You’ve lived in your current house for a while and the time has come when you want a little more space, a larger garden or somewhere away from the hustle and bustle of suburbia. Unfortunately for many, rising house prices have made it very difficult to move to a bigger house and so two main options remain: extend your existing property or build your new home from scratch. So, if you’re thinking of challenging yourself and embarking on a DIY building project, what do you need to know?

Plan your finances

Whether you’re building a single storey extension or a four bedroomed house, you’ll need to make sure you have enough money to see the project through to the end. You may have to borrow money, so make sure you can afford the interest payments in addition to any fees you may have to pay. For larger projects, you’ll need to include planning permission fees, architect’s costs and even buying land when you prepare your budget. It’s important to know exactly how much you can afford to spend before you start, to avoid the project grinding to a halt before completion because of lack of funds.

Use the right tools and materials

You can’t put up a building with the contents of your toolbox. You’ll need specialist materials and tools in order to do a good job. Talk to your local builder, or building supplies merchant to find out what you need. You can hire equipment at reasonable prices, so there’s no reason to take shortcuts. You’ll also need to research the right materials for each part of your DIY building work, estimate how much you will need of everything and make sure that you place your order in good time so that the progress of your project isn’t slowed down by late deliveries.

Take safety seriously

A building site is a dangerous place. Professional builders know how to manage a site but if you’re a virgin builder, you’ll need to make sure that you know what is expected of you as far as your DIY building site safety is concerned. This is particularly important if you are using contractors to do some of the work for you, and if you have other people visiting your site, such as building inspectors or utility suppliers. Do some research before you start and don’t be afraid to impose safety rules on others who come to your site.

Keep control

It may sound obvious, but it’s easy to let a project slip away from you once it’s started. Make a detailed plan of the work that needs to be done and the order it needs to be done in, so that you can create a realistic schedule. Keeping to this schedule, both in terms of time and money, will help your DIY building project to run smoothly. If you feel things aren’t staying within your control, it may be worthwhile handing the project over to a building contractor who can finish the job for you.

Ask for help

If you’ve never taken on a project of this type before, it’s only natural that you’ll come across things that confuse or puzzle you. When this happens, take some advice from the professionals. Building inspectors and building surveyors are good sources of information and there’s now a wide range of internet DIY building resources that can help. Don’t tackle a job until you’re sure you know what you’re doing.

The first step in your project is to hire the right builder. Use www.findalocal-builder.co.uk to get a list of builders in your area, and then look at our other advice articles to see how to make sure you choose the best builder for you.