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
Another day, yet another little gem of learning. I've been getting a bit worried because although I got the bat licence last week, my glacial paced architect had done nothing about getting the pre-commencement planning conditions discharged for several weeks, even though everything was in place for some time. But that's another grumble for another day. Anyhow, I've got to get the roof off by the end of April, which is why I was getting my proverbial knickers in a twist over the pre-commenceme
Been a bit quiet on BH as I've been busy elsewhere - rectifying Bodgit Builder's attempt at laying my concrete floor. I started a thread about that here:
Having taken ages to lay my circa 300mm of EPS and mesh-tied UFH pipework, I was keen to get a professional in to get me back on schedule and pour a flat, level concrete floor. No top layer screed. A few local companies quoted, one stated that they could not guarantee the pipework so I didn't go for them and the others I ha
Appreciate that this is old news but the Yorkshire Post (Yorkshire's National Newspaper!) ran an encouraging article in the farming section of Saturday's paper.
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/relaxed-barn-conversion-rules-are-economic-boost-to-rural-areas-land-valuers-say-1-9080408
I know it's shot vertically (I forgot) & the wind makes it a little hard to hear, but this is an update as regards the windows etc. Meantime, our lovely warranty people are being difficult again,asking for photographic evidence of *things they've already inspected* which are now buried or behind walls! ..... they *really* do not like SIPS!
This is a short update and precursor to the updates that will soon follow once the ground works begin in April.
Having now finally sold our house in Milton Keynes, we have made the move north to the Scottish Borders. We are renting a small flat, few miles from our building plot. At £320 per month, I was never going to win the caravan argument! We lost 7 weeks due to the initial sale /purchase of our house collapsing at the last minute. Fortunately it was sold very soon after being put back
I have my bat licence! Woohoo!
Albeit that ours was a pretty simple case (summer roost only, no breeding evidence, unoccupied building and no big trees in close proximity), I'm chuffed that we got our licence through quite speedily. I nagged our architect yesterday about the lack of progress with discharging the planning conditions and this has rather caught him out now, as that's the only thing standing between me and having the property demolished, so time to get on with things.
We're at the beginning of the self build process, up in the Highlands. We have a site that has full planning and we have quite a few ideas, so for now it's cracking on with a lot of research. We originally acquired the land as a bit of an exercise in woodland management, specifically with the long-term aim of developing native woodland and productive timber (though we might not see it in our lifetime). The planning is almost a bonus, living on site will make the woodland worl easier.
We
We now have planning permission - Scottish Borders Council Planning Reference Number 16/00648/PPP.
Scottish Power wires still to move but we're hopeful that this will happen within the next few months...
Shortlisting main contractors at the moment. Should have tender documents ready to send out by the end of April.
Quietly hoping we'll be on our way with the build by October....................watch this space.
Lucy
Can you hear that? It's the sound of my fingers tapping as I find myself waiting for the wheels of bureaucracy to turn. This time, it's the turn of Natural England and their (hopeful) approval of our bat mitigation strategy and licence to remove the roof from the old bungalow. It takes around 6 weeks for them to decide on a licence application but they are behind by a week or two right now, so that means it could be anything up to 2 months. 2 months! Unbelievable! I've come to the conclusio
A boring title, I know, but it's succinct and to the point.
I find it hard to get excited about windows, to be honest, which has surprised me given how much they cost but slogging through different window systems and deciding what's best hasn't been the most fun thing to do. I guess one aspect that takes any joy out of the process is the lack of uniformity in windows where each company does their own thing and has their own systems which, I'm sure, are terribly important to them and
Well, at last we have finished our renovation and have had an offer that we have accepted.
It took longer to get here than we ever thought, over 17months, but I think it was worth it. After Christmas and our little party, we had the estate agent in who had already sold one of the neighbours houses and before we knew it, the photographer was there and the next day it was online! we still had a few snags to sort out but we soon had those done, apart from the wooden mantle for the lou
Apologies I didn’t take many pictures of the process.
Initial Frustrations:
Due to a delay in the First Floor (FF) Micro Screed, couldn’t access the house as planned (Thursday after arrival) but had to wait until the following Wednesday, I would have had the balancing complete by the Monday and had a week to do other small jobs, as it was I got the job finished, bit nothing else.
First of all I fitted the ground floor vent terminals, this involved trimming the termin
Please click on lofthousestudioAThotmail.com if you may be interested in a copy of an E-book of 'Self Build Home...the last thing you need is an architect'
Howdy, I'm just exploring the implications/costings of selling my book 'Self build...the last thing you need is an architect' as an e-book......any help or assistance/experiences gratefully received.
(Price link removed by moderator)
....because we have clay, and lots of it.
A soil test was carried out on the site today as MBC need to know what they're building on to do their sums for the foundation. I used a firm called Mini Soil Surveys (South West), run by a chap called Martin Shirley. My selection of which firm to use was detailed and exacting - they were the cheapest. Or should I say, least expensive. Actually, I had no idea what was involved in this other than punching a few holes in the ground and look
It's starting to feel like the finish line is in sight now. Since my last entry, I've largely finished the interior including all the flooring, the doors, most of the kitchen, the windowsills, and the huge and daunting task of the bathroom (big thanks to @Nickfromwales for answering my hundreds of questions on that one!). I got a plumber in to install my UVC (sorry Nick, forgot to get a photo of that).
I've also done a bit more of the cladding, but the exterior work has been on the back bu
After feeling like I've had dozens of different plates spinning in the air at the same time, they are gradually starting to come down to earth and some more gently than others. This relates to how much it's all going to cost or at least getting an idea of it.
We started out with our budget and a target price per m2 but there's been a lot of theory around that. In fairness, I had my quote from MBC but that was about it. More costs are becoming clear now and it's a little intimidati
The background plotting and scheming continues as I tick items off a never-ending list of stuff whilst I wait for the bat licence to be granted and start demolition of the bungalow. Much of this has involved shopping around for various services that we have to have, such as a soil survey (MBC requirement) and SAP calculations. Other items are for big ticket expenditure such as glazing and cladding.
I live in Bournemouth but the new build is at the other end of the county, in north
Had to laugh yesterday as I got demand number 4 from our council for us to fill in a form for us to beg their permission to call our house what we want (there are no street numbers as there is no street) . Their first attempt about a year ago when we started building was to try it on for £100 and when I ignored that another form was sent asking for £50. The funny bit was they addressed it to the house, and the form explains that unless we pay the bribe we will not receive mail or deliveries at
I don't suppose many of you see the Yorkshire Post newspaper which is emblazoned with the banner headline 'Yorkshire's National Newspaper' erm!
Anyway this conversion is neatly handled, in my view, even with expensive steel doors
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/homes-gardens/for-sale-shipping-container-that-s-now-a-stylish-office-garden-room-1-8992743
Just a sort of screen grab (ignore other images until book nook pops up!). A nice idea A...if you've got book storage problems. B...a redundant closet
Could even be under the stairs with an open front and different lighting, or in the generous bay window...just a thought. Ignore the decor, that's just fashion, or not as the case may be!
Well my old back injury came back and bit me over the weekend (nothing I'd done, just a chronic condition for which I'm on painkillers permanently and which flares up worse occasionally for no apparent reason) - and I'm off work unfortunately, laid up, so this has given me an opportunity to post this. Our patio doors were fitted by a very efficient and friendly team, who left a couple of offcuts, and as is my wont with these things, I decided to fire test them (yes, I know I videoed it vertica
