The cost of travelling to see products for your self build including exhibitions

[Pete]

People have been discussing budgets recently and I just wondered what people have spent on travelling to Self Build shows, courses and product selection such as windows, kitchens etc. Over the last couple of years we have been to quite a few shows at the NEC incl Self Build and Grand Designs. We travelled to Glasgow and Truro to see window manufacturers and numerous visits to the window manufacturer of our choice, 100 mile round trip each time. Went to South Wales to do our roofing course and not to mention all the local trips, 50 to 60 mile round trips to see kitchen suppliers,tile and lighting shops. 

Not only is this costly but it takes a lot of time but we think it is all worth it if you want to build the house of your dreams.

[Redoctober]

I'm with you in as much as these trips can be a touch expensive. We lived in Buckinghamshire at the time and our travels took us to into Shropshire, Cheshire, Swindon, Leicestershire and exhibitions in Birmingham and Surrey. However, they proved invaluable as we either ended up buying the products we were looking at or indeed understood why we didn't.

It's all part of the process I feel.

[ProDave]

I try to make trips worthwhile. When we make a trip "down south" I scour ebay to see what I might be able to buy while we are down that way

[newhome]

14 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I try to make trips worthwhile. When we make a trip "down south" I scour ebay to see what I might be able to buy while we are down that way

 

+1. When we made trips to see house things we tried to do something interesting in that area too. For example we went to Loch Lomond for the first time when we visited a SIP manufacturer in the west of Scotland. It rained of course  and we didn't order the SIPS. 

 

 

[nod]

Really good point

Well worth seeing the products up close before buying

 

A post that grabbed my interest when starting out was posted by Ian

(recovering achedemic) 

Ian listed everything Fuel buying a trailer a lot of things that that don’t get included in the build cost

Nice to see that post again

[Alexphd1]

deleted

Edited July 6, 2018 by Alexphd1

[ToughButterCup]

Yes, @Pete, I stopped adding to that list because of the unforeseen written reactions of some.

 

One or two people simply can't resist telling you that they bought an XYZ widget cheaper than you did. All I was trying to do was give folk a taste of what the actual costs are (as opposed to guesstimates)

 

 I just got fed up of it in the end.

[Jeremy Harris]

11 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

Yes, @Pete, I stopped adding to that list because of the unforeseen written reactions of some.

 

One or two people simply can't resist telling you that they bought an XYZ widget cheaper than you did. All I was trying to do was give folk a taste of what the actual costs are (as opposed to guesstimates)

 

 I just got fed up of it in the end.

 

 

It's human nature, look at the Purple Bricks adverts on TV, that are all about making people feel bad about having paid loads of commission to estate agents, for example.

 

The flip side is that, bizarre lot that we are, we also tend to enjoy telling people when we've paid loads of money for something.  Cars are one product that seems to attract this sort of behaviour, but kitchens and bathrooms aren't immune from it, either!

 

I tend to be a bit pragmatic about costs now, although I will freely admit to spending hours trying to save money online.  An example, our landscaping chap is coming around in a couple of weeks to put up the last of the fencing (I hope).  I'd already agreed to get the posts, boards, rails etc, really because it was just easier for me to get them from the local sawmill, people I know and trust.  I asked him if he also wanted me to get some postcrete, mainly as I needed to get a bag to fix our new house name post.  He said no, as he could get it at £5 a bag.  I did a quick check, and I can buy a dozen bags at £3.80 bag (blue circle stuff), as there was an offer in Wickes for three bags or more, plus the 10% discount I get there anyway.  The question is really whether it's worth me driving an extra 6 or 7 miles, just to save £14.40.  Logically I doubt that it is, given the time taken, the fuel used and the hassle of humping a dozen bags into the back of my car...

[Triassic]

11 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

Yes, @Pete, I stopped adding to that list because of the unforeseen written reactions of some.

 

One or two people simply can't resist telling you that they bought an XYZ widget cheaper than you did. All I was trying to do was give folk a taste of what the actual costs are (as opposed to guesstimates)

 

 I just got fed up of it in the end.

That’s a shame, I like to see what people are paying for stuff as it helps when buying stuff for my build. I’m one for a bargain and want value for money so your price list post was very helpful.

[newhome]

19 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

One or two people simply can't resist telling you that they bought an XYZ widget cheaper than you did. All I was trying to do was give folk a taste of what the actual costs are (as opposed to guesstimates)

 

I think it's great for people to use the experience of others to roughly price up a task but it can't be consistently applied to our own task because most of us need what we need in the here and now, or close to, and something that was on offer 3 weeks ago may not be now. Conversely it may now be on offer but that doesn't help the OP unless we all have access to a time machine. So as a useful guide this sort of information is great, but if people really get pleasure in saying their widget was 50p less than someone who has laid their costs bare it's a reflection on them, not you! There's nowt so queer as folk. 

