Panic attack..we may be going to start building the house

[zippitippitoes]

ourselves instead of a builder

groundworks contractor has just been and is coming back tomorrow with a price

will it be going ahead soon?

Wow good luck I have always wanted to do it but not got the cash for a plot. What sort of construction?

We have the p[lot as it is our back yard ..i stsart a thread on it every couple of weeks lol

This is the plot

it is a traditional construction, the builder's quotes we had were too much and now we are going to go ahead with sub contractors ourelves..I think this will be stressful

So when you say yourself do you mean your laying the bricks?

not laying bricks

instead of having a builder/main contractor who gets in groundworks, brickies, trades etc

we act as builder/main contractor and get each trade in for each stage or do some ourselves

it will be a mare to organise because it is a very tight site

we did this last summer for our double garage (currently have builders doing our extension - but they are doing everything up until it is weather tight and then DH does the rest).

We found it took everyday involvement with the builders - we were supplying all the materials - he was just doing the work. We (or rather DH) had to be talking to the builder everyday to make sure things were there when needed. You have to know where to get things from and what to get. The most stressful was juggling timing for the concrete lorries for the floor slab - hard enough in the summer - not something I would like to do in the winter (luckily it is our builders problem this time round - hopefully later this week).

It was cheaper - but not by much, and given the time it took to arrange things - it only worked because DH had the time to do it (and some knowlege of the field).

Basically - you have to be there, write everything down, and keep on good terms with the contractors - ask them for advice - but don't necessarily always take their suggestions for suppliers - sometimes they are getting a cut for sending you a particular supplier's way. The internet is useful to check prices and get direct delivery.

Good luck !

You don't reckon you saved much then?

I am trying to find out how much the groundworks should cost roughly,

It is a big gamble

we are both home allday, so will have the pleasure of watching it all day every day

I am anatural worrier so will be very stressed

don't know the exact figures - but we didn't save a huge amount. I mean we probably just about saved the cost of the wages of a project manager - but if you are having to take time off your own paid work to do it - then it won't save you much - if you see what I mean.

We did save money because DH did the tiling rather than wait for the tiler.

Will you or DH be doing any labouring work ? That might help to keep costs down a bit. Not easy if you are juggling childcare two (we had 3 under 4 at home at the time !).

If you are going to save money you will have to be bloody minded about sticking to budgets and sniff out cheaper versions of things.

The only problem might be if you are trying to do it within a tight time limit - not easy to get a steady flow of contractors one after the other - unless you are very lucky - have you figured out how long each stage should take and worked out when and who the next contractor is likely to be - if not - then that should be done or at least started asap.

Not joking that it is a tight site, I want to go for a log cabin type thing so I really want a rural plot.

we won't be taking time off getting paid work, we are at home anyway

dp can labour he is currently finishing preparing the site..diging up the bricks which made the floors of the old buildings and reclaiming them.

there will be some pressure on money as we will have to start paying back the mortgage but it is a draw down one so only on what we have already borrowed..

thw walls will have to be built handover on two sides and there isn't much room for storage and the access road is narrow

all in all a bit of an organisational nightmare

but i think that is partly why the quotes we had were high..

skribble once it's done we want to sell both houses and move to the countryside it's just the bit between now and then that is going to be horrific

well at least if you start with the view that it is going to be horrific and tough then maybe it won't turn out as badly as you fear and you will be pleasantly surprised .

At least you are not expecting it to all be plain sailing and a lovely experience.