What is the best way to save money when building a house?

Question

My husband and I purchased land and we'd like to build. We want to cut as many corners as possible - doing things ourselves to get the cost down. What can we do ourselves?

Answer 1

I would find a general contractor who is experienced at working with people in your situation. You could hire he or she as a building "coach" that will advise you about project points you can do, help negotiate the best deals for parts of the process that you choose to subcontract out.

Often the best way to find such a general contractor is to go to your state liscensing board and ask for reputable, yet retired general contractors. There are many who have retired, yet enjoy mentoring others who are inexperienced in the field.

I think this is the most cost effective way since it will undoubtedly save you money and grief that often is lost from inexperience. In the end this way, you will have had a great experience, learned incredible amounts and still maintained total control and decision making over your home.

Best of luck

Answer 2

Like every one said be the general contractor and do what you can . Like paint and insulating

Here are few ways to save.
. I know of several auction houses in many states that have Building surplus. New kitchen cabinets ,windows doors ETC ETC . Also start checking the clearance or miss ordered pile at all local supply houses > My local lowes has enough windows to do 3 house right now 1/2 off or better. Look and local classified sheets . Alway never used or lightly used stuff for sale Cheap. Go to carpet/floor surplus house they have on stock odds and ends . And yes roll of carpet big enough for whole house.
I built my house and it was $1200 per bed room thats doors carpet windows (good ones ) oak trim heat vents and closet organizers. I got $30 a yard carpet for $14 . Good luck on build

Answer 3

Consider having the work done by a design-build company, rather than hiring an architect and bringing your plans to a builder.

I just did a major remodel (almost a rebuild) last year and the company we used was a design-build company. This means that they do all of the design and blueprint work in-house. And, they know exactly how much each design aspect is going to cost. So, if you tell them to be as cost-effective as possible, they won't incorporate designs that are expensive to construct.

If you hire an architect to design your house, first you have to pay the architect, which can be tens of thousands of dollars. Then when you submit the plans to the builder, the architect may have (and usually does) incorporate design features that are extremely expensive to construct. You then have to make the choice of whether to keep that design aspect or change it. And, if you change it, you have to go back to the architect to have the plans amended (more $$$).

Don't scrimp on things like permanent flooring (wood or tile). You'll want these to last. But, forego expensive light fixtures, designer plumbing fixtures, and other temporary things like that for now. You can always replace these with nicer stuff in the future.

If you go with granite, don't get anything with blue in it. It's about 4 times the cost of more common granite. But, granite countertops are worth the investment, particularly for resale value, and they last virtually forever.

Things you can do yourself:

- Painting of walls and staining/painting of doors.

- Routing of cable TV, network (computer), and phone cables throughout the house while it's still only framed - we ran at least two cable, network, and phone jacks to each room in the house and had them terminate in a network equipment box in a bedroom closet. Everything in the house ties in and is controlled from one central location. I highly recommend it. You'll be very glad you did it.

- Any landscaping or finish cement work - we have areas around a room addition with a 6-inch gap between the foundation and the edge of the old concrete. A friend of mine is going to fill it in for me. I also had to install a yard drain (trenched drain pipe) per the inspector. It took a few days to dig through all that clay, rock, and decomposed granite. But, it was free.

- Sprinkler systems are easy. It's the trenching that's hard.

- Tile work isn't very difficult and it's easy to pick it up if you don't know how to do it. Get a piece of plywood, and practice setting tile and grouting it. You'll need a tile saw to make cuts. Go to Home Depot and watch a demonstration or watch a DVD of someone installing tile. But, doing it yourself on easy things like bathroom vanities or floors, or countertop backsplashes can save you some money versus having someone else do it (let the experts do more difficult things, like showers).

- Installation of window treatments, shelves, closet systems, door hardware, etc.

Answer 4

I have built several homes and I would say DO NOT HIRE A 'PROFESSIONAL' CONTRACTOR!
You can do just what they do - hire sub-contractors - Somebody to do the dirt work, the concrete work, the carpenter work, the plumbing, electric, etc etc etc.

Do the finish work such as painting and landscaping, and anything else you know how to do or can learn to do.
Make sure you have a contract for each sub contractor to sign.

It should have price/cost, and DATE OF COMPLETION (my last lesson!) and have a lawyer look it over or draw it up for you if you haven't written a contract before.

Also you could get a book called 'Be your own Contractor' but I can't remember who the author was. (Probably somebody who learned the hard way.)

Discuss everything with your sub contractors before you give them the job and also ask to see some of their work or talk to the people they have worked for.

Good luck. You will be glad you did this.

Answer 5

I agree with all of those who say "be your own general contractor" that coupled with doing those things yourself you are capable of, will save 20 to 30% minimum on the cost of your house.

There are several good books on the various aspects of building a house. Go to the book store and thumb through a few and then buy one or two and really study them As an example: "Housebuilding - a Do-It-Yourself Guide" by R. J .DeCristoforo is a good one. ISBN 0-8069-6512-6

Cutting corners by building cheaply is false economy. You'll just spend more later to fix stuff where you cut corners.

Answer 6

Say your building a 2000 sq. ft. house. Building OUT would require a building an 8-10' high block foundation of roughly 80 x 25 Building UP, you could build a 50 x 25 foundation and add a second floor, make of lumber. **When building, up with lumber is cheaper than out with block.

Answer 7

Doing the work yourself does indeed save alot of money. I entirely built all my homes , block foundations, framing, siding, roofing, wiring, heating, drywall and trim, everything. It is about half the cost of hiring a builder. You need to learn how though. It helps if you have friends or relatives with the knowhow, then you can get firsthand instructions.

Answer 8

First and foremost become your own general contractor. Then sit down and the two of you figure out what you are good at. If it is painting, removing trash, hanging drywall, what ever it is you can do will help in cost.

Answer 9

never let yor sub contractors know its your house when they are estimating the job, tell them its a spec house