Wordpress or html?

hi...
I'm thinking about re-doing my entire website soon...
and i don't know whether i should use wordpress and whip up a cool layout, or make a site from scratch using HTML/CSS/ect and a CMS to make updating the site easyr....
Whats will be more convenent?

That really depends on what you want the site for. Wordpress is excellent for blogging and if you were thinking of incorporating a regularly updated page or number of pages, then I'd go for Wordpress. Note that it can be difficult to create a theme from Wordpress - it certainly won't be really easy, but if you wish, you could purchase a theme as there are lots out there, or get someone to design one for you if you wanted a unique one.

If you are going to have a more static site, then HTML, CSS and a CMS would be the way to go. Coding HTML and CSS is relatively easy and easier than making a Wordpress theme.

Ultimately, it depends on what the site is about and how it will be used.

I have been trying to help another member who has had problems with his layout and he has been using WordPress and I got to say..."I've never used it and I don't ever intend using it".....the html in there is really poor and it failed validation.

I would rather do some research and get some examples I could edit to create my won CMS that I could manange and debug much easier....but that's just my opinion!!

I created my own CMS using PHP and it works fine for me

Wordpress isn't to blame for poor HTML - I can assure you of that. Wordpress is actually very good with standards compliance - it is the theme's author that is to blame if there are validation issues

You are probably right there. I did see there was a theme that the user was using and the HTML looked like it had been written by monkeys......really bad...over 100 errors

If you are worried about SEO with wordpress. There are many plugins and mods you can use which will help ranks dramatically.
Search google with the following queries to find loads of things to do:
SEO wordpress
SEO plugins wordpress

The reason why i considered wordpress is because i plain to have a blog Also on my site... and i need tag's/whatever-you-call-them...so if i use a cms can i have something like...for e.g i click on a tag and get all posts with that tag...and what cms do you recommend?

In Wordpress, you can categorize your posts and then get these categories listed in the sidebar. I guess it would be possible to create a tag cloud from these categories with the knowhow if needed.

Wordpress could certainly be very useful for a site with a blog as you could choose to have several static pages such as the home page or an about page or something, and then have a blog page too.