Self build homes in West Cork

Euro Concrete prices a self build on the size and design of the house, the site and its foundations, the specification, and whether we build the complete house or stop at the shell. Send the planning drawings or ring Sean on 086 881 9848, and we will price the stage you choose.

Size and shape set the foundations, walls and roof, and a plain plan with a simple roof costs less to build than one with many corners and levels. The site matters: rock, a slope or soft ground change the groundworks, and a rural site can need its own wastewater treatment system and water supply. Windows, heating, insulation and finishes decide much of the cost of a finished house. Taking the house at the shell stage and finishing it with your own trades changes what you pay us. Your quantity surveyor or engineer can cost the drawings independently, and we price from the same set, so the figures are easy to compare.

The stages of building a house in Ireland are design and planning permission, a commencement notice to building control, site works and foundations, the floor slab, walls and roof to a weathertight shell, first fix services, plastering, second fix and finishing. Euro Concrete can take on every stage, or stop once the shell is weathertight.

Planning comes first. Building control has to be notified before work starts, and your local council can confirm what that involves and how much notice it needs. Next the site is cleared and pegged out, the trenches dug and the footings poured, and the walls built to floor level before the ducts, the insulation and the slab go in. The walls and roof take the house to the shell stage, weathertight with windows and doors in. Inside come first fix, plastering or boarding, second fix and the finishes.

A shell build takes a house from the foundations to a weathertight structure: the foundations and floor slab, the external walls, the roof structure and covering, and, where agreed, the windows and external doors. Euro Concrete builds to the shell stage for self-builders who finish the inside with their own trades.

What counts as the shell is set in the agreement, so write it down: whether it includes the chimney, the internal block walls, the upstairs floor, the rainwater goods, scaffolding and site clean-up. A wind and watertight shell means the roof covered and the openings closed, so the inside stays dry while the next trades work. What remains is the internal work: plumbing, electrics, heating, insulation and plastering, flooring, the kitchen and bathrooms, and decoration. Handing over at the shell lets you pick your own trades and spread the cost, but it also puts the coordination of the rest of the build on you. We can carry on past the shell if you change your mind.

A self build house on its own site needs full planning permission in Ireland, whatever its size. The exemptions cover smaller work around an existing house, such as extensions, garages and sheds, each within set limits. Euro Concrete builds to your permission, and your local council can say what is exempt.

Around an existing house, each exemption sets limits on floor area, height and position, and comes with conditions of its own. There is also an exemption for a small detached home in the back garden of some houses, with strict conditions on how it is used, what it connects to and when it is built. These rules have been amended in the past and may be again, so check the current position with the council before planning around one. On a greenfield site, the planning permission sets the size, and we build to it and its conditions.

The cheapest way to build a house in Ireland is a simple plan on a straightforward site: a compact footprint, a plain pitched roof, standard window sizes, and a specification fixed before work starts. Euro Concrete builds to your drawings and can take the house to the shell stage, so you finish it with your own trades.

A compact rectangle with a plain roof needs less foundation, wall and roof for each square metre of floor than an L-shape or a design with dormers and valleys. A site with firm ground, easy access and services close by keeps the groundworks and connection costs down, which is worth weighing before you buy it. Changes after work has started cost the most, because finished work has to be altered, so settle the design and specification with your architect first. Taking the shell stage from a builder and managing the finishing trades yourself can reduce the total, if you have the time to run it.

Euro Concrete Services builds self build homes in West Cork, working out of Skibbereen, on sites out to Leap, Glandore, Drinagh, Drimoleague and Bantry. Ring Sean on 086 881 9848 with the site location, the planning reference or drawings, and whether you want the shell or the whole house.

A house takes months to build, so staying within reach of our base keeps the crew and the machines on your site through every stage. If the site is on farmland with a long lane or no services yet, tell us about the access and the water and wastewater plans when you ring. Send the planning drawings and the site map, and say whether the foundation design and the house drawings are finished, since that decides how soon a full price can be given and when the groundworks can start.