How to Reduce the Cost of a Home-Building Project
Getting your own place is a huge step in life. Those that are a bit luckier even get a chance to build their own home. However, designing and building a house, no matter how rewarding in the end, is a pretty costly endeavour. Luckily, if you plan everything right and take a few useful tips into consideration, you’ll be able to cut the costs, and still get the home of your dreams. Take a look.
Go up, not out
When building a house you should, of course, first decide on its layout. Consider the number of people that will be living in that house to determine how much rooms you will need. Once that’s settled, it’s time to think about the layout. Keep in mind that going UP – meaning adding stories instead of increasing the square footage of your home – is always a better, and cheaper, way to go.
Even though this might not make a lot of sense at first, think about it this way: the excavation and foundation, as well as the roofing costs, are the most expensive parts of building a home. So, if you decide to go up instead of out, you’ll be reducing the square footage needed to lay out those foundations. By reducing the square footage of your ground level, you won’t be compromising comfort, on the contrary!
Some of the best designs include homes that only have a kitchen and a dining area, a living room and a small bathroom on their ground floor, while all the bedrooms (and other bathrooms) are situated on the second floor. Of course, adding a basement and an attic is never a wrong way to go, since they will only enhance your living space, without significantly affecting the construction costs.
Align the plumbing
Another nifty trick, that actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it, is aligning your plumbing. What this basically means is that you should try to align your bathrooms vertically, so to speak, to reduce the need for creating an elaborate maze of pipes throughout your home. This will reduce the costs significantly as you’ll need far less material.
Also, don’t think about reducing the cost only at the moment of building, but think about the future as well. What we’re trying to say is that you should leave the pipes in all of your bathrooms exposed. This will pay off in the long run because, if your pipes are exposed, you’ll be able to notice any leaks sooner and take care of them faster.
Finally, having exposed pipes in your bathroom will make a lot of room for an interesting design. Some of the most popular options are the industrial and masculine style. And since clean lines are what makes these styles so effective, make sure you fit the furniture and fittings well. Use a tape measurer to make sure everything will fit in, and a reliable laser level to make sure everything is even and properly levelled.
Be mindful of your surroundings
Since going green is so important nowadays, make sure you build your home with a green mindset. This means that you should use sustainable and eco-friendly materials wherever you can. Not only that but also try to implement energy-efficient solutions as well from the very start, to reduce your home’s carbon footprint.
For example, as already mentioned, use eco-friendly materials as much as possible, like recycled concrete, salvaged wood, and salvaged brick. Insulate your property well – you can opt for recycled denim, newspaper and cellulose insulation, but there are also cork wall and flooring solutions. Moreover, use drywall wherever you can, install a rainwater collecting system, add a solar water heater, etc.
All of these will not only increase the value of your property significantly if you ever decide to sell it, but they will also lower your future bills and make your new living environment very comfortable.
As you can see, building a home doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. If you plan everything right and build your new home to fit your needs and work with the environment instead of against it, you can only benefit from it. And even though some things may cost a bit more up front, they are sure to pay off tenfold in the long run.
