Cut Costs Not Quality - Part Two

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

Heating & Chimneys – Save up to £4,000

Underfloor heating is £1-2,000 more expensive than a radiator-based system, although it’s still a must-have for many self-builders, so consider limiting it to the ground floor with perhaps electric underfloor heating mats in the bathroom. There are surprisingly few radiator manufacturers yet a huge number of suppliers, who may stock the same products under different names — examine them closely.

Massive savings can, therefore, be made by shopping around. With such high modern standards of insulation and heating, you don’t really need to build in a fireplace. You can leave one out altogether — but bear in mind that not only are fireplaces a great focal point, but most future potential buyers will prefer to have one. Open fires and woodburning stoves, while hugely attractive and homely, require a chimney, at a cost of around £2,000. Save this by going for a gas, electric or even gel fire.

Flooring – Save up to £8,000

In no other area is there such a huge variation in price. You could floor a four bedroom house for less than £1,000 or spend over £10,000. Carpeting can be one of the cheapest forms of flooring — though unlike solid floors, you can’t reclaim the VAT. Cheap carpet is a false economy, but better quality carpet is a good solution for rooms not subject to large amounts of traffic.

Solid wood flooring will last a lifetime, gets better looking with age, and isn’t necessarily expensive: UK Flooring Direct has solid oak flooring on offer starting at £17.05m². Engineered wood – a real wood veneer applied onto an MDF backing – is a good option for those who are fitting underfloor heating, as it’s more stable. If you opt for tiling, slate is a great option — it’s cheaper than most other stones and is incredibly hard-wearing. Ceramic tiles can replicate the look of real stone for less.

Case studies

Built for £125,000!

Ian and Sarah Gluyas built their spacious family home in Oxfordshire on a remarkably low budget, largely by carrying out such a large portion of the project on a DIY basis, but also through making clever material substitutions. They opted for PVCu windows and doors and installed radiators instead of underfloor heating. They made a big saving by importing clay roof tiles from France, and spent just £6,000 on a solid wood farmhouse kitchen which they installed and painted themselves.
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Scandinavian Value

Tim and Adrienne Sowood built their pretty larch-clad Scandinavian inspired timber frame home in the Scottish Highlands on a tiny budget of just £150,000 (740/m²). Although the location did afford some inherent savings in labour, they dramatically cut costs by reducing the size of the house for which they had been granted permission, installing entirely softwood joinery (largely white-painted) and flooring, and bought their kitchen, furniture and blinds from IKEA. They customised many items by painting them white to fit in with the scheme.
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Read part one for advice on design, joinery, cladding, kitchens and more...

Further Reading:

• How Much Will Your Project Cost?
• Cutting Costs: Reducing Project Overheads
• Built For £130,000!