Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 16, 2011 6:54 pm Hi all We have been owner building now for 2 years and have just about had enough. We are so close to being done but it is just killing us, to the point where we are thinking of just quitting and selling. I really don't want this but the stress to my husband is just getting too much. SO I have been wondering, and would be grateful for yr views, if maybe there is a way to contract a builder to just get it finished. I reckon a solid months worth of work would do it. BUT would anyone be prepared to undertake such work? I would want a fixed amount contract with a fixed competition date. I am getting desperate and think this might be the only way to avoid selling up & divorce! Thoughts?? Am I crazy? Re: We are desperate and need help!! 2Sep 16, 2011 7:06 pm Take a short holiday to recharge the batteries. Enjoy some wine, watch the sun set, swim in the ocean, lay back and soak up the sunshine. Come back in a few weeks and look at your project in a whole new healthy light. I get the way you are at near the end of every reno, and doing what I said is just the tonic to make the last few yards that much easier. Re: We are desperate and need help!! 3Sep 16, 2011 7:10 pm You see, I would do that, but DH won't because every day he's away is a day he's not at the house. And then he feels guilty. Sooo hard! Re: We are desperate and need help!! 4Sep 16, 2011 7:38 pm It can mean the diff between loving your home when finished and marriage intact or marriage problems and hating the house. You just have to bite the bullet and forget the house for a few weeks, it REALLY will refresh you whole outlook. Re: We are desperate and need help!! 5Sep 16, 2011 7:42 pm See yr signature eyspy?? Ummm that sums up my hubby! Re: We are desperate and need help!! 6Sep 16, 2011 8:05 pm Loretta-then go away by yourself! It's great for a marriage too! Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: We are desperate and need help!! 7Sep 16, 2011 8:30 pm Loretta, I feel your pain! When I built my current house about 15 years ago, the builder went bankrupt about 8 weeks into the build. There was insurance, and once some of the legalities were sorted out, I took the paperwork (which was not nearly as complete as it should have been) to several other builders in my area, asking if they would be able to complete the job, and for a quote to do so. I had to sign another building contract, of course, but my house did get built, after knocking half of it down again due to water damage whilst it was sitting around waiting. It might be worth ringing around the smaller builders in your area to see if any of them are interested. And I second the idea to take a holiday if you can. Good luck. Variegated Re: We are desperate and need help!! 8Sep 16, 2011 9:06 pm I am male so I can offer no advice. Having built two in two years and selling two others at the same time I keep reminding myself of only one thing. " If it was easy everyone would be doin' it " Ms Echo and I drink a lot I wish you luck Timeline Aug 08-Land Mar 09-Demo/Titles Sept 10-Handover No1 Sept 11-Handover No2 April 12-Sold No2 Aug 14-Land/Demo Jan 15-Slabs viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25736 Re: We are desperate and need help!! 10Sep 17, 2011 10:39 am No harm in getting some quotes - better weather coming, might get work done on weekends by tradies. Would your house be saleable if it's still not finished - lose money by selling. Revise your priorities? (Lower your standards?) Review your timeline? Best wishes. Re: We are desperate and need help!! 11Sep 17, 2011 4:09 pm Oh loretta, I feel sad for you. It would be such a shame to not finish your house, you are so close and it is a beautiful house that is going to make a beautiful home. There is no doubt that owner/building is an extremely difficult and stressful job and I agree with the post that says, if it was easy everyone would be doing it!! But with the stress and pain and hard work comes a massive reward at the end. It has taken you longer than most but maybe that will make the reward even greater. You need to find the motivation to get it finished. Either by a builder (I'd be making heaps of phone calls to get as many as you can to site to give quotes & timeframes to finish) or by yourself. Having owner built 2 homes already I can tell you, from experience, that on the 1st night that you move in, all the stress and sleepless nights seem to become distant memories very quickly and you have an overwhelming sense of pride, joy and relief. Don't give up now or you will not ever get to feel what that feels like and most likely regret it for a long time. How can you find motivation? Well, the holiday sounds like a fantastic idea but if you can't convince hubby (I can understand that because I can never get my husband to take a holiday while we are building) then find some other