Got engaged earlier this week and we are thinking of selling my partners house, moving into mine and buying a plot of land to build our dream home.

I’m in the construction game (supply/manufacture), know loads of folk but is it worth the hassle? I’d probably ease off on work and Project Manage it myself, but I’m guessing at least a year of sleepless nights and people knocking on the door for payments??

Any advice would be gratefully accepted!!

Nope, but a friend has

http://www.ukselfbuild.com/content/category/6/22/38/

Started 2005, and although he’s stopped updating the website he is still posting pics on Facebook and it looks nearly done

Having been a secondary project manager on my extension build (always wanting to speak to me) I’d say **** that. If I could do it all again I’d let the architect do it (considering the small amount it would have cost us) and sit back until it comes time for us to inspect the final product.

I’m well up for doing the same but wouldn’t dream of taking anything on myself. I got in enough crap trying to do the plumbing around work and I don’t know enough to actually manage everything myself (they screw up timings it’s on their costs, you screw it up and it’s on yours).

I’ve been a Contracts Manager but my main strengths are in Sales. Saying that, I think I’ve built up a decent enough contact base over the last twenty years to suffice. Do I think I’m up to it – maybe, maybe not. How many times do you get to do this in a lifetime – once, twice?

Am I going through a mid-life crisis?

If I am – f*ck it!!!

No.
But I’ve just started. I’ve always wanted to do it and a plot with planning already on it came up.
I start tomorrow with a digger/driver to clear the site and dig footing etc.
Will be project managing it myself and also working on site as much as I can.
I fit kitchens so all wood/electrics/plumbing/plaster boarding etc will be done by me and have access to other trade as and when I need them.

Russ – best of luck to you mate. If you’re in West Yorkshire let me know and I’ll put you in touch with a few decent, good price contractors. I work for Paslode so when it gets to that stage let me know and we’ll sort a few freebies out!!

Anyone built their house from scratch?

Ours is built from bricks n stuff, dunno what scratch is, although I’ve known people who’ve made model aircraft from it as well.

*looks for a scratch supplier*

😉

North tyneside so not that far!
It’s a huge gamble as I need to get it liveable with a small pot then sell my house to finish it.
Don’t really want to go rented.
But hopefully it will be worth it when it’s complete (if it ever is)

Freebies sounds good!

Go for it!
If you don’t, you’ll always wish you had…

Yep we built our own house in 2008′ it took a year of holidays nights and weekends, I got carried away a bit with the spec and finishings and probably the size of the house. Take into account the size of your garden and landscaping fencing etc can get expensive if it’s a big plot.
We currently have it on the market hopefully to start another project.

But I’ve just started. I’ve always wanted to do it and a plot with planning already on it came up. I start tomorrow with a digger/driver to clear the site and dig footing etc.

Ooo, that needs its own thread…everyone loves a new build thread regardless whether its a shed or house 😀

I’ll be keeping a photo diary. I’ll pop them on if I ever work out how to do it!

Not me but my father in law did and a friend did. My father in law was a builder, knew all the people, got it done very cheap. He actually built two houses and he reckoned the one he sold paid for everything.

My friend was very rich, bought some expensive land, built a massive house, cost him almost twice what he anticipated.

Hope this helps. 😉

Almost. I have converted an old falling down cowshed into my house. Involved everything from underpinning walls, demolition and rebuilding of rubble filled stone walls, roofing with 2 inch thick sandstone roofing slates, wiring, plumbing etc, as well as processing all the timber and making the doors, windows and kitchen units on site. During the build I was living in the shell. In the end the process took me about 10 years. 🙂
I was lucky in that I was working on site for the day job (farming) so could do a bit of work on the house whenever. It was certainly tough going in the early years, living in a building site, but the money saved, means I have a house, exactly as I want it, and no mortgage. 😉

PS I didn’t actually do everything on the house as I did get a man in to lay a carpet in the bedroom.

Do it but design it nicely rather than sticking to the convention ones.

Most of the houses market are shite and over priced.

🙂

PM me if you need gas, always pays to look at that and the other utilities earlier rather than later to avoid potential surprises!

