Ways to save money on large renovation project

[richo106]

Hi

 

Hopefully late next year we will be undertaking a large renovation project on our bungalow. I was wondering if people that had completed a self build/large project had some good ideas how and where to save money, as like everyone else our budget is going to be stretched!

 

I am already planning to self manage the project, knock down some internal/external walls/remove roof, run the UFH pipes, and wire the electrics (I'm an electrician), will be doing most of the joinery myself too (including sourcing and fitting kitchen)

 

we only need 12/14m on new footings...daft as this sounds is it worth hand digging?

 

The builder is good family friend and he suggested I buy all the materials and I will just pay for his time to reduce the mark up on the materials. Has anyone got some good suppliers they use for each material, is it worth shopping around for bricks/blocks/timber or is it all much of a muchness in price regarding all the suppliers?

 

My biggest problem is where to get all our windows and doors from at the minute, I've had a complete quote off express bifolds and they are quite high

 

Any advice/information will be greatly appreciated 

[Digger1]

Don't try and dig 12mts of footings by hand would be my advice.  Save money in other areas but for the sake of a few hundred quid you can hire a machine for the week or pay a digger driver for the day.

[markc]

+1 on what @Digger1 said. Save money by getting good deals, less waste and saving unproductive labour.

[SteamyTea]

Good project management and knowing where the end point is.

 

I read an interesting book about the Apollo project a few years back.  The one thing I remember was that they made the big decisions first i.e. best design of rocket needed.  Then worked on the details, which were just implementing existing technology.

It worked well.

[jayc89]

Our renovation spiralled due to "unknowns" - rotten floor joists, rock solid walls meaning the chasing out for the rewire took the electrician significantly longer than initially expected etc. Make sure you have a contingency budget.

 

If you're doing a lot of the work yourself, make sure you time manage appropriately - we had a digger sitting around for an additional couple of days doing nothing, but costing us money, because my full-time job got in the way. 

 

Shop around! For trades - for our rewire and new heating system we had quotes come in wildly different. Most extreme example - £5k - £12k for the rewire - for the exact same job! We needed some hardcore and decorating stones, looked around the well known local/online companies which were extortionate - managed to get them both at a fraction of a price from a local aggregates company. Ditto on PIR insulation, we managed to get our 100mm PIR for £38 per sheet whereas at the time the majority of places were asking £50-60!

[James Newport]

If you are going for PVC windows you can go direct to the same window suppliers that local fitters use and buy direct. 

 

Many internet companies that offer good deals of stuff don't hold any stock, they just get it shipped to you direct from a supplier. If a supplier is happy to sell direct, you can often get a better price, and you can deal directly with them about delivery, instead of having to go back to the internet company who then promise to call you back but never do. (SIG were happy to sell direct to me for insulation, and roof tiles)

[Jilly]

Live on site somehow, either in a caravan or in part of the house if it's safe. Slow building is cheaper as you can research and wait for people. In my case unforeseen delays meant the rental costs have become a significant factor. 

[richo106]

Thank you all for your comments so far! 
yes we will be definitely living on and site, 99% sure in a static caravan. 
This brings me onto my next point of how to connect the caravan up to electricity, water and waste?

can any one help advise on this? 

Many Thanks 

[markc]

3 hours ago, richo106 said:

Thank you all for your comments so far! 
yes we will be definitely living on and site, 99% sure in a static caravan. 
This brings me onto my next point of how to connect the caravan up to electricity, water and waste?

can any one help advise on this? 

Many Thanks 

As there is a property already and presumably water and electricity then it’s a simple matter to connect the caravan with temporary supplies from the existing

[Dave Jones]

shame your builder 'friend' cant help you buy letting you book mats them to him to a get a better price and then paying him cash!

[joth]

(I guess as an electrician you already have trade deal on various builder merchants?)

 

Some misc thoughts and observations of where our costs did creep up. (also a 60s renovation)

 

- Cut corners on finishes, as these can (and likely will) be changed over time anywhere, whereas deeper fabric improvements (putting lots of insulation under the UFH heating is the canonical example) is a "now or never" opportunity, do it now, a few hundred quid extra at this point will pay for itself in short time

- Use consistent materials and finishes wherever possible. managing stocks of many different parts, reading all sorts of different install instructions, etc takes time and increases wastage.

 

- Don't be over ambitious in the planning. No strange shaped rooms. Keep door heights, ceiling heights etc standard.

- Don't stress over the odd bit of "boxing in" needed to cover over piers and steels etc and accept the disrupted sight-lines (where the alternative is much more complex wall/beam rebuild in order to hide it from sight)

- Anything on the plans that has "an inch" to spare will need a lot more attention to detail (==time) and risk of rework (==wastage) than allowing larger tolerances.  One builder we spoke to gave the example of trying to fit a cistern under a window as a simple thing that can easily cost them a bunch more time and effort.