More and more people are choosing to build their own home. Are you fed up of searching for properties, or have you got a vision you want to bring to life? If so, designing and building your own home could be the perfect option. Taking on a building project isn’t easy, and there may be times when everything isn’t plain sailing. Here are some tips to help you reduce costs and prevent unexpected delays.

Focus on the planning process

Planning is essential for a successful build. If you haven’t planned properly, you’re much more likely to encounter issues once the build is underway. It’s never as simple as buying a piece of land and then drawing up some proposals. You’ll have to liaise with architects, building firms and planning officers to make sure your dream home is a viable reality. Don’t cut corners at the planning stage, even if you think it will save you money. If things go wrong later on, it could end up costing you a lot more.

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Stick to a budget

Budgeting is incredibly important when you’re managing a home build. Before you even start thinking about colors or styles, work out exactly how much the project will cost. Factor in building costs, the cost of the land, and decoration and interior design. You’ll also need to add wages and extras, such as fork lifts hire. When you’ve got a budget in mind, you’ll have a good idea where your money is going, and what you have available as a contingency.

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Put in the hours

Most people don’t have expert building skills, but they can navigate their way around basic tools and simple jobs without any issues. If you’re looking to reduce spending and save time, do some work yourself. You can get involved in clearing debris from the site, laboring and helping out around the site. A couple of hours a few days a week could make a massive difference over a prolonged period.

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Decide on a contractor

If you’re going to employ a contractor, make sure they have a good reputation, and you trust them to do a good job. If you’re going to manage the project, ensure you have time available to give it the attention it requires. As the main contractor, you are responsible for making all the important decisions. If you’re not confident in your management skills, or you have a full-time job, you may be better taking on a contractor.

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Be realistic about your timeframe

Building a house isn’t as simple as laying foundations and putting up walls. It requires diligent planning and complex building processes. When you start, make sure you have realistic expectations of how long the project will take. Sit down with the parties involved and discuss the individual stages in detail. Plan each step, and this will help to prevent delays and ensure the process runs smoothly.

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Managing a home build is not a piece of cake. But there are ways of bringing your dream home to life on time and within budget. Pay attention to planning, and make sure every eventuality is covered. Recruit professionals with excellent reputations, and don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Good luck!

One of the important materials in creating concrete walls, houses, roads and more is cement, a substance that sets and hardens independently and can bind the materials together. As we are building  a concrete house we need cements in every part of the house,  the work cannot be done continuously  so when we have extra funds we buy materials like cement bit by bit.

We have to keep the cement in a safe place to avoid moisture, that can begin drying and hardening. Once the cement went on this process it won’t be as effective binder or worse it is going to be useless that’s why if you have noticed a sack of cement is lined up  with a plastic sheet to keep the moisture out.

The pouring of cement to complete the construction of the concrete roof our house was done yesterday. My parents rented a cement mixer for ₱1,500 and hired more people to make the work easier,  according to my mother about 19 people help for completion of the slab I  am not sure yet if they paid all of them or other just help in return of free food, snacks and drinks including booze after the job.

My mother informed me they cook chicken soup in the morning, pancit for snacks and monggo beans with meat for lunch, the event was like a small fiesta and probably the male neighbors that extend their help on pouring the cement will be more happy if they received Davidoff cigars aside from free booze.

Anyway renting a mixer is convenient rather than manually mixing the cement,  it will save more days and money.

Finally the construction of our house was started few days ago, they started it after a ground breaking prayer or what they called ground breaking ceremony when building big establishments where the Mayor of the town is invited, this is to bless the land and probably the home owners.

As what I have read Groundbreaking is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Like what I have mentioned about this ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and businessmen. The actual shovel or spade used during the actual groundbreaking is often a special ceremonial shovel meant to be saved for subsequent display and commemorative information may be subsequently engraved on the shovel.