# Cost of building a house



## kingspoofer

Hello,
I am going building a bungalow about 2000sqft on my own site and now that the building has slowed down could anyone tell me roughly what it is going to cost for a builder to do it.? It will be a plain enough bungalow not too much design. Would appreciate any comment. Thanks.


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## Feardorcha

I just got planning myself to build a bungalow of 2500sq ft so interested in the response myself. Are you going direct labour or contractor? The only quote I got so far was for blocklayer-70c a block,which is half what they got last year


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## johnjoda

Feardorcha said:


> I just got planning myself to build a bungalow of 2500sq ft so interested in the response myself. Are you going direct labour or contractor? The only quote I got so far was for blocklayer-70c a block,which is half what they got last year


 
A point to remember, and word of advice , do not rely on the down turn in the construction industry, you pay peanuts and get monkeys


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## paddyd

In the South East, my brother paid a very reputable local builder to build an extension 18 months ago for €80 sq.ft, which was the same price as he paid the same firm to build the house itself, in '99.


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## kingspoofer

I work a lot on the road so it will be fairly hard for me to organise the house direct labour but if it costs too much i will be doing it direct labour. hopefully i will be getting it done by my uncle who is a builder provided he gives me a good price. it easy to say do it direct labour but you would want to be there a lot of the time watching that things are done right. People will not do it for nothing but from jan on things will get very tight there's no work there so people can either give you a good price or not work. make sure you get someone who has a good reputation to do it heard of alot of people getting friends of friends who they don't really know and the standard of work was not good. Heard about 70/80 sq ft but all depends of the design of house. the simpler it is the cheaper it will be so i am told anyway. Would be interested in anyone's opinion on the cost ?


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## HJT

Im in the middle of a Direct Labour build at the moment, the roof is finished and the windows are arriving on Friday.

- I expect to come in at 80e per sq ft but my Da will do my tiling, painting, floors, 2nd fix carpentry so that will save a lot of money. You need to control the budget with a tight fist, keep a spreadsheet and record everything, its easier to manage. Shop around for materials, it can make a difference of 100's of euro. So get out the phone book.

I spent 3 months sending out plans to local tradesmen, and asking people for their recommendations based on their own direct build experience. In the end I didn't necessary go for the cheapest tradesmen, I went with the ones based on their experience and their reputation. I did haggle with the roofer because he was the most expensive, he did lower his prices to get the job and he was fantastic.

I'm on the road a lot so my Da pops in twice a day to make sure everything is ok, but in general there has been no disasters but I put that down to the tradesmen I have employed to do the job.


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## kingspoofer

When did you start building ?I will be building next year so hopefully the price will be down more then.


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## galwaytt

As someone in the trade, I don't see any great scope for reductions from here. People cannot work for below cost. All that will happen is the numbers of builders will decrease, but those that remain will still need the same rates to keep the doors open for business.

For a start, raw materials are set to rise, particularly timber. Just as petrol/oil has a trading market, so too does timber. And the best timber on the market (imho) comes out of Russia. Russia has just decided to NOT introduce export tarriff's on timber until Jan 2010. So, outside of normal increases next year, I expect an extra jump in price from Jan 2010 again.

Insulation has just had a big jump in price, so that's not going to come down, either.

As someone says - if you pay peanuts, you most assuredly will get monkey's.

A simple, straightforward build, using a contractor, would be in the region of Eur 100 m2


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## wexford dude

The cost per square foot will really depend on the spec of the build.The type of heating system will affect the cost also.If you go high end on the build you could pay up €90 euro per square foot.


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## kingspoofer

That fair enough to say that the price of raw materials are increasingbut with the price of oil dropping now wont that effect shipping cost /deliver cost?.I know good builders will always be in demand but with so little work around do you think that they will be giving good prices to get the work rather than laying of there labours from lack of work?When you say 100m2 do you mean 100 sqft? or what is the conversion?


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## baldyman27

E70 /ft2 would be a good price at the moment. Things won't get much cheaper than they are now. I'm in the trade and rates are at rock bottom at the moment. I know subbies who have offered to lay blocks for me for 70c and I won't touch them and my advice to you would be to not go near them either. I would still rather pay E1.10 To E1.20 a block for quality. Whether you go for a builder or direct labour make sure to pore through every quote with a fine-tooth comb to make sure its a comprehensive quote with as little room for extras as possible. And if you are getting quotes for a roof for example and 4 guys are alll within a few grand of each other and another is 5 grand less, throw that quuote in the bin!!!


