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lookitsluke
Well, after each one we have said never again. Though have then ended up doing another one 5 years later. Still swearing about the cowboys who did the last one - so it might be a while before another.
Quick recap of Grand Designs will show you everything that can go wrong but the pain is in the managing of the process - it becomes all-consuming.
Likely things to go wrong - unexpected costs; delays to availability of things (eg windows) or trades; something will be done wrong and have to be re-done; you will have to rush decisions on fittings you forgot to think about beforehand (switches, sockets, door handles, cabling); bad weather; building regs stops you from having something/makes you have something grim even though every house on TV seems to has got round it; it over-runs and you are sharing one bedroom with your 3 teenagers and a dog on camp beds and one shower between you; cost of skips, scaffolding and the aforementioned VAT onto everything.
Hit me up if you have any specific questions.