Building a house

[lawnseed]

£40-£45 per square foot should put her up.

that big log cabin offer is sold, it was 2450sqft for 22500euro theres another one for 16000euro some of these dont need a concrete base just hard core..

[balladmaker]

For those who did a self build, if not using a main contractor, how did you come up with costings so as to satisfy the mortgage provider?  Has anyone any experience of using a Quantity Surveyor to cost materials and labour?

[blewuporstuffed]

anyone know what the general building regulations are for someone building an agricultural building beside your house?
can they just stick up what the want, anywhere or are there regulaions for how close it can be, if it affects your view etc?

[el_cuervo_fc]

anyone know what the general building regulations are for someone building an agricultural building beside your house?
can they just stick up what the want, anywhere or are there regulaions for how close it can be, if it affects your view etc?

You can build an agricultural building up to 300sq m without the need for planning permission if:

Its on an agricultural holding over 0.5 hectares
The nearest part of the building is within 75m of the main farm dwelling
More than 75m than your nearest neighbouring dwelling

Distance set back from the road depends on the class of the road. On C class roads the building must be more than 9m from the centre of the road.

The farm also needs to be established for more than 6 years.

That covers most if it.

[Hank Everlast]

For those who have completed a house already, what approx. % of the total build costs would you have reached when the house is sitting with the block work completed, roof on, windows in and house sealed? (No first fixes done yet etc.)

I realise this all depends on the level of finish in the house, but just after a ball park %.

That's exactly the stage I'm at balladmaker... Goin by what I've borrowed and what I have spent so far I hope I'm at around 45%

[balladmaker]

That's exactly the stage I'm at balladmaker... Goin by what I've borrowed and what I have spent so far I hope I'm at around 45%

I'm hoping that is the case as well.  I got a surveryor to do out a costing for me, but I thought it was inflated and contained a load of stuff which wasn't neccessary to make the house liveable e.g. driveways done, all rooms floored and decorated etc. etc.

On cavity insulation, what are the pro's and con's between installing sheet insulation in the cavity during the block build versus pumping in the insulation after the blockwork is completed?

[Dave]

I'm hoping to come back home in the next year or two.
I was hoping to build a house for me and the family when I do come home.
I have a site already left to me from a relation who has passed on and I would have a good bit of savings and with a small mortgage could probably have €200,000 to spend.

Would this be enough to get me from foundations to eventually a turnkey house fully complete?
I'm not into huge houses but would be thinking along the lines of 4 bed Dormer maybe about 2000sq ft.
I left Ireland 15 years ago so am not well up on prices etc.

Was also thinking along the lines of a closed panel timber frame house like this http://www.ttfc.ie/closed_panel_house_kits/index.html
has anyone any experience of them? From my understanding all I'd need is someone to do foundations then a plumber,Electrician,Tiler etc
All the painting and landscaping could be done by myself.

Can anyone offer any advice?

[supersarsfields]

Just a quick question for a bit of advise.

Have a Bungalow and detached garage that I built. Haven't really got around to doing anything to the outside of it yet. But was considering painting it myself now if we get a bit of good weather. Is this a big job? Would I be better getting someone in to do it? I have done a bit of indoor painting in my time but never taken on out door stuff like this. Not even sure what paint to use!! Any advise would be welcome.

[laoislad]

Just a quick question for a bit of advise.

Have a Bungalow and detached garage that I built. Haven't really got around to doing anything to the outside of it yet. But was considering painting it myself now if we get a bit of good weather. Is this a big job? Would I be better getting someone in to do it? I have done a bit of indoor painting in my time but never taken on out door stuff like this. Not even sure what paint to use!! Any advise would be welcome.

Masonry paint would be a good place to start 
It's not a huge job really,if you are anyway handy at all you should be able do it easy enough.

[supersarsfields]

Cheers LL. Might look into getting it done shortly. I suppose if I mess up I can always get someone else in to sort it out!!

[Denn Forever]

Dave, below is a post from Myles that will answer some questions and prompt others.  Some great advise in this thread.  Best of luck

I'm hoping to come back home in the next year or two.
I was hoping to build a house for me and the family when I do come home.
I have a site already left to me from a relation who has passed on and I would have a good bit of savings and with a small mortgage could probably have €200,000 to spend.

Would this be enough to get me from foundations to eventually a turnkey house fully complete?
I'm not into huge houses but would be thinking along the lines of 4 bed Dormer maybe about 2000sq ft.
I left Ireland 15 years ago so am not well up on prices etc.

Was also thinking along the lines of a closed panel timber frame house like this http://www.ttfc.ie/closed_panel_house_kits/index.html
has anyone any experience of them? From my understanding all I'd need is someone to do foundations then a plumber,Electrician,Tiler etc
All the painting and landscaping could be done by myself.

Can anyone offer any advice?

I built my house a few years ago. Learnt a lot of things the hard way so I will try and save you the making the same mistakes.

