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Everyone gets that low point where you wonder why the fcuk did I start this. Just remember how much you have done and done right and in a year you will laugh at how you let it worry you. And letting of steam is always good. Don't keep it in as it will fester and then it will really get you down. Have a rant on here or give it to the first trade that tries it on. Whatever works for you.

I know how you are feeling @Christine Walker. I was pi55ed off to the back teeth with the build as once we physically moved in the motivation for hubby to get on and finish things seemed to wane and everything took forever. That was annoying but it would have been finished eventually, but then he got f***ing cancer that was the shittiest thing to happen ever and not only did it take his life it changed mine forever too. From the point of his diagnosis onwards it was pretty much down to me to sort everything in areas I didn't understand, with trades that let me down or ripped me off, in a self build that I had never wanted to take on in the first place. Somehow, just somehow you brush yourself off and get on with it, and as things start moving again nothing seems as bleak as it does during those low points. Resilience, strength and determination are your friends. There are people and processes, and sometimes just bad luck that will try to derail you and knock you off track but you will get through this I know because you have shown strength and resilience already to get this far. It might not seem better today or even next week but things will get better and you will put this behind you and move on (and in!).

I think long term fatigue has a lot yo do with it, too, and it wears down your natural resilience. If you can manage it, a few days completely away from things might help. I managed to grab a long weekend spent with a load of girlfriends (our annual sewing jolly in Kent) and even though it was only a long weekend for me rather than a week, it really helped to unwind for a few days. Do whatever you need to recover - a few tears on your keyboard whilst posting here is a start.

I suspect there may well be a seasonal effect too. I know I don't feel as motivated to do anything as soon as the nights start to noticeably draw in; there's something about it being dark at the end of a working day that seems to be depressing.

Every self build seems to go through a low, not just those on Grand Designs. For us it was 18 months in, with a part built shell when the realisation hit us that the old house was not about to sell any time soon, and we were faced with a build we could not afford to finish. Once you get past the low point, accept things are not as you would want them, but they are where they are, you have to re group and re plan. We are now on course to finish the new house without the sale of the old one. It has taken longer than planned and I have done more of the work myself than originally planned, but one has to find a way to adapt and move forwards. Just talking to others and venting your problems helps a great deal.

I can second what @Declan52 has said, it happened to me in 2015, and I told the tale here: http://www.mayfly.eu/2015/08/part-thirty-seven-a-long-tale-about-water-and-life/

Hi @newhome the budget........... so many variables can be included but if I just include everything that has got me to this position thus far, stripping out all the professional fees, services and the cost of the land, we are currently at £1220 p.s.m. It does include such things as skip hire, toilet hire and electric meter cupboard, amongst other stuff!!!

What a wonderful looking bit of work. It almost seems a shame to cover it all up. Love all the photos, as well, just so useful.

I so know how you feel. I am so close now - if only those damn plumbers had done their job I could move in. However, a week has passed since they 'didn't come' and I still haven't got the mojo back to look for someone else. I am so low that the thought of contacting yet another plumber to take his turn at ripping me off and leaving me stranded just isn't an option. I know not everyone is like that, and I have had some good and helpful trades people in doing work but I am having a confidence crisis and don't trust my own judgement. A lot of the flooring has gone down today and that has helped as it is a visual reminder that I am almost there. BUT I made a big cock up in the measurements for that which means that the ensuite/dressing room is having to be treated as 2 rooms instead of the one that it is with a narrow piece about 4oo mm wide fitted between them. So another knock to the confidence. I am again wishing I had never started. At the moment I don't even want to move in/