This is the second part of our “Self-Building in Wicklow with FPP – Part 2” post that at a very high level will take you through our challenges, difficulties, and successes. This series of articles will have spin-offs of detail that will really help you in your build. So let me continue where I left off. Read Part 1… How to Self-Build your Home in Wicklow – Part 1 here if you haven’t already.
We went shopping. No really, we did…
Approval in Principle
The next day, a Saturday, my wife and I got up early and uncharacteristically decided to head to the shops. A large mall in South Dublin is where we ended up and there just happened to be a mortgage clinic being held by a bank we had never had dealings with. Doing our own Self-Building in Wicklow with FPP was something we still wanted to do!
We decided to go in and discuss our situation with one of their advisors. Everything was perfect, and we were given the red carpet with Approval in Principle!
I had absolutely everything ready from the weeks of nonsense before with the other bank. So I simply walked in on Monday and handed it to the advisor. Four weeks and several calls later, we had our mortgage. We were absolutely delighted with all the disappointment behind us. Now the real work would start.
Finding a Builder for a Self-Build
We needed to find a builder now. We instructed our Quantity Surveyor (QA) to send out our self-build details to suitable builders. I narrowed this list down to two possible companies. I proceeded to engage with both to see who we would be most compatible and comfortable with. While the first company came recommended by a friend who had recently building work done, my wife and I chose the one provided by our QA.
The company we chose for our self-build in Wicklow was CC House Builders. There were several reasons why we chose CC House Builders to build our home. However, I would have to say that meeting Allan Cooper both in our home and on-site, discussing our project, plans and ideas, was the main reason why. Allan, with his “no drama” (something he would come to say often), was exactly what we were looking for in a builder. We could see from the first moment that Allan and Ken were and are people of absolute integrity.
Builders of Integrity
They did what they said and said what they did at every turn. Since I was my own architect, Allan and Ken with their sage advice and years of experience were invaluable throughout our build and their project management was effortless, incorporating changes on the fly without any hassle and going above and beyond to ensure that our self-build truly was “no drama”.
Now that we were going to start our self-build, there were a hundred things to think about, plan, and put into action. Although Allan and Ken were building and providing much of the finishing, we were also doing some of the work ourselves.
We had decided to do several projects of our own. These included all the painting and a good bit of tiling. All the outside paths, the patio, boundary walls, all the landscaping, etc., etc. – I certainly didn’t know how busy this was going to keep us but thankfully we had Allan and Ken to advise us on a lot of this work.
But first, I needed another mortgage – no messing, I did.
