8 Hacks for Building Your Own Home Fast
Becoming a self-builder and creating your own home is a great way to get the house of your dreams without having to take out a mind-blowing large mortgage in order to do so. Often, it is the case that buying a piece of land and building your own home is a more affordable option that gets you better views and a higher-class of home location to boot.
Of course, it is not all roses, and building your own home can have many challenges, as well as taking much longer than simply shopping for a home in the usual way. However, you should not let time issues put you off because, as you will see below, there are a number of things you can do to build your own home in a much shorter space of time…
1. Prepare and plan as much as you can
First off, let’s talk about planning. It might sound like a yawn-fest, but trust me, a well-organised plan is the bedrock of a speedy build. So, grab your notepad, or if you’re tech-savvy, a project management app, and start mapping out every step of the project. Good planning helps you to prevent delays and keeps your project on track. And remember, the devil’s in the detail, so be as thorough as possible if you want to be finished as soon as possible too!
2. Hire a crack team
It sounds obvious, but so many people just hire the first, or cheapest build team they can find and this mean that their project is not as speedy as it otherwise might be. When it comes to self-building your home, it is so important that you take the time to do your research and assemble a crack team of builders who have lots of experience in building homes from scratch, as well as architects with a good reputation, great plumbers, and…well you get the idea. The more professional and experienced they are, the faster they will be abe to do their jobs to a high standard.
3. Consider a transportable home
Now, here’s an interesting idea to chew over: transportable homes. These are pre-built homes that can be delivered straight to your site, ready to move in. Not only can they be a more affordable option, but they also dramatically reduce the build time. From quaint little cottages to sleek, modern designs, there’s a wide range available. It’s almost like ordering a takeaway, but instead of a curry, you get a whole house!
4. Think pre-fabricated parts
Next up, consider using pre-fabricated components. These days, you can buy everything from roof trusses to built-in cabinets that have already been constructed elsewhere. These can be a huge time saver, as you can imagine, when you are building your own home, and there is so much choice that you do not have to worry about pre-fabricated components not matching your own personal style and vision for your home because you will always be able to find something that does.
Not only are pre-fabricated parts great at speeding up the house-building process, but they also reduce the number of building errors experienced by your contractors too, which means you get a better class of home with fewer hold-ups, on average, What’s not to love?
5. Keep it simple
Opting for a simple design can also accelerate your build. Complex designs with lots of corners, unusual shapes, or high-end finishes can be time-consuming to construct and fit, as you can imagine. So, if speed is of the essence, go for a straightforward, minimalist design. You’ll be amazed how much quicker and smoother things go, and simple designs do not mean a boring uninspired home if you work with your architect to come up with something that fits both briefs!
6. Stop changing your mind
Okay, so this hack can be hard because, when you are building your own home the sky is the limit and ideas will strike you in the middle of the night when you’re trying to sleep, when you’re bored and daydreaming at work, and just about any other time you can think of, but changing your mind often is not a good idea! Well, it’s not a good idea if you want to get your home built fast anyway! Changes cause delays and can add a surprising amount of time to the build. Stick to the plan, and keep those spur-of-the-moment design inspirations under control. Anyway, if you’ve put some serious time into the planning stage, you will have the best version of your home on the cards anyway!
7. The timing needs to be right
The season you choose to build in can also affect the speed of your build. In the UK, Spring and Summer are usually the best times to build. The longer daylight hours and more reliable weather mean fewer delays and faster progress, and it can be much more bearable for you if you do not have to worry about checking on the site in the rain and mud and you can sit back in the sun and enjoy watching your dream home being constructed brick by brick.
8. Parallel processing can change it all
One strategy we haven’t chatted about yet is parallel processing. In traditional building projects, each step is completed in sequence, one after the other. But why not do a few different things at once instead? For example, while the groundwork’s being laid, you could have your carpenter prepping the roof trusses off-site. This way, multiple elements are progressing simultaneously, speeding up the overall project, which means you could be moving into your home much sooner than planned!
So there you have it! These building hacks will help all of your aspiring self-builders out there to get the work done faster so you can enjoy your new home sooner, rather than later too. Remember that you will need to do a lot of planning and discussing with your contractors before you start, but if you bear all of the above in mind, things should go pretty smoothly. Good luck!