 

And where labour costs are concerned you definitely do not always get what you pay for. I've winced at the amount I've paid for some incredibly poor trades, and others who did a really great job I would have paid a lot more for. All we can do on this forum is share knowledge to the best of our abilities, and that includes the things we would rather curl up and die over and never speak of again, as that's what helps, not the jobs that go fabulously to plan. 

 

I have made endless mistakes in the course of building my house, many of which can't be undone, and this forum has been a really positive place to help me see what can be done to at least mitigate the issues there are here. This has been done with humour and banter that provides some light relief around what can sometimes be soul destroying. Only once did someone on this forum make me feel like a complete idiot to the extent that their comment still grates on me now, so remember people, your words are important on here. Choose yours well.   

 

26 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

The flip side is that, bizarre lot that we are, we also tend to enjoy telling people when we've paid loads of money for something.  Cars are one product that seems to attract this sort of behaviour, but kitchens and bathrooms aren't immune from it, either!

 

For status items that's definitely true. And perversely the value of a house is the one most likely to fall into that category alongside cars, yet some people belittle others for having spent more on a widget that formed that particular house. All humans are weird, but some humans are more weird than others . 

 

 

[recoveringbuilder]

Another thing I’m finding once again is that everyone you deal with thinks you must have a bottomless pit of money, absolutely fed up having to say my budget doesn’t stretch to that, even the kit firm are at it now, our spec on the plans was an oak staircase with glass balastrade and our quote included that , then they send us to staircase manufacturers to pick what we want , after doing so we get a call from them saying the one we’ve picked is nearly 5k over what they include, had to tell them then that’s no good we haven’t budgeted any more for it so you’ll just have to give us what you’ve budgeted for!

[newhome]

1 minute ago, Christine Walker said:

Another thing I’m finding once again is that everyone you deal with thinks you must have a bottomless pit of money, absolutely fed up having to say my budget doesn’t stretch to that, even the kit firm are at it now, our spec on the plans was an oak staircase with glass balastrade and our quote included that , then they send us to staircase manufacturers to pick what we want , after doing so we get a call from them saying the one we’ve picked is nearly 5k over what they include, had to tell them then that’s no good we haven’t budgeted any more for it so you’ll just have to give us what you’ve budgeted for!

 

If their quote included an oak staircase with glass balastrade can't you just ask them to show you the one the quote was based on and then go with that? Sounds like they've made an error, not you. We did pay extra for the staircase and the internal doors because when our TF company showed us what they had quoted for we wanted something slightly different but the ones they picked would have met the spec we gave them. 

[ToughButterCup]

1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

[...]

It's human nature, look at the Purple Bricks adverts on TV,[...]

 

and

50 minutes ago, newhome said:

[...]

Only once did someone on this forum make me feel like a complete idiot to the extent that their comment still grates on me now, so remember people, your words are important on here. Choose yours well.   

[...]

 

and 

33 minutes ago, Christine Walker said:

Another thing I’m finding once again is that everyone you deal with thinks you must have a bottomless pit of money, absolutely fed up having to say my budget doesn’t stretch to that, [...]

 

SWMBO  keeps telling me the diplomatic equivalent of  '... Oh for god's sake don't be such a wimp. It's Tinternet. People dash off comments in a hurry and don't think too much about (xyz)... '

But then she's in a job where she regularly has to say very difficult things to people who have an over-inflated  sense of entitlement.

 

My counter to that is that BH is an online environment for people who are investing massive amounts of money, effort and nervous energy. In the research-lingo: it's a High Stakes   forum.

 

Anyway, up on the roof, the sea breeze has been a God-send so far today. 

[Jeremy Harris]

4 hours ago, recoveringacademic said:

Yes, @Pete, I stopped adding to that list because of the unforeseen written reactions of some.

 

One or two people simply can't resist telling you that they bought an XYZ widget cheaper than you did. All I was trying to do was give folk a taste of what the actual costs are (as opposed to guesstimates)

 

 I just got fed up of it in the end.

 

 

Out of interest, which thread was this?

 

I've been trying to find it without much success, really to try and see if there was a way it could be resurrected and used as a basis for realistic costing.

[newhome]

8 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

 

Out of interest, which thread was this?

 

I've been trying to find it without much success, really to try and see if there was a way it could be resurrected and used as a basis for realistic costing.

 

I think that would be a great idea as since being on this forum probably the most reported issue involves cost. 

 

 

[Triassic]

21 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

 

Out of interest, which thread was this?

 

I've been trying to find it without much success, really to try and see if there was a way it could be resurrected and used as a basis for realistic costing.