Gus’ Structural Engineering and DIY Part 01
Hello all. I’m giving the blog feature on BH a go.. lots to learn and a special thanks to the FMG / members who run / contribute to this site.
This blog is built around the structural alterations and extension that I embarked on.. off.. on.. at the back of my house. I work in the construction industry, mostly in an office these days so this project has given me a break from the computer and allows me to keep my hand in on the to
I've finally got around to starting this blog. I'm hoping that it'll be easily updated and I'll provide lots of good pictures and info...we'll see how that goes.
I'm at the point now where we have just taken our first big delivery, which is our insulated foundation system from Kore, this morning. So albeit, this process of building a house has been ongoing for some time, it has just become real that we are at the beginning of the build phase, which is very exciting.
So
At the moment my project at work is the IT planning for our new 8,000 sqm factory, with a 2 floor office space.
Under normal circumstances I work 3 days per week to allow me time to project manage our own build, but not at the moment.
We get the water tight building handed to us on the 8th January, then I've got to organise the 1st, 2nd and final fix of all the IT infrastructure from cables to servers.
When I tried to place the order for fibre leased lines I was told, there's no f
It's been a while since our last update but just to let everyone know we may be in for Xmas. We still need the EWI and render but inside should be liveable and we can get out of the caravan.
The kitchen is almost complete now after getting damaged units all replaced and given it was ex display I think it looks lovely. The part with the hob on could possibly have been a bit longer but I didn't want a breakfast bar and by time we have our table, chairs and small sofa I think it will lo
As part of my barn conversion I was planning to use an ASHP, that was until I read an article in Build It magazine.
This considered the cost of installing and running heating and the eco credentials.
It included gas (mains), oil, ASHP, GSHP and biomas.
Well, somewhat surprisingly ASHP came out at high for cost, very high to run and not very eco friendly.
This has put me in a total quandary about what to do.
My planning says ASHP with a backup boiler.
After a slightly odd but pleasant summer on our narrow boat we returned to site at the beginning of the month to resume work.
We started with a simple job, putting our doors. We had done one last spring and had four more to do. It’s a simple and rewarding job, the Horman doors have a very solid feel to them.
Next on our work list was completing the window reveals, a task we had started back in May and had completed two windows. While we were still fresh we had decid
I usually post my blog entries on a Wednesday, but somehow it didn't happen this week.
This week I have submitted the application to discharge our planning conditions. Although there were 5 listed, one was to say 'do what you have plans for' and the other 4 were all to do with contamination.
Condition 2 was to get a phase 2 contamination report and 3,4,5 were all to do with remediation if any contamination was found.
The report was 72 pages, guess that's where 5k goes, and
Having eventually found our plot in episode one, and worked out where the plans had the house to be built we found that a walnut tree had to make way. A second tree, a horse chestnut was also badly diseases with a split trunk and as we didn't want that falling on the newly built house in the Autumn of 2019 (or Fall for our American cousins as I am writing this on Thanksgiving Day 2020) I headed off with equipment in hand to so some tree felling.
First some photos of entrance to site (now wi
Only a short update for now and a distinct lack of photos. I'll put something more interesting up in the next week or so. Suffice to say that combining work with trying to get to completion has been quite difficult. Throw into the mix that my other half is shortly due to have twins and you understand why I'm often getting comments like 'do you ever think you've maybe bitten off a bit more than you can chew?'.
One milestone recently was getting our air test done. I've decided to write
So, I have told this story to quite a few family members, friends and colleagues over the last few years, and thought I will record it here so that other new members might learn about the patience and surprises that can occur in this phase of the self build adventure ⛺
It all started when I was 14. I blame my stepfather. He made me dig ♠️ foundations by hand ?️ OK, it was only for an extension, but they didn't tell me about the concrete encased foul and storm water drains we wou
Yesterday, ahead of schedule, we received our phase 2 contamination survey report.
