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Blogs

Under the Chestnut Tree

Choosing a timber-frame …

My first jobs after my planning approval are to: (i) choose a timber-frame supplier; and (ii) arrange a conversation with my arboriculturalist. This post is about the (i). The next post will be about (ii).   Timber-frame suppliers: I am in touch with the usual names known to this forum. Not sure if I should be naming names here. Six in total. Two companies supply panellised frames with a range of insulation levels, including open panel and double stud. Two compani
1970s Chalet-style house renovation

We're In! Reality bites ...

At long last, we're in our new home!   Thoughts of a rapid start to the garage conversion have been put to one side as we've got to grips with some of the more mundane tasks that need sorting first: Draught proofing - precious little had ever been done, and I've already made a big difference in one week! Tuning the vents on the warm air heating system - downstairs is now warmer than upstairs Fixing the hot water - scaled-up ballcock valve meant the cold water stor
Under the Chestnut Tree

Planning permission … the journey to it … and thanks!

Good news! I today obtained planning permission  and so I am starting my build blog.    Thanks to everyone on BuildHub for your help and support so far. I have already learnt so much from this forum, all the way from questions when I was viewing the plot and every stage since.  And an especial thanks to all the Buidlhubers that I have had the pleasure to visit so far. You have all been warm and welcoming and your advice and inspiration has been invaluable. Thank you! Thank you!  
Self Building two in North Wiltshire

Week 6 - Services, blinding concrete, shuttering and a Halloween Nightmare!

The video for Week 6 doesn't have Thursday and Friday as the camera played up (I blame Halloween) but good progress. this week.  You can see them laying in the service ducts and drainage pipes and then laying a thin 'blinding layer' of concrete = our first pour. They then went on to put shuttering up around the edge ready to fit the waterproof membrane and then the steel on top. By Saturday (see photo) the rain had filled it up quite a bit and the black shuttering you can see round the edge keep
Druim nan Darach

Stove

As we are building on a croft with an area of woodlands, the stove was a consideration at the initial design stage and we wanted it to be at the very heart of the house. As well as being the focal point of the living room, it was also considered from a practical point of view as to how the heat would be distributed throughout the house, as often I have heard that a stove can overheat well insulated rooms, resulting in a waste of money and just really something to look at.    The work l
A woodland house

The roof

I'm posting this as a single blog entry for a number of reasons. One as it's the biggest bit of work we've done without professional help. Two as sheet roofing seems to be a topic of interest on BH and three because this stuff was hard going, with minimal information available on fitting guidance, so hopefully this might help others.   We are using eternit profile 6 sheet roofing. It is fibre cement board and we initially chose it due to some perceived benefits over wriggly tin (princi
God is in the Details

A recommended Magnetic Door Stop / Hold Open

I have recently (had) installed on our downstairs doors a set of doorstops that would prevent doors needing to be reopened from behind the swing, and hold them open when they do not need to be closed. Even oak suffers eventually from too many "Open that Door" impacts.   This was needed to help make the house more accessible or an older person, who sometimes used a wheelchair.   So the requirement was:   Something to hold an open door, open. That would catc
Self Building two in North Wiltshire

Week 5 - laying the stone base layer and services

The last of the big muck away at the start of the week and then laying the base stone layer means that we are pretty clean on site and the mud is hardly an issue. The surveyor came and marked out accurately and the Architect produced the detailed layout for the services - electric, telecom, water and soil stacks and you can see these being laid in towards the end of the week. They will come up through the slab and so need to be pretty accurate. Pretty soon we will be ready for the steel and shut
Self Building two in North Wiltshire

Week 4 - out of the ground, or is that in?

