Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Basically, almost everyone can do it, but hardly anyone wants to anymore. It's not as if "we" have developed from craftsmen to pure office people who can't hold a shovel or trowel anymore in less than 2 generations.

Of course. It's a crappy job. After working for 6 weeks, I can hardly crawl anymore... you're just not used to it and at the end of your 30s it's hard to get into it. But for the 6, 7,000 EUR wage and profit that the craftsman pockets from the 14,500 EUR... I have to work 2 months for that.

I searched online again and compared prices for photovoltaic systems because the reaction in the forum here yesterday had unsettled me. I currently find few offers nationwide that are below 1500 / kwp. Most of these are material offers for people who do it themselves. For a full service offer, I actually don’t find ours that expensive.

So, I can do something like this now. I couldn't do the whole construction like this. Not even just the outdoor facilities. That means either it drags on for months or you have to bite the bullet and pay. I was even praised by the professional. But now my carpal tunnel syndrome has flared up again. I could barely sweep the joints. The wear and tear with us office workers is also much higher. Some also can't because the employer does not allow flexible working hours or for other reasons. But I agree with you that many people expect something like full board in everything.

I am also one of those full pensioners. Except for the outdoor area, which does not involve paving. Digging and making it look nice we will mostly do ourselves this time. I am also trying my hand at concrete foundations, trial makes wise. But I am also aware that I am paying dearly for the full pension craftsmanship. Loan money is quickly spent, but in return I will work for 25 years afterwards. That's how it is, I know that too.

Among scaffolders, the painkiller is supposed to belong from a certain age, like the morning coffee.
And working a few hours in the evening and on weekends instead of half a day won’t cause wear and tear.
The wear and tear comes after decades when you do 50 hours a week. Muscles only help to a limited extent.

You just have to consider that.
I like the thought that when I walk through my house, the floors, doors, paint on the walls, all the furniture, kitchen (together with a friend), that I did it all myself... and by doing so saved about 20,000 EUR... if that’s enough.

And I already have more ailments than I like. The outer meniscus on the right is half gone, the ulna in the right forearm is too long, so the cartilage is almost gone... what can you do, life is no pony farm.

Wear and tear is likely to be significantly higher for the layperson than for the professional. Insufficiently trained muscles are one thing. The other is frugality. While the professional moves the gravel around with the mini wheel loader, the layperson shovels it into the wheelbarrow. It's much cheaper than renting the wheel loader for a week.