February 7, 20242 yr My other half and I are debating realistic costs per m/sq to give us an idea of what we need to aim for in our savings & mortgage! We have permission (in sussex) for a 200m/sq (half oak, half softwood) timber frame 2 storey house with oak kitchen extension. Clad 50% brick, 50% softwood. We're aiming for best quality, traditional tiles/bricks/windows and finish etc to exterior.. less worried about fancy interiors which can wait until we have the money! Here's our current quote of what the builder is going to do: Oak Frame, SIPs, & Diaphragm Walls £120,742 Floor Joists £14k Roof Carpentry £24k Roof Coverings £39k External cladding £40k (but might look to do this ourselves) Windows (inc oak kitchen extension, 4 x roof velux, 1 x 6 bay bifold, 2 x french doors) 76k PRELIMINARIES (scaffolding, insurance, telehandler for 17 weeks) £18k TOTAL £331k We're going to do: Foundations and landscaping (hire diggers etc) First & Second Fix Carpentry Plastering & Drylining Systems Electrics Heating (air source heat pump) Waste (biodigester installation) The site is fairly level, on a corner of our own land, utilities already there. Currently the builders quote is too high, and we need to chop off a lot doing more ourselves. Would anyone like to punt at an approximate cost m/sq we can achieve? ANY advice/ideas on this is appreciated My husband is mega keen to build most of it (he has experience) but realistically we have 2 little kids and 2 businesses to run! So i want to be careful about over committing ourselves, albeit we can be flexible and work all night thank you all!
February 7, 20242 yr i would 29 minutes ago, sunflower said: Would anyone like to punt at an approximate cost m/sq we can achieve? ANY advice/ideas on this is appreciated My husband is mega keen to build most of it (he has experience) but realistically we have 2 little kids and 2 businesses to run! So i want to be careful about over committing ourselves, albeit we can be flexible and work all night Get a piece of string, put a marker every cm to represent £1k, let us know how long it gets when you complete 🤣 tbh its really difficult and there is the ball park knocking about of £2-2.5k per m2, which would be £400k - £500k (oak frame will bump it up!), but if you have got detailed drawings you could do much worse than going to an online estimators (e.g. https://www.estimators.com/) and getting an idea from them. It will also give you a tool to budget against and make sure that you aren't getting over charged. I have just finished my build and with two kids, i would be very careful and express caution of how much time you can realistically spend on the build without a significant detriment to the rest of your lives with the kids and businesses. Edited February 7, 20242 yr by Moonshine
February 7, 20242 yr @sunflower I have to agree with @Moonshine when it comes to trying to "guess" or estimate £'s per square metre. Online estimators are a good place to start for the reasons mentioned above. That said, I fear you maybe looking at it from the wrong angle - You have said your quote is too high and would need to be chopped down, thereby requiring you to do more work yourselves. Unless you are willing to wait a long time to move in, something might have to give - [2 children, 2 businesses and the lion's share or a self build.] and by that I mean either increase your budget or adjust your plans to fit your budget and expectations. Some self builders refer to the "Budget / Time / Quailty" conumdrum - It is very rare to be able to secure all 3! Finally, if you were to do the external cladding yourselves, would this quote still be too much?
February 7, 20242 yr 36 minutes ago, sunflower said: Windows (inc oak kitchen extension, 4 x roof velux, 1 x 6 bay bifold, 2 x french doors) 76k well that is eye watering! how many windows do you have.
February 7, 20242 yr Author thank you @moonshine, I've just looked again to get the exact number : 17 (painted timber) casement windows, all divided by muntins into smaller panes 1 x 6 bay bifold, 6 bays of oak frame glass inset (gable end of the kitchen) 6 x roof velux 2 timber french windows (with glass reveals either side) 2 exterior painted softwood doors (both extra wide) appreciate your thoughts Edited February 7, 20242 yr by sunflower add tag
February 7, 20242 yr 53 minutes ago, sunflower said: and work all night Thats fine for a day or two. Not sustainable for any significant amount of time. You know this of course?
February 7, 20242 yr it depends what you are going for, and the oak will bump it up a lot. But i did rational alu clad windows with alu bi-folds, big curtain walling and a alu door. i have just looked up my quote from 2022 - 19 alu clad windows triple glaze - Alu curtaining walling 7.5m tall x 1.8m wide triple glazed (it was not small!) - two alu bi-foid (3m and 3.6m) triple glazed - Smarts alu door its was about £25k installed, this was the build a fair few month ago i would suggest getting a window schedule and going out for quotes from independent window suppliers for the windows Edited February 7, 20242 yr by Moonshine
February 7, 20242 yr 55 minutes ago, sunflower said: Windows (inc oak kitchen extension, 4 x roof velux, 1 x 6 bay bifold, 2 x french doors) 76k Our 200 square metre project has 14 windows, a french door pair, 3 metre bi fold, front & utility door. @ £42k in engineered softwood. And i thought that was expensive but just about justifiable. Timberwindows.com by the way. They are in heathfield and Horsham.
February 7, 20242 yr Author 7 minutes ago, Post and beam said: Our 200 square metre project has 14 windows, a french door pair, 3 metre bi fold, front & utility door. @ £42k in engineered softwood. And i thought that was expensive but just about justifiable. Timberwindows.com by the way. They are in heathfield and Horsham. Thank you that is really helpful. We thought it sounded a hell of a lot.. I guess we have the oak in the glazed kitchen extension, but it still seems high.
February 7, 20242 yr Unfortunately it sounds like a set up for an unfinished house, a strained relationship, 2 businesses struggling and kids who resent their parents. A self build is a big undertaking. Don't let it eat your life. It's only a house.
February 7, 20242 yr Author 15 minutes ago, Iceverge said: Unfortunately it sounds like a set up for an unfinished house, a strained relationship, 2 businesses struggling and kids who resent their parents. A self build is a big undertaking. Don't let it eat your life. It's only a house. Thank you - a good dose of reality is helpful before we get carried away
February 7, 20242 yr 5 hours ago, sunflower said: .... we have 2 little kids and 2 businesses to run! ... The cost per square meter is not merely financial.
February 7, 20242 yr I hope I wasn't too discouraging. Congratulations on your permission. An achievement in itself. I think you may need to consider if you can actually afford this rather than starting out on the back foot. You should be able to begin the house with a spend of 2/3 of the budget for the builder and 1/3 for everything else. Furniture, decorations, professional fees etc. Then add 15% contingency. You shouldn't allow for any of your own labour unless you are willing to put a price against it to replace you at work or a babysitter or a tutor etc. If you do manage to get more done yourself during the build then you can always splash a little extra on finishes with the money you saved.
February 7, 20242 yr 1 hour ago, ToughButterCup said: The cost per square meter is not merely financial. i'm having that!
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