Affordable Home Construction in Canada: Cost-Saving Strategies

You can build a cheap home in Canada.

Building a home is made costly by building materials, hiring building experts and the architect and shipping materials from far-off locations. In Canada however, cheaper options are available to home builders. They include using cheaper building materials like wood; hiring a minimum, requisite number of construction specialists; and purchasing local building materials. You can also defray the cost of labor by being one of the people providing the labor from the beginning to the completion of the home.

Step 1

Open a revolving line of equity. This is like a second mortgage but has a credit limit and and low interest rates. Use your funds for whatever purpose regardless of your employment or credit worthiness. Alternatively, build some savings over a reasonable period to finance construction.

Step 2

Collect as much information about the type of house you would like to build from magazines, the Internet and building experts. You could purchase a simple wood house plan, for instance, or hire a fair-priced expert who will double as the architect and contractor. Even though you can learn a lot about building a house on your own, you will need specifications for the types of materials, suitability of the location and there a few precautions you need to observe.

Step 3

Excavate the site. Instead of hiring expensive excavators, you can use hand labor to clear out stumps, level the ground and prepare the surface for the foundation. If the terrain is rocky or very uneven, you may need at least one excavator to get the job done.

Step 4

Construct a permanent wood foundation. Wood is readily available and doesn't require shipping. These foundations are cheaper than concrete while withstanding humidity, snow frost and water logging just as well as concrete slabs.

Step 5

Lay the foundation and build the floor. The floor is cheaper when hardwood planks are cut into identical design pieces and fitted into each other till the whole floor is done. The surface can then be polished for a shiny finish.

Step 6

Build the walls, lay the wall sheathings and erect roof trusses. Wooden planks for the walls, frames and beams can be fastened together on the ground before being nailed into the supporting frames or just nailed straight to the beams each piece at a time. Spaces for ventilation and windows must be measured out carefully to fit the frames according to the house design.

Step 7

Erect the roofing, exterior and interior finishing and furnish the house. Tin sheets are a cheaper and effective way of roofing. An accompanying ceiling will cut out the noise and heat from the roof. Use a preservative coating and polish to finish off all wooden surfaces and furnish the house to your budget's allowance and taste.