Remotely managing self build?

[Gary G]

Hi guys, how realistic am I being trying to remotely manage a self build? I live about 2-3hrs away (m25 dependant) and went timber frame to simplify and speed up build to water tight. Currently about to pour concrete and frame arrives this time next month.

 

Should I bite the bullet, buy a £1500 crap caravan and live on site or can I manage this remotely?

 

For info, my current circumstances are renting (£1100/month plus bills), missus and dog, myself in full time employment which involves being away 3-4 times a month(long haul pilot)

 

It’s all getting very real very quick and finding it quite a handful already! Need to get my windows ordered ASAP.

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Cpd]

I would want to be there every step of the way. There are just so many horror stories of things going wrong even when folks are on site..... I would not like to imagine what you would miss if you were not there to be the overseer. I strive To do the best possible job and do all the work myself, even then I have to “let things go” but it’s me making those decisions. 

It’s such a big investment, you REALLY want to get a good result. YOU need to be informed and have an understanding of what to expect and what quality to accept. 

‘This is just my opinion, I am a perfectionist and would find it IMPOSSIBLE to be away from my house build while someone I never really new put it all together ! Others will have massively diffrent views but we are all different and one persons priority’s are not going to be the same as the next in line. Read some of the blogs on here, they are really informative and will give you a good idea of the amount of work involved in managing a self build. 

[Declan52]

You could combine both. By sourcing out the main frame you should negate most of the risk. But as with everything sometimes stuff goes pear shaped so even though it is less risky you will still need to be on site during certain points to check that things are ready to go, being done right and end up the way you want.

Once the frame is up you could buy your caravan, probably better spending a few extra quid for a decent one, and then you will be on site everyday to manage all that needs to be done. All that dead rental money will certainly come in handy.

[recoveringbuilder]

Definitely on site! My hubby has just gone back to work this week after 4 months off and I am now in charge of the build, not new to me as we’ve done it twice before but although we have a main contractor there are still so many decisions to be made, they’ve been coming at me all week and trying to sort things out while juggling a part time job and babysitting two grandchildren from a caravan is no mean feat but I’d rather be here keeping my eye on the ball as things can so easily go tits up!

[lizzie]

I paid a lot of money to a professional project manager who at one stage (things were going horribly wrong) yelled at me he could manage my build from 800 miles away via his mobile phone (he told me that from his mobile phone)....I was so shocked I was speechless and that does not happen very often.  I ended up having to go to site every day sometimes twice a day (was renting 5 miles away), it took over my life, I didn't know what I was doing, contractors took advantage of me, I had to put my business on hold to try and get the house finished....it was a complete nightmare and you would have though having a professional on board it would have been ok, how wrong can you be. 

 

I never set out to be a self builder I was led into it unwittingly and it was the worse 2 years of my life. The lovely people on this forum helped me so much and I am eternally grateful for their help and support.

 

I truly don't see how you can do it remotely.

[Jeremy Harris]

The single biggest cause of self-build problems that get expressed on this forum are due to lack of daily, competent, oversight.  It's easy to assume that a builder, frame supplier, sub-contractor, even an employed project manager, or architect taking on a project management role, will have the total and absolute control that is essential if errors are to be caught early or even prevented altogether.

 

The very first lesson I learned was that I needed to be on site very regularly, ideally daily, even if only for an hour or so, just to make sure things were on track and everyone clearly understood what was going where.  Stay off site for a couple of days and you can be pretty damned sure that something will go awry.

[Ferdinand]

IMO if you decide to do it remotely the decision is taken to abandon the detailed management of the project ... unless you have an agent who is there daily.

 

That can be done, but you own the consequences.

 

F

Edited August 15, 2018 by Ferdinand

[newhome]

Bite the bullet and live on site. The second something goes wrong you will live with the regret that you weren’t there to prevent it. Living on site won’t remove the risk completely but it’s a way of managing it better. 

[Hecateh]

2 minutes ago, newhome said:

Bite the bullet and live on site. The second something goes wrong you will live with the regret that you weren’t there to prevent it. 

 

Stop it getting worse 

[vivienz]

Be there.

