Self Build and Renovation For Dummies

Nicholas Walliman

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780470025864
• eBook ISBN: 9781119997214
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Civil Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Creating your dream home is an exciting idea, but it's also a major project and one where you need to be an expert on everything from planning laws to landscape design, and all that's in between. Self Build and Renovation For Dummies takes you through every step of the process, from choosing and buying a plot of land, through to the building's design and on to the actual build – plus all the financial and legal stuff – using plain English in an easy-to-understand format. Here is everything you need to know to create your perfect home.

Part I

Preparing to Create the Perfect Home

In this part . . .

Ever since cavemen times, creating a home has been a basic activity of life. Although cave conversions are a thing of the past, homeowners can still take on the responsibility for designing their own homes. By self-building and renovating, you can break the mould and take the initiative back from the developers.

In this part, I explain how you can start the self-build process and the decisions you’ll face as you prepare the ground for construction. Just as you need firm foundations for a sound house, you require meticulous preparation to undertake your project. An understanding of the process, a suitable site, and a sufficiency of funds set you up for your great adventure.

Chapter 1

The Basics of Self-Build

In This Chapter

Figuring out what self-build and renovation is all about

Becoming organised

Delving into money matters

Getting things built

Moving to a new home is an extremely stressful event – more so than separation or divorce. Why, then, make this event even more painful by prolonging it a year or more while you endure the process of designing and building your new home? Well, although self-build and renovating can undoubtedly be a stressful business, the benefits can easily outweigh the disadvantages if you get the process right. Getting it wrong, however, may precipitate another stressful event – divorce, and possibly poverty, too!

If you self-build the right way, you benefit from a home that is tailored to your needs, reflecting your lifestyle and aspirations. About 20,000 people manage to self-build every year, so why not you? In this chapter, I let you in on the basics of self-build so that you can start off on the right foot.

Seizing the Opportunities and Avoiding the Pitfalls

Embarking on a project to build yourself a new home definitely requires a good measure of vision and imagination – the timid and the foolhardy need not apply! You also need preparation and awareness so you’re ready to make decisions when the opportunities arise.

Although things have been different in the past, the self-build project is now generally an individual undertaking, so you’re going to be the one taking the initiatives. However, you can call on a network of people and organisations for advice and help, so ‘self-build housing’ is perhaps a misnomer – ‘self promote housing’ is a term sometimes used instead.

As with any undertaking, self-build inevitably has inherent opportunities and pitfalls.

Opportunities

Self-build housing isn’t just a simple matter of getting a house constructed for you. The self-build process takes you out of the standard commercially driven new housing supply system, provided by speculative house building companies, and so you’re faced with an overwhelming number of ways to provide yourself with a new home. The choices are yours to make and the opportunities are yours to take. You can see self-build as a meaningful and complex life experience – creative, educational, life-enhancing, character-forming, resulting in a better way of life, and providing a good investment.

Below is a list of the major opportunities you can grasp:

Getting what you really want: You decide on how you want to live and on your immediate surroundings; and you can fight to realise those visions.

Doing things your way: No one dictates to you how to achieve your goal – you decide. Take whichever route to completion suits your way of life and capabilities.

Making money: Reward yourself by putting the developer’s profit into your own pocket – tax-free.

Making the most of information: You can find out about every aspect of self-build through modern information systems. Accessing useful information has never been easier, liberating you from the dominance of ‘experts’ and ‘professionals’. Information is power!

Discovering new skills: Take the opportunity to do things you’ve never tried before, both practical and theoretical. You may discover talents you never knew you had, and find out what you’re not so good at.

Pitfalls

Self-build isn’t without its dangers. The process is complicated and involves lots of people and organisations. A wide range of activities needs to be well managed if you want a successful conclusion.

Here are some of the major pitfalls to guard against:

Being overambitious: Although this may be the opportunity of a lifetime, limits still exist on what is practical. Your dreams have to be adapted to the real-life situation.

Overspending: Inevitably you’re going to spend, spend, spend, but remember that your resources are finite. Avoid being seduced by all the wonderful products and materials on offer.

Disrupting your family life: You will have to spend a lot of time making decisions and sorting out problems and dealing with big sums of money. This can seriously distract you from normal family commitments, and the situation can be made worse if you are in improvised accommodation during the build.

Refusing to take advice: You can’t be an expert on every aspect of designing and building a house. Don’t ignore the advice of others that is based on years of experience. Avoid finding out the hard way.

Being inflexible: You’re bound to encounter many twists and turns during the project. If you react to new circumstances with an open mind, you’re more likely to achieve the best solutions to problems.

Being too trusting: Everyone is subject to financial and other pressures, so make sure you don’t carry the can for others. Prepare clear instructions and get contracts in writing to avoid being exploited.

Being disorganised and taking too long: With so many jobs to do and so many people involved, lack of organisation can cause expensive muddles that waste valuable time. As the saying goes, ‘time is money’.

Thinking you can do everything yourself: Perhaps this is possible, but how long is it going to take and can you expect high quality to be the result? A good dose of self-knowledge helps you to avoid overstretching yourself.

Renovating or Converting Instead of Starting from Scratch

The self-build process can be equally well applied to renovation and conversion projects. In ma...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Preparing to Create the Perfect Home
• Part II : Before the Build: Getting Everything into Place
• Part III : Structurally Speaking: Understanding Construction
• Part IV : The Inside Story
• Part V : Renovating, Extending, and Converting
• Part VI : The Part of Tens
• : Further Reading