Thanks, Gareth!

I suppose to be successful as an owner-builder, you have to have a certain amount of self-confidence in your own abilities otherwise you'd never get anywhere. I'm no exception - if anything, I'm over-confident: "I can do that!" is the stance I take with regard to most challenges I face.

Except when I can't :)

There's no doubt that I would have jumped in and attempted to install our Hebel cladding by myself, without asking for help. Call it pride, but I'm the sort of person who will attempt something and fail miserably, before I admit that I'm out of my depth and ask for help. Thankfully, so far I've largely been able to "cash the cheques my over-confidence is writing", so to speak :)

However, even if I had managed to erect the Hebel panels by myself, I'm certain they would have taken their toll on me physically, if not mentally. That I'm still whole and able is all thanks to Gareth's willingness to voluntarily put his time, considerable effort and sweat into helping me with this part of the build - not once, but twice.

Thanks, Gareth. I really, really appreciate your help these past few of weeks. I probably couldn't have done this bit without you (but now we'll never know ;) )

-- Simon