What stage did you find the hardest?

[BadgerBadger]

We are very much "in the middle" of our build.   The start seems a long time ago (we broke ground at the beginning of the year), the delays are stacking up and we're still a long way from being weather tight.  Completion is currently unimaginably far away.  Changing clocks and a turn in weather, and it's definitely feeling harder than it has previously.

 

So I'm really intrigued - what stage of the whole build process have you found the hardest?  I don't think we're in a bad place by any means, but definitely keeping my head in the "marathon" mindset and aware we have a long way to go.

[Gone West]

Fortunately we finished our build four and a half years ago and now it's just a dim and distant memory. Moved on to the next project now. It took eight years to complete and it's not something I would want to do again. The hardest part was the relentless day in day out slog.

[ProDave]

11 months from the start and "half way there" you are doing well.  Ours took about 6 years. 

 

It's hard to pinpoint which bit was hardest, all have their challenges but in totally different ways.  Financial issues were our problem but that was an ongoing thing throughout the build which is why it took so long.

 

EVERYONE says "never again" at the end of a build.  We did after our first one, and we said it again after our second one.  You never know?

[Andehh]

Probably exactly the same place as you OP. 

 

Been at it for 12 months now, should have finished in July... Now hoping to make January. 

 

Just feeling like it's a never ending slog. We took a £6k hit yesterday on material pricing which is still hurting, but builder and his team are good. 

 

Each phase had its own ups and downs was delighted to get the roof finished after much delays... Only to run into delays on windows. One hand giveth, other hand taketh away. 

 

It's a marathon for sure, one day, one week at a time.. Head down and persevering. 

 

[Moonshine]

I wouldnt say any stage is the hardest, its the hope.

 

"Its the hope that kills you"

 

Got your next few weeks planned out? trades booked, materials ordered, plans made.

 

"When thats done, that xxxx thing can get done then yyyyy, then zzzzz then we are close to getting to that "big mile stone", excellent progress is coming"

 

Then something buggers it up tradie ill/doesnt turn in, material issue, weather something needs to be done you hadnt accounted for, bye bye plans.....bye bye milestone.

 

I have had a particularly crap week of it from all fronts and im going on to site this morning and see what small progress i can do.

 

As Ranulph Fiennes says plod forever

Edited November 5, 2022 by Moonshine

[Kelvin]

I’m finding it hard right now and we’ve not even started. 😂 We are waiting on the warrant application approval. All the waiting is killing my enthusiasm for doing it at all. It’s taken much longer to get to this point than I expected. 

[Conor]

The VAT reclaim.

[joe90]

8 minutes ago, Conor said:

The VAT reclaim.

Which is why I paid a VAT specialist to do mine and got even more money back than I paid in fees 🤷‍♂️

[Jenki]

Our project is two stages, get some form of income from new build rental cabins, which includes power,water, waste , access for all of the build then the house.

We're progressing well, with the cabins being plasterboarded. So the end is in sight. But as @Gone West says the day in day out relentless slog is difficult. We're at it 7 days a week, weekends are no more a thing, it's just a day.

My advice is to have several jobs lined up, and an overall list of jobs to do, if the weather prevents one task jump to another. And if you have it on a white board you can cross it off and feel progress. If it wasn't on the list, write it on and then cross it off. It's surprising at the end of the week all the little tasks carried out along with the main goals.

Lastly there is two forms of labour involved in self build. Motivated and Discipline. When your motivated it's easy you just crack on and progress, but when the motivation disappears, you then need the discipline to push on and tick something of the list. I find thinking about it this way helps a lot. If this fails there's always homebrew, or go for a walk.😂

 

[JohnMo]

The hardest parts for me were and are

 

Fitting the insulation into the floor, there seemed like a mountain of it.

 

Then after the house is livable taking another 18 months getting the land scaping, decked areas etc completed - this is still ongoing.

[Jenki]

3 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Which is why I paid a VAT specialist to do mine and got even more money back than I paid in fees 🤷‍♂️

I assume you mean he claimed for extra items, that covered his / her fee not the fee was covered by the VAT reclaimed.😂

[Gone West]

26 minutes ago, Conor said:

The VAT reclaim.

I found that the easiest bit, Wendy did it!!

[Gone West]

15 minutes ago, Jenki said:

My advice is to have several jobs lined up, and an overall list of jobs to do, if the weather prevents one task jump to another. And if you have it on a white board you can cross it off and feel progress. If it wasn't on the list, write it on and then cross it off. It's surprising at the end of the week all the little tasks carried out along with the main goals.

That's exactly what we did, great minds and all that.

[joe90]

1 hour ago, Jenki said:

I assume you mean he claimed for extra items, that covered his / her fee

Yes, he also spotted a VAT mistake made by my builder which gave me an additional £1k.

[Pocster]

I think the hardest stage was the bit between the start and the end .

[Happy Valley]

23 minutes ago, pocster said:

I think the hardest stage was the bit between the start and the end .

 

And in reality it never ends!!

[Happy Valley]

Dealing with Utility companies nearly did me in. 

 

This was at the same time as dealing with a w anchor neighbour and a slow house sale that was funding the build. 

 

Please to say all resolved now and we are in but there was 2 months this last summer where I really was not enjoying the process. 

 

I think that retrospectively I was absolutely knackered having put everything into the previous 16 months. Only now am I slowing down now that we are in albeit still with jobs to do. 

[Pocster]

3 minutes ago, Happy Valley said:

 

And in reality it never ends!!

7 years in - no end in sight 

[markocosic]

Being honest about what you're wanting and going to spend.

 

 

I'd like it to be great; compromise on decent

I'd like to plan things; then start; else we do things 10 times

I've fixed lots myself (fixing up houses)

 

She wants to do it on the cheap; compromises on decent

She wants to start; then work it out later; else we never start

She's had other people fix lots on her behalf (renovating apartments)

 

 

Had we had the capacity to be honest with each other at the outset we could have avoided doing lots of things twice.

Reality is sometimes you need to make the mistakes before you can see why they're mistakes / admit that they're mistakes.

 

 

Drawing the line on which mistakes you're going to redo and which you're going to live with is probably the most difficult!

 

 

That and having your life timetable dictated by the weather in which to prep/prime/paint/fit cladding that you've committed to doing the hard way in defiance of all logic and reason. She learned though. Interior woodwork is coming prefinished. 😉

[NSS]

Finding and securing a plot. Until then, nothing was possible. After that, nothing was impossible.

[Kelvin]

3 hours ago, pocster said:

7 years in - no end in sight 

sheesh. I need to re-adjust my timescales 😂 

[Kelvin]

5 minutes ago, NSS said:

Finding and securing a plot. Until then, nothing was possible. After that, nothing was impossible.

Exactly the way to look at it. 

[DevonKim]

9 hours ago, Kelvin said:

I’m finding it hard right now and we’ve not even started. 😂 We are waiting on the warrant application approval. All the waiting is killing my enthusiasm for doing it at all. It’s taken much longer to get to this point than I expected. 

Yes, I know what you mean, I have just had a 6 month + wait for probate on my plot, and I have really lost enthusiasm and momentum over that time 😞 

 

I am still a bit stop / go, as we haven't exchanged contracts yet, so it still isn't definite.