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## Lak

I recently priced the plasering of a house...a big one and was beaten out of sight on price by a gang who were travelling from around 80k away. They were in and out in a flash. When I drove by the state of the external work was abysmal, clearly no scratch coat and horrendous napping and Quoins. Inside was even worse by all accounts. The lads went and did a job as quickly and shoddily as was needed to make a basic days wage and whoever believes that simply because a price is half what was paid last year the work will be A1 is deluded. I had not the slightest bit of sympathy for the guy who had this two storey 3000 sq ft house plastered for  €7,500.
Same appllies across the board....do people honestly believe the quality of work will be up to first class standards when a guy is only taking home half of his last years pay packet. Is the blocklayer going to pay anywhere enough attention to detail when he needs to lay twice the number of blocks to earn a days wage, half of them were shocking enough in the best of times.


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## DavyJones

baldyman27 said:


> E70 /ft2 would be a good price at the moment. Things won't get much cheaper than they are now. I'm in the trade and rates are at rock bottom at the moment. I know subbies who have offered to lay blocks for me for 70c and I won't touch them and my advice to you would be to not go near them either. I would still rather pay E1.10 To E1.20 a block for quality. Whether you go for a builder or direct labour make sure to pore through every quote with a fine-tooth comb to make sure its a comprehensive quote with as little room for extras as possible. And if you are getting quotes for a roof for example and 4 guys are alll within a few grand of each other and another is 5 grand less, throw that quuote in the bin!!!



Have to agree. 

Very important to get detailed quote. How else can you compare like for like.


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## joejoe

galwaytt said:


> A simple, straightforward build, using a contractor, would be in the region of Eur 100 m2



That's cheap, works out to be 9.55 psf 

Joejoe


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## MacTheKnife1

joejoe said:


> That's cheap, works out to be 9.55 psf
> 
> Joejoe



Wish I could get prices that cheap, I think he means 1000 per sq m or about 100 per sq ft.


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## joejoe

MacTheKnife1 said:


> Wish I could get prices that cheap, I think he means 1000 per sq m or about 100 per sq ft.



I know, only joking. This now means that construction prices in Ireland are cheaper than in the south of Germany!!!


Joejoe


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## CrazyGirl

i dont know what im paying per foot but my blocklayer is charging 7000 to build the whole house, put up the rsjs and has his own scaffolding all included in the price. the house size is 320sq ft. im in galway and he is excellent. block work is perfect.


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## MacTheKnife1

joejoe said:


> I know, only joking. This now means that construction prices in Ireland are cheaper than in the south of Germany!!!
> Joejoe



Joe, I got offered 70 euro for a builders finish in the last week. Costs are coming down, a friend in the industy tells me I will get 60 euro a sq ft next year.


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## joejoe

MacTheKnife1 said:


> Joe, I got offered 70 euro for a builders finish in the last week. Costs are coming down, a friend in the industy tells me I will get 60 euro a sq ft next year.



That would be shockingly good value, providing you get a good job.

Joejoe


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## cunninghams

galwaytt said:


> As someone in the trade, I don't see any great scope for reductions from here. People cannot work for below cost. All that will happen is the numbers of builders will decrease, but those that remain will still need the same rates to keep the doors open for business.
> 
> For a start, raw materials are set to rise, particularly timber. Just as petrol/oil has a trading market, so too does timber. And the best timber on the market (imho) comes out of Russia. Russia has just decided to NOT introduce export tarriff's on timber until Jan 2010. So, outside of normal increases next year, I expect an extra jump in price from Jan 2010 again.
> 
> Insulation has just had a big jump in price, so that's not going to come down, either.
> 
> As someone says - if you pay peanuts, you most assuredly will get monkey's.
> 
> A simple, straightforward build, using a contractor, would be in the region of Eur 100 m2


 
Absolutely untrue-Prices on all materials are falling as you'd expect with the current oil price slump, current economic slump and supply demand situation-i.e the demand is simply not there at the moment. The only building of note that is taking place is once off housing and slatted sheds -the latter will be finished at Christmas. Prices on timber may go up nesxt year but for the moment steel, concrete etc are in freefall. Im especially surprised with your comment on insulation. Prices on Kingspan, Xtratherm products are falling over the last 18 months (almost 20% down ion what I paid 2 years ago)


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## MacTheKnife1

cunninghams said:


> Absolutely untrue-Prices on all materials are falling as you'd expect with the current oil price slump, current economic slump and supply demand situation-i.e the demand is simply not there at the moment. The only building of note that is taking place is once off housing and slatted sheds -the latter will be finished at Christmas. Prices on timber may go up nesxt year but for the moment steel, concrete etc are in freefall. Im especially surprised with your comment on insulation. Prices on Kingspan, Xtratherm products are falling over the last 18 months (almost 20% down ion what I paid 2 years ago)



Thanks for this, it si what you would expect to happen. We ar ein a deflationary period and prices will have to come down. It is good to see it happening, the sooner it happens the better for everyone. There will be no houses built soon if prices of materials and labour do not drop.


