• Do some work yourself:

There are going to be many of the aspects of construction that should be left strictly to the professional. However, there are some jobs you should consider doing yourself, and by doing them yourself you will save a lot of money.

Even though the savings may seem small at first, they add up fast, especially if you are saving several hundred dollars in labor each week and it takes 7 or 8 months or more to build your house. The question that must be answered then is, which jobs should you consider doing yourself? And, which jobs should be left to the Pros?

Jobs you can probably do yourself include:

• Painting, sanding, and filling, these don't take much know how, rather they just take time and man power.


• Wallpaper, just be sure that you don't leave big bubbles, and that you align the pattern and you can have fun putting your own wallpaper up.


• Install door and light fixtures, it only takes a few tools, and they come with instructions.


• Install mailbox, why pay someone else to do this, it is a simple task.


• Light landscaping, landscaping can add up fast, so if you can pull your own weeds, and maybe even plant some of your own plants, etc you could save a bundle.


• Cleanup, while it is nice to have someone else clean up after your messes, it is also expensive, you can save several hundred dollars just by cleaning up your own construction mess.


• Organize materials and put them near where they will be used, for example, if you have someone putting in a stone fireplace, put the stones near the location it will be built so you aren't paying someone for the time it takes them to lug each individual stone into the room.

• Framing


• Masonry


• Electrical


• Plumbing


• HVAC


• Roofing


• Cabinetwork


• Etc. There are a lot of other items not included in this list, although these are the big ones, think of it this way, this is costly as it is, and you don't want to pay for a mistake that can be avoided by letting a pro do the work.

• Buy prefabricated items:

When you build a house one of your big expenses is labor. So, if you can buy things that are already put together you will save in that area. Many items can be purchased as a prefabricated item, and cost less than all the individual parts you would need to get the same product, and you also save you the cost of labor required to put it together if it wasn't prefabricated. So, it is usually a good idea to buy prefabricated if you can. A good example of this is a fireplace, or a one-piece fiberglass shower and tub enclosure.

If you are going to be using these prefabricated items to save money, you want to make sure the sub knows that you are using them so they can take it into consideration in their bid. It would cost a lot more to have a sub individually tile a shower wall than it will to have them install a prefabricated shower tub unit, but if all you say is put in the shower, they might think, and therefore charge you for putting a whole shower together.

Pre-finished wood moldings are a great way to save money. The wood is stained and painted prior to delivery to the job sight, you might have to do some touch up, but for the most part you just install it. This means no staining, painting and waiting, so you save on labor.

• Downgrade some things:

In home building we usually only think about upgrading, Who, if anyone considers downgrading? It just doesn't sound sensical. However, there are some areas where certain items can make a major impact on cost reduction without changing the appearance of your house much. For example, using prefabricated doors and windows rather than custom doors and windows is going to save you a lot, and make very little difference on the visual impact of the house. Another example is with trim, consider how you are going to use it, if you are going to stain it you will need a really high quality grade. However, if you are going to paint it, you can use a lesser grade that costs less, and serves the same purpose, because it is painted no one will see the imperfections. Even with the added painting costs, it ends up being less expensive, especially if you do the painting yourself rather than higher someone else to.