---
title: Free Self Build Guide and Tools | Self Build Mentor
description: "Free self build guide and tools from Chartered Architect Allan Corfield: the 12-stage guide, a cost calculator, a brief creator and a timeline planner."
---
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# Your free self build resources
### What you get
**Self Build In Twelve Stages.** What happens at each stage, the mistake that costs most, and the piece of paper that proves you have finished it.
**The Self Build Cost Calculator.** A real number for your build, not a range wide enough to be useless. It includes the costs most people leave out.
**The Renovation Cost Calculator.** Four refurbishment bands priced by a quantity surveyor, so you know the right order of cost before you buy or start work on an existing house.
**The Extension Cost Calculator.** Single and two storey extensions, over-garage builds and loft conversions, with fees and your VAT position included.
**The Architect Brief Creator.** Eight sets of questions, and at the end you have a written brief you can send to a designer.
**The Build Timeline Planner.** Put in the date you want to start on site and see what has to happen, and when, to get there.
## Self Build Strategy Session
A one-off 60 minutes with Allan on Zoom, on your own project. Plot or house review, budget realism, design, planning, procurement, the team you need, or a build that has already started going wrong.
You get the recording, a transcript, and a written summary setting out your biggest risks, the actions to take and your immediate next steps.
[Book a Strategy Session](https://calendly.com/allan-selfbuildmentor/self-build-strategy-session)
Free tools and a plain-English guide for anyone planning a self build, renovation or extension. Enter your details and you get all of it straight away.
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