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## baldyman27

cunninghams said:


> Absolutely untrue-Prices on all materials are falling as you'd expect with the current oil price slump, current economic slump and supply demand situation-i.e the demand is simply not there at the moment. The only building of note that is taking place is once off housing and slatted sheds -the latter will be finished at Christmas. Prices on timber may go up nesxt year but for the moment steel, concrete etc are in freefall. Im especially surprised with your comment on insulation. Prices on Kingspan, Xtratherm products are falling over the last 18 months (almost 20% down ion what I paid 2 years ago)


 

Not in my area (Cork), I'm afraid. Thought concrete products would have come down buy no joy as yet anyway.


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## Slates

baldyman27 said:


> Not in my area (Cork), I'm afraid. Thought concrete products would have come down buy no joy as yet anyway.


Most building products will have a price increase at the start of next year


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## hiho

well i just got a letter in the door from roadstone and there prices are going up between 5 and 10 % in jan.Price of material is still high.We are putting in prices between 70 and 80 euro a sq ft inc vat for new builds for standard builders spec.You get what you pay for to a level.i find people wont pay for that bit extra service and better workmanship.


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## baldyman27

hiho said:


> well i just got a letter in the door from roadstone and there prices are going up between 5 and 10 % in jan.Price of material is still high.We are putting in prices between 70 and 80 euro a sq ft inc vat for new builds for standard builders spec.You get what you pay for to a level.i find people wont pay for that bit extra service and better workmanship.


 
Agreed, people still think cheapest is best. Great news on roadstone, will be expecting my christmas card from John A's soon so


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## hiho

thats the thing with roadstone there is no talking to them.At least the timber supplyers you can do a deal with.


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## baldyman27

John A's are under Roadstone AFAIK and Iwas able to talk them down on stone only a few weeks ago. Just used the 'Riiiight soooo shur...... I'll make one call to the other crowd I have an account with and shur I might be back to you' line and knocked 50 cent a ton off.Play hard ball with them, they have a lot of hackers in the yards doing nothing.


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## cunninghams

baldyman27 said:


> Agreed, people still think cheapest is best. Great news on roadstone, will be expecting my christmas card from John A's soon so


 
Baldyman, while I agree completely that cheapest is not the best I think it is slightly irresponsible to be looking at things from this angle, especially in the current climate.

The coin has very much been flipped in this country. I really feel that it is very important to state that while the cheapest is not the best neither is the dearest.....this is what we should be zoning more in on i.e "people still think the dearest is best".  This is just as-sorry scratch that- more important. The facts are per one of my previous posts the mentality in Ireland over the last 11 years is very much aiming towards "dearest is best". The only one with the "cheapest is best" mentality has been the plumbers and electricians, etc that have charged through the roof on labour while putting in the cheapest of materials to max on their profits.....so from their prospective  of course cheapest is best. `

I have learned from experience that due diligence is the only way to determine whether work is good or not....and not whether its cheap so its good or its expensive so its good.  Paying through the nose on labour coz youve heard or saw good workmanship is simply bad business if there is somebody else out there that can do just as good a job at a much lower rate. Do your research and educate yourself before emptying your pockets. There are lots of excellent tradesmen out there (in particular guys in their late thirties/forties that have seen the bad days of the eighties) these honest hardworking people have recognised the market conditions and dropped their prices accordingly.

Regarding materials I really cannot see material prices going up in January 
I do agree with the comments on Roadstone....but trust me they are coming around too-they have no choice. To that person who received a letter regarding 10% increases in January I advise go somewhere else 

Im speaking about labour prices here only. Im going to take the example of plastering of a  3000 square foot house as somebody before mentioned the great deal they were getting for 16K. God, Im cringing as I type. To use a  Johnny Giles line " take each game on its merit"  I would suggest taking each aspect of the build on its merits. Ask yourself the question what exactly is involved in this job- plastering of a 3000 square foot house- Should I  bother going around and checking out whats involved in this project and pay the 16K ....after all I dont know the first thing about plastering and everyone says Joe Bloggs is a mighty plasterer!!?? Or should I ask how long will it take for this job to be completed, how many men are on the job, what does this work out at per hour, if i were to do 2-3 weeks hard work work what would I expect to get paid having paid my staff. On this note ask the question how many people do you ahve working for you? Once you've educated yourself go away and check at least 3 other plasterers work. Be prepared to spread your wings if necessary as prices on labour and materials vary so much in this country. Remember its a very small country geographically-e.g Dublin and the westa re only separated by 100 miles yet labour and material prices are non-comparable. If the tradesmen dont ahve work they will travel. Equally if a Dublin person drives a lorry from Dublin to a West of Ireland Building provider do you think the building provider will turn away the Dub that wants to fill his lorry in the current environment-I think not


