Sometimes I wonder if this building lark is the right thing to do - both myself and the OH had a disturbed sleep last night. He was up around 3-4am, unable to sleep and around 5 it was my turn, worrying about the water in the cellar. And we are just renovating; what will it be like if we get to do our self build - one night without sleep and I'm a very grumpy bear, how will I cope with a couple of years! Maybe I should ask how will the OH cope with a grumpy grizzly bear....
Anyway,
We had our visit from our 'expert'; the ex - brother-in-law, who is an experienced renovator of old buildings as well as a building engineer to help guide us in the work that needs doing. It was quite interesting and unexpected at times. where to start? Maybe the gable end.
We knew that the gable end wall needed to have the render removed and replaced as it was quite badly cracked. we also had been told by the Surveyor that the top of the wall was bowing out slightly and needed
Visited a site being built by Sips of Clays today, who are our choice of supplier. Had called Clays to ask a question about lead times (it's around 12 weeks) following a query from one of the builders I've asked to quote for the outer walls, roof etc. and discovered by chance that they are erecting a SIPs build about 15 miles from me -now that's not something that happens often in Northumberland so it was great to have the opportunity to go and see the work in action, and their client kindly agr
So here we are, owning a bit of field in a National Park. The plan is to build a house for less than it would cost to buy one and of course to a much higher standard, particularly where insulation is concerned. We can build in the national park because I grew up in the village (local occupancy clause on all new builds) Now in this rural area, that is do-able as market forces mean retirees and people on city wages have driven the prices up well beyond what anyone on a rural wage can afford, in fa
After a few weeks away from the build, I've been back at work and in the last few days everything is seeming much closer to completion. All three windows and the back door are all in place now (not yet foamed up etc)- just the big beast patio door still to go, which weighs about a quarter of a tonne, so that one will need a bit of a squad.
Fitting the back door has made a huge difference to how the house feels- I can keep the sheep out now
The other jobs I've been doing are layi
Here it is: as accurate as I can get it. No pretense of getting it done cheaper than anyone else. Just the raw numbers and a few words to explain context if necessary (why did I buy a chain-hoist for example). Yes, you'll probably get it cheaper. That's excellent. The point is openness and telling it like it is.
March 2014
Home Building and Renovation Show NEC: £100, including fuel and tickets
Phone calls about £15:00 extra, and about £70:00 fuel.
July 2014
Land: already owned
Having fitted sarking boards and roofing membrane, the next task for the joiners was to batten out the roof ready for tiling, and forming timber 'skews'.
'Skews' are a verge treatment seen widely throughout Orkney, be they lead covered, stone or formed from concrete.
Nothing especially complicated in their construction, as can be seen in the 'technical diagram' used by the joiners:
With no external block leaf, our options were a bit
Well, a month into our renovation project, I thought I'd post an update on the progress made so far. Bearing in mind that we didnt plan to do much till OH retires in november, we have not been able to stop ourselves and have been there quite a lot, naturally.
Starting in the lounge, this was made instantly better by the removal of the old carpet - less doggy smell now. As the OH plans to redo all the electrics, he has been stripping most of the cabling out, leaving just a couple of working
phone died but got an old one from a kitchen drawer so don't expect David Bailey standards.
Any how here are some pics of how it looks at the moment.
I've inserted another dozen or so in entry number one!
I thought it was about time I added the tour of the second floor - it will not take long as its fairly small. I hope you all like the landing colour scheme. +We think we will keep it, as well as the mock black beams which unfortunatly fall off when pulled.
We dont think these banisters are legal - but its probably all going anyway. those are the doors to the front two bedrooms. Both are quite small and have lovely sliding doors. Also painted interesting colours. My thought is to
Ah, heart-in-mouth stuff this. The phone goes - new number - no half second when you can adjust to the person you know is on the other end because the name flashes up on the screen.
Starting a phone conversation with a technical expert, but hoping for an emotionally literate, customer-focused, technically easy to understand response is not a pleasant feeling. Add to that a mobile phone with a hiccup and a slightly distracting tomcat (Sid) who fastens himself to my leg in mid-sentence, a re
As the OH has had a week off work, we have been at the house everyday so things are disappearing quite quickly. Most of the woodwork has been removed from the bedrooms and the dining room ceiling has gone, as well as the taped downlighters. Most of the electrical cables have been removed apart from those needed. The plan is to completely renew all the electrics but till then, we are leaving one simple power circuit to plug lights into and work from. It was quite funny in that most of the c
A busy couple of weeks for the joiners has seen us progress from poured walls to roof on.
First order of business was removing some of the bracing used to secure the walls during the concrete pour;
and bolting a wall plate on ready for the roof trusses. A laser level (you can just make it out on the earth mound in the background) was used to ensure the wall plate was level.
Using a telehandler, engineered trusses are lifted into position an
Why Piles? Because we are on a spoil heap.
Our house will be built on the spoil heap of what was a clay and sandstone quarry. We are here The ridge of trees 50m to the south stand on the top of what was the old quarry face. We had a soil survey done (have a look at it here) The bore hole location map is on page 47 and the profiles are detailed on the next pages. Here's how much it cost to get this done. (Feb 2015; desk study and geophysics).
Our house will stand on the site of the old
While we have been popping in to the house to have a look at things, today was the first day when we went intending to start pulling things to pieces. tool boxes and hammers were taken in and OH went to work in the upstairs bedroom. It's the whole width of the house at the rear with a delightful wooden cupboard housing part of the chimney breaast from the dining room and the newish boiler and pipes. As well as antique wallpaper which you may have seen in the V&A interior design section -
J (wife of 30 years, mother of our children & gyroscope - keeps us on the level and on course) and I have always dreamed of building our own home.
We had a sort of go at it at ‘millstone manor’, see below, by knocking down a single story wing and rebuilding it to two stories - we learned two lessons.
Firstly we no longer think that architects 'do money'. We gave him a budget and the final bill was 3 times that. Secondly we ended up with a house too big for just the two of us now
I dont know why but the thought of having a cellar gives me great excitment! It has that particular smell that I remember from a student house I lived in at Crewe many years ago. It too had a cellar and smelt just the same. However, it did get very damp and everything put down there rotted or came up covered in mould - so not an ideal comparison.
As I mentioned in the first blog post, these cottages all had them and they had a coal shute from the front garden. Ours has now been blocked of
As some of you may know, we have been looking to build for several years but are finding it very hard to get a plot near here within our price range. We have been waiting for Graven Hill since early 2013 but after more than half a dozen deadlines came and went, with never an explanation or apology, I wouldn't touch the plots with a barge pole now. But I don't want to get too disillusioned so while we wait to find the 'ideal' plot, we were offered the chance to buy a nearby small rundown Victor
Having rented all my life, desperation set in after being gazumped, shafted and outbid in the so-called 'property game'. But it's no game if there's no fun! Finally, after getting lucky with an honest and reliable estate agent, I came across a place on the fringes of a small Kent village.The empty property was snapped up by us as soon as we laid eyes on it. Overgrown, but cared for, it dates from the early 1950s and was (is!) structurally sound.
Lots of vegetation on the plot and lots