No surprises, but it's good to hear that everything is good.
The report is 72 pages long, but then for the cost of it I expect to have lots of detail.
It's been a long drag to get this far with difficulty getting planning permission and needing lots of reports, surveys and plans
We went into this process thinking that we would spend up to 10k trying to get planning an
Interesting developments in the last week. While trying to figure out a way forward for my build as cheaply as possible I discovered a company that does SIPs and has just finished a slight larger house for a LOT less than the tender prices that shut me down last year (€375k). So my job this month is to crunch the numbers again, get a more formal quote from them and see if this is a runner.
As always there are three factors I've to balance:
Architects fees - the crowd I used before are
I have huge respect and admiration for those who have gone before us, including members of my own family, for what they did in any war to protect us.
At times I think they were conned as much as any of us, but they were there in good faith putting their lives at risk.
Thank you one and all.
But, back to this blog, this is also so I don't forget.
I'm going to try and update weekly on what I've achieved, or failed at, in the previous week and hopefully on plans fo
This will be the last entry for our self build blog.
Our plan
We originally commenced a self build as there was no affordable housing for us to get on the housing ladder.
The approach for the self build, was whether we could build a better-quality house than what we could purchase from a developer for the same cost. This was later refined to achieving a lower mortgage if possible.
For the self build we decided to split the project into three chunks
As promised, here are my completed (I hope) drawings for building control, which I've just submitted to the local council. I'll post back on here with what they come back with, any changes required, and also any restrictions imposed.
I know some were asking what was required for BC plans, so hopefully this will give a good guide for a masonry cavity wall build.
Side Extension Drawing BC.pdf
Combine the chaos of building work, attempting to project manage various tradesmen and coordination of items, living and working in a caravan and not knowing where we were going to live in 3 weeks time with a stressful period at work and I finally had a complete meltdown. I've been pulling my hair out (literally) so have 2 inch pieces of hair in places where I've ripped it out through stress, I look like a lovely female version of Freddie Kruger (great ? attempt) due to a stress skin reaction an
This week I have been getting price estimates for everything I need, the list is getting very long and it's taking ages as I'm trying to get multiple quotes, I may give up on that idea.
I am also submitting this to estimating companies / builders merchants, but want the control of also doing it myself.
This morning the roofing company man rang me, asked some stupid questions and didn't listen to the answers as he talked over me.
He then said, I'll be there at 11. At 12:45
I have written a number of articles about adapting a house to be more suitable for use by people who are frail, older or disabled.
This is a list so that anyone interested (or not interested) can find them slightly more easily.
Converting a Downstairs Bathroom into an Accessible Shower Room
Cost for this was just over £2k, including about £1k for the Fitter Labour and £250 for a shower seat and grab rails etc. A full replacement would have cost about £2500, wi
This week I have been going through each room of the build and looking at what it needs, not furniture, but sockets, lights, floors and painting amongst the list.
I have never in the past appreciated just how much is involved in creating rooms from scratch, despite doing multiple renovations & extensions.
Before I can send off for estimates I still have the family room to complete, I've been avoiding that one as with the kitchen, multiple doors and outside access it will be quite d
Wasn't going to post this one, as in the grand scheme of things its fairly regular and a bit boring, but there is a few interesting points which may be of use to others...
The photos are panoramic, don't worry the floor isn't bent! ?
This was a before photo once all the fitted furniture was removed
Everything stripped out, and underfloor fully cleaned and hoovered
New timber put in which has been post-delivery treated (bloody builders merch
Overall it went swimmingly well, couple of minor issues but soon resolved and need to return to sort out a handle issue but John Knight Glass were, IMO really great and for final sign off we wait for contact over next couple weeks when someone else comes to site to check everything with us so enough time to raise any snagging issues hopefully.
Despite some panic on the canal bridge when the trailer was about 8 inches off the floor, everyone held their breath when the glass got over s
