One final push today saw all the furniture and curtains put in place- a big group effort with much input from the in-laws. I'm very fortunate to have a MiL who is an ace seamstress and who has a bit of a thing about Harris Tweed.
To say I'm chuffed is a bit of an understatement. It's been over four years since the concept of this project first appeared, and three years since work began in earnest. Today we finally saw the culmination of all that effort as the building site was transformed i
A few days for the foundations to settle and then the deliveries arrive and the builders set to work again............ The images will show the footprint of the house and utility room together with the walling and dwarf wall on which will sit the oak framed car port.
In a recent blog, I listed some of the chapters on garden design and ways to approach...clue, 'The same way as a house layout'!
So it seems reasonable to list some of the chapters and book reviews in my book...'Self Build Design...the last thing you need is an architect', not a sideswipe at architects, but a review of your way forward before the architect/designer's fee clock starts ticking. The book is equally appropriate for bespoke/custom designs, as well as renovations, rebuilds
We've got some initial ideas together, image attached. For anyone interested, we've used an architect to help us. The picture roughly shows the situation, the current plan is to take out some of the conifers in the background and place the house there, replanting some other areas with natives.
To give the attached a bit of context, this is a house which allow us to work/restore an area of woodland, hence why the main entry is through the utility room. Overall we're looking for a f
Hello again...a recent Pinterest garden design vision of approaches...if you don't like lawns! Well you've got to pamper them and cut then 20+ times a year
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/455074737339246882/?lp=true
Just caught a piece on the Today programme (about 8.45am R4. 23:4:18) . This was a brief interview with the Editor of Country Life, gardening section, Catherine Bradley-Hole who is leaving the role after 18 years. Her view suggests that there has been a generational rise in garden design and planting as much to do with the environment, health, food and general well-being often promoted by Radio 4 and TV. I am not a great gardener, but my student and teaching experience with Landscape Architect P
Yes, after years of dreaming, thinking, researching and waiting, work finally started on our first self build project.
After a couple of false starts due to the builder having to finish a job that over ran and the arrival of the better weather, we eventually broke ground on Wednesday 18th April, two days later than anticipated. Annoying yes, but then what can you do? It’s only two days and it’s important to maintain a relationship with your builder.
Nonetheless, we are now ready to d
Well, finally after years of iterations of drawings in the pre-planning and planning phases we're off to the races! Before I post the final plans I was talking to the Architect today about the potential for overheating shown by the PHPP calculations. I'm going for a Passive House and my concern was rising global temperatures (during the build and more likely afterwards!). The PHPP package allows for 10% of days where the internal temps can rise over 25 degress celcius. That's a lot of days! Not
Chance meetings, research and no fear of being nosy have stood me in good stead for many years and it's proving no different with getting a house built. The 'dig deep' thing was bothering me, mainly the thought of having to go down 2m over the entire footprint of the build and the cost of all that muckaway, as well as the risk of it all turning into a giant, muddy swimming pool during the process. I will freely admit that up until about 10 days ago, the thought of having to get piling included
Last week we poured our concrete strip foundation and we have now moved onto the block work. Monday was a day of stacking the first blocks, taking measurements and setting up lines. By the end of Monday we were all ready to start with the first course in the morning.
By the end of the Wednesday we were at:
By the end of the Thursday, a lot more blocks were delivered and we were at:
The good weather continue
I am annoyed this morning.
Once again my washing-up water - the first hot water I have used in the kitchen today - is running warm then cold then hot.
And the cold water is running warm then cold.
This probably means that the last people, who renovated the house, did not insulate the water pipes where they pass through the zone where there is underfloor heating, and the water standing in the pipes has heated up.
A small annoyance due to lack of sweat a
Yesterday we completed the excavation of the trenches. I had a half day at work and came back to the site after lunch to get started on the pour.
I was slightly worried about the heavy concrete wagon coming down our access and over the culvert, but the driver did a great job reversing and the road passed the test with flying colours. Our digger driver than used the bucket to spread the concrete as required.
Half way through.
Today we started on our foundations.
It was snowing this morning on Skye and I took this one just before the digger arrived. Our brickie had pegged out the site a few days previously.
The digger then arrived on site and the snow stopped and sun came out.
I helped to mark out the foundation tracks and then wandered up the access to do a few hours at work.
n
I came back in the evening and the
Where it all began in 2009 on our family croft in Skye. Once we selected the site we put in outline planning for a three bedroom 1 1/2 storey house.
We then undertook the legal process of decrofting the house site to enable a future self build mortgage. For the next few years very little happened as we needed to save money towards the project.
In 2013 we submitted a detailed planning application for a traditional 1 1/2
Came across this earlier c/o a Homebuilding and Renovating Ad post. Fascinating outfit and based on traditional Northern vernacular...I understand that these modest houses wouldn't suit the massive collection of sofas and picture window brigade but hey what a great starter or retirement home...It's an excellent website too extending to options, interviews and videos of processes etc. Well done the team and Lady behind it all.
http://theweehousecompany.co.uk/
A video I made whilst we were putting Postsaver protective sleeves on part of the stock of fence posts.
It is a really excellent product, which should more or less double the length of life of a fence post, and takes little more than a minute to apply once you are set up.
But make sure to buy direct from the manufacturer, because retail outlets will gouge you comparatively. The starter kits are particularly good value.
And they do trade accounts if you have a
Last weekend we had the structural engineer out checking the ground. Having dug the pits the structural engineer has confirmed that the ground is suitable for building on
As I'm getting the roof taken off the bungalow next week, I thought that I had best get my site insurance sorted out. When I was ringing around for quotes, every organisation asked whether the build would need piles in the foundations to which I answered in the negative as I had not heard anything to the contrary. HOWEVER, the lack of information in one area doesn't equate to certainty in another so I contacted MBC for some information from their SE as to whether he felt, at this stage, I woul
Having spent the summer months pottering in the garden, and generally ignoring the list of outstanding things to do inside, I finally summoned enough motivation to get things finished off.
Fortunately, the list was fairly short so once started, was completed in a reasonable timescale.
In the kitchen we tiled the splashback, fitted a decor panel underneath the bridging units (rather than having to see the underside of the units) and fitted a breakfast bar.
P