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## bamboozle

bottom line is to get at least 3 quotes for all the jobs,
i put my extension job out to tender and had prices back from 8 builders, prices ranged from 90k-230k for the exact same job.
i got prices from 3 lads for the electrics works, quotes of 3k, 3.5k and 11.5k.
3 prices for plumbing & heating, quotes of 8k, 8.5k and 12k.
all these prices i got in the last 3 weeks so the advice i'd give is get different quotes in and when u meet the tradesmen in person you'll generally get a good impression of them, also if they have been recommended it always helps.
i've actually found it comical with some of the quotes i've received but i guess some folk have been charging ridiculous prices for years now and are finding it hard not to now!


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## baldyman27

cunninghams said:


> Baldyman, while I agree completely that cheapest is not the best I think it is slightly irresponsible to be looking at things from this angle, especially in the current climate.


 

I agree with you here also, should have made that clear. I'm in the trade, usually as a sub-contractor, sometimes as a principal. Experience has taught me (the hard way!!) to throw the obviously too cheap and the obviously too dear quotes in the bin immediately. I'm not even tempted to go through the breakdown on either. There is a certain level below which someone will be working at a loss and they don't do this, they are quoting low to get the job so they can screw you on variations/extras. The too high quotes are binned because I don't profiteer myself and will not support someone who does.
Value for money is key. You're right about working out how many men, etc. are required for a job. Even when working with rates, I always do a mental check this way to make sure that I'm covered. Good employees gain a reputation for their employer as much as anything else. Good employees cost money. 
Also, I feel another fair point here is people hiring non-registered builders. Its all fine and well to rub your hands in glee when you get a group of (very often) foreign nationals to build your house for seemingly far less than a bona fide builder. Of course they can, they don't charge VAT, they don't contribute income taxes and, if the greater national interest isn't a concern for the home owner, they have NO insurance.


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## NewHere08

Considering buying a site with fpp for 1100 sq ft house.  What's average build cost (using contractor not direct labour) in greater Dublin area.  Also is there much of a difference between concrete/timber frame construction cost.  Thank you.


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## johnnyg

I am nearly complete my build and one word or warning is not to forget the extra costs with building mainly finishing the house off; average cost 50K, site finishing costs ie drive, lawns, walls etc 40K plus
These are realistic costs..no point building a huge house if you can't afford to finish it or the site off, 
my total cost to date is coming in around 100 euros a sq foot and growing, estimated cost will be 125


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## cill dara34

kingspoofer said:


> Hello,
> I am going building a bungalow about 2000sqft on my own site and now that the building has slowed down could anyone tell me roughly what it is going to cost for a builder to do it.? It will be a plain enough bungalow not too much design. Would appreciate any comment. Thanks.


 about 80 euro a sqft building contractor


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## Joanna

I agree wholeheartedly with you Johnny G. I am building at the moment and there are extra costs all along the way that I had never thought off (being new to all this) and really you need to factor in costs for flooring/tiling/painting/kitchen/furniture/if any of your builder PC sums go over i.e. if you put in more lighting in house than builder has allowed for and same for heating PC sum/front wall/groundworks/oil tank/oil (if going with oil)/windows and doors (if going for higher spec than what builder has allowed for), extra velux windows that you may decide to put in along the way as you see the house going up/installing solar panels if you decide/any extra site visits by engineer....etc. There are so many hidden costs along the way that no-one had warned me about and now I am learning to my cost. I am in the middle of building at the moment and if I had time back again, I would certainly have cut costs in the house (built a little smaller/no split level therefore less foundation costs/less veluxes/much smaller garage etc.) so that I had enough money left aside for finishes/furniture/overspends on PC sums/site works etc. I hope this advice will be of help to someone. I wish I had known it! It's easy to get carried away when designing a house and making rooms a bit bigger here and there. The bigger the house, the more tiles/carpet needed, the bigger your heating bills etc.etc. Ok, better stop before I put ye off building altogether!


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## Soarer

Evening all.
We're currently looking at trading up, and we've two options available to us.

