is it possible to learn?

[Hudson1984]

Hi all,

so, i'm a Diyer - would never say i'm any more than that!

we're going to be moving in December (finally) and the new house has a decent garden in which i'll be building a new pub/office which is pretty much what my current garage is used for.

i've never build anything more than a shed so let's assume my skills are at 0

The new building will be 8m x 4.5m, internally this will be split, giving an office of 4.5m x 2.5m and a pub/bar of 4.5m x 5.5m

I've seen log cabins from Tuin, and this might be where I end up going really.

I think having a building make it would be really expensive, if I guessed £1,000/m2 we're still talking £36,000 ouch!!

So, the question is:

Could I learn to do this myself? I'm not in a rush to do it, perhaps I could go to college to learn how? is that possible? OR won't college get me the skills required and I need a professional (who I know will have gone to college, but will have had FAR more site time than I'll ever have)

Or do I just buy the Tuin and be done with it?

Now, I don't expect to become a builder, the main extension work we're wanting to do to the main house will be done by a proffessional - this is purely can I make a block garden building?

My aim would be double skin concrete block, then clad with something externally, and plastered (by someone else) internally.

thoughts would be great. Cheers.

 

[cdbe]

Most people on here have learned, some with impressive results. Other than plastering there isn't much "skill" in building work. What sets apart the pro's is speed, knowledge and experience. If you employ a bricklayer to build a blockwork wall - he will know: how high to finish his footings, where to put the dpc, how much mortar to put on the beds, how to mix it and how much to mix, what to do at the corners and openings, where to put the tie wires, how to deal with the insulation etc - you can do all of this but it takes some focus, trial and error and correction of mistakes which will make you extremely slow. But you will improve quickly - if it takes you more that an hour to work out that if your blocks are sliding around all over the place your mucks too soft and if you're bashing the hell out of them to get them down to the line it's too hard then you're in trouble.

Some people do the groundwork (you can probably dig a trench and fill it with concrete as quickly as anyone) and employ a bricklayer just for the blockwork - they used to say £1 a block but God knows these days - but the way I look at it the more it costs the more you save by doing it yourself.

Alternatively, if you think your talents may lie in the carpentry direction then consider a timber framed building (not a shed but something built to habitable standards) - again, the work is basic - chopping up wood and hammering in nails, the knowledge and experience bit is dealing with things like insulation and moisture control and timber sizing - all can be "book/internet learned".

You will also need decent planning/project management skills (even if it's largely just managing yourself) no good setting off on a days blockwork if you haven't got any FEB or even string for a line, or waving the digger off and realising he could have dug that 20m trench for your services!

Building regs and planning - there are considerations, for example a building of the size you propose comes under building regulations, but a smaller seperate pub and office right next each other wouldn't.

A bit of confidence helps as well, from that first step of going out to your back garden and starting to dig, to accepting that you've made a horrible mess all over the place with your mortar and you look nothing like a bricklayer on YouTube, but that it doesn't matter if the finished blockwork is solid, straight and plumb.