I’ve written about something similar to this in ‘YOU are the contractor!’ but I think a little more needs to be said:

The comes a time when YOU as self-builder need to step up to the plate…

Remember in ‘YOU are the contractor!’ I explained that you are the person responsible for ordering materials, getting trades on site at the right time and in the right order etc…

The self-builder needs to understand what each persons role is in the build and there comes a moment during the build when the self-builder realises this and has to act accordingly and as the title says “step up to the plate”. This is my moment:

The grass roof on our house has a mass-concrete retaining wall at the rear and on the roof. Cast into the wall were steel grooves ready for wall ties to be placed.

When the block layer started, I foolishly thought that the blocklayer could clean out these grooves of the concrete that had slipped down into them. Now block-layers can lay blocks, they’ll only lay blocks. They don’t really like putting insulation between the blocks but will do it under duress. The blocklayer then proceeded to explain:

“Mark this is your house, you are the builder. If you want the grooves to be clean then either:

a. You will need to do it or/
b. You’ll need to pay someone else to do it.”

I then proceeded to clean each and every groove out.

This thought process (as a self-builder) should apply to each and every task in your project – including what the architect should and more importantly should not due during your build with YOU as builder!.