ToughButterCup

Your question is fundamental. It goes to the heart of the horror that self-building can become. And is the main cause of self-build-sleep-deprivation-syndrome Humility, respect, time, trust, effort, plain speaking. And knowledge of their (the trade's) networks Self builders are - to the trades we deal with - mostly one off customers. And because we self builders have to invest so much more time , emotion and 'fizz' into our builds than those who 'simply' sign a cheque, many self builders ( not all) think we're special. To trades people, we aren't. We're one of many jobs they have on the go at any one time. Either invest in someone who can manage the situation for you or take the time to understand the trades networks so you can break through their communication blocks and accept that substandard work does occur and that some work will have to be remedied but most of all - be lucky DIY know when an error is something you just have to accept - and when not. After more than 10 years at it, I'm only just getting to know like and trust a core of people who communicate well, do what they say they will do, when they say they will do it to an acceptable standard. 10 years to many people is just too long.

So forget the problem.

Kept goats free on the Malvern Hills for years. ( 1960s: Commoner grazing rights) Some stayed, one or two just buggered off, sometimes bought back by - politely annoyed - neighbours. Flail, scythe, forget the problem, find a suitable teenager, hire a Pyrenean goatherd.

Your idea isn't simple enough. Others above have - between them - listed many of the barriers to entry into the self build sector. Solve any single one of them , and you're in business.

Next door neighbour - knows you are away - pops round for a quick top-up 🫤

Keep it simple. Ask a couple of well - regarded local firms to come and 'have-a-look-at-the job'. No exploratory work ( as in "Well to answer your question, we'll need to take this out and that down and fiddle with this" ) . Listen hard to what the people say. You'll learn a good deal from those conversations. Then get back to us and we'll make it all much more complicated than it needs to be. 🤔

Sane living means ease of use. And that means efficient storage. Efficient storage means reduced self-build stress.

Manager ? In reality I'm the resident labourer, and got fed up falling over stuff left behind by others. So the role evolved into - every day- clearing up after everyone else. Clearing up is a very necessary job: bit like oiling the cogs in a machine. Clearing up wet concrete has to be done at the time - but mostly you cant do that. So it needs planning for. @TerryE's suggestion saved my sanity. I would have blown a fuse if I'd been faced with @Spinny's ermmm, dump We have about half an acre, so a good few nooks and crannies . House is about 10 by 10m I think it was @TerryE who -years ago - suggested self builders make a storage plan - so I did. Very glad we did TBH.

Washout is useful. Now, 5 years later, I find myself wishing we had more. We built a 10 by 8 , and 6 inch deep lined pit. The resulting washout area became a useful base for all sorts of things during the build after concreting. And then, when broken up it was piled up out of the way. We found a use for very last bit of it.

How about cover as many car parks as we can with solar PV.... ?

Welcome. How much of a slope? A gentle slope is a massive advantage. 1 in 1 , not so much. We used about 2000 (ish) tonnes of MoT1 and other stuff ( dig-out from elsewhere) to make the raft sit 'comfortably' Tell us about your slope please! Ian

Ahhhh, thats nuffin ..... 🙃 OR Take your pick. Exactly, @saveasteading I'm so glad - in retrospect - that our two disasters were dealt with by a properly professional company. Because they discovered more incompetence and rectified it - and here's the kicker ... for less than the original company were attempting to charge me. They were going to take me to court for non-payment, until I sent them the security video evidence. Its an ill wind that blows nobody any good To your point @saveasteading: I wonder how the repair in the first post was financed?

I used a pair of these for a year, until a pair of wrens nested in them two years in a row. They tucked themselves up underneath the cross-beam where the legs attach to the beam. The following year the (same?) wrens decided to use the padlock cover I welded onto our container doors. I know when I'm beaten.

Christ @SteamyTea , what size stiletto heels do Cornish folk wear down your way ? Judging by the three that are visible above the glass in the photo they'd fit Shrek's missus !

Plant pots on top of the glass right? Have they been watered recently? If so, temperature difference