Self builders

27col

Just as a matter of curiosity, how many self builders are there on this forum. If you are, or were.
1)Would you do it again?
2)Did you enjoy it?
3)Would you encourage others to do it?

I have done two self builds and the answers are:
1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Yes

leveller2911

Would love to do a self build but land down here is now 50% of the total cost now where it use to be 33%. Interested to know what percentage the land was compared to overal costs on your SB 27col?

jennifernil

We built our present house in 1987/88.

We would love to do it again.....want a bungalow for our dotage. Land really hard to find now, so doubt we will be able to build again.

Really enjoyed it, even the hassles. Only way to get what you want. We designed our own house.

Would recommend to others, but ONLY if they have some knowledge of the process and really know what they want. We have a neighbour who hasn't a clue, and her build did not go well.

POPPYOSCAR

No would not do it again.

It was nothing but hassle from beginning to end.

Architect and builder stood on the foundations arguing with each other. Builder kept trying to charge extra for this that and the other. Materials we had bought went missing. Thought young lad had killed himself when we saw him fall backwards off a ladder(thankfully he was ok).Amongst other things.


To top it all off the day we moved in a tree fell down right across the drive.

leveller2911

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

No would not do it again.

It was nothing but hassle from beginning to end.

Architect and builder stood on the foundations arguing with each other. Builder kept trying to charge extra for this that and the other. Materials we had bought went missing. Thought young lad had killed himself when we saw him fall backwards off a ladder(thankfully he was ok).Amongst other things.


To top it all off the day we moved in a tree fell down right across the drive.

Yeah but apart from that it all went well?

diable

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

No would not do it again.

It was nothing but hassle from beginning to end.

Architect and builder stood on the foundations arguing with each other. Builder kept trying to charge extra for this that and the other. Materials we had bought went missing. Thought young lad had killed himself when we saw him fall backwards off a ladder(thankfully he was ok).Amongst other things.


To top it all off the day we moved in a tree fell down right across the drive.

Turn the story in to a film it sounds like a bit of a comedy ;o))

POPPYOSCAR

leveller2911 wrote: »

Yeah but apart from that it all went well?

..........not to mention the fact that the heating stopped working just after we moved in, and we found a telephone point but no wires going to it, all the floorboards made the most horrendous noises when ever the heating/hot water was on etc etc etc I could go on..........

But the house was built and we do live in it and it is still standing so yes it went well from that point of view!!!!!!

My nerves just could not stand doing it all again.

If you do it be prepared that things may go wrong.

POPPYOSCAR

diable wrote: »

Turn the story in to a film it sounds like a bit of a comedy ;o))

I suppose when you look at it like that it seems that way. But it was very stressful at the time especially when the young lad fell off the ladder.

Once when the builder was jumping up and down about something my OH told him to keep his hair on(he was wearing a toupee at the time)
I was mortified.

diable

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

I suppose when you look at it like that it seems that way. But it was very stressful at the time especially when the young lad fell off the ladder.

Once when the builder was jumping up and down about something my OH told him to keep his hair on(he was wearing a toupee at the time)
I was mortified.

Ha Ha Ha ...........

POPPYOSCAR

andrew-b wrote: »

That's the thing though anything DIY/house related is never without problems..things go wrong and urm to some degree it comes down to choices you make..whether it's choice of tradesmen (and chasing references for them) or materials or just your management skills in drawing up snag lists and getting them addressed. So when things go wrong ultimately somewhere it comes back on yourself. So i'd expect stress ...but surely the end result is what makes it worthwhile?

Most tradepersons (like the rest of us) are intrinsically lazy and do the bare minimum they can get away with...give an inch they'll take a mile. Not sure i'd have wanted to start out in DIY on a self-build though i think you really need to have prior experience to know what your in for! Did you have much previous experience poppyoscar? One thing i've noticed is many of those who self-build seem to have jobs involved in the building trade..like electricians, builders, surveyors (like my dad whose been tempted to self-build for years but never put it into action...but he had colleagues who did) ...all the sort of people that know a bit about how the building game works.

I bet poppyoscar if you did it again you would have learnt from mistakes and be more picky about the tradesmen you employ. Sounds like you underestimated the stress you'd endure.

We had an architect and a firm of builders so we did not do any of the employing of the tradesmen and did nothing of the building ourselves other than buying in the bathrooms, kitchen, staircase and coving ourselves.

Our mistake was the building firm we used( although we cannot fault the brickwork and carpentry) but without personal recommendation how does anyone know how a builders will turn out?

Our architect was brilliant and he fought many a battle with the builders on our behalf.

Yes I certainly did underestimate the stress, although it started from the minute we had our offer accepted on the land, due to the estate agent playing games and trying to frighten us into selling the contract on even after we had exchanged.

We have ended up with a property that we could not have afforded to buy already built so in that sense it has worked out and glad we did it but would not do it again.

Do things differently? No not really, none of the problems were of our making as far as I can see except for the choice of builders but we had no idea they would be so difficult at times.

Could not stop young lad falling off ladder or tree falling down across the drive these things just happen don't they!!

jennifernil

My OH is a civil engineer, and a very competant DIYer, so we knew pretty much what we were doing.

We bought the plot, designed the house (it is quite unique) and got quotes from timber frame companies for most of the build, but we did do quite a lot ourselves. And we supervised closely, otherwise it would not have turned out as we wished.

We chose everything....bricks, tiles, windows, doors, finishes, bathrooms, kitchens.

We fitted the kitchens ourselves (granny flat), utility room, TV and telephone wiring, made and fitted bathroom units, plumber did the bath, toilet etc..

We fitted all the lights, did all the tiling, finished the decorating, block paved the driveway, laid all the slabs and totally landscaped the garden.

While the building was going on, we rented a house. Money was tight with rent, furniture storage and then mortgage, but if you know what you want, stick to it, and don't put up with nonsense, it is not too stressful.