Man Builds his own extension

[Dustydazzler]

Homeowner quoted £45k for extension does it himself from YouTube tutorials

Scott Baggaley claims to have saved around £35k after being quoted 'crazy prices' by local tradesmen for his extension project in Stoke-on-Trent.

uk.yahoo.com

Fair play to him , wonder how he got round PartPee

 

[littlespark]

I heard this on the radio this morning.

Gives DIYers the wrong message.
How can anything like that pass every check the building standards need nowadays….. unless the “extension” is a lean to green shed.


Have you seen some of the “expert” how-to videos? Dangerous is too soft of a word for it

 

[Intoelectrics]

Well done,

Though doubtful he learned all the necessary skills just from just YouTube clips, you require a pretty diverse hands on skill set to begin with to undertake all the work involved in a project like this. Also the cost difference is bound to be significant, the quotes from the builders have to take into account all their costs i.e labour, insurance, other trades, certification/inspections required for the services etc... plus the high end price may have come from a builder who was chancing his luck, for example if the building company is really busy and can afford to over price at the first stage then they will take that punt without the worry of losing the job.

I suspect details have been omitted and its been over sensationalised for publicity.

When I bought my first property 30 odd years ago it was a doer upper, just a shell. I did all the work myself (without the advantage of Youtube) but I already had a sound multi skill set base and then just asked advice and figured the rest out myself.

I take my hat off to him though, a man from my own heart.

 

[Dustydazzler]

With Labour rates at around £350-400 per day even if the extension took him a month to build he will be quids in Vs paying bob the builder to do it

 

[Zerax]

I heard this on the radio this morning.

Gives DIYers the wrong message.
How can anything like that pass every check the building standards need nowadays….. unless the “extension” is a lean to green shed.


Have you seen some of the “expert” how-to videos? Dangerous is too soft of a word for it

From my experience... building standards are so woefully low... it shouldn't be too hard to pass an inspection. If I was ever to build my own house, I'd regard building standards as the very base level, then build it properly after that.

 

[MJPD29]

YouTube is a dangerous thing for a lot of DIYers. They watch someone some domestic spark like bundy and then think they can do it too. Although this guy looks like he's done a good job, a lot of the time it'll be a mess.

 

[brianmoooore]

If I was ever to build my own house, I'd regard building standards as the very base level, then build it properly after that.

Exactly what I have done. Four times, now.
Helped by the fact that the building regs are in a readable and understandable format (like the 14th was, back in the day.)

 

[Midwest]

I converted my integral garage to a habital room myself. Just needed planning and a Building Notice and a couple of other trades. You do save money, but time wise it consumes your life, and annoys the hell out of your family and neighbours alike.

Imagine being around this particular build for every weekend for 6 months! He should be made to pay his neighbours compensation, for the loss of 24 weekends.

 

[littlespark]

Videos showing how to twist cables together using a drill. Need I say more.

And it’s not just electrical work he will be doing wrong. Someone would still need to sign off each type of trade….. and they will charge extra for 3rd party certs if they didn’t get the work in the first place.


“I’m just off to B&Q for a cable twisty thing, some screw on connectors and a thingy to heat plastic pipe so it can push into a plastic fitting and weld together…….. yes of course I know what I’m doing… I’ve been on t’internet all night”

 

[Intoelectrics]

It seems he has done a good job, and it may be that all the work has been completed to a good standard and signed-off/certified accordingly.

I don't have an issue if this is the case and take my hat off to anyone who is interested in doing such. However as Littlespark mentioned it can give other people a false sense of security and an unrealistic sense of capability. Advertisements like this can also undermine the actual professionals who are (he says optimistically) experts within their respective trades.

Won't be long before every Tom Dick & Harry are watching this stuff on Youtube and contesting the professionals when they quote or worse carry out the works.

In fact this reminds me of a job I did a few years back. I was fitting some electrically opening Velux type windows at a customers house. I have fitted hundreds similar over the years so was pretty converse with installing them. However this particular make was one I had never come across. I can't recall what make or where it originated from, but anyhow the instructions were in a foreign language, no English. The fittings etc where different than any i'd seen but similar enough for me to grasp a basic understanding of how to proceed. I laid all the items out and started to proceed the install. Part way through I was scratching my head slightly and took a step back to re-asses. At this point the customer came to me proclaiming that she had watched some You tube clips on how to install the windows and that I was doing it totally wrong. I offered her the option to do it herself by which she took a look at the parts totally dumb struck and gracefully declined. Needless to say I figured it out eventually (it was a proper ball ache!) because I called on my previous experience.