way. Maybe, get a couple of real estate agents through to give you an estimate of what it is worth if you put it on the market as it is now and a value of what it will be worth when you finish. The difference may be motivation enough!!! You could ask as many friends and family to come over and help out (a working bee) for a couple of Saturdays. Many hands make light work. Put on a BBQ and beers at the end of the day and the men will come!!!! I wish you the very best of luck. Your home reminds me alot of our last home so I was so looking forward to seeing it finished. I think it would be heartbreaking for you to see someone else finish off the house and live in 'your' home. Sorry, long post! Rocketship. Re: We are desperate and need help!! 12Sep 21, 2011 2:31 pm Thank you so much everyone for your posts and encouragement. It can be so hard being a grown up!! As it turns out, Hubby was receptive to the idea of help (finally - what is it with male bloody pride???) and we approached the brother of a friend who is a builder. Anyway, thank god, he has agreed to help for $350 a day, which i think is prettty reasonable. He can't see any reason as to why we won't be in before christmas which is awesome news. He started yesterday, and unfortunately discovered some sub standard work by other subbies and that upset Hubby a lot - it was the last thing we needed. However, the builder was optimistic we could fix it and all would be well. SO hopefully we can get in sooner rather than later and our lives can stop being on hold!!! I will let you know how we get on. No more disasters please!! Re: We are desperate and need help!! 13Sep 21, 2011 2:45 pm wow thats great that your husband agreed to get help and that you were able to find someone with a decent rate. I hope it all comes together for you and that you will be able to move in soon. Re: We are desperate and need help!! 14Sep 21, 2011 2:47 pm Thank goodness for happy endings (which Iam sure your will be). Getting a builder to guide you is the best thing you can do - dont forget that motivation is a key consideration here and your builder fried will definitely give you that. Hang in there and Ho Ho Ho - Merry Christmas - give each other a beautiful home as a gift !! Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. Re: We are desperate and need help!! 15Sep 21, 2011 8:36 pm Awesome news Loretta I read thru your blog last wk & love the house You have done an outstanding result so far! Let's see it completed lol Mel Re: We are desperate and need help!! 16Sep 21, 2011 10:58 pm Thanks Mel, Xanthrope and Libby. Much appreciated! The positive feedback is great Re: We are desperate and need help!! 17Sep 22, 2011 9:57 am Hey Loretta, I'm so glad you have found a solution to finishing your build. I know you have been at this for a long time but the end is in sight now & you will soon be living in your beautiful home. Keep your spirits up. Loretta Built The Jenmark with Cavalier Homes Macarthur. http://camdenacres.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=17870 We are in - front landscaping begins Re: We are desperate and need help!! 18Sep 27, 2011 2:54 pm Hi Loretta, just came across your thread again and wanted to say that I hope all is going well with the build now you have qualified help - sounds like he knows his business too. Good luck and look forward to christmas in your lovely new home. For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: We are desperate and need help!! 19Dec 27, 2011 9:19 pm Hi Loretta, Was wondering how you are going? Are you in your new home? No update here or on your blog! Hope everything is okay. Look forward to hearing from you. Re: We are desperate and need help!! 20Jan 06, 2012 6:40 pm Hi Rocketship Thanks for your post! Despite all our best intentions to be in the house....well, we are not Why the delay? To be honest, its impossible to point to one factor. It seems to be a combination of things. A big issue is the people that we have helping us, whilst doing great work, seem to be "part time" in that they frequently go off to do other jobs. So it feels to me that we have no continuity. There may not be that much left to do, but we don't seem able to get a good run on it. However, every day something small is achieved and, although it may be small, its still a step towards being in (so I keep telling myself). Next week our WIRs and walk in pantry are going in so I will post some pics on the blog once that's done. Loretta Hi there, I'm a conplete newbie to this, but I'm looking to put a floor down in my 6x9m shed. It's currently sitting on a 100mm thick concrete perimeter (dirt floor… 0 6467 Hi VK, I am now retired however I have stood beside over 300 owner builders in the past 18 years that have successfully built their own homes. First of all a building… 10 22666 Thank you @. Tried to play with the facade models but the exact colour is not matching up. 2 3260 |