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Third time lucky?

recoveringbuilder

Entry posted by recoveringbuilder

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So this is the 3rd self build we have tackled, the first being a 168m2 bungalow 26 years ago which we lived in for 14 years, this was followed by 18 months in a caravan while we built a one and a half storey 385m2 house, that was the build that nearly did for us, fraught with problems, friendships ruined, but it was a beautiful house.After living in it for 8 years and with the family gone we found ourselves rattling about in it and although we were living mostly in the kitchen/sunroom we still had to heat it all! We decided to downsize and when a cottage came up with a couple of acres on the same road we decided to have it, being animal lovers and with a selection of dogs, cats and chickens we were seduced by the grounds and didn’t give much thought to the actual size of the cottage but within a few months I decided I couldn’t live in a quarter of the space I’d been used to so we set about obtaining planning permission in the grounds, it took two applications before success but on May 10th this year we sold up and moved once again to a caravan on site. So this was to be the build without problems, we’d spent night upon night doing the budget and were quite comfortable that it could be done on time before winter and in budget. I might have been a bit arrogant at that stage after all what could go wrong, everything was priced up , labour was booked in , no surprises in store after all we’re old hands at this now. What is the saying? Always expect the unexpected!

So the first problem to occur was the electricity quote, we have two plots we are marketing just under a mile up the road and had asked before putting them on the market for a quote for water and electricity, electricity came in at £1500 for the two so in our naivety we expected to get a quote of around £1000 after all there’s a pole in the garden! This was not to be, we still haven’t sorted out this issue and I am in talks with SP energy having put in a complaint, we will see where this goes and it is taking some of the excitement out of the build but as the old saying goes- I’ve never died a winter yet!

Water has been another thorn in our side, not the actual price but finding someone to do it and it makes me so glad that we put the rest of the build into the hands of a building contractor, I vividly remember the trouble we had on our last build trying to secure tradesmen then keep them on the job, it was a total nightmare and delayed the build by months when my hubby and son in law had to learn new trades and work at it after a days work and every weekend, this put us off doing it again until now.

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newhome

Good to see you start a blog. Looking forward to seeing your progress. I think no matter how experienced you are ‘tales of the unexpected’ could be the title of pretty much everyone’s blog on here ;).  

 

That was a monster house you moved from! I thought mine was relatively large at 350m2 and like you, with just me here I have to heat it despite pretty much living in the kitchen / family room. The comment that you couldn’t live in a house a quarter of the size was interesting. That’s my concern when I come to downsize, and downsize I must at some point. When I’ve stayed in a holiday cottage I’ve found it too small to live in comfortably. What size house have you gone for this time? 

 

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recoveringbuilder

This house is 260m2 so not as big as our last self build but a good deal bigger than the cottage, although we lived in a small part of the big house you had plenty of walking room if you can understand that! I could wander around when I felt like it and we had room to get away from each other! While in the cottage I used to go through from the kitchen into the small hallway and was always struck by the same thought-where’s the rest of it?! Hopefully this time I’ve got it right!

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newhome

It can be a such a nightmare with builders can’t it!! Things are starting to take shape though which is nice to see. 

 

Assume that’s the old cottage next door? 

 

Don’t quote me but I think you need to start a new blog post when you do a new entry. These comments are just for the entry contained above, ie your 3rd Time Lucky post. Is that right @PeterW?

 

 

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recoveringbuilder

Yes I’m having a bit of trouble with the blog? want to keep it running as and when happening but want to also put in all the troubles we’ve had up to this point and I’m not sure where I should be writing tbh! Also doing it from my phone I have difficulty finding the blog altogether!

 Yes the cottage is in the background 

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newhome
2 hours ago, Christine Walker said:

Yes I’m having a bit of trouble with the blog? want to keep it running as and when happening but want to also put in all the troubles we’ve had up to this point and I’m not sure where I should be writing tbh! Also doing it from my phone I have difficulty finding the blog altogether!

 Yes the cottage is in the background 

 

You probably need to edit the first post, ie this one, to add a summary of where you've got to and the difficulties you have faced. You can add photos too if you have some you would like to add. Then as you come to do a new entry you need to start a new blog post like the one following about the trusses. Each new blog post to have it's own entry from now on, unless you want to add more info about a post you've already made in which case you can edit the entry to add the new info. 

 

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