Digging is progressing well despite the rain - they had to pump out a bit as we had that swimming pool we wanted! They had no muck away on Monday so only 4 days and the bulk of the big dig is complete and you can start to see the scale of the project. They have done the rough dig and are now levelling out the bottom and starting to place a layer of stone that will then be concreted over to form the slab. The hole is actually bigger than the basement by about 1m all round so they have room to wor
Druim nan Darach

Taping and filling

Time for another update.   Most of our work this month has been focused upon finalising the kitchen design, stair, stove etc.    Tangible work on the house has consisted of the taping and filling and fitting the last bit of ducting.   Not terribly exciting, but it's all progress. Here are some photos.         Next up I need to resolve an ongoing treatment tank problem which will be covered in a separate entry. We hope
Timber Portal Frame - but stick built

Setting out DIY

After getting some good advise on the forum (DON T DO IT!!! LEAVE IT TO THE PROS!!!) I decide to ignore that and buy some 2nd hand equipment on ebay. How hard can it be   http://tintabernacle.blogspot.com/2019/10/setting-out.html?m=1     It wasn't. Just time consuming. At the end it always is a question of wether it is cheaper doing it yourself or if it actually would have saved £££ getting a pro in.   My case for doing it myself (as much as poss
5 (2 adults, 3 dogs) go building in Dorset

It's going to be a long cold winter so what can we do?

It's been a really tough few months.  Problems at work (I got the timetable finished ready for September and now they want another one ready for straight after October half term), my best friend diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer and then the delay in planning approval leading to us appealing to the planning inspectorate to try for a non-determination decision.  We have both been down in the dumps and on the verge of giving up.  Two weeks off work (sick leave for stress, it was so close to a re
  • Sue B
Self Building two in North Wiltshire

Groundworks Weeks 1-3 and Time Lapse Video

Well lots is happening on site:- we started with demolition and asbestos removal which was a super easy and quick, services were a nightmare (especially the electricity supply), and finally we have drainage signed off and planning conditions and building regs submitted etc. Finally ready to go!!!!!   So three weeks ago our groundworkers started on site, and  It is an ongoing epic against a backdrop of rain and a sea of wet clay and the proportions are epic! The foundations for the two
Self Building two in North Wiltshire

Demolition

Demolition and Asbestos   Very early on we had an asbestos survey done (which makes a real mess if you live in the house) and there were some nasties in the garage ceiling that were H&SE notifiable (i.e. not DIY!!!) and some rain goods that were pretty benign. So we decided to get one contractor to do both asbestos removal and demolition.   Having the services disconnected first we then started and luckily we had a fantastic contractor: recycled 90% of the buildi
Self Building two in North Wiltshire

Services

Services   As the existing bungalow already had services (phone, electricity, gas, water, main drainage) we expected that it should be easy to sort out the services for the new build. Well some were harder than others!   Gas – to demolish we needed to first have the gas meter removed which was really easy. Then we needed the gas disconnected – it wasn’t too tricky but they were not too sure where it was on the verge. They looked carefully at the tarmac patches in th
Timber Portal Frame - but stick built

BUILDING REGULATIONS and construction plans

Been discussed plenty of times on the forum here. Building regs. Here's my experience :   http://tintabernacle.blogspot.com/2019/10/building-regulations-plans-and-building.html?m=1   At the very beginning, around 3.5years ago, it wasn't clear to me at all what the difference between Planning Permission and Building Regulations are. I didn't understand why you need two different set of plans and what different professionals are involved and why. It took me around 2 years
A woodland house

Frame progress

The last week or so we've been blessed with pretty nice weather which has allowed for good progress on the frame. We hired in a hiab lorry for a morning to help with lifting the gables, ridge beam and roofing.   As everyone probably finds out, now we start to get a better sense of the size of the house and how it sits in the landscape.   SSE came in the other day for our grid connection. Those who have been following our progress might remember this was quite pric
Druim nan Darach

Plaster boarding

Time for another update.   Our joiner has pretty much finished the plaster boarding.   Here are some photos of the progress made.   Kitchen/dining room     Our bedroom. Our joiner has started to construct the internal partitions, we now have an ensuite and some cupboards.       Living room      Triple velux arrangement     Upstairs kids living room    
Yaffles

Do you like my spreadsheet?

Painting commenced on 6th March and was finished about two weeks ago.  I heavily underestimated the time this would take.  By about 4 months. White everywhere so it was hard to tell where we were at after the first two coats.  Our favourite whiteboard "spreadsheet" tracked progress and filling it in gave great joy.                     

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