Carrying out DIY & building work myself on my own home

[60watt]

Hi,

I'm building a new house, I've just submitted the planning application. Its a one off house in the country. Building costs are very high right now, so I'm hoping to do some of the work myself to save money. I'm not a builder, I work as a software engineer, but I am very competent, experienced and interested in building and DIY. I have a lot of experience from previously repairing and renovating an old house. DIY jobs I am very experienced and competent in are:

• Internal and external painting,
• Wall and floor tiling,
• Laying timber flooring,
• Fitting skirting and architrave and door frames,
• Hanging internal doors

The plans are for a block built, 3 bed bungalow with internal stud partition walls.
I'm thinking about constructing these internal stud partition walls (drywall/plasterboard) myself, because I've done it before and I'm very handy at this work. I believe I could save a nice chunk of money by doing this myself. However, am I being naive, will I have difficult in getting a stage payment mortgage/insurance/certification etc because I'm not a qualified builder ? For example I've no practical experience regarding what is required to comply with building regulations.

Thanks

 

[Leo]

All the jobs listed above are certainly feasible, and there are no qualifications required to do them in your own home.

A pro will always do these jobs way more quickly to the same or a higher standard. If you have the luxury of time, fire ahead, you'll get a great sense of achievement from completing the work yourself. If however there are deadlines and family to consider, you might be best enlist some help as the volume of work and stress of organising life around it can be testing.

Talk to your plumber and electrician before studding the walls to make sure you consider where all services, cables and fittings will go. You don't want to have to re-do any work because a stud in just the wrong place, or extra support for a sink missing.