DIY construction as self-realization and a way of life

Sometimes they write to me in the comments: why do you need this, it is better to save money, hire builders, and spend the saved time on vacation or making money for construction. Basically - this is the opinion of sofa experts. They do not know that the construction site needs to be controlled: the quality of work of many teams leaves much to be desired. You need to know everything yourself (with a preliminary study of the theory), purchase materials, deliver them. You are an employee at your facility, but as a foreman. You will save time and effort, but not the fact that you will get quality. Spend your nerves and any desire to build further may disappear. And as a result - an object for sale.

There are many examples when the teams at the facility change one after another due to the quality that did not suit the owner. My neighbor opposite changed two teams during the construction of a log house. As a result, I finished building the house myself with my sons. This is in wood construction. And when working with blocks and concrete, making mistakes is even easier. So the saying: "if you want to do well - do it yourself!" - applicable here like nowhere better.

I started with this criterion and approach. Quality was important to me, where the demand is only from you. The second is saving money on work. In some stages, the cost of work is equal to the cost of materials. With this understanding and limited financial resources, I built a bathhouse as a place of rest and stay (for the future) when building a house.

There are mistakes and now I would do a lot differently.

I liked one saying on this topic: if you want to get what you never received, you have to start doing what you never did!

But unexpectedly for itself, this process grew into something more, with a certain philosophy. Do-it-yourself construction has become self-realization, a place of rest, switching from everyday urban everyday life. Someone is fond of fishing, there are hunters or lovers of off-road driving. There are now many supporters of extreme sports and recreation. There are travel fans. These are new emotions, impressions, self-realization. So imagine that I have everything the same. Only at times more expensive.

But I don’t leave the money spent in another country, I don’t put it in someone else’s pocket. These are investments in your real estate. You spend money, time and your energy - you get satisfaction from what you have done and moral rest. And also on your site you can extract something new.

In my occupation, I create and rediscover new technologies for finishing and obtaining building materials. Here are examples of washed concrete technology:

All this is done by hand. The technology is known but not widely known. I did not buy it, I rediscovered it for myself.

I’m also in no hurry, I build with pleasure, thinking over every step and movement. Preliminary studying the theory, technical solutions. This is self-study, it turns out. We can say that a new profession is being acquired and a huge experience in it. I often meet another objection that everyone should mind their own business. And I do my own thing. Because I like it - and I consider it mine.

For me, my entire construction process is already a way of life. So far, only in the warm season.

I recently talked with a friend. He described his construction in the same way. His house has already been built, there is heating, albeit without finishing. And at the end of the conversation, he said the phrase: "... I can't even imagine what I will do when everything is completed!"

Until the final, which is still far in my head. At this rate, there will be something to do for 8-10 years. And then what? Enjoy the place that was built with your own hands. Maybe I'll switch to work in the workshop. Experiment with new technologies for obtaining building materials. Or I'll start a new object (I'm not that old yet), but taking into account the changed ideas about construction. Or maybe I'll just switch to rest, which all commentators tired of life dream about.

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Self-builder blog (c). Photos by the author

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