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About this blog

The slow crawl towards building a new home in Dublin....

Entries in this blog

Windows and Tenders

I'm currently awaiting the Architects tender documents for review. It's been a two month process and I've been making inquiries into specific heating, MVHR and window options. Budget as always is a worry. I've drawn up a list of timber frame companies and builders and met those on the short list face to face. The Architect will have other names to drop I'm sure but getting a feel of the building pulse and talking with the builders really helped me identify the risks as they see it. Masonry vs Ce
mike2016

mike2016

5

Got Planning!!

Planning Permission Granted! After trying to ring the planning department on the day of decision at around 4pm and not getting through I resolved to wait until the next morning. At 5:03pm I get an email indicating that planning had been granted. I'd forgotten I'd subscribed to any activity on my planning application! Now, I've still to see the official notification letter with conditions etc but thankfully it was plain sailing. No objections, no requests for information. I took the planning site
mike2016

mike2016

6

Financing & Insurance

I've been spending the last week or two chasing banks because of a clause in the Self Build Costing Template - "*Standard Timber Frame Structure with traditional block exterior". I've found they nearly all have a timber frame line in their stage payments due to front loading of the mortgage when using a factory built house, but they all without exception carry the clause above. I'd not queried this up to now but decided to chase it. I've enquiries out now with several banks but so far only 1 per
mike2016

mike2016

0

Planning Permission

My planning permission is now submitted and I've a reference number and everything! So, there's about 5 weeks waiting for objections and then 3 weeks where the planners will come back with questions / start examining the submission. Then you get a preliminary approval with a 4 week cooling off period before the final official permission is granted, with their contribution bill! Once granted, I'm planning on some preliminary groundworks on the current old house to realign the driveway and access
mike2016

mike2016

0

Overheating

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
mike2016

mike2016

9

Standing on the Edge...

So I'm currently contemplating whether to pursue my 3 year old dream to build a home or skip it and plough the money into the second hand home I just bought. To explain, the house has the site attached to it, which I now own, so at least land isn't the issue. There's going to be other moments I'm sure when I wonder if I've made the right choice but now would be a good time to call it a day. The scary thing is not knowing how much this is all going to cost. Prices for materials and labour are goi
mike2016

mike2016

10

I just wanted to buy a garden but had to buy the house!

Well, that's been an interesting few months! I've been hoping for the last 18 months to buy the side garden off my landlord (I've been renting there 8 years) and go straight to building. But, nothing is ever that easy! I was asked for plans, which required a bit of homework, an Architect or two and pre-planning. All worked out and I shared the sketches here previously. But when crunch time came the landlord found it too difficult to sell off part of the site as he had an existing mortgage on the
mike2016

mike2016

3

So it begins...

I got the notion last week to start up a Blog on buildhub after enjoying the advice and knowledge everyone had contributed over the past year (or part thereof) since it launched. I've been on a journey to finding my own home for about two years after renting for the last 20. I thought I'd summarize where I'm at and how I got here to help others hovering around the same place and to spur them onwards to achieving their great dream too!    So, where am I exactly? I've completed Stage 1 -
mike2016

mike2016

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