Option 1: There's a circa 2500sq.ft. house on .2 of an acre ready built to builders finish going for €600k, but open to offers.
Option 2: There's a .2 of an acre site for sale for €295k, with full planning for a 2700sq.ft. house, again negotiable.

We're not too familiar as to the going rate of builders, etc., so we don't know if we go for option 2, the total is gonna run over the "negotiated" price for option 1.

Our budget is probably €500k at a stretch. So if we could buy the site for €250k, is it possible to get a 2700sq.ft. house built (and kitted) for < €250k?


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## MacTheKnife1

Go for option 1, offer say 400k. (even that sounds ridiculous for a house on a tiny site that is only completed to builders finish)

Have you any idea of the position you are now in? It is the most amazing buyers market in the last 100 years. 90% of the population would be refused money by the banks to buy the property in option 1. You are one of the few. Make an offer and tell them to like it or lump it.


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## Soarer

Thanks for the advice guys.

TBH, I'd be half embarrassed to offer the figures ye gave. Well definitely with the €400k offer...I was gonna start somewhere around the €200k for the site.
I only jumped onto the property ladder around 5 years ago, back in the day when the asking price was just for show as the house would sell for 20%-50% more.
So to all of a sudden be in a position where an offer 20%-50% less than asking might actually be considered is completely alien.

There are pros and cons to both options.
Obviously option 1 has the house already built, and is ready to move into once kitted out. That's very appealing as we wouldn't have to move in with the inlaws in the interim.
Option 2 give us the chance to get a bigger house for less money (depending on the building costs) and allows us to customise the interior to our desires. But it also involves waiting around a year while it gets built, and living with the inlaws for that length of time.

So we really are between a rock and a hard place.

Any ideas on what the building costs on the 2700sq.ft. house would be?


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## changes

Hi

I'd happily suffer a little embarrassment if it saved me 10's of thousands.
You could get a 2700 house built for 150,000 if you tried but 200,000 and maybe even 250,000 would be more realistic.

I'm aiming to complete a 2500 house for 130,000 but looks like I will run to 150,000 or a little more by the finish.


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## inchbyinch

not meaning to offend or dissappoint but you have absol no chance of getting a house that size up for 130,000. you might get a builders finish and even at that it is a stretch.
To finish your house completely with standard materials then I would expect you to pay 220,000 for the lot and at that it will be very cheap.....


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## MacTheKnife1

changes said:


> I'm aiming to complete a 2500 house for 130,000 but looks like I will run to 150,000 or a little more by the finish.



Are you serious? You must be doing some of the work yourself, seems incredibly cheap!

I am building and would expect to spend 250k to totally finish the house 2500 sq ft. No oil, but probably wood heating, with solar. Highly insulated, top spec window glass (but frame in PVC). 90 sq m Garage included. HRV. 

If I could build it for less I would.


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## changes

Hi,

I have the house built already, closed and plastered for approx 90,000. Electrics and plumbing costs will be mainly materials as family will be helping me with those. As I mentioned earlier it will prob exceed 150,000 by a little by the time I.m finished.

Thanks

P.S. This is construction costs only, I have not included fees and contributions etc


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## MacTheKnife1

And the spec? Top of the range insulation? Windows? You have done exceptionally well!


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## inchbyinch

Changes,

what type of design have you used and where are you building. You seem to be getting unbelievable value for money! 

If you PM me I would love to see your plans if you have them handy on soft copy!
Rgds
Inchy


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## changes

Hi,

The spec will be fairly standard, certainly not the highest, but I shop around and try to get value for money. I will get high spec where required and make savings elsewhere. 
I have white PVC windows, ballytherm insulation, thrutone slates etc. 
I have priced for Oil central heating with solid fuel stove backup,
I will spend a bit on flooring and kitchen and get bathroom etc in the north.

Building in Donegal


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## inchbyinch

How much did your kitchen cost in the north?


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## kingspoofer

kingspoofer said:


> Hello,
> I am going building a bungalow about 2000sqft on my own site and now that the building has slowed down could anyone tell me roughly what it is going to cost for a builder to do it.? It will be a plain enough bungalow not too much design. Would appreciate any comment. Thanks.


 


Now that the bubble has bust can you see the price of building work coming down more ?Have got the planning now for the house its a split level as the site is on a hill.Any ideas of what it will cost to build?


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## pennies

Hi Guys, what sort of insurance policy did you take out during your build? I am building at the moment and the quotes im getting are huge. tnx


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## galwaytt

fwiw, we just got notified that timber is going up 6% shortly......


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