Possible savings in self-performed structural work

With children, I would immediately say goodbye to a lot of personal effort

At some point they will grow up too Then they are an advantage

I also know many people who do a lot to very much themselves. Up to a carpenter who makes all the doors himself before installing them. But: that takes time.

In my opinion, far more people outside the metropolitan area do this than many forum members think. They just aren’t active in forums. And above all, they haven’t moved in after a maximum of 6 months.

Those who, for example, do not want to build forever for financial reasons, or who do not feel physically or mentally capable of doing a lot themselves, just have to realize that in time. And of course pay for it. I don’t find any of the approaches reprehensible, but at least in part the path of extensive own effort is more dangerous. When you are in the middle of it and realize that you can no longer manage physically or mentally, when there is no end in sight... that can (but does not have to) end badly.

Egon, we have no children and are now much slower than during the "real" construction phase. Once you’re in the house, the drive is gone.

Oh yes, on the subject, the day has 24 hours. To the 8 hours of scheduled work time comes (for me) a half hour lunch break, just under half an hour commute from home to work, in rush hour nearly an hour from work to the construction site, and from the construction site another half hour home to bed. When you then subtract times for nighttime rest (of the neighbors ), the question eventually arises whether the daily travel distances are worth it or whether it is better to work longer hours in the "real" job Monday to Thursday and have a few more uninterrupted hours on Friday.

I think a lot of romantic notions are going through people’s heads. Like, stacking a few stones is something any fool can do. Or the naive calculation that the work of friends costs only as much as the meatloaf sandwiches. If friendship is not one-sided, my work on their house can also cost something.

That goes without saying and has already happened in the past

That is not really suitable for beginners.

Therefore, the facing brickwork is also done by the company and not as a DIY job. It costs me 30K in my case, but what good is saving 20k if it's not done optimally... I only mentioned it as a rough reference for getting a feel for what DIY could save.

Once you're inside the house, the air is out.

Oh yes, on the subject, the day has 24 hours. To the 8 hours of regular working time, (for me) half an hour lunch break is added, just under half an hour commute from home to work, almost an hour in rush hour from work to the construction site, and from the construction site half an hour back home to bed. If you then subtract time for nighttime rest (of the neighbors ), the question eventually arises whether the commuting time is worth it every day or whether it's better to work longer in the "real" job Monday to Thursday and on Friday have a few more hours in a row.

Yes, we noticed that too. When you're on the construction site all day, you simply get more done. The set-up/take-down times just eat up a lot of time if you only have time after work.

I then did home office two days; one of them was Friday. So from 12 pm Friday..., Saturday, and Sunday (at least working without large equipment).

The rest of the week was more of a hardware store tourism.

The rest of the week was more like DIY store tourism

But you must not underestimate that (in terms of both time and importance). The amount of time we invested until decisions were made... but that time was - at least for me - necessary in order to ultimately feel like I had found the right fit for me.

And as you can see with one or two other topics in the forum, it doesn't hurt to occasionally re-measure or take a look at model homes during the construction phase to see how a room/furnishing/construction method really feels.
Then there is the paperwork on the side and the follow-up calls about offers, problems, appointments with utility providers...

that is based on reciprocity.

I can well believe that, and that’s a good thing. However, I just can’t reconcile that with my conscience. All my friends have children, and I want them to enjoy the time with their kids, especially in summer.

There are simply companies that do not include such things in their business model; then supposedly unattractive offers are made. But I wouldn’t generalize from that to others

The company was known to us from other business relationships. Of course, you can’t generalize that to everyone, I’m just sharing from my own experience. We simply negotiated very good terms so that we didn’t have to provide any personal labor.

Of course. If leisure time is more important. But monetarily, significantly less money changes hands.

Our family also has a small child, both work full-time, and neither of us are craftsmen (not even as a hobby). And for me, owning a house (and at all owning a plot of land) is not a priority such that I would have to have a child afterwards; I also didn’t want to become a mom only at 32…

But even if you don’t lay bricks for five weeks, you still have personal labor now and then, which is sometimes unavoidable and also costs leisure time. It never goes entirely without, just the price negotiations with every trade alone...