Cut Costs Not Quality - Part One

ABOVE: This pretty Scandinavian-inspired house on a beautiful waterside location was built for less than £150,000. Read more about this self-build...

No matter what their budget, few self-builders have the luxury of no compromise when it comes to specifying materials for their new home. The likelihood is that you will be looking for areas where you can shave a few thousand off your build costs, but before you begin ruthlessly cutting back on quality, take a close look at your specification list and target the areas which will have the least impact on your home’s overall success and value.

As a rule, you shouldn’t make significant compromises on items that are built into the fabric of the building, as you can’t easily replace these later. There are savings to be made on structural materials, but you should focus more on reducing the cost of the less-permanent aspects, i.e. the interior fixtures and fittings, which can quickly gobble up over 40% of a project’s budget, yet be more easily replaced in the future, when extra funds are available. Often, clever cost-cutting doesn’t involve big compromises on quality, but is simply the result of good design, and knowing when you’re paying for brand snobbery. Let’s take a look at the main areas where you can save.

The Design - Save up to £4,000

You’ll never regret money invested in good design — so make sure your designer is aware of both your budget and the cost implications of your choices.

You could theoretically save thousands by designing your own home; but you’re more likely to end up shocked that some of your chosen elements are more expensive than you thought and with a house that doesn’t meet your requirements, and looks poorly designed — therefore lowering its value.

Simple shapes are cheaper to build than complex ones, but it doesn’t mean the house will look cheap; for example, Georgian and Modernist architecture rely on simplicity.

Try to keep your house on the small side, which is also good from a design perspective, as big rooms are hard to ‘cosy up’. Carefully plan how big each room really needs to be, and maximise your home’s usable space. Avoid over specifying, too — from more bedrooms and en suites than necessary, to superfluous switches and sockets.

ABOVE:1. Wienerberger Olde Farndale Multi machine-made bricks have the look of handmade, but cost half the price at around £530/1,000; 2. Redland’s Heathland Plain Tile is a quality concrete option, mimicking clay handmades, from 39p each; 3. Sandtoft’s interlocking Britlock, made from recycled slate, is a cost-effective alternative to the real thing; 4. Western redcedar, such as this from John Brash, costs around £30/m² (three times the price of other softwoods) but requires no maintenance, giving it a far lower ‘life cost’

The Roof - Save over £10,000

First of all, reduce its pitch. Low-pitched roofs (as low as 14∞) have a smaller surface area, meaning less materials and labour are required, and they aren’t as visible, lessening the roof covering’s impact. As a guide, every 5∞ increase in pitch adds 4% to the roof cost. (A low roof pitch is not, however, suitable for some period designs.)

Also think about whether you want to use your loft for more than storage, as making it liveable (or a candidate for conversion in the future) adds to costs — although if it helps keep your house’s footprint down it’s a good thing. Ideally, habitable lofts need a pitch of around 45∞. A standard prefabricated fink roof truss costs about 35% less than an attic truss (which has an open space inside), and almost half that of a cut (on-site crafted) roof, but it’s not readily adaptable for loft living. Fink roofs also make the insulation simpler, as wool batts can be rolled out over the floor; and you won’t need a fire escape and rooflights (cheaper than dormers).

In slate and tile form, concrete is the most inexpensive roof covering, costing as little as £21/m² laid; but cheaper versions weather poorly, so do pay extra for through-coloured concrete. It is often made into large-format interlocking tiles, which are quicker to lay (but only work on simple roof shapes). In response to this, Sandtoft has introduced 20/20, a large-format natural clay tile.

Handmade clay tiles and Welsh slates are the very best, but expensive, with supply and fix costing up to five times that of concrete. Salvaged versions are cheaper: tiles cost 40-50p each; Welsh slates around 70p— but check quality and quantities carefully. Good alternatives include machine-made tiles, which can be ‘distressed’, and reconstituted slates made of slate dust (30% cheaper than real slate). You can also import slate from, amongst others, Spain and China, saving over 25% in costs, but quality varies, so ensure you get at least a 30-year guarantee.

ABOVE: Fink roofs cost 35% less than attic trusses

Cladding - Save up to £12,000

Brick is by far the UK’s favourite material, with most bricks made from clay. Handmade bricks are very expensive, costing over £1,000/1,000, but you could half this cost by opting for ‘machine-thrown’ bricks, which can quite effectively simulate a handmade look.

