Building your own home

[Rico1304]

Anyone ever done it? It's something I've always wanted to do and research is telling me Dan-wood houses are incredible value. Prefabs with a 10 week turnaround and £1000 per square m for a 'turn key' property that's ready to move into. That price includes all utilities and electrics etc. heating £90 per year.

[Elite]

I would want to do it from scratch, from finding suitable land, choosing my own architect and have no one else involved.

[Rico1304]

I would want to do it from scratch, from finding suitable land, choosing my own architect and have no one else involved.

That doesn't include the land of course.

 

Im not savvy enough to do that, check the website out, they are incredible. I've nearly convinced the missus...

[Sugar Ape]

Simon and associated gypos will do you one for a great price.

[lifetime fan]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2450911/Grand-Designs-house-time-buyers--41k-3-bed-home.html

[Rico1304]

Simon and associated gypos will do you one for a great price.

I've got him down to design the heating and power system, cater the first party and do the legal work. He's also providing a couple of squeasants for the garden (have I missed anything?).

[Rico1304]

£200k for this...

 

http://m.dan-wood.co.uk/houses/2-storey-houses/classic-184e

 

Obviously the land is the final stumbling point

[Bobby Hundreds]

Get grand designs around, kevin mcloud knows his onions. I assume it will be fully powered by renewable energy.

[Elite]

They are very nice. My concern would be the quality of the build especially with such a small timeframe for completion. New builds are generally shit, speaking from experience.

[Rico1304]

Get grand designs around, kevin mcloud knows his onions. I assume it will be fully powered by renewable energy.

They are that well insulated and ventilated you light a match in January and it does you till December.

[Rico1304]

They are very nice. My concern would be the quality of the build especially with such a small timeframe for completion. New builds are generally shit, speaking from experience.

It's new to the UK but very well established in Germany, they send experts to do it.

[Elite]

It's new to the UK but very well established in Germany, they send experts to do it.

Who'd have thought 70yrs ago Germans would be building our houses and not bombing them .

[PestiRed]

£200k for this...

http://m.dan-wood.co.uk/houses/2-storey-houses/classic-184e

Obviously the land is the final stumbling point

Something a bit weird about those houses. That one appears to look massive compared to my place but is actually nearly 100 sqm smaller. I'd want to see one in the flesh

[RJ Fan club]

I'm a Chartered Town Planner and unless I had serious money to burn, I wouldn't be arsed. Way too much stress and cost.

 

My one piece of advice would be to get a good construction project manager/site manager. They will save you their salary x2 easily.

 

Biggest fuck ups are always those who skimp on professional advice and take too much on themselves.

 

 

I do fancy a Huf Haus though. http://www.huf-haus.com/en/england/london/welcome.html

[Rico1304]

Something a bit weird about those houses. That one appears to look massive compared to my place but is actually nearly 100 sqm smaller. I'd want to see one in the flesh

M's or ft?

[Rico1304]

I'm a Chartered Town Planner and unless I had serious money to burn, I wouldn't be arsed. Way too much stress and cost.My one piece of advice would be to get a good construction project manager/site manager. They will save you their salary x2 easily. Biggest fuck ups are always those who skimp on professional advice and take too much on themselves. I do fancy a Huf Haus though. http://www.huf-haus.com/en/england/london/welcome.html

Even with an 8/10 week build and all professional and architectural fees included? Don't talk me out of it!!!

 

There's a fucking amazing Huf house near us, called High Lane and right outside Lyme Park. It's incredible, one of the larger ones.

[withnail71]

Kevin McCloud has a lot to answer for. I have to deal with self styled 'project managers' every day, 99.9% go into it completely clueless, and finish it skint and clueless, if they ever finish it at all. Building materials are not as cheap as you think, and if you wander into your local builders merchant and try screwing them down on prices you are only going to fuck them off, they WILL claw it back somewhere. My advice to you when buying materials, 

1: Be nice to your builders merchant, admit you know fuck all, and they will try to help you and you will probably get better prices.

2:When choosing which merchant to use, dont be fooled by cheap cement prices, the likes of Travis perkins lure you in with cheap cement , then dry bum you on everything else.

3:Prior preparation prevents piss poor performance ! For fucks sake dont leave things til the last minute. Place orders well in advance , 

[Rico1304]

Kevin McCloud has a lot to answer for. I have to deal with self styled 'project managers' every day, 99.9% go into it completely clueless, and finish it skint and clueless, if they ever finish it at all. Building materials are not as cheap as you think, and if you wander into your local builders merchant and try screwing them down on prices you are only going to fuck them off, they WILL claw it back somewhere. My advice to you when buying materials, 

1: Be nice to your builders merchant, admit you know fuck all, and they will try to help you and you will probably get better prices.

2:When choosing which merchant to use, dont be fooled by cheap cement prices, the likes of Travis perkins lure you in with cheap cement , then dry bum you on everything else.

3:Prior preparation prevents piss poor performance ! For fucks sake dont leave things til the last minute. Place orders well in advance ,

 

That's why I like this outfit, they PM the lot for you and all materials are included.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Kevin Mcloud tells them to get it done properly with professional project planners and such. Love a bit of Mcloud, nice to have a TV show that's fronted by someone who actually knows what the fuck the subject matter is. This week the problems of quantum mechanics and the 11 dimension limitations with Amanda Lamb.

[PestiRed]

M's or ft?

Square metres (we have bigger houses at much cheaper prices in Eastern Europe). Seriously the image of that house and the size don't quite match up. Also noticed that they don't do actual photos on that website with details of the house. I'd check them out if you're serious

[General Dryness]

Kevin McCloud has a lot to answer for. I have to deal with self styled 'project managers' every day, 99.9% go into it completely clueless, and finish it skint and clueless, if they ever finish it at all. Building materials are not as cheap as you think, and if you wander into your local builders merchant and try screwing them down on prices you are only going to fuck them off, they WILL claw it back somewhere. My advice to you when buying materials, 

1: Be nice to your builders merchant, admit you know fuck all, and they will try to help you and you will probably get better prices.

2:When choosing which merchant to use, dont be fooled by cheap cement prices, the likes of Travis perkins lure you in with cheap cement , then dry bum you on everything else.

3:Prior preparation prevents piss poor performance ! For fucks sake dont leave things til the last minute. Place orders well in advance , 

 

This is all good advice. Add 15% to your projected costs to take into account any unexpected fuckups.

 

Just on merchants, you'd be better off letting your builder take care of the materials. They'll have a merchant they use all the time. A regular customer is going to get better rates than a walk in any day of the week.

[Rico1304]

This is all good advice. Add 15% to your projected costs to take into account any unexpected fuckups.

 

Just on merchants, you'd be better off letting your builder take care of the materials. They'll have a merchant they use all the time. A regular customer is going to get better rates than a walk in any day of the week.

That's the point, you pay a fixed price for this, including materials and all PM included.

 

You chose all the fixtures and fittings before you get the price

[General Dryness]

That's the point, you pay a fixed price for this, including materials and all PM included.

 

You chose all the fixtures and fittings before you get the price

 

Exactly, they're your builder. They've sourced all the materials. From a merchant who they no doubt have sharp as fuck rates with.

[withnail71]

And the best bit of advice......ask your local builders merchant to recommend a builder. Dont go for the cheapest option, it will cost you more in the long run.

[PestiRed]

Bit of a question for those who know about this sort of thing. I've been travelling the USA a bit recently and noticed how prevalent wooden houses are. They seem easier and cheaper to build, last at least a century and, in the North East USA, have no problems with weather conditions at least as bad as the UK. So why don't you see these in Britain?