ᐅ What aspects of building your house were the most stressful or challenging for you?
Created on: 4 Mar 2022 08:29
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Pinkiponk
I think this thread could be helpful as a trigger warning for new home builders or maybe to reassure them that their own experience was quite relaxed:
Interestingly, the first response we usually received after telling someone we were building a house was "Good luck with that"; whether from a notary, loan advisor, colleagues, acquaintances, relatives, or friends. Was it similar for you? And to get to the main question of this thread: "What has cost you the most nerves?" My usual answer was that we are not building ourselves, we are having it built, to which the response almost always was, "I thought the same once."
For us, so far, the biggest challenge has been arranging construction water and temporary power on the building plot. (Yes, also the land search since we always had about a 500km (310 miles) one-way trip to the desired building region, but that was balanced out by the enjoyment of the process. The price increase of about 15% was also a factor. I would need to check the exact figure again.)
Interestingly, the first response we usually received after telling someone we were building a house was "Good luck with that"; whether from a notary, loan advisor, colleagues, acquaintances, relatives, or friends. Was it similar for you? And to get to the main question of this thread: "What has cost you the most nerves?" My usual answer was that we are not building ourselves, we are having it built, to which the response almost always was, "I thought the same once."
For us, so far, the biggest challenge has been arranging construction water and temporary power on the building plot. (Yes, also the land search since we always had about a 500km (310 miles) one-way trip to the desired building region, but that was balanced out by the enjoyment of the process. The price increase of about 15% was also a factor. I would need to check the exact figure again.)
Tolentino schrieb:
Really? No one else does that here. (scnr)
The problem is: partner dancing requires two people. And if one isn’t following or is dancing to a different rhythm, you end up stepping on each other’s feet.
Even if it doesn’t hurt, it’s always annoying.
You were also just lucky with your general contractor, and I’m happy for you, but you can’t assume it will always work out just because you prepare and do your homework.
On the contrary, things often run more smoothly with the wrong partner if you’re completely unaware and just nod along with everything they suggest, smiling foolishly.
Stress comes whenever someone messes up and you notice. Absolutely true.
However, I would also argue that our research and thorough preparation helped us find the right general contractor in the first place. That alone took a lot of time.
In other words: searched for a long time and finally found the right one.
Every day, we feel reassured we made the right choice with our general contractor.
But sure... it can also go differently, you’re completely right... some luck is involved as well.
And yes, it always depends on what you know and what is important to you.
A “simple” homeowner who has no prior experience with houses and sees it purely as a “box to live in” will probably immediately say: “Everything went perfectly for me” xD
The more demands you have, the more you know — the more difficult it certainly becomes, and the harder it is to satisfy you.
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Myrna_Loy4 Mar 2022 11:58The slowness of the building authorities. They really stretched every deadline to the maximum, then sent a comment or a request for additional information, and the deadline started over. They are seriously understaffed, with frequent absences due to illness... We could have easily finished at least one year earlier. Our neighbors are going through the same ordeal at the moment. The coronavirus pandemic has made it even worse.
Holzhäuschen4 Mar 2022 12:49We are only on day 5 of the actual house construction, and my broken foot from day 3 is definitely the top priority (especially since I am scheduled to help quite a lot).
Otherwise, some items were missing because the manufacturer did not deliver them correctly, which was quite frustrating.
We are now waiting for everything else. The initial meeting with the trades on the construction site was very pleasant; I hope it stays that way (we are using individual contracts).
Otherwise, some items were missing because the manufacturer did not deliver them correctly, which was quite frustrating.
We are now waiting for everything else. The initial meeting with the trades on the construction site was very pleasant; I hope it stays that way (we are using individual contracts).
Definitely the building permit / planning permission, which arrived several months late.
One or two trades were apparently priced too low. This was frustrating during construction and unfortunately shows in the quality.
Garden landscaping was assigned to extended family, which dragged on like rubber.
Would build again anytime.
One or two trades were apparently priced too low. This was frustrating during construction and unfortunately shows in the quality.
Garden landscaping was assigned to extended family, which dragged on like rubber.
Would build again anytime.
Winniefred4 Mar 2022 17:59Most frustrating? The tradespeople^^. We renovated. The tradespeople came and went as they pleased, often didn’t finish their work, and their performance was mostly mediocre at best. The dependence on them was what annoyed me the most...
Other than that, nothing really got on my nerves. We did a lot ourselves, with plenty of enthusiasm. I actually enjoyed it, even though sometimes I fell asleep on the sofa in the evening from exhaustion. At times, I stayed at the construction site until after sunset (in summer!) because something had to be finished urgently. You really have to develop determination for that.
Other than that, nothing really got on my nerves. We did a lot ourselves, with plenty of enthusiasm. I actually enjoyed it, even though sometimes I fell asleep on the sofa in the evening from exhaustion. At times, I stayed at the construction site until after sunset (in summer!) because something had to be finished urgently. You really have to develop determination for that.
Osnabruecker schrieb:
"The one" neighbor who has called the police multiple times because we are working on the construction site at times she doesn’t like.So, did she receive a warning notice the third time?Tolentino schrieb:
The problem is: partner dancing always involves two people. And if one doesn’t dance along or dances to different music, you end up stepping on each other’s feet.Pogo is not partner dancing.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/