Under the Chestnut Tree

Well done @Dreadnaught

 

When do you hope to break ground?

Thank you!

 

2 minutes ago, Thedreamer said:

When do you hope to break ground?

 

Not at all sure. Have lots of pre-commencement planning conditions to sort out and a I need to design the timber frame and the foundations (screw piles). Now that planning is in the bag, I need to reorientate myself towards these tasks. If I can achieve it, I am keen for the timber frame to go up in the spring. 

1 minute ago, Dreadnaught said:

Thank you!

 

 

Not at all sure. Have lots of pre-commencement planning conditions to sort out and a I need to design the timber frame and the foundations (screw piles). Now that planning is in the bag, I need to reorientate myself towards these tasks. If I can achieve it, I am keen for the timber frame to go up in the spring. 

 

Looking forward to seeing this develop in 2020, hopefully we will be done by then.

 

How about a nice photo of the plot? ?

Fantastic news - the very best of luck with it all - that said, you seem well prepared and to have done as much has you can, to get things straight in your head.

6 minutes ago, Thedreamer said:

How about a nice photo of the plot? ?

 

Oh yes, good idea but the plot looks rather like a jungle at the moment. I live about 2½ hours away from it so I haven't been a dutiful gardener.

10 hours ago, Dreadnaught said:

10 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

How about a nice photo of the plot? ?

 

Oh yes, good idea but the plot looks rather like a jungle at the moment. I live about 2½ hours away from it so I haven't been a dutiful gardener.

 

We like jungles. How about a nice photo of the jungle?

 

And good news to see.

 

*polishes nails on tie on behalf of entire forum*

 

So on that timeline you completed on it before PP was approved - how did you come to that thought?

Edited November 7, 2019 by Ferdinand

There's always a piece of music, but here it seems to be either the folk song or this one, which is quite cool. The tune and variations.

 

 

Apparently (alleged in Youtube comment, but sounds plausible):

 

Wonderful, mysterious, evocative. Composed just after the Munich Agreement - the composer - a Czechoslovak saw a newsreel of the British royal Family singing this British folk song under a chestnut - representing the values it was hoped the Munich Agreement would safeguard. Poignant! the composer escaped to Ohio and later St. Petersberg, Florida!

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by Ferdinand

Excellent news, indeed. The screw piles will be very interesting  - take plenty of photos!

Congratulations. Enjoy the ride!

Well done!

 

Would you dare to post your budget costings, so they can be compared against actual at the end?

1 hour ago, Mr Punter said:

Would you dare to post your budget costings, so they can be compared against actual at the end?

 

Haha, what an idea! What public accountability! Building-the-Dream and Charlie-Luxton style.

 

My budget is more of a cost tracker. Its a complex spreadsheet where each figure is matched by a confidence rating. As I learn more about a given item, drywalling for example, I increase the its confidence rating. That then can be summed to a bottom-up total figure for the cost of the build.  Currently about half the items in that sheet are nothing more than guesses.

 

However, another way to answer your question is: £360,000. That's a top-down figure. That's the target figure to ensure the land + plot ≤ to the sale price.

 

So that is about £2,400 per m² for the build including everything except the plot cost. It includes, for example, the conveyancing costs, planning permission costs, and the proverbial kitchen sink.

 

My bottom-up figure and my top-down figure have a current gap of £9k, which is in effect the current contingency amount but that has been shrinking as I learn more.

 

At present I intend to be hands on a do as much as I can DIY. Whether that intention will survive even first contact with reality remains to be seen.

 

On the time/cost/quality triad I am firmly aiming for cost and then a sensible compromise between quality and time.

 

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by Dreadnaught

Great news. Do you have a time line for the construction or will it take as long as it takes.

Thanks @PeterStarck.

 

I'm hoping for foundations and frame in the spring next year. Weathertight as soon as possible thereafter. And then probably at least a year's worth of first fix, second fix, and finishes. So completion in summer 2021 would be a pleasant surprise but won't be rushing things and happy to go slower.

 

My getting-my-hands-dirty approach will be nothing compared to what you achieved! I will be using the trades regularly but doing the bits I can. But I am also trying to design the build to be as simple and easy as possible. For example, I am keen to use no-wet-plaster approach if I can. And I am choosing a brick slips system for cladding that does not require a skilled installer, let alone a brick layer.

If you are single storey timber frame, bricklaying is simple and cheaper than slips. Not on the critical path. Wet plaster v. jointing and sanding there is not much in it. Fermacell = Fermahell.

 

Your budget allows you to get decent contractors in for the whole project and it should not take too long.

 

As soon as the frame is up you can get bricklayer, plumber, sparky and roofer on site.

Thanks @Mr Punter. Good advice, appreciated.

 

I have to admit to being wary, hence the wish to de-skill as much as possible, do as much myself as I can, and be close to the detail of everything.

 

This is not related contractors as such but Its interesting to note that at even at this early stage, without having broken ground, I have already experienced two occasions on which experts have blatantly tried to take advantage of what they assumed was my lack of knowledge to over charge (and who knows how many I didn't spot).

 

As the spend now ramps up, I suspect I am going to doubly vigilant (perhaps to a fault).

Edited November 7, 2019 by Dreadnaught

There are plenty of people here who have your back.  No fee.  Just ask.

Thanks @Mr Punter and all the regulars here. Mine will certainly be a BuildHub build, all the way through.