ᐅ Building Without Stress – Who Has Tips or Experiences on How to Achieve This?

I often find the estimates of hours people say they worked themselves quite laughable. Either those individuals don’t have a regular job, are dealing with a 10-year construction project, or somehow manage to sleep at night and work on the building site at the same time.

This is misleading for people who haven’t started building yet and might get the wrong impression. Especially for those with a family and a full-time job, I strongly advise against planning a large amount of self-performed work. Even if you don’t plan to do much yourself, building can still put a significant strain on family life.

Doing work yourself, in my opinion, only adds more stress. One contractor has to wait because a colleague was sick for two weeks or you completely miscalculate the timeline. Then all the trades have to be rescheduled, which in my view causes the most stress. Also, there are many tasks I could do myself but would never take on—anything related to waterproofing, safety, and electrical work. Of course, you can insulate your basement yourself. But that might save maybe 1000 or 2000€ (about 1100 or 2200 USD), and what if it leaks in five years? The same applies to plumbing work. For showers without a shower tray, I believe you pay the extra cost mainly for the warranty and rightly so, because these installations often cause problems. With electrical work, you definitely need to know exactly what you’re doing; otherwise, it quickly becomes dangerous. Even modern heating systems require experience. From my experience, trained professionals are much faster in their trades than you are yourself. When I see how quickly the carpenter installed windows and doors, I would need at least three times as long with a colleague. Even without paying helpers, there is little benefit for me in the end.
It is true that you might put in more effort yourself than many craftsmen do, but that doesn’t mean it turns out better. I have seen many self-tiled bathrooms. Many were well done, but none were better than those done by a professional tiler, because you will make mistakes yourself too.

MayrCh schrieb:
That’s over 400 full 8-hour workdays, which is more than 2 full years. How long did your build take? :O
In that time, I alone would have earned the equivalent of 120k gross without even lifting a finger on the construction site. Although, I did do a bit—laid floors and did interior painting. I’d estimate the savings there at under 10k.

1 year (52 weeks) of construction time until moving in. After moving in, there were still some "small tasks" plus landscaping to complete.
Every weekday 4–6 hours, Saturdays 10–12 hours, Sundays often in the morning.
Public holidays except Christmas 5–12 hours.
About 50 vacation days (from 2 years) at 10–12 hours each.

My partner worked a bit less overall.

Of course, having children is not an option in this scenario; otherwise, this wouldn’t work.

The regular job continued as well, although with only about 30 hours per week instead of 38. However, we were prepared with enough overtime accumulated from previous years.

This is how building is done here in rural areas, with very few exceptions. We tend to laugh at people who spend fortunes having a house built and can’t even manage to paint their walls during a three-week vacation in order to move in.

readytorumble schrieb:
This is how houses are built here in the countryside, with very few exceptions. We tend to smile at people who spend a fortune on a house and yet can’t even manage to paint their walls during a three-week vacation to be able to move in.

Thank you! Finally, someone on my side. Although you have already put in above-average DIY effort. It’s almost a pity that for today’s generation, a comfortable, stress-free life often seems to be the main focus. This attitude also reflects in their professional lives.

MIA_SAN_MIA__ schrieb:
It's almost a bit of a shame that for today's generation, a comfortable, stress-free life often seems to be the main focus. This attitude also reflects in their professional lives.

I agree with that.
Apart from sleeping, working, and being on the construction site during that time, there was nothing else, absolutely nothing. But that's okay, because you're doing it for the big dream.

Side story:
Right across from our house is the village pub. After a hard day's work, I often had to listen to comments from the older folks like, "When we were building, no day ended before 11 PM!"

PS: This is not meant as a criticism of anyone. Everyone is of course free to do things the way they find best.

Unfortunately, I see this as a societal issue, especially concerning work and, above all, voluntary work in clubs...

@readytorumble
You might be a bit extreme in your approach, but I really like your attitude.