How hard can it be? A reality check please.

Hi all,

I have a set of approved plans for a 2 storey garage / guest accommodation (6m x 14m) to go in the rear of my property in inner city Melbourne. It is basically a big tin shed, with zincalume cladding on three sides and timber facing the main house.

I'm now contemplating having a go at building this myself and need a reality check. At this stage i only need to get the basic structure up and not the internal fitout.

The main house renovation was an unmitigated disaster - we did it as owner builder but used a "friend" as the main builder and ended up in VCAT for over 3 years and still haven't got any of my awarded $ - long story but apparently level floors and plumb walls were an optional extra . As a result, i've got some idea of what is involved having worked with various carpenters as we fixed things up over the following years but unfortunately now don't have enough cash to pay a builder to complete the outbuilding.

The plumbing for the outbuilding was roughed in a few years ago and fitted off in a small temporary shed we used as the bathroom / kitchen / laundry during the renovation of the main house.

My thoughts are:
Plumbing - already in place and just need plumber to tidy up once existing shed removed
Slab - get a contractor. The site placement is next to rear lane/ adjoining property so I think the set-out should be fairly straight forward
Steel - fabricator to work off plans and install
Frame - get prefab Timber (or Steel??) frames, floor joists and roof trusses. I would then install
External wall cladding - i would attach the zincalume / timber
Roofing - get a contractor

I know this is not the complete list but just wanted to illustrate what i'm thinking of taking on. My optimistic view is that using a combination of the plans, the truss manufacturer instructions and the trusty Alan Staines book i should be able to get the frame up, either by myself of with a little extra manual labour for the upper floor and roof.

Is this too much for a novice to take on or should i give it a go and see how far I get?

cheers
hj


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