After a hard day on site, my routine is now back to my flat for a hot bath, a cup of builders tea and some quality time with Kevin McCloud on my Mac air, elevated by 2 books balanced on the toilet seat, the mac book air that is, not Kevin .
I’ve watched Kevin on Grand designs for many years now, the ups and downs of self builders laid bare for all of us to watch, smiling and thinking…well that won’t happen to me…..will it ?
The most common issue most self builders face is budget over-run…
Architects, quantity surveyors and hoards of tradesmen all spending your hard earned cash at an alarming rate….
But thankfully, I don’t have any of those ; designed on free Mac software, budgeted on a spread sheet, and, as for trade’s men… what trade’s men ?
But, alas, I do have a budget over run issue…..
You see one tradition in the building trade is that when deliveries turn up, and you need to persuade the driver to help you handball, drag, and generally lug a lorry load of heavy buuilding stuff down the long narrow driveway, bribes are required.
This is ususally a nice strong cup of buildrs tea and … biscuits, many biscuits, and this is where I’m going wrong.
I’ve just calculated that so far, by supplying chocolate Hob-Knobs and earl grey tea, as apposed to ‘two packs for £1’ Maryland choc chips and Tesco’s tea, I have over spent by almost £60, which in real terms is 120 blocks, or 12 sq meters of wall (not including sand cement and sweat)…. note to self, must get back on budget with trip to Morrisons maybe ?
So, anyhow, what about the build ?
Well the good news is…. I now have planning approval !! .. which is quite a relief as moving it a few feet to the the left now would be an annoying challenge .
The blocks I’ve chosen to build with do take some time to get used to, each one is about the size of a milk crate, and can weigh anywhere from 15 to 25 kilo’s depending on how wet they are, and these are now, as you can imagine, wetter than an episode of Downton Abbey.
But once you get the hang of them, I have to say I’m a big fan. They go up quickly, they level easily, and you get a great “pec’s ab’s and gun’s” work out..result !
Hang in there everybody , be happy, or if not, at least smile … It confuses the heck out of everybody and sometimes you get free tea ! 🙂
andy pelon blog 