Having started out as a Quantity Surveyor who then progressed into a Project Management role with one of Irelands largest housing developers, I was always well up to speed with current building trends and products at any given time. Often forgetting that, what I sometimes consider as common knowledge, could be very useful information to non experienced self builders and house builders, I decided to share that information through HouseBuilder.ie.
The Initial Thought
Like many people I had an ambition to self build my own home. Again, like many people, I wanted to have a huge dream home with the trendiest insulation methods, heating systems, state of the art kitchen etc., and again , like many people, my dreams had to be cut back to fit my budget. So as part of this process I began looking at the various construction methods, materials etc. and immediately found there was limited resources for such information online. More so information relative to Ireland and UK. I thought to myself, “If I as someone involved in this industry is finding it hard to get information, someone with no house building knowledge must really struggle here”. And for this very reason I decided I would develop a website to provide self builders and house builders throughout the UK and Ireland of the different options etc. available to them when building a house.
Over the years I have attended many self build shows and exhibitions, which are very informative, and each time I came home with a bag of brochures I rarely looked at again. Although there are lots of items on display etc., I have some reluctance to rely on information being provided at such shows. We must remember the people with stalls at self build shows, ideal home shows etc. are trying to sell their products. These guys are sales driven, and for this reason will always tell you their product is the best to use. When you hear this from twenty different pitches you leave even more confused than when you went in. So this is another reason why I thought an online presence providing honest and accurate information, without trying to pitch or sell any product, could be a very useful source for home builders and self house builders alike.
A House Building Resource for Everyone
Another part of the criteria for HouseBuilder.ie is to provide a useful resource for everyone, and for this very reason my descriptions may seem extremely basic for people with construction knowledge. I often forget that many people do not work in the construction industry. For example:
I was once horrified when a friend did not know the insulation thickness used in the cavity walls and roof of his house?? He responded with “I have no idea, the builder took care of all of this”. I couldn’t believe it, but after some thought I realised the ignorance was on my end. I thought to myself….he is a computer programmer….if he began asking me about the inside of my computer, I would have no idea, I just bought it from the shop. So if he knows as much about building a house as I know about the inside of a computer, I will need to keep the information very basic!!
The Ultimate Goal
I do not expect everyone to become house building experts through HouseBuilder.ie, nor do they need to be. However, I do suggest people educate themselves a little on certain aspects of their build. For example: Going back to my friend with the insulation. He awarded the contract for building his house to the cheapest builder. Considering he did not check the specification being provided, the next builder who was €4k higher for the complete build, may have been providing much thicker insulation. On the other hand,, he may not, but having the knowledge to check this would uncover the unknown. Therefore, I would advise people to gain some basic knowledge through HouseBuilder.ie. This will allow you to compare costs more accurately, and establish the best value for money.
Lastly, I hope you find HouseBuilder.ie informative and easy to understand. We do not claim to be experts in anything so if you would like to counteract any information or ask for more details on anything, please contact us.
We will try to keep the information on HouseBuilder.ie up-to-date and accurate at all times.
Regards