A mate did…

His advice was to have somebody who could deal with all the stupid questions from the guys on site. He was getting hassled all the time at work for what seemed to be simple questions like the bathroom cabinet is slightly too big do you want it hung at the same height? Yes – they skipped the bit where they were just about to cut through some expensive wall covering or something to make it work. If you can’t say Yes or No that instant then the job stops…

At least if you are paying somebody/architect for that service you have someone to blame.

I need gas j4mie?
It’s going to be mains tho.
Out of all the utilities they are the cheapest to have installed.
Got a bit of drainage concerns at the minute. Hopefully I can tie into next doors but that involves digging some of her garden up or going out into the street but I’ll be at the mercy of Northumbria waters approved contractor and I’m assuming it’s going to cost!!!

Yes we’ve done it, probably had all the right cards to start with, inherited the land, FIL a builder/project manager, wife worked at local council so keep an eye on planning, also she is a gifted organiser.
We went for it and it was relatively pain free, except for a few neighbour issues.
12 month window, finished in 9 months and £27k under our £250k budget.
Get good people round you and have the money sorted.

Got engaged earlier this week and we are thinking of selling my partners house, moving into mine and buying a plot of land to build our dream home.

Buying a plot of land?

Have you actually looked for a plot of land that is for sale and has planning permission…, you may get a shock (if you find one) at the price.

russ295 – Member
I’ll be keeping a photo diary. I’ll pop them on if I ever work out how to do it!

Create an account on https://www.flickr.com
You can then link to here. See weekend in the Lakes thread……

I’d absolutely love to, but where I live, land is incredibly rare and I’ve come to really like the village.
A friend did it (I took the photos), but had to knock-down rebuild to get the land. twas expensive, but they can afford it.

If I did it, it’d be a really unique house. I’ve got some cracking ideas 🙂

I did get a man in to lay a carpet in the bedroom.

bourgeois ponce 😉

We built a small “granny flat” on our land a few years ago. Well built is a bit of a stretch, designed, project managed, and purchasing were in our scope, the actual build was contracted out to our builder.

Found the whole process to be really good fun. We came in about 5K over budget with most of that being extra ground work.

Build thread here:
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-house-build-a-photo-journal-of-a-modest-design

Just realized that I haven’t put any actual pictures of the completed interior, oh well

My great grandad did. He built his dream home largely on his own and by hand, as well as working full time.

After years of graft it was finally completed, and he brought my great grandmother round for the big unveiling. She unfortunately hated it and the poor bastard had to sell it.

She unfortunately hated it

Ouch, tough audience 😥

We are 8 weeks from moving into ours. The whole process has dragged on a bit starting with the land acquisition which was finally signed 10 months later than initially planned. The planning permission was rejected the first time around due to the aesthetic preferences of monsieur le maire who has a dislike to wood cladding. We then discovered the limits of a bridging loan when the old gaff took a little longer to sell than hoped…

Anyway, must dash. I’ve got a bathroom to tile.

Not quite a house, but I built / managed this from scratch. Bar a problem with the first brickie, who was useless, it was pretty straightforward:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/k8M3p9]Looking down on Workshop[/url] by brf, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/dXwkJS]One coat on this half…[/url] by brf, on Flickr

I did, and loved it. It was a very busy 18 months or so, but very rewarding.

I had it relatively easy though, because:

– it was started in 2009, when construction was in the doldrums and trades were very easy to get hold of.
– we bought a serviced plot
– we never came close to running out of cash before the next stepped payment came in
– I knew plenty of good tradesmen personally
– my wife could put in extra shifts (nurse) to keep cash coming in while I worked on the house

I’d love the chance to do it again!

Busy couple of days. Dug and shifted about 100 ton of topsoil.
10 wagon full’s gone and prob another 5 tomorrow.

100 tonnes of topsoil? That should pay for the slab 🙂

We are 8 months into both working full time on our self build and 2 years and 8 months on from making an offer on the plot. a minimum of extra trades on site and doin nearly everything ourselves. Neither of us in the building trade! We’re at first fix/boarding out stage at the moment.

It’s pretty all consuming – riding bikes taking a big back seat since October – but really enjoying it. Photos are a mess right now (not updated since December). Will post soon.