 

I'm not officially project managing, but more organising the sequence of main contractors that are building the house, but being there to answer what are small questions or uncertainties at the time has already saved a whole heap of difficulty/expense/confusion further down the line.  I live an hour's drive away from our build and I certainly wouldn't want to be commuting to it from much further.

[ToughButterCup]

11 hours ago, Gary G said:

Hi guys, how realistic am I being trying to remotely manage a self build? [...]

 

Theres no way to soften the message.  You will regret not being there on so many levels.

[Gary G]

Thanks all for the input, I think it’s fairly conclusive! Anyone got a caravan buyers guide!?

[newhome]

Worth putting a camera up that you can access remotely for the times you are not there too. 

 

We’d love to see some photos as it goes up if you don’t mind posting them. Lots of experienced self builders here to touch base with and check things that you’re not sure of too. 

 

Caravan options range from a cheap tourer to a static. Plenty of threads here on the pros and cons. 

[ProDave]

1 hour ago, Gary G said:

Thanks all for the input, I think it’s fairly conclusive! Anyone got a caravan buyers guide!?

There must be caravan dealers that sell static 'vans somewhere near you, there are 2 close to me up here.  Go and have a wander around their yard. They will probably have everything from plush nearly new with a big price tag, to a £1000 wreck that looks like it might not survive the delivery trip and everything in between.

 

the advantage of buying from a dealer is transport is usually included as any reasonable size dealer has their own flatbed for transporting them.

 

This one cost me a little over £4000, chosen because it has an unusual layout with 2 end bedrooms and the living room in the middle.

[Gone West]

46 minutes ago, newhome said:

Worth putting a camera up that you can access remotely for the times you are not there too.

I can second that. Without video evidence it would have been very difficult for me to get the foundations relaid after a complete cockup. It's all in my blog.

[Mikey_1980]

We hired a Caravan for our build, we had it for around 4-5 months and cost around £2k including delivery/collection siting etc. 

[ToughButterCup]

1 hour ago, PeterStarck said:

I can second that. [...]

 

I can third that. £100 worth of technology saved me from a £9000 bill . 

 

Get a Brinno Time Lapse camera (there are loads of others equally good - but not both as cheap and as good in my opinion ) . And tell everyone that you are using it (they may not consent to being photographed).

Dump the contents  onto an external hard drive at the end of each work period (label the files with the date) and you'll soon have a nice photographic record to look back on.

In our case the camera gave us evidence of unprofessional, borderline criminal behaviour on the part of one employee. Something that we would never ever have been able to prove. Even the most expensive Brinno justifies it's purchase when something like that happens.

 

Oh, and before I forget: welcome.

Ian

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

 

 

Your house is coming along well Dave....?

[newhome]

2 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

 

Your house is coming along well Dave....?

 

I think he must be pining for the old girl ?

[ProDave]

 

2 hours ago, newhome said:

 

I think he must be pining for the old girl ?

I can't wait to get the static 'van set up in it's new role as a work space. At the moment it's just a general storage dumping ground.

[Ferdinand]

10 hours ago, Gary G said:

Thanks all for the input, I think it’s fairly conclusive! Anyone got a caravan buyers guide!?

 

Post a "needed" for a caravan in the Marketplace. There are lots of tricks.

 

One trick is to get it on your PP as a future workshop or garden room.

 

(OK. 4 people have covered this first.)

 

Another trick not mentioned is to choose a van with a plan to match your future needs. IIRC @ProDave has one with a bedroom at each end so that two people can sulk simultaneously in the future (or it may be that he wants a separate storage space and office/workroom).

 

F

Edited August 16, 2018 by Ferdinand

[ProDave]

9 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

Another trick not mentioned is to choose a van with a plan to match your future needs. IIRC

@ProDave has one with a bedroom at each end so that two people can sulk simultaneously in the future (or it may be that he wants a separate storage space and office/workroom).

 

F

Yes we had a little tussle with the planners.  I wanted the 'van to remain as a workroom / studio / store room. The planners said no. That was until I pointed out that on the day of completion I could remove it from the site, then immediately put an identical 'van back in the identical position, and it would be a permitted development garden building.  They agreed and changed the condition to "habitational use of the caravan shall cease on occupation of the house"