Building Your Own Home - Essential Preparation Before Starting to Build. Part 1.
Before any work starts on a do-it-yourself house there is essential preparation which must be done thoroughly.
Although amateur builders naturally want to pick up tools as soon as possible, the temptation to rush the preparation must be resisted.
Inadequate preparation is very likely to cause delays, problems with approvals and inspections, running out of money, and high levels of stress.
Designing your house It is very important to spend the time to choose the correct design.
It is expensive and time-wasting to make significant changes after the building has started, and it is not always possible to fix up a bad design.
Getting the right design cannot be rushed.
It involves a lot of thinking and drawing.
Look at as many existing houses, and published plans, as possible.
It is easy to find hundreds of plans on the Internet.
Look carefully at the room sizes.
Measure the rooms where you are living and think about whether or not the sizes and shapes are suitable.
Think about how well your furniture will fit in your planned home.
When placing windows and doors think about how they will fit with your furniture, and how you will move around, as well as ventilation.
There are plenty of free computer programs that you can use to make a simple virtual model of your planned house so you can "walk" around it.
If you draw to scale, on squared paper, you will quickly see problems with room sizes.
You also need to think about what the house will stand on.
Will it be a concrete slab or a raised floor made from timber or steel? On a flat block a concrete slab is economical, but keep in mind that the drainage and perhaps the water pipes will be cast into the slab.
It will be very difficult to rearrange a bathroom or laundry after the slab is poured.
On a sloping block, a concrete slab will require retaining walls and a large amount of compacted fill which will add significantly to the cost.
A house on stumps will be cheaper, easier to build, and will give storage space underneath.
With stumps, plumbing can be done whenever it is convenient, and there will be the opportunity during the build to reorganize it.
Only when you have done the design very carefully should you go to an architect to have the house plans drawn.
It is the architect's job to turn your design into a set of working drawings and point out issues that you have not considered.
If you haven't worked out what you want, you will pay the architect a lot of extra money to work it out with you.
Choosing the materials The choice of materials for the frame of the house will be influenced by your level of skills, or what you are willing to learn.
Amateurs can certainly learn to lay blocks or bricks, but the skills required should not be underestimated.
An alternative is a timber frame, which is within the capacity of amateur builders, but again does require skills.
Another alternative, which requires fewer skills and is quicker to build, is some form of kit home.
The cheapest, and most work, is a non-assembled steel frame.
More expensive, but less work, are kits which have wall sections and roof trusses already built.
In order to make the right choice you should consider carefully your level of skills, how much time and effort you are able and willing to put into learning new skills, and how much time you are able to put into building the house.
It is also very important to assess your attitude to building, because the more of the work you do yourself, the more frequently you will be faced with problems.
They are a normal part of building your own house and do not mean that the project will be in trouble, but they have to be solved.
Do you have the attitude that problems are just a challenge to be met, or would they cause you stress and perhaps make you give up and employ a builder? You will be much happier if you work this out before you begin.
The topic of preparing to build your own home is continued in Part 2.
Although amateur builders naturally want to pick up tools as soon as possible, the temptation to rush the preparation must be resisted.
Inadequate preparation is very likely to cause delays, problems with approvals and inspections, running out of money, and high levels of stress.
Designing your house It is very important to spend the time to choose the correct design.
It is expensive and time-wasting to make significant changes after the building has started, and it is not always possible to fix up a bad design.
Getting the right design cannot be rushed.
It involves a lot of thinking and drawing.
Look at as many existing houses, and published plans, as possible.
It is easy to find hundreds of plans on the Internet.
Look carefully at the room sizes.
Measure the rooms where you are living and think about whether or not the sizes and shapes are suitable.
Think about how well your furniture will fit in your planned home.
When placing windows and doors think about how they will fit with your furniture, and how you will move around, as well as ventilation.
There are plenty of free computer programs that you can use to make a simple virtual model of your planned house so you can "walk" around it.
If you draw to scale, on squared paper, you will quickly see problems with room sizes.
You also need to think about what the house will stand on.
Will it be a concrete slab or a raised floor made from timber or steel? On a flat block a concrete slab is economical, but keep in mind that the drainage and perhaps the water pipes will be cast into the slab.
It will be very difficult to rearrange a bathroom or laundry after the slab is poured.
On a sloping block, a concrete slab will require retaining walls and a large amount of compacted fill which will add significantly to the cost.
A house on stumps will be cheaper, easier to build, and will give storage space underneath.
With stumps, plumbing can be done whenever it is convenient, and there will be the opportunity during the build to reorganize it.
Only when you have done the design very carefully should you go to an architect to have the house plans drawn.
It is the architect's job to turn your design into a set of working drawings and point out issues that you have not considered.
If you haven't worked out what you want, you will pay the architect a lot of extra money to work it out with you.
Choosing the materials The choice of materials for the frame of the house will be influenced by your level of skills, or what you are willing to learn.
Amateurs can certainly learn to lay blocks or bricks, but the skills required should not be underestimated.
An alternative is a timber frame, which is within the capacity of amateur builders, but again does require skills.
Another alternative, which requires fewer skills and is quicker to build, is some form of kit home.
The cheapest, and most work, is a non-assembled steel frame.
More expensive, but less work, are kits which have wall sections and roof trusses already built.
In order to make the right choice you should consider carefully your level of skills, how much time and effort you are able and willing to put into learning new skills, and how much time you are able to put into building the house.
It is also very important to assess your attitude to building, because the more of the work you do yourself, the more frequently you will be faced with problems.
They are a normal part of building your own house and do not mean that the project will be in trouble, but they have to be solved.
Do you have the attitude that problems are just a challenge to be met, or would they cause you stress and perhaps make you give up and employ a builder? You will be much happier if you work this out before you begin.
The topic of preparing to build your own home is continued in Part 2.
