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The Build - Mission accomplished! We're in!!


Redoctober

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A busy November saw all the trades coming good, albeit some were cutting it fine for the moving in day – 30th November – However, we have moved in with all the services up and running. Having said that, BT and Openreach have missed the deadlines and as a result we are without any internet, phone line or TV for at least a week! Also the master bedroom built in wardrobes are still be fitted.

 

The landscapers have finished their work, providing us with a patio area and a driveway area which will see plenty of activity. Look closely and you should see the hedging that has been planted. 330 separate plants in all. This was a planning condition and the hedges are a mixture of Hawthorn, Beech, Holly and Maple. Locally referred to as native hedging. The turf will be laid next Spring.

 

Our Air Tightness test was conducted by a guy from Perth - a good couple of hours away. We never set out to achieve such low levels because we didn’t want the capital outlay of such a system as well as the infrastructure it requires. Our score was 4.9 which in our eyes is very good.

 

There are a number of minor jobs which I need to do such as touching up the paint work here and there; re-oiling some wood in places but all that can wait until we have given the whole place a deep clean. The main external jobs outstanding are the erection of the oak framed porch and the downpipes. Both of which should be completed within the next 10 days or so.

 

Anyway, this was not a self build in the true sense of the words but it was project managed by myself and built using a main contractor and sub contractors after the TF had been erected. I hope you have not only enjoyed reading about our project but have found some useful bits of information within the blogs in order to assist yourselves with your projects, whatever that may be.

 

Overall my experience has been a good one. It hasn’t been without its difficulties, such as additional unforeseen expenditure and additional expenditure as a result of our mistakes, or due to us changing our minds!

Such examples include ordering the wrong door frame - we failed to realise we hadn't ordered a threshold suitable for level access - a mistake that cost us £1k. Changing our minds over the 3 toilets we had ordered. They simply looked lost in their respective environments so 3 new ones were ordered at an additional cost of £850. A failure to get a full grip of the scaffolding cost an additional £1k and a failure to budget correctly for the foundations and dwarf wall for the carport cost an additional £4k.

Final facts and figures -

Build schedule – 6 months from the day the TF arrived.

Cost per sq metre - £1850 – includes everything, and I mean everything - from the scaffolding through to the landscaping and it includes the car port and porch [ still to be erected] but not the land or fees.

Only two skips were used throughout the build – everything else was removed by us to the local dump or burnt on site – best investment was a £25 oil drum which we used as an incinerator.

 

Thanks for reading - Paul.

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What a great house, well done you., there are some remarkable similarities to our build, you been peeping?, seriously tho you must be very proud.

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30 minutes ago, vivienz said:

Fabulous!  Perfect in every way - you must be thrilled.

Yes very pleased with the outcome thanks.

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7 minutes ago, joe90 said:

What a great house, well done you., there are some remarkable similarities to our build, you been peeping?, seriously tho you must be very proud.

 Ha, yes that's what being on this forum can do for you - stay around long enough and you can capture all the good points from others !! ?

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Looks very good, solid, and Scottish. Great stuff.

 

The chapel chairs are an interesting idea.

 

Can I ask what the drive material is, and what will be your maintenance regime - is it gravel + rake once a year?

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As I said before I love the traditional look with the underlying modern build techniques.

 

Any chance you can clad that ASHP with matching brick slips? :)

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4 hours ago, Ferdinand said:

Looks very good, solid, and Scottish. Great stuff.

 

The chapel chairs are an interesting idea.

 

Can I ask what the drive material is, and what will be your maintenance regime - is it gravel + rake once a year?

Thanks, yes we too love the chapel chairs. They just bring a little something.

As for the drive, during the build it was subsoil with Type 1 spread across it. When we came to finalise it so to speak, an additional layer of type 1 was laid and this in turn, was compacted down. We then put down the stone you see in the images. This stone is called Whin Chip and we went for the 200mm version. All the people in the know advised against a membrane going down under the whin chip, due to it eventually ripping and moving etc. 

As for maintenance, we plan to spray the area twice a year and just rake it over every now and again to keep it tidy. I believe we managed to get he whin chip for around £30 a tonne and required 20 tonnes.

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I'm going to ask the daft question.....the stonework is just there for "show" as in an aesthetic skin and the TF does all the work holding everything up?

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That would be normal.  Outer skin for show and inner skin holds the roof etc.  The inner skin should stay dry and therefore no rotting roof timbers....

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As everybody said you must be so proud. You have built a house while we wait for our windows to be finished, so jealous! The house looks lovely and when the landscaping is finished it will sit nicely in its surroundings.

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I suppose the obvious question is what, if anything, would you change about the house, and what would you do differently? 

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@Onoff exactly as @CC45 has described. The TF is doing all the insulating and air tightness. The stone is for appearances. Render was not an option as it wouldn’t tie in with the local housing stock albeit 3 farm workers cottages and a Smiddy!!

 

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4 hours ago, newhome said:

I suppose the obvious question is what, if anything, would you change about the house, and what would you do differently? 

Yes a great question and one Mrs W and I have chatted about. I will answer these points as I think it is important to address them.

However I will do so in my next entry as I would like to show the porch in all its glory once it is erected. ?

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7 minutes ago, Tennentslager said:

Tis most lovely this build...and it's on Skye???

 

Que? It's south of me, as near to England as you can get pretty much ;)

 

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