The interior design tips and pitfalls to avoid as shared by Stephen Blakely of Blakely Interiors, including how to prevent mistakes and how to make your house flow while keeping practicality in mind.

Topics include access, natural and artificial lighting, kitchens, colour and more with real life examples.

Excerpts from his presentation at Selfbuild Extend & Renovate Ulster.

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Quantity surveyor Keith Kelliher asks the experts to guide you through your project. The panel consists of Health & Safety advisor Helena Ryan of Cooga Safety Services, financial advisor Rachel Uí Bhaoill of SPREAG, serial self-builder Julie Burke of Dampmaster and Joe McBride of Walk Your Plans.

He looks at ways to save on your house build that most people don’t factor in, from your health and safety obligations to learning from the mistakes of serial self-builders.

This episode was recorded at Selfbuild Extend & Renovate Live Leinster 2026.

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Martin Markey, CEO with the Hardware Association Ireland, chats about the findings in the HAI's latest survey on on-off housing, The Potential For Rural Family Homes - A Survey Review, including:

• Housing need or locals only rules being the main reason there aren’t more one-off homes being built in Ireland
• Potential to double the amount of homes built and the huge demand behind it
• What will happen if we don't build more one-off homes: emigration a big issue at the moment as is social capital unravelling in rural areas
• Need for one-off housing as part of a mix of solutions in context of population growth
• Cost of building not as big a driver of whether or someone will build a house
•  Building regulations and lack of guidance mostly an issue for architects
• Volume and price increases for builder’s merchant sector
• Costs coming down the line due to new regulations including ones on timber, steel and Repak

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In this 2026 build cost overview for Ireland, quantity surveyor Keith Kelliher looks at labour and material costs, and where they’re heading. Including:

·      Labour costs: what the going rates are for trades

·      Material costs: where they are and where they’re heading

·      Direct labour vs hiring main contractor: pros and cons

·      Should you wait to build?

·      Reasons to shop around

·      Warnings around site-related costs

·      How to make savings

This episode was recorded at Selfbuild Extend & Renovate Live Leinster 2026 in February 2026.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• Why young people in the Gaeltacht aren't able to build on their own land
• The loss of the Irish language due to young people not being able to afford to live locally
• Reasons for planning permission refusals, from housing need to a lack of wastewater infrastructure
• Solutions to the housing problem in the Gaeltacht and what needs to change to make them happen
• Ready to Build scheme: how to get serviced sites to the Gaeltacht
• What needs to change to make it easier for people to live in the Gaeltacht
• The need for one-off housing and how to make it work in rural areas
• The role that Údarás na Gaeltachta will need to play to make it all happen

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Quantity surveyor (QS) Keith Kelliher chats about what a cost plan is and how a quantity surveyor can save you money:

·      What is a cost plan and when do you need one, how much does it cost

·      How a QS helps with the tender process

·      What is a bill of quantities with examples, how much does it cost

·      What does a QS do and how they save money

·      Cost-design pendulum

·      Different VAT rates: what to know about them

·      How much does a QS cost to oversee a project?

·      What to check for before hiring a QS

This episode was recorded at Selfbuild Extend & Renovate Live Leinster 2026

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Keith Kelliher chats through the cost components of your driveway, gates and other groundwork you may forget about, including:

• Comparing different driveway finishes and how much they cost, from chippings to resin
• Mix and match options, practical considerations
• Kerbing options, what to consider
• Paving and patio considerations
• Drainage options
• Gates: what to consider and costings
• Lighting considerations
• Lawns and other landscaping
• What the planning authority might require
• Boundaries and walls
• What's new and adding to the cost, from fire pits to outdoor kitchens
• Retaining walls and live walls
• Where do the bins go?

This episode was recorded at Selfbuild Extend & Renovate Live Ulster 2025.

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Where are material costs heading into 2026? Quantity surveyor Keith Kelliher takes stock of the overall material cost picture at the end of 2025:

·      Reasons for higher costs in Ireland than rest of the world

·      Are prices still increasing and where are they heading?

·      Steel, concrete, timber, insulation outlook: how to factor prices into your design

·      What’s the story with timber?

·      Electrics and plumbing supplies

·      In which months can you expect price increases from suppliers every year

·      Why are materials costing a quarter more on average than in 2021

·      Overview of price and tender surveys

·      Risks and concerns for 2026

·      How to mitigate against high costs as a self-builder

This episode was recorded at Selfbuild Extend & Renovate Live Ulster 2025 in November.

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Quantity surveyor Keith Kelliher’s step by step guide to extending or building a new home in Ireland today including percentage share for each element of building your house with top tips, including:

• Site costs, pre-construction
• House survey for extensions/renovations
• Professionals you'll need to hire
• Costs relating to fees and taxes
• Curveball costs pre-construction
• Benefits of hiring a QS
• Costs of appointing a builder
• Prelims: what they are
• How the build is broken down in terms of cost elements
• Most common finishes with examples of cost ranges and where to make savings
• Where the budget gets busted
• Is it cheaper to get supplies from NI?
• Where you'll need to invest after the house is built

This episode was recorded at Selfbuild Extend & Renovate Live Ulster 2025.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cathal Keane of Graf and John Brennan of Molloy chat about on-site wastewater treatment system costs and rainwater harvesting tanks:

·      Retrofit of wastewater systems: upgrade cost examples

·      What determines the cost of the system

·      New build cost of systems, how much space you need

·      What is a percolation test and what’s involved

·      Wastewater tank installation process

·      Tank types and pros and cons

·      Rainwater harvesting tanks: benefits and system sizing

·      Rainwater harvesting tank costs

·      Maintenance on both wastewater and rainwater systems

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