Project Self-Build: How to Build Your next Home
Despite the recession, “self-build” houses are still popular. Why? Because they’ve always offered better value for money than simply buying a home. So what is “self-build”? It’s a home you build yourself, as the phrase indicates! Not quite literally by yourself, but you set yourself in the position as foreman, architect, planner of your house and allow trained workers do the job you tell them to do. More and more individuals are doing just that – as a matter of fact, there are more self-builders in the UK than the total amount of homes being built by any single developer. The function of self-build is to make a property to your precise specifications, not a template that the large developers work to.
Already you’re probably thinking: “I can’t plan, and manage a house build”. The good news is that getting involved with a self-build project doesn’t have to involve you with the physical aspects of the house building (in fact, only around 5% of self-builders actually take a role in the actual development of the property). Even when it comes to design, quite often this is delegated to a professional designer.. Self-build, mostly, is about you saying (in plain English), what you require to the property designer – who then develops a design based on your requirements. This plan then becomes the draft the builders work to. Easy, eh? You don’t need to have any active involvement in self-build. Having said all that, the DIY fan can use self-build as an opportunity to save some wonga by contributing toward the tasks of self-build they have experience in – it’s up to you how much engagement you want during the construction.
Since you get full control over the specifications of the self-build, you can choose the latest in technology, while commercial developers lag behind because they’re building to set template designs. You can put in things like automated climate, lighting, underfloor heating, and entertainment facilities throughout your home.
You must make sure the group of workers you select are total professionals and that they can work as a team. For sure, you will need builders with lots of experience, particularly with specific types of construction machinery, such as concrete cutting chainsaws, block and slab splitters, power / disc cutters, floor saws, and wood saws. Not only do they want to be safe with such equipment, they of course must do their job well too!
This article is only an introduction to the concept of constructing a house yourself, and I hope it will inspire those of you who are perhaps a little daunted by such projects. It needn’t take up all of your time, and you won’t need any specific skills, but hire carefully, and you will need to carefully work out the overall cost of the project.
