House Self-Build

[Bossfarmer]

No, it's not, sadly.

surely theres no need for a builder/manager to do a tf? you get a groundswork team to do the founds etc then your tf supplier puts up the frame to wind/watertight and then you organise the roofer, plumbers, sparkie and joiners to do their own bits?

 

[Hampton]

surely theres no need for a builder/manager to do a tf? you get a groundswork team to do the founds etc then your tf supplier puts up the frame to wind/watertight and then you organise the roofer, plumbers, sparkie and joiners to do their own bits?

In theory, yes.
In practice, wait for the bollokings to roll in when you can’t get them to come at the right times.

 

[steveR]

Though Estimates can change but Quotes can't, in Law ???

One deviation from Plans and BANG.... costs change and never to your advantage!

Verbal agreements are u/s when dealing with many Tradesmen, get it in writing...

 

[Mur Huwcun]

Wifey spends a lot of time on pinterest, it's a very real concern!! As soon as she sees something that she likes then I get the "What if we.."

Thanks for the solid advice too,
Defiantly going to put in the cat 6, but really have to think about were all the possible media points could be, I'm really interesting in putting the sky box, xbox etc under the stairs and then it is wired to each room

Run all your cat 6 to one place where you can get sky, broadbansnetc in easily. Run a few into the loft etc and leave them there aswell, if you’r dry lining or having a few stud walls you can leave them behind plasterboards aswell and just make a detailed map of where they are, you might aswell buy a 100 or 200m roll!!! Stick an outlet and tv connection in each corner of lounge unless you’re perfectly sure of your layout. Also consider small things like where you want floor lamps and get connections for them to work off your wall light switch etc

 

[steveR]

Run all your cat 6 to one place where you can get sky, broadbansnetc in easily. Run a few into the loft etc and leave them there aswell, if you’r dry lining or having a few stud walls you can leave them behind plasterboards aswell and just make a detailed map of where they are, you might aswell buy a 100 or 200m roll!!! Stick an outlet and tv connection in each corner of lounge unless you’re perfectly sure of your layout. Also conside small things like where you want floor lamps and get connections for them to work off your wall light switch etc

Really pleased that I wired (in my case) Cat 5 into every room. Forget that rubbish about BT wifi etc... Nothing beats a hardwired connection to a room from the Router, no interference, no loss in performance... Put in a wifi hotspot in the room if its wanted for portable kit.

 

[Charolais cattle]

I self build,, and still reckon a good builder is key to the hold job,, unbelievable how bad sum builder's are,,, mate house was 9" of the square,, which left roof awkward,, even fitting the kitchen had problems,, quoted by contractors,, lowest at time was 85k builder's finished,, to 102k,, self build for 75k and got back 15k in vat,, but my 75k included kitchen,, aga cooker,, bathroom, tiles ,, ensuite,, 5 rooms with wooden floors,, ,, would I do it again,, yes,, be prepared to be told lots of lies,, by sub contractors,, coming morrow,, means,, see u next week if your lucky,,, go for it,, and best of luck,, keep cool head, (this was 18 years ago)

 

[Davy]

I saved about 50k managing it myself, a 2500sqft bungalow. That's compared to a builders quote I had. I work on farm, and there was quite a bit of time spent on it. There's a lot of work to do it between trades, getting ready for the next one. No matter how well you think you've ordered, a joiner will ring you saying he needs such and such. My experience was a good one, the tradesmen all came recommended, turned up when they said they would and done a great job. If its your first build, it's a steep learning curve and a good tradesman can advise you the best course of action, and keep you right on building regulations. We did all groundworks, drainage and sub floor work. Starting a house for the parents once planning comes through, and will do the same again.

 

[Speedstar]

Have many on here build their own house?

We are hopefully going to break ground this march on our self build project after 3 years of hassle but we are at the final hurdle now.

I always had this dream of me project managing the build as I have a real interest in doing so and factor in the cost savings etc.

But due to work commitments and a serve lack of available time, I cannot discount the value in giving a builder a 20-30% margin and let them at it.

Questions for the Self Builders,
1)Was it really as much hassle as everybody says it is to self project manage? (If I ask any self builders I know, the answer always is "Never Again")
2)How much time approx did it take up?
3)Did you actually save any money self project managing including adding in your own time and lost earnings?
4)Did you enjoy it?
5)If I get a builder to carry out a start to finish project, will I not have the horror stories to tell every other new self builder?

we are on building a one at the moment first thing you need to ask your self is are you building a house or a home, I this will have big input on what it all costs, we have builder & trades doing all our work , we did the ground works etc all in house,, there is no way I could build it all my self I have no spare time for this & the time it takes to build it is all so some thing to take in to account, as for project managing it , you could spend hours on the phone price , wood or bricks etc & maybe if you are luck save a couple of pounds , get a quote from the trades , do a deal with them & if things keep going up the way they are now you will be a lot better off , from when we started our one at a fixed price to do the work things have gone up by over 30% , if it was on a self build base, we would now be out of pocket

 

[top char]

I knocked down old farmhouse myself and leveled site ready for builder. Told the architect to begin with what the house max budget could be, and when he found out i was doing a lot myself (joiner to trade in the past) he added on bits and made it that bit better, it is a long term family home we are building. I've priced all the different trades and made decisions on what i can and cant do myself, but before the cows came in i made the panels for the whole house on my own in one of the sheds back in September, so its been a big saving doing that for a start.
Its a nightmare comparing quotes, nothing is worded identical and you have to be careful what they are including or not. I picked local builders who i worked alongside in the past and know i can trust, luckily there quote was the cheapest of 3 i priced. They had holidays at Christmas time so it let me get on with putting in the drains before they came back and poured the floor.
Not having enough hours in the day due to my full time job, plus cows to feed the now, I have got a friend that's a self employed joiner helping me get it to watertight stage and also another joiner i worked with in the past. Both grafters and really particular, so not grudging any of their hourly rate. We started putting locating plate down on Friday, panels up on Saturday, everything's been straightened and braced the last couple days along with load bearing partitions inside up and all other small bits. Hoping to get trusses all up tomorrow, but it takes time to brace and mark everything out properly etc. Joiner made a point of telling the builder there foundation blocks for the kit was 5mm off the square!
I've been buying more materials, scary how they have jumped 17-30% since September, and i'm not looking forward to buying everything else i still need.
There's any amount of stress and phone calls, pricing, sussing things out, heads exploding with thoughts some days and i struggle to sleep at night but if you want to save on the chunk of profit a company on a turn key basis will take its just what you have to do! Can understand why they have to add on a bit to cover themselves, a few unplanned trips to the site on the hourly rate they are these days soon adds up.

 

[mo!]

When we priced some local builders there was a huge difference in cost. Like 30%. Essentially the one we went with was closest and had availability so had the keensert price. We struggled a bit at the end because he had too much work elsewhere, the lads told me that he'd added 100k on to a job he didn't really want but the client had said yes...