regarding material costs: My question was meant to point out that a buyer of very large quantities definitely gets better prices, but, for example, a supplier of a shell package also wants to make a profit from selling the materials. So the question is whether I can get building materials cheaper as a direct customer from a building materials supplier, compared to through a company that buys at better prices but adds a broker’s fee. Of course, I’m not a bulk buyer, but I do have some contacts/acquaintances/friends in companies where I hopefully can purchase at reasonable prices.
If your question concerns things like electrical wiring, sanitary fixtures, or tiles, you generally need good connections (“Vitamin B”) to get branded products cheaper than bulk buyers.
For everything else, Tox gave the right answer.
Best regards, Bauexperte
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