Kieran McCarthy: Cutting back on build budget

Building our new home is turning out too expensive — help us trim those costs

Our new build is about €50k over budget — how do we pare back costs? 

Hi Kieran,

We are about to start our forever home new build. Unfortunately for us we never had our house costed before we lodged for planning permission so only now do we know how much it is going to cost to build... and it is above our budget by about €50k.

How do we reduce costs without compromising too much on our design?

Laura,

Thurles Tipperary

Hello Laura, 

Thanks for your question. In all honesty I would have been more surprised if you had said your project had come in on budget when it was costed.

The only real way to have your house remain on budget is to cost it before applying for planning permission and if you have to make any overall design adjustments at this stage to give yourself a little wiggle room later then this is the ideal opportunity.

Clearly your case is different — so what are the options?

In my company, KMC Homes, we design new homes as well as building them.

In some cases people contact us with a design already completed and they have planning permission so we need to take the project forward from here. And like in your case we know there will be a series of decisions that need to be made as soon as the overall cost is known, but the important thing here is to know where money can be saved or indeed deferred. 

Non-critical items

My first port of call is to look at the detail of the costing. Is it just ‘builder’s finish’ or are all the finished trimmings included also?

By this I mean built-in joinery to all bedrooms, panelling throughout the hall, stairs and landing, wallpaper in the WCs, chandeliers in the hallways, cornicing throughout the ground floor. These are wonderful features to include in your new home but they are not 'mission critical' at the beginning and can be added relatively easily down the road by specialist contractors who are used to working in finished houses.

So the first thing I will do is to make a list of these non-critical items and cost them out. Joinery is a very considerable expense and brings up your painting bill too so this can usually 'take a haircut' depending on how much we need to save.

I would start with built-ins in children's bedrooms, then panelling, then at a push maybe the fit-out of your utility room. (This may hurt I know, but some cheap shelving and baskets in here will keep you going to begin with).

Less expensive options

Next I would look at flooring upstairs. If you have included for semi-solid flooring throughout then a good quality modern laminate will do a better job in most cases. It is both cheaper and easier to maintain than natural timber.

Now time for the bathrooms. Tiling is an expensive finish and often something that can spiral out of control quickly. At a minimum you need to tile the shower area and the bath surround and local to your sink, but do you need to tile all the walls? Not if you’re on a tight budget. I would also avoid tiles that are either very small or very big, these cost more to buy and indeed to lay.

When you are choosing bathroom ware, buy from reputable supplier. And be aware that things like 'floating' toilet bowls cost more to install because you need a steel frame to be purchased and installed, then a timber carcass, then a plastered surround which is often tiled afterwards. Again, non-critical in a project where you are looking to save money.

When it comes to painting I would stick with a relatively neutral palette. Expensive paints and cutting-in details can add thousands to our painting price early on and unless you have an interior designer, it is unlikely you will get this right first time as you need to understand how the house looks in the different seasons and in different weathers and times of day. You can always add this detail later.

Exteriors

Outside, I would concentrate more on phasing expenditure. The first thing to sidestep for now is outside painting. Again it will likely take time to get the colour right and it may be that you need to wait for the next spring before these works can be carried out in any case. Again your local painter can help here and paint it from ladders at any stage.

A tarmac driveway is definitely a great long-lasting feature but at the start it may be a step too far. Yes, have the driveway all dug out and hardcore and main drainage runs in place but the tarmac, kerbs and gullies can all be added later.

 would certainly add all your paths as these will secure the drainage local to your house and keep excess moisture away from your external walls. You could however take a view on your paving although I would try to include for this if at all possible as it will be something you can get to enjoy as soon as you move in.

It goes without saying that the detailed planting schedule can get kicked off until year-three. Just plant grass for the moment. As you spend your Saturdays cutting the grass you can dream of a day when your robot lawnmover will complete this task for you as you admire your bed of hydrangeas.

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Kieran McCarthy: "Tiling is an expensive finish and often something that can spiral out of control quickly. At a minimum you need to tile the shower area and the bath surround and local to your sink, but do you need to tile all the walls?"

• Kieran McCarthy is a building engineer, and director of KMC Homes, who specialise in designing and building luxury homes in Cork. He also presents the RTÉ TV show Heat My Home, showcasing deep retrofits in Irish homes; kmchomes.ie
• @kierankmc has more home-building tips, information, and Q&A advice;
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