rh2205

Sorry for the dodgy images I couldn't get the cropped ones to save so had to make do with what would work....

We are still exploring the 3 potentially financially crippling routes of roof lift by 1m + remodel, demolishment + rebuild, or extension and remodel (garden is pretty big). We've had the concept back from the architect on the roof lift and my gut says that removing the original gable end wall running through the open plan living area (for background bungalow has already been extended out to the right on plan from existing gable hence why it's still present) will require excessive costs to engineer a solution, that's not to mention the massive windows shown in the open plan living area further complicating this engineering feat. For info we have a VAT reduction due to it being empty down to 5% but this doesn't include DIY as there is no reclaim method so other than doing some finishing the bulk of the work in this option will get done by a series of contracts or one main contractor and there is probably not much logic sourcing our own materials for these contract(s). Does this look completely pie in the sky for our original budget of 200k? I just can't imagine what a structural engineer would think of this current plan!!!! Now rationally you ditch the open plan space and have a separate kitchen dining area in the far right side to maintain some of the existing walls including that internal gable but with 4 dormers and some shrunk kitchen diner windows I still have a sinking feeling about the cost. Anyone with any experience of roof lifts and/or difficult remodels, is this concept fantasy within our price bracket even with retaining extra walls and smaller patio doors to get anywhere near our original 200k budget or is this type of work so extensive that there really will be little difference in cost to rebuild? Albeit rebuild will no doubt come with much more extended planning process and therefore add time as we were hoping to be in by September 2020 at the latest. For info bungalow is 117sqm +conservatory + double garage at the moment so demolishment for replacement won't be a bargain even with us doing as much as possible, haven't got round to estimating the likely tonnage of waste it might produce yet but I will and I suspect it will be more than I think.

I've been reading a number of really useful historic forum pages these last couple of weeks to try and get a bit more idea on high level budgets and per/m cost etc. As expected there is a big variation in cost between those who have done a lot of labour themselves vs those which contract it all out, however what I am after is a bit more understanding from those who have done a lot of labour themselves approximately how much time did you spend on it each week on average? I notice several regular forum users have kindly provided some very detailed costs but what I am not quite sure is how many of their own hours this required to keep those costs low - has anyone got a record of their own time spent and over what period of time if they had limited time did they have to spend working on their self build against the size of the property itself. Also are there any examples of people who have managed to use a lot of their own labour around a full time job and family commitments or is this a completely unrealistic approach given we are fully expecting to learn most things as we go rather than already having some degree of competence! Whilst we are willing to work hard I guess we are trying to make sure we're not making plans for something that is physically impossible with the number of hours in a day and we are struggling to pragmatically do a reality check given this is all new to us. When we are looking at this approach we are assuming the position of working on it once structure is weathertight and that we will have to get people in to do some components of the work - similar to the approach JSHarris talks about in relation to the degree of DIY undertaken personally.