Self Build - The costs?

hi can anybody tell me does it end up costing much more to put down a raft foundation as we must opt for that with the rock on-site.i know it will take more concrete and all but all in will we be looking at a lot more expence??
Can anybody help?
 
I think that a raft is easier to do , you need far less co-ordination of trades. For a raft you need someone to level and fill the site then hand it over to a team who will shutter the perimeter lay the membrane, tie the steel and pour the slab, whereas in a strip found you must dig the trench, hardcore the base, tie the steel , pour the strip, build the rising walls, fill the floor slab, lay down the membrane lay the mesh and pour the slab. You have different teams doing different jobs and you could lose time waiting for one team. Costwise it is really only concrete and shuttering that should be extra but you will be saving on the blockwork and some digging. And i think it is a better job ( certainly in bad conditions, and perhaps in yours if you are on ock already it really could be a pain digging in solid ground)
 
Raft structures need to be designed & signed off by a qualified engineer.... that is if you wish to follow Homebond guidelines.

ninsaga
 
Thats true, we got our engineer to include this as part of his fee for all the sign offs for the stage payments.
 
I think our raft on a rocky site cost around €13.5, that included clearing the site for the house and driveway. We got the same guy to do both it was way cheaper than getting to people in to do it.
 
thats great everybody,my boyfriend is able to do the raft himself so thats a bonus.we will only need to buy the concrete and steel,he has the shutters from work anyway so thats a bonus.
I have 1 other question?Can any1 tell me if ya know those development fees the counsil charge yeah well do u have to pay them or what?? as they asked us for almost 10,000 but other people around us that got planning permission around the same time were only charged up to 2000,now i think thats a joke.please advice me as soon as possible
 
Hi Aisling, you do have to pay them, there is no way around it, I had to pay €5000 for a 1900sq ft house. The fees vary from LA to LA and are calculated according to the size of your house. If you 'phone your LA they will tell you how they arrived at the figure. If similar size houses in your area had to pay a lesser amount then you should definitely query your LA. You will be asked to produce the receipt for the charges at various stages during the build, eg if you want to connect to a water mains or water scheme. Your solicitor may also ask for the receipt as part of your planning permission documents.
 
'Development Fees/Levy/Tax'

yeah have to pay Fingal Coco 11 grand tax to build an extension . Spoke to the planning office and they said we could split it up into four payments.(Gee thanks). I have heard of people (in a different coco's jurisdiction) making the first payment, starting the build and then putting the rest of the payments on the long finger...til the threatening letters arrive.
 
yes i think i will be asking my solicitor about it!!I just think its crazy money to be paying them.when other people dont pay half as much,fair enough its calculated by sq ft of house but there is still a major difference between say an 1800sq ft and 2300sq ft??I refuse to pay until i find out more as some1 once told me that there is no law there saying you must pay them and the council could not bring u to court if u didnt cos there is no law there,i must look into this big time
 
Very interested in the varying costs for self-build - brother is convinced he can build c. 3,300 sq foot house for €150k - sounds a bit unlikely to me even if it is 'in the country' and not Dublin prices. He doesn't plan to be doing any of the work himself; I think his budget is too low?
 
Hi Kildrought, Ya oh my god that budget is a bit on the low side. It would be great if he could do it but i doubt it.we r building a 2300 sq ft house and intend to spend at least e150-170k.
 
Kildrought - for 3300 sq feet for 150k. Not bad. Does he know much about the building trade or anything like that? Ours is going to be 3100sq ft. And i would die a happy man if we could manage it at 180k. Never mind 150k!! I would think he has seriously underestimated his costs.
 
Hi,
We are going to build a 135 sq m house and have been quoted 29k cash for ground work (site clearance, foundation, concrete floor, pipe laying). My friend used the same company for a 120 sq m house. Their costs were 19k inc. VAT. We do have more trees but have been told that these are approximately 750 euro more to clear than the 120 sq m house.

I was not expecting our quote to be so high.

An extra 10k seems a lot for a difference of 15 sq m

We are getting 2 more quotes. But does this 29k quote a reasonable price?

thanks for your help.
 
Wow Arasain, 13k external plastering,internal 19 and ceilings 12k........ As a plasterer I find this breathtaking....I am just completing a two storey 2,200 sq ft house outside and in, in full, labour only for 12,500 and even if I say so myself as always the finish is second to none. Yet I find I am being undercut on prices by some spreads and at the other end of the scale for example the job I am now completing was quoted by one guy at 30k. My philosophy has always been to make a living and not a killing but there does seem to be a massive discrepancy in price with some tradesmen, much of it down to them employing cheap eastern european labour. I will not do this as I find the quality of work is not of a high standard, though I can also say this about 90% of the domestic labour. I would be intrested to hear what others have paid for their house plastering and if it was priced by the sq ft of the property or sq metreage on the walls if any care to divulge
 
Plastering Costs :
We were charged 12500 last year for a whole house - in and out dormer bungalow 2200 sq ft plus garage 200 sq foot outside only. Upstairs was skimcoat only on top of plasterboard (he didn't fit the plasterboard)
I thought this was very expensive - but we were in a hurry and he was recommended. I can't believe how much plasterers charge - they seem to be the most expensive tradesmen per hour as far as I can see.
How many houses do they do in a year? Four would be a good wage at that rate - then take a 6 month holiday!!
 
all the advice above is brilliant, and i'm getting loads of info from it but would like some more please! we are building a 3200 sq ft storey and a half stone faced (front 2 gables) and are hoping to go down the direct labour / self-build route ... we are hoping to buy materials and pay for labour seperate .... any ideas on how much this may work out at????
putting in plans next week so trying to work out costs and if we can afford it !!! thanks a million to all, rose
 
You re looking at least 100 / sq ft. If you can build one off houses for 50 -60 per ft go to any of the big contractors and offer to share your secrets They ll give you a lot of money for the advice.
 
pl ease can you send me a break down on approx costing i am building approx 2500sqft in tipperary best of luck
 
Hi there
I'm in Galway and we are building a dormer house 1800sqft including raft for E158.000 turn key excluding bedroom floors and sitting room this is by a contractor
 
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