Despite the recession, “self-build” houses are still popular. Why? Because they’ve invariably provided better value for money than simply buying a house. Wait up a minute, what exactly is “self-build”? It’s a property you build yourself. It doesn’t have to mean LITERALLY by yourself, but you set yourself in the position as foreman, architect, planner of your house and let professional workers do the job you order them to do. More and more people are doing just that – as a matter of fact, there are more self-builders in the UK than the total amount of properties being built by any single developer. The purpose of self-build is to produce a home to your precise specifications, not a boiler-plate design that commercial developers use.
Already you’re likely thinking: “I’m no developer”. The good news is that self-build doesn’t have to involve you with the physical aspects of the house building (as a matter of fact, just 5% of self-builders actually get involved with the actual construction work). Even when it comes to design, quite often this is delegated to a professional designer.. Self-build, mostly, is about you articulating (in laymen’s terms), what you need to the property designer – who then develops a plan based on your necessities. This design then becomes the blueprint the builders work to. Now do you see? It’s not required to have any hands-on participation in self-build. Having said all that, the Do It Yourself enthusiast can use self-build as an opportunity to save some money by helping out with the aspects of self-build they have experience in – it’s up to you how much engagement you want during the development.
Since you get full control over the details of the development, you can choose the latest in technology, while large developers fall behind because they’re developing to rigid boiler-plate designs. You can put in things like underfloor heating, automated climate, lighting and entertainment facilities throughout your entire home.
You must make sure the team of workers you select are total professionals and that they build well together. Without doubt, you will want builders with lots of experience, particularly with specific types of construction machinery, such as concrete cutting chainsaws, block and slab splitters, a husqvarna K760, floor saws, and wood saws. Not only do they want to be safe with such equipment, they of course need to do their job well too!
This article is simply an introduction to self-build, and I trust it will encourage those of you who are perhaps a little scared by such projects. It needn’t be time-intensive, and you won’t need any specific skills, cautiously, and you will need to carefully work out the overall cost of the project.