Hey, Not a self build, but I have just completed the first phase of a renovation. For me the main struggles were getting it wind and water tight especially in

Hey, Not a self build, but I have just completed the first phase of a renovation. For me the main struggles were getting it wind and water tight especially in a location with bad weather. Renovation is a gamble, people have said it makes it easy and hard at the same time. Easy in that you have a clearer vision of what you want to do (fix up, restore etc), but harder in that you are constrained by whatever the existing structure is there e.g. (concrete weaknesses, old cladding, planning permissions). I tried to tackle it pragmatically like a piece of software, I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself in case I ran out of money or something catastrophic happened. It is interesting how building problems are similar to software problems. For example connecting two types of waste pipe from a sink and washing machine to an older specification of waste pipe, was just like solving an API integration issue (minus the tape and coupling I had to hack together) Now that the place is wind and watertight, I can now focus on planning the internals over the winter period and then come back to the property next summer with energy. Since my place was in a remote location, I had to factor in costs of transportation. Which looking back, ate about 10% of my total budget. Tradesmen unreliability is another thing to factor in, which caused about 2 months total in delays. In summary, my experience is no different to any other engineering project. I have been tempted to write up about it, however I am more focused about getting back to work as I am near enough broke now :) Here's a photo of the end result - bearing in mind it didn't have a roof and all the windows were broken / smashed https://pasteboard.co/HBisuqe.jpg https://pasteboard.co/HBisuqe.jpg Feel free to ask any questions, I am from the UK so it might not be relevant in some cases. Also check for "free" money; as in grants for insulation, solar panels etc.