ᐅ What tasks have you completed yourselves?

This was not a new build for me, but a complete renovation:
- Emptied a fully furnished two-family house and disposed of everything (A LOT of trips to the recycling center, waste disposal, etc.)
- Stripped everything down (removed wallpaper, water pipes, sewage pipes, electrical wiring, radiators, bathrooms, etc.)
- Electrical work done with a friend who is an electrician. He installed a new distribution box, I made chases in the walls, installed conduit pipes, pulled cables, and connected switches and sockets
- Complete painting inside and outside
- Plaster repairs (filling and sanding)
- All floor coverings except tiles
- Sanded and repainted doors, adjusted their height to fit the new flooring
- Took down walls, created a large opening supported by a T-beam, built new walls
- Removed old radiators, bricked up radiator niches, installed new radiators (heating pipes were extended by my father-in-law)
- Assembled kitchen
- Insulated the top floor ceiling
- Made all necessary openings for new water and sewage pipes
- Plastering work, mostly done by two experienced friends while I provided support—they were very fast

I can’t think of anything else right now. The rest I had done professionally. Windows, new heating system, chimney renovation, etc., were too risky for me as a non-expert without professional guidance.

I did everything during holidays and weekends. Almost a full year with practically no other activities.

Two companies quoted about 250,000 for the entire renovation. I completed it for 71,000 and now know exactly where each pipe runs and what is installed where.

Yes, I would do it the same way again!

I find this thread interesting. We might be facing a new build soon. We will also have to explore what can be done with electrical installations.

Regards
Specki

Hello

I'll write this the other way around for simplicity.
For the groundwork, we had an excavation contractor with an excavator and a plate compactor for about a week.
For the shell construction, we had a carpenter with a crane for about two weeks.
I had the windows and doors installed. A friend is helping with the electrical installation.
I will still need a screeding specialist.
I’m doing the remaining small tasks myself.

Olli

Painting and flooring in the shell stage:
3 1/2 weeks for the upper floor walls and sloped ceilings to be skimmed, sanded, and painted again. Carpet on the upper floor.
That was our annual leave in November. In December, then 2 days of wellness at the Baltic Sea. That should be enough.
The garden came later and was handled separately.

allstar83 schrieb:

Hello everyone,

I’m interested in the following:

• Which trades did you undertake as DIY work?
• Would you do these tasks yourself again or rather not, and why?
• Did you specifically plan time off work for the construction phase, or did everything happen alongside work, in the evenings and on weekends?

Thanks

1. Not much DIY work, some electrical, some carpentry, some landscaping... The main DIY effort was in coordination, being on-site, and making detailed decisions.
2. I simply wanted to fully enjoy the time together with my wife. That required some reorganization of my work life. The entire construction phase was a really great experience.
3. The work reorganization meant that for several months I worked on average about 5 days per month. Now I want to get back to full speed and see what comes next.