Adsibob Posted December 5, 2021 Author Share Posted December 5, 2021 On 28/06/2021 at 13:01, Carrerahill said: OK costs - I get it, but assuming your not going to end up bankrupt don't let money cause you too much undue stress - I get it money is very important and you need to be careful but in the grand scheme of things if it will be a drop in the ocean looking back in 3-4 years then try and ignore it. Hmmm … I now need to remortgage to find an extra £50k. Ouch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Long Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 On 05/06/2021 at 20:46, Adsibob said: Building project started in first week of January. It's a big project: we are COMPLETELY gutting a 3 bedroom 1930s semi to its shell (literally only thing that is left of the house is the external walls and roof), putting in a new concrete slab, removing all external pebbledash, new porch at the front, replacing all windows, doing a two storey rear extension, then converting the loft, retiling the roof, new driveway at the front, then lots of insulation going in inside, screed floor with 3 zones of UFH on ground floor, UFH inbedded in XFLO boards on first and second floor, 5 sky lights, sliding door, new kitchen, 3 new bathrooms, new guest WC, engineered wooden floors on first and second floor, mix of tiles and poured floor on ground floor, feature wall being soundproofed and then tiled in living room (almost 30 sq metres), adding external insulation and re-rendering. Originally, the contract i signed provided for the project to be done within 8 months. I extended this by a week because most of the contractor's team were stuck in the EU until the second week of January. We then found out we had to do some pretty major underpinning so I asked the contractor in March what sort of extension he wanted given the underpinning. We extended by a further 3 weeks, so as at late March contractor was telling me we would be in end of September. Things are going really rather slowly, and I'm just trying to work out when realistically we are going to be in. They have finished building the first and second floor extensions, the porch at the front and they have done all the underpinning. They have also laid the concrete slab on the lower ground floor (well actually I'm not about that - they were meant to do it today, but I haven't gone to check yet) due to do the upper ground floor slab this week. They have removed two chimney breasts and done all associated structural work. They have put in posi joists at first floor level, but still need to do loft floor. They have done all the structural beamwork for the loft conversion, but for reasons I won't get into we are doing the loft conversion itself at the end. None of the skylights have gone in yet, although I think they are waiting for the roof tiles which have taken for ever to arrive due to the pandemic, they are due in the next 10 days. We are subcontracting the poured floor, new staircase, windows, sliding door, porch door, wood burning stove installation to third parties so that will save the main contractor some time, but otherwise he is doing pretty much everything. Kitchen will be pretty easy because it is all DIY Kitchen Units and we are subcontracting the worktop installation to a third party as well. So effectively, the main contractor still has to: do the slab for upper ground floor (about 25 sq metres) lay insulation, UFH pipes and screed for all the ground floor (81 sq metres) build all the stud walls for almost every room in the house (we only kept one room!) install a new boiler, UHWC, buffer tank, manifolds for UFH and commission it all, and first and second fix plumbing, which will have a secondary loop do all the first and second fix electrics, including installing a new consumer unit and a couple of external lights and all the internal lights for a 5 bed house install and tile 3 bathrooms (one small, one medium and one large) as well as a small understair WC, they all have wall hung toilets that need doing as well retile the roof and install 5 skylights internal plastering and painting (although there is no paintwork on the ground floor as we are using a special plaster that doesn't get painted and tiles) driveway at the front (for one large car) about 32 sq metres of patio needs to be tiled at the back pointing on rear ground floor extension (probably only 20 sq metres of brickwork needs pointing) rendering rest of the house (as well as installing the external insulation. I am pretty organised and have ordered most of the stuff we need to supply for him to finish the job. Apart from the roof tiles, we're not having too many problems with lead times, so I don't expect there will be any delays on the supply side. My question is, can all of the above be done by the end of Sept? The team onsite consists of a foreman and two to three other guys. The four of them are there everyday mostly, although there are ocassions when they will drop down to three. The contractor is there most mornings to make sure they know what they are doing. He also brings them supplies. At the beginning when there was a lot of demolition work, there were two more guys there as well, but I haven't seen them for a couple of months. I'm eager for the project to finish on time as some of it has been quite stressful and we're just getting impatient. But at the same time I don't want them to rush the final stages as it's complex and will take some care. S Based on the gant chart I agreed with the contractor, they are about 4-6 weeks behind. So I know I should adjust my expectations but not sure to what? November? Christmas? You will find it’s problem after problem when doing a self build get a project manager and it’ll make everything go a lot smoother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adsibob Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 On 05/06/2021 at 21:14, Big Jimbo said: My bet is on Christmas. You lost the bet @Big Jimbo We are still nowhere close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adsibob Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 I’m oscillating between trying not to