-Before you consider a heat system you must consider 1st how to keep the heat in your house. iInsulation is critical. I strongly suggest you put foam back slab on the inside of your outer walls. 100mm thick stuff would be a good job. This is vital. Never mind pumping walls, that is mostly for old houses and is not as efficient insulatation as on the slab.

- Windows. Do not skimp on windows. Get double or triple glazed, 25mm thick or more. Windows are a hoor for letting in the cold. Get a good company to fit them. Thie cheapest in the south are probably Munster Joinery and they are absolutely useless.

- Sunrooms. Everyone likes the sunroom but beware if you are considering leaving them open plan. They get very hot in summer and cold in winter. If you go for underfloor it can really struggle with rapid temp changes in temperature of rooms.

- Open fires. They are nice and add a nice "feature" to a room. Unfortunately, they also cause drafts and let heat escape. A good alternative is to put a small stove into your fireplace. This will seal your chimney and if you do want to light the stove it will heat the room better than an open fire.

- 2 Story. If you are building a two storey I strongly suggest you go for a hollow core floor and not ply on joists. Putting floors on joists, no matter what dampening you try, will not conceal noise from upstairs.

So now to the heat system. I think anyone with an eye on being efficient has to go for underfloor. It is simply much more efficient than every other system and anyone who tells you otherwise either installed it incorrectly or likes a house that is baking hot. It does have some downsides. You cannot quickly change room temps by say +5 Deg in an hour. Underfloor is a slow steady constant heat. That is why you must be careful about sunrooms and drafts.

Underfloor could be powered by standard oil burner, wood chip or geothermal. Oil is least efficient. Wood chips were all the rage but you need an outside shed for taking bulk delivery and it will need to be really dry (ie have a heating system) as damp wood pellets spells big probs. Geothermal is my choice, ground loop is the best. A Geothermal system, underfloor pipes and cylinders/plumbing will prob cost you in the region of 15-20k (for a 2000sq/ft house approx). Get someone decent to do it. You do not want a cowboy doing this as once it is done it is done!

One other thing I would suggest is to take your time designing the layout of your home. Make a model with cornflakes boxes or whatever. To it right up front cos it is very hard to change. Nearly everyone who builds a house (myself included) was rushing to get out of rented accomodation and regrets certain aspects of design. Try and meet the county planner as that will get you brownie points when he looks at your application.

If you are considering Geothermal then you are effectively using some electricity to heat your house. One way to offset this is to have someone build a wind turbine behind your house (if you have space). This can be wired into a 2nd meter which allows you to sell any energy created back to the ESB as opposed to the older systems which tried to store the electricity in batteries and which couldn't power a kettle. A turbine could be installed for about 15k.

One final thing - what size is your house and what style (cottage, dormer, 2 storey). Your budget may need to be revised, I'm thinking a €150k would be minimum you would spend. Good luck with it!

[Banana Man]

anyone know what the general building regulations are for someone building an agricultural building beside your house?
can they just stick up what the want, anywhere or are there regulaions for how close it can be, if it affects your view etc?

You can build an agricultural building up to 300sq m without the need for planning permission if:

Its on an agricultural holding over 0.5 hectares
The nearest part of the building is within 75m of the main farm dwelling
More than 75m than your nearest neighbouring dwelling

Distance set back from the road depends on the class of the road. On C class roads the building must be more than 9m from the centre of the road.

The farm also needs to be established for more than 6 years. That covers most if it.

right let me get this straight, i'll use a typical scenario here, you have ground and have buildings etc on it, however you have ground a couple of miles away i.e. 2 holdings, you want to put up a shed on the ground on round the road where you have no dwelling but you can't because there is no other dwelling there? Furthermore you are regestired 3 or 4 years then they will tell you to wait 2 or 3 years until your 6 years are up before you can build a shed etc, that is farcical

[Dave]

Denn Forever thanks for your reply.

One final thing - what size is your house and what style (cottage, dormer, 2 storey). Your budget may need to be revised, I'm thinking a €150k would be minimum you would spend. Good luck with it!

Mylestheslasher when you say 150k are you talking just to put the house up or do you mean a fully furnished house?

[mylestheslasher]

Denn Forever thanks for your reply.

One final thing - what size is your house and what style (cottage, dormer, 2 storey). Your budget may need to be revised, I'm thinking a €150k would be minimum you would spend. Good luck with it!

Mylestheslasher when you say 150k are you talking just to put the house up or do you mean a fully furnished house?

Depends on the house but I'd guess a fully furnished house closer to 200k.

[el_cuervo_fc]

right let me get this straight, i'll use a typical scenario here, you have ground and have buildings etc on it, however you have ground a couple of miles away i.e. 2 holdings, you want to put up a shed on the ground on round the road where you have no dwelling but you can't because there is no other dwelling there? Furthermore you are regestired 3 or 4 years then they will tell you to wait 2 or 3 years until your 6 years are up before you can build a shed etc, that is farcical

You would have to apply for planning permission for a shed on the other holding. You would have to present a case as to why it was essential for the building to be located at this place.