ᐅ Do-it-yourself work – what tasks did you take on, and would you do them again?

SirSydom schrieb:
I thought you were a banker?
Did you chase horizontally or lay the cables on the structural subfloor or run conduits in the concrete slab?

I am, but operating a wall chase cutter and cutting conduits and cables to the correct length isn’t that difficult.

We only chased horizontally where it was structurally unproblematic—actually, only in one single spot. Otherwise, we ran all roller shutter, audio cables, lighting outlets, and switch wiring inside conduits in the raw ceiling. This way, both floors have lighting and roller shutters routed in the ceiling. Network, TV, and power outlets are installed on the structural subfloor in the insulation layer. So, power basically comes from below. Everything in the house is kept separated like this. Lighting circuits are on two RCDs, while power sockets are on two different RCDs. That way, the lights won’t go out if something trips in the power circuit. My uncle-in-law is an electrician, so we did it all together. I did the rough planning and chased the walls and laid the cables, while he did the detailed planning, connected everything, and so on...

It worked out great.

In the old house, we were very busy: moving walls and rebuilding them with drywall, including plastering and sanding, gutting and rebuilding two bathrooms with tile installation, laying laminate and carpet, tiling the outdoor stairs (17 steps, two landings), tiling the cellar stairs as well, installing wooden ceilings, laying wood-look tiles on the terrace, paving the access to the house, and working on the landscaping... quite a lot accumulated over the years.

In the new house, we will paint the ceilings, hang wallpaper, apply fine plaster in the bathrooms, and install floor coverings except for tiles, as well as build a carport and log cabin-style garage.

That will be enough. The rest will be done by the contractors, including the landscaping (except for planting).

We will do the following

Roof
Complete electrical work
Sanitary preparatory work
Excavation

My dad is an electrician and retired. My brother-in-law is a roofer and the other is a gas and water plumber.
I am taking 5 weeks off in a row this year. It will be a tough schedule.

We will only do the flooring in the basement ourselves and, of course, take care of the garden ourselves – but that is more fun than a chore.

The excavation will be carried out by an experienced excavator operator; a friend has an excavator in their vehicle fleet.
My father is handling the electrical work and has done this before for single-family houses, which puts my mind at ease the most.

What we did ourselves:
- Assembled the house using so-called master carpenter installation (a master carpenter who knows what he’s doing and many friends helping out). It was a great experience
- Concrete slab foundation
- Interior construction with timber frame, OSB boards, drywall
- Water supply and wastewater
- Electrical work, except for connecting the distribution panel
- Roof insulation and interior roof finishing
- Underfloor heating pipes and connection in the distribution box
- Tiling, hardwood flooring
- Painting walls and partial wallpapering
- Sewer connection for wastewater and rainwater
- Installing windows and front door
- Interior doors
- Building the chimney
- Garden, garden shed, and retaining wall for terrace support

What we did not do ourselves:
- Roof covering
- Heating boiler with peripherals
- Excavation with strip foundations
- Screed
- Manufacturing and installing the staircase
- Connecting the electrical distribution panel

I am a carpenter and construction technician and work relatively fast. I can’t say exactly how much we saved, but I was quite shocked when I saw the price offered for a turnkey house at the time.

Due to the house construction method, all work proceeded very quickly and mostly without problems. I would do it the same way again.

Best regards