panic, and panicking. Progress is being made, but nowhere nearly enough for us to be in anytime soon. First fix electrics is mostly done. Apart from the UFH on first and second floors, first fix plumbing is also mostly done, although the UVC still needs to be commissioned. At least the boiler was commissioned so we have had the screed heating on for the last two weeks. The kitchen and all the appliances bar a pesky Zanussi microwave that the supplier didn’t manage to get is all on site, but it hasn’t been installed yet, not even unpacked to check it is all there. About half of the plastering has been done, and a mist coat even got applied to the two main rooms on the top floor. This is ironic, because the top floor is the least crucial for us. We need the ground and first floor done so that we can move in. I’ve signed a contract with a joinery about 3 weeks ago and paid the deposit for them to buy all the materials, they are expecting to have the bits we have ordered done by late March. None of that will really prevent us from moving in, but I doubt we will be otherwise ready before then anyway. Some of the external wall insulation has also gone up, but otherwise there is very little progress on externals. Still no progress has been made with drainage, with the pump station we have for an element of our drainage or with the hard standing for the driveway. The builder also missed the opportunity to pour our external screed when the weather was right for it in October/early Nov. It is much warmer now than it was for most of November, so I’m wondering whether we will get a chance to pour it before winter is over. The staircase is due to be installed in mid February. So much so to do!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 When will there ever not be too much to do? 6 years in, and it's just the same, it never stops. We've some serial selfbuilders here on BH. Gotta take my hat off to them. Seriously well organised, gutsy people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 It took us 6 1/2 years to "complete" our house. It will probably be another 2 before it is "finished" 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 2 hours ago, ToughButterCup said: We've some serial selfbuilders here on BH. Gotta take my hat off to them. Seriously well organised, gutsy people. Thanks for the mention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 1 hour ago, ProDave said: It took us 6 1/2 years to "complete" our house. It will probably be another 2 before it is "finished" You are the hare ; I am the tortoise @Onoff is the snail moving backwards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 3 minutes ago, pocster said: You are the hare ; I am the tortoise I am the shepherd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 37 minutes ago, pocster said: You are the hare ; I am the tortoise @Onoff is the snail moving backwards So...eventually I'll meet the tortoise coming up behind me? Follow the snail trail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adsibob Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 Really very low today. Realise the build is starting to affect my work. Made a big mistake at work because I didn’t have my eye on the ball. Not sure I can take this much longer… Seriously concerned by ongoing delays. The latest ridiculousness is that my builder has only lined up one painter to do paint the whole house. Funnily enough, it is painting very slowly. Still so much to do… will go mad at this rate… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Juggling so many balls is exhausting, so dropping one or two is par for the course. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Focus on what you'll end up with when the dust has settled; every day is a day closer to finishing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Drink more you big tart! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonD Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 17 hours ago, Adsibob said: Really very low today. Realise the build is starting to affect my work. Made a big mistake at work because I didn’t have my eye on the ball. Not sure I can take this much longer… Seriously concerned by ongoing delays. The latest ridiculousness is that my builder has only lined up one painter to do paint the whole house. Funnily enough, it is painting very slowly. Still so much to do… will go mad at this rate… So many of us on here go through this, it seems to be a right of passage for a proper self-builder. In case it's any consolation at all, I'm also probably a year behind, I gave up one of my businesses to do the build myself and last week after paying my latest credit card bill realised we have about £300 left of our total budget (and yes, that's the correct number of zeros). Knew it was tight when we started and I'd hoped to at least get the heating system and temporary electrics moved to permanent and sorted before running out of money, but will now have to save for those. I can't start up the business again as it would take at least 18 months to see any real income. My builder is rubbish too as he's sat drinking tea, writing rubbish on here right now when he should be doing something useful in solitude on the site - yes, everything moves slowly here ? Sanity and health must prevail, so really do try to relax into the process, have a drink and know it'll all seem worth it when it's done! ? 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 Reading threads on here reminds me how lucky I was, I retired a little early to do my build so no job to worry about, my builder was brilliant, apart from my couple of bouts of ill health I was on site every day and when I was ill the builder stepped up and covered for me and kept me informed. I don’t know how some of you guys cope. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 (edited) Well our builder was a crook and we lost a lot of money. Happened just at first lockdown. Luckily enough that meant working from home for 18months so de camped to the site and built it myself and skived work as much as possible. Doing video calls whilst in a building with no roof in the rain.... Said wifi was too slow so did voice only lol. 2years on and next week we are getting BC in for final sign off. Looking back, I now know the original quote was miles too low, if we had paid a proper builder it would have cost a lot more than we have spent even allowing for the money we lost from the original crook. Oh and we were renting locally, they decided to sell and wanted it empty so we moved into the house in Oct 2020 with no heating, no internal walls, no plasterboard, temp stairs, temp electrics and a site toilet.... Didn't even have any cladding on the outside, so it looked like a giant purple quality street with the vapour wrap on. That was a Grim winter huddled around a couple of electric radiators. But, and for us this was critical, we never fell out of love with the site. 2 acres of woodland, our house in the middle and a 10 min walk to the centre of looe and the beach. Oh, and access is via a very narrow and steep road, I can just, and I mean just, squeeze my Toyota hilux onto site. So everything had to be brought in on that. I will never forget putting in 240 sheets of 18mm OSB on my own. And plasterboard, my god the fireproof stuff is heavy for 1 person. 140mm woodfibre external insulation, also bloody heavy. Never had any scaffolding on site, as I was on my own I worked of a decorators platform, dodgy as hell but never fell off! Never had any skips, cant get em on site lol. And as of last week told work I am taking early retirement at the end of this year. I can afford it, just. Retiring poor, but just affordable. Going to enjoy the building and location this summer for the first time, all worth it! I can certainly say, without this site I wouldnt have known half the stuff I do now and sharing pain is great ? Edited February 26, 2022 by redtop 10 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 5 hours ago, redtop said: And as of last week told work I am taking early retirement at the end of this year. I can afford it, just. Retiring poor, but just affordable. You can go and build @Omnibuswoman's place. And @BotusBuild 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 25 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: You can go and build @Omnibuswoman's place. And @BotusBuild Never again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patp Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 And all of us still building have, probably, built through the wettest winter on record, Brexit and Covid! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 14 minutes ago, patp said: And all of us still building have, probably, built through the wettest winter on record, Brexit and Covid! And spent the winter of the "beast from the East" in a static caravan......... Most of us say "never again" and then after a couple of years, the itch comes back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patp Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 Oh yes! We are in a caravan at the moment and have endured Eunice, Franklin and Gertrude. The only blessing is that they dry the mud up! But being as the month of February is known, locally, as "February Fill Dyke - be it black or be it white", the dried mud does not last long 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramco Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 3 hours ago, ProDave said: Most of us say "never again" and then after a couple of years, the itch comes back. We're more of a 'damn I wish I knew then what I know now'. We'd handle things very differently from the start if we did it again. With the current build there's lots that we could have done better. But at our time of life, we're not starting another one..... Simon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 On 25/02/2022 at 21:44, Adsibob said: Really very low today. Realise the build is starting to affect my work. Made a big mistake at work because I didn’t have my eye on the ball. Not sure I can take this much longer… Seriously concerned by ongoing delays. The latest ridiculousness is that my builder has only lined up one painter to do paint the whole house. Funnily enough, it is painting very slowly. Still so much to do… will go mad at this rate… It must be very difficult trying to a high pressure job and and a build with tricky builder. It definitely takes its toll on your mental health if you aren't careful, I hope you are feeling better. I think it's because its for your home and so every tiny decision seems important. If you were building to sell on, any old door/tap/loo/tile would do within reason. We're nearly ready to move in to the part finished building and I reckon I will be about £80k over budget eventually...Ahem and I haven't even got a job, so have had to rely on borrowing from family members. Reading between the lines, a lot of us are overoptimistic the first time. I'll be a lot more prepared next time, if I ever build anything else again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragsterDriver Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 I’ve been a carpenter/builder my whole life and this has been hard, living in a caravan has been hell. It’s demoralising to wake up, Graft all day, then go back to the caravan without leaving site for days on end. Still- I’m ploughing through it. would I do it again? Not a chance! I won’t go back to building because simply I can’t be arsed with all the paperwork and stress- and I’m not fussed about making money. what I wouldn’t mind is building other peoples ‘self builds’- Labour only and site management. The passiv side of it has been fascinating. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 13 hours ago, Jilly said: ... Reading between the lines, a lot of us are overoptimistic the first time. ... Exactly right. But once not long past the point of no return (Outline PP awarded) , every little thing we do to fulfil our dream means increased commitment. Then one day you realise you're trapped. Welcome to Higher Highs, Lower Lows. A test of mettle. Backs to the wall, we all fight harder. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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