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Housing - New Build: Costing your self build project

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1 to 17 of 17

  1.  
    • CommentAuthorTriassic
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013 edited
     
    So I was wondering how you costed your self build project,did you obtain all the costings yourself or give the plans to a QS or an on-line costings service? Just wondering which is best, most efficient, accurate and VFM?.
    • CommentAuthorBeau
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    Think of a number and double it :bigsmile:

    We guesstimated but fell well short. Didn't help that we kept upgrading from original plans.
    • CommentAuthorTriassic
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013 edited
     
    Posted By: BeauWe guesstimated but fell well short
    I was hoping to get close to a number and try to stick to it. On a previous project, a refurbishment of an old property I estimated a total cost of £38,000 and was only £700 over, mainly things I'd missed when costing the work, like rebuilding a garden wall and some patio flags.
    • CommentAuthorEd Davies
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    It seems to me that the two hard parts of costing a project are working out what it's important to cost (i.e., what's surprisingly expensive beyond the basic structural materials, insulation, windows, doors, big plumbing components, etc) and getting prices for materials. Suppliers often don't give prices and when they do they're for one offs or small batches and (I really hope) you can get better prices if you buy more stuff. Any thoughts?
    • CommentAuthorJC48
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    Well I have decided to get a QS to cost the project and produce accurate material lists . This is costing £1500 so not a low cost activity but I will save this easily when I buy the materials . I am using Ebay and Bidspotter in the main and you can save a large amount if you plan ahead and more importantly have storage . I would suggest every self builder buys 2 x 20ft containers which can be sold afterwards .
    One of the interesting things from the QS list will be what would it have cost - as an example new triple glazed wooden windows were £600 for 16 on Bidspotter and they are the right size for what I wanted . I will have then professionally spray painted to the selected colour before fitting .
    • CommentAuthorTriassic
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    I've started looking at Bidspotters for stuff, how do you sift through all the dross, can you set up alerts or something?
    • CommentAuthorPeterW
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    Architect said £81,000

    Estimators Online said £76,500

    Final price (with upgrades) £38,200

    How much are you planning on doing yourself..? I paid estimators online to do it, but found things such as when the spec needed 17 screws, it priced a box. So I needed 4,000 screws on a 60sqm extension...

    Look at materials - board and skim is cheap until you add the plasterers labour and the drying time but Fermacell is expensive as a product. You can fit and finish it yourself, and even the dry liners I spoke to cant tell the difference.

    Also, think laterally and look at commercial products and installers and you will be surprised as although you may only have a small job for them in comparison it may fill a gap between two bigger jobs. Just avoid that statement though when it comes to curtain walling....

    Cheers

    Peter
  8.  
    Have you asked your timber frame supplier if they have any costings?

    My supplier gave me an excel spreadsheet with their initial quote which had almost every item required to complete the house, both their supply and what needed to be sourced locally. They kept updating it with any alterations until the design was finally signed off.

    They had accurate costs from feedback from previous customers for almost every element of the build and the only items that I needed to cost myself to complete the budget were the stairs, heat source and roofing. Everything has proved to be very accurate and we are almost finished and bang on budget.
    •  
      CommentAuthorjoe90
    • CommentTimeAug 18th 2013
     
    What is mid range price for a new build per sq metre? I guess a two story house with a footprint of 50 sq metres means 100 sq metres of floor space?
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeAug 18th 2013
     
    1500 may be
    • CommentAuthorpmusgrove
    • CommentTimeAug 19th 2013
     
    If you are going to live in the property yourself do not forget that the capital charge is only the start. Whole life costing will put a perspective on the cost of insualtion upgrades, MVHR and the like. Building to a budget is not always helpful..
    •  
      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeAug 19th 2013
     
    Posted By: joe90What is mid range price for a new build per sq metre? I guess a two story house with a footprint of 50 sq metres means 100 sq metres of floor space?

    Depends on whether the 50 m² is internal or more likely external size. Then you need to subtract the thickness of the external walls before you get a floor space to double. And you may want to subtract internal wall area as well.
    •  
      CommentAuthorjoe90
    • CommentTimeAug 19th 2013
     
    <blockquote><cite>Posted By: djh</cite><blockquote><cite>Posted By: joe90</cite>What is mid range price for a new build per sq metre? I guess a two story house with a footprint of 50 sq metres means 100 sq metres of floor space?</blockquote>
    Depends on whether the 50 m² is internal or more likely external size. Then you need to subtract the thickness of the external walls before you get a floor space to double. And you may want to subtract internal wall area as well.</blockquote>

    So it is the actual sq metre-age of all floor space?
  14.  
    With my build I estimated build cost around the £150,000. We actually came in at around £190,000 minus the VAT reclaim that will be around £17,000. I did not pay a QS or estimator as I doubted their cost saving ability. If they charge you £1500 for an estimate you can do the same work for £0. It just means a little effort and talk to people. Many suppliers will actually take your plans and do that side of things for you. Why would you pay £1500 for that? Just get a list of materials and bounce costings from different companies off each other. You can only get materials down so far before quality can start to take a hit. This matters at times and not at others in my view. I feel that planning ahead is probably the best bit of advice and avoid hold ups as much as possible. The tardes will lie to you though and give you all sorts of stories of why they could not attend site. I found it helped if you owed the trades a little money. It seemed to be a handy lever.
    All in all fairly stressful but worth it.
    I would also advise getting the wife to look at kitchens etc at the start to give you some idea of costs. We all know that a kitchen can cost £3,000 or £50,000. Likewise with bathrooms.
    • CommentAuthorJC48
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2013
     
    Well I agree £1500 is a lot for the QS but not only will this list everything I need in great detail which allows for advance cost effective purchase but more importantly it will have guide costs for each labour element . I know this element is subject to wide variation and so knowing the right ball park will help negotiate a fair price for the sub contract work . So far getting sub contractors to quote and turn up to do the work has not been straight forward - is this a sign of economic recovery .
    With regards to quality I think effective buying is a key way of having high quality at an affordable price as an example Hansgrohe taps and showers at basic B and Q prices .
    I am aiming for high spec at £1000 M2 so only time will tell if this can be done .
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2013
     
    It can be done so long as a large proportion of the labour is free.
    • CommentAuthorTriassic
    • CommentTimeAug 22nd 2013
     
    For those who acquire stuff via auctions, I've looked at loads of sites but was wondering which sites you use and which are the best?

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