A Home Owner’s Guide to Buying Materials on a Budget

Owning a home is everyone’s dream, whether you are buying or building it yourself. However, due to the high land rates and scarcity of affordable materials, many homeowners prefer to build their own houses slowly after taking a loan or accumulating enough savings. Prospective homeowners also prefer to build their own houses because you can choose a design of your preference, one that you are more comfortable with. Luckily, building a house can be cheap depending on the materials you decide to use and the materials market. Below is a simple home owner’s guide to buying materials on a budget to get you started on your journey

1. Adopt simple house designs

Before building, you must first choose a house design. The design usually depends on a couple of factors like the plot you’ve picked. You should therefore pick simple and cheap designs since they are cheap. If a design is complex it will be more costly. The corners of the house on a minimum to avoid consuming too much material

Roofing designs are also important. Steep roofs require a lot of material and will end up costing more in the long run. Avoid changing your design while construction is in progress to achieve your targeted limit.

2. Consider modern building materials

Traditional building materials like brick and mortars require intense labour and skills to use which makes them quite costly. New technology such as EPS panels has come up in a bid to reduce the cost of building materials and the labour that goes into using them. The time it takes to use them is also reduced

3. Work with professionals

Many people have ended up spending more to fix errors made by constructors that aren’t professionals. They appear cheap and use materials that are not long lasting. Some of these foremen even work with conmen to supply shoddy materials which end up spoiling in a year or less

4. Buy Materials Yourself

Avoid middle men when it comes to buying materials. If you can, do the purchases yourself instead of sending for them. Some foremen could buy substandard materials that are cheap yet they don’t last, all in the name of saving some money

5. Recycle materials

Every material used counts and adds to the cost of construction. If possible you can recycle some of the tools used by foremen to cut costs. Bricks can also be recycled if they are the material you’re using for your construction and the cost less than freshly made bricks.

6. Build an energy efficient house

Energy efficient houses are becoming trendy. This is because they are not as costly and also they assist in environmental conservation. There are several ways to make your home energy efficient. You can install better insulation, use high efficiency windows or use solar energy to run your home

7. Put water usage areas close to each other

Water usage areas like bathrooms and kitchens will cost you less in plumbing if you keep them close to each other. You can either place them horizontally or vertically depending on your preference

8. Avoid expensive finishes

If you’re working with a limited budget it is safe to avoid fancy finishings. Some people go for designs they’ve seen online or in their friends’ houses. However, you can focus on installing floors and countertops later on, even when you are already living in the house

9. Use unconventional building materials

Unconventional materials are a cheap way to own a home. Many people are adopting the use of reclaimed storage containers to build a home for themselves. You can also use materials like bamboo, wood, or even iron sheets as long as you pick a great design for your home

Whether you are trying to build a unique home or a simple one, there are several affordable materials and options to get you started on your dream.

 

Originally posted 2021-12-07 00:09:26.