With the huge costs of building, most people generally associate construction with huge costs, especially when it comes to engaging and renumerating professionals. It’s all too common these days for people to actually DIY their own homes/small constructions that do not need permits from planning authorities. But is this the route to go, and does it mean that one spends less than actually doing the work with design professionals and subcontractors? Today we explore that dilemma, with a few pros and cons, as well as things to consider when deciding whether to go for it by yourself.
So, to begin, one might look at “building for yourself” from two angles. One is where you actually delve into the actual construction yourself, doing the manual work. Second is where you decide to hire the labor yourself and supervise construction instead of working with subcontractors.
From the first perspective, this will actually save you a lot of money considering labor costs usually account for a huge chunk, approximately 60% to be precise, which is, of course, a huge deal. This would work well if you are already a trained/experienced builder, and would want to just do the work of building your small home, tree house, shed, tiny house etc. by yourself. If you are neither trained nor experienced in building works, you may want to use free online resources, for example, YouTube to do some of the learning. Help from the more technical among your friends also should help you get through your small project successfully.
With this approach, however, you must be prepared to get your hands dirty and lose your leisure time as this is likely not something you will do in a day or two (may take months) especially if what you are building is meant for a few people not just yourself, for example, a family living home.
The other approach you might consider when it comes to going it all alone in your building project is to avoid a design team and subcontractors, instead implement your project personally through labor that you will hire directly. This is mostly so for a larger scope of projects, e.g. townhouses, larger homes, business premises, rentals etc. For these types of larger projects, of course, you cannot go it all alone in terms of doing the labor yourself. The most important thing here that you want is to reduce design and implementation costs as it costs money to do engage contractors or design professionals.
Here you have a few options. If you are already well versed with the technicalities of building projects and have implemented projects before, you could actually draw up plans yourself with a little creativity and inventiveness, paying close attention to the needs you need your new building to meet. You can also seek a little help from friends or even better, online talent such as architects and cost estimators to help you get through successfully.
However, you may want to consider that building professionals charge hugely for a reason, as things like acquiring building permits and managing labor, can be, both very time and money consuming. Building for yourself, for the relatively larger projects, may not be the best if you are not already well versed with the industry (if you are a building professional already for instance). You should also consider
The building process takes time, effort and a balance of creativity and technical knowledge. It’s a craft that people have perfected over time, and thus it’s important that you consider the stakes and if you are ready to offer what it takes. Sometimes, that small tiny house on wheels project may be fun to DIY, but the stakes are much higher if it’s a business premise you are constructing. All you need is to exercise good judgment in deciding if going all alone or recruiting some help is the way to go which is much harder but less costly as you are going to save on many different things including supervision costs and subcontractors overheads, or just simply have professionals do it for you, which is much easier but more costly.
From my side, I would say it’s doable, with some forethought and planning, but larger scopes limit how much you can actually do alone.
I would love to hear, do you love the idea of building your own house and can you try it? Let me know in the comments below!
The author is a Construction Project Manager and also a freelance Architectural Designer on Fiverr
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