Opting for a ‘blend’, where two or more tones of brick are mixed together, along with more interesting brick bonding or coursing, is a great way to lift the appearance of any brick, as is opting for a lime mortar or, cheaper, white cement.

As a raw material, timber is the cheapest cladding, (less than £9/m² — labour is on top of this) but it needs treatment, along with expensive maintenance every few years. More costly (approx £25-30/m²), Western redcedar lasts 60 years without maintenance, making it more cost-effective over its life.

Native larch is a slightly cheaper option, while Marley eternity (Weatherboard) and James Hardie (Hardiplank) offer prepainted fibre-cement boards, needing no maintenance, again for a little less.

Render may appear cheaper, but it needs two coats, plus three coats of paint – if you don’t opt for through-coloured – so the costs of extra labour and scaffold hire mean it costs around the same as timber.

Joinery - Save up to £20,000

Off-the-shelf joinery can save thousands over bespoke products, and there is a huge range of high-quality windows on offer from suppliers such as JELD-WEN, Andersen and Marvin.

PVCu can save money (from £120/m² facing), but avoid cheap period designs as they lack correct detailing.
Design window and door openings to standard sizes, so you will have a wide choice of products. If you’re ordering non-standard windows, i.e. from the Continent, choose the items before designing the openings.

At around £180/m², soft - wood windows are cheaper than hardwood, (around £260/m²) but can look just as good. They are not as durable but can be treated with preservatives to improve performance. Douglas fir is almost as durable as hardwood.

Buying doors off the shelf is a big cost saver. A flush hollow-core door (from £17) works well with sleek door furniture in contemporary homes. For moulded doors, opt for a softwood interior (from £28), or pay extra for fire doors for a weightier feel (from £100). Most doors come unfinished, so they can be treated to match the interior.

Finally, don’t be afraid to buy staircase parts separately – i.e. wooden treads, a glass baluster – which will save thousands over going to an all-in company.

ABOVE: This pine staircase kit cost just £2,000 from Stairplan (stairplan.com). If you don’t like pine, then paint it or opt for ‘clean’ (unknotty) pine and treat it to look like a different species.

The Kitchen - Save over £15,000

The perfect family kitchen is one aspect few self-builders are prepared to compromise on, with high-end kitchens starting from around £20,000. However, a lot of the more expensive units’ carcasses are made of the same material as the cheaper ones — it’s the doors that give them their style. An increasing number of self-builders are turning to IKEA for their kitchens, costing up to £5,000. A range of smart interior fittings for cupboards and drawers are on offer, and even solid wood worktops. Also try Pineland (pineland.co.uk) for a cost-effective solid pine kitchen.

Most ‘budget’ kitchens, including those from DIY sheds, can be nicely dressed up with quality door furniture, worktops and splashbacks. Making these savings on the kitchen units, you can invest more in other items like tiling, appliances and seating — lifting the kitchen into the realm of luxury. You can also save a lot of money by hiding storage and cupboard space in a cheaper utility area in a separate room.

ABOVE:An average solid wood Pineland kitchen costs £3,500 — allow an extra £1,500 for worktops, taps, the sink and tiles, meaning you get a complete kitchen for just £5,000

Bathrooms - Save over £5,000

Firstly, minimise the number of bathrooms you have. An en suite with every bedroom isn’t generally necessary — not only do extra bathrooms require sanitaryware, but they involve extra plumbing runs, floor and all finishes, specialised lighting and ventilation, and heated towel rails.

Designer sanitaryware carries a big price tag, so opt for only one statement item – such as the basin or bath – and let everything else serve as a backdrop. You don’t need to buy everything from the same manufacturer, but do check that any whites match. Get your tiles from discount tile superstores, and opt for acrylic or pressed steel baths as opposed to cast iron, which is far more expensive — neither economy will be apparent once installed.

You’ll need to plan in bathrooms early, to get all the plumbing in the right place, as changes at second fix stage are expensive. Bear in mind that the plumber will need to fit waste pipes for basins depending on whether they are pedestal (in the floor) or wall hung. If you want a flush shower tray, the waste pipe will have to be set low enough for a subfloor waste trap.

Read part two for advice on heating and flooring and two real-life case studies...

Further Reading:

• Cutting Costs: Reducing Project Overheads
• Drainage: Cost Guide
• How Much Will Your Project Cost?