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Final external works

Thedreamer

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Following on from the last entry we had our final inspection and were on the cusp of getting our completion certificate. A few final documents were uploaded and a certificate was received from building control.

 

We had built a house.

 

A few final jobs were completed following the last blog entry.

 

I order 20 tonnes of gravel from a quarry on Skye and then barrowed it down the access and spread it around the house.


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I also had enough to put some at the top of the access as well and fill a couple of bulk bags.

 

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The last job for the joiner was fitting the downpipes. We used the cast iron effect ones as these provide a bit more of a decorative look compared to the standard glossy pipes.

 

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We seeded the ground at the start of lockdown and now after a summer of growing the grass is coming on nicely. The grass seed cost very little money. It cost us around £15 to do all around the house.

 

We are pleased with how the house fits into its surroundings.

 

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Our pallet wood shelter was finished and I’m currently building up the wood stocks.

 

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I am also storing fresh cut wood for the future years. These old CUPA slates crates are useful for this.

 

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As we are now heading into colder times of the year, we have had an opportunity to have a few burns from the stove.

 

I’m really pleased with how well it is performing. The stove is bang in the middle of house surrounded by thick concrete block with a lime render. It heats the entire house and the increase in room temperature can be felt twelve hours or so after the last log goes on.

 

I wouldn’t however recommend fitting a stove in a self-build unless you put some serious planning into how you will actually use it. Even a small stove could easily over power the heating need for a living room.

 

Solar gains produce our base heating, keeping the temperatures to around 20c and the daily electricity usage at 10kw.

 

We don’t have any underflooring heating or radiators. If we reach a long cold spot and need a quick boost, I plan to wheel out an oil electric heater or use the towel heaters.

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What’s next. I need to crunch the final numbers. I also need to put a final layer on the access road but might put this off until the winter.

 

Thanks for reading.

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LSB

that looks so lovely, well done on getting to the end goal.

Gives us all inspiration that we might just get there ourselves.

 

Edited by LSB
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patp

Lovely to see on finished. Well done!

 

I was interested in you comment on wood burners. We are installing one as a back up in case of power cuts.

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Ferdinand

Yay !

 

I love that a teasing chink of house can be seen down the drive, that will give a lovely sense of anticipation.

 

F

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Thedreamer
13 hours ago, Red Kite said:

Well done,it looks a great location and the house fits in well

 

Thanks

Edited by Thedreamer
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Thedreamer
3 hours ago, eandg said:

Looks fantastic. 

 

Thanks very much.

 

1 hour ago, LSB said:

that looks so lovely, well done on getting to the end goal.

Gives us all inspiration that we might just get there ourselves.

 

 

Thanks

 

It's a long old journey, self building. I've mentioned before on here that the blogs provided a great deal of encouragement to me during phases of this project, and really show that people can self build even with very little prior building experience. I was 22/23 went I put in outline planning and now I'm 34. I don't what has silvered fastest over the last few years, my hair or the larch!

 

Time and determination.

 

16 minutes ago, patp said:

Lovely to see on finished. Well done!

 

I was interested in you comment on wood burners. We are installing one as a back up in case of power cuts.

 

Living in the Hebrides power cuts do happen a couple of times during the winter. I like the feeling of having a bit of control over heating the house.

 

I would also say that I know stoves on the forum seems to attract split views. Many on here really like them and others detest them.

 

I think it depends on your setting (neighbours, do live somewhere the smoke would settle, valley/glen etc?) and whether you will actually be able to enjoy them without risk of overheating. They work for us because of a fairly unique set of circumstances and consideration during the design stage.

 

I should also add that my father in law created an area of woodland from scratch 25 years ago and this allowed free access to wood.

 

13 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

Yay !

 

I love that a teasing chink of house can be seen down the drive, that will give a lovely sense of anticipation.

 

F

 

Yes this is feature we like. I used to stand at the top during the 'saving' years and wonder how it would look. We can also peer up to the township road from the kitchen below and see if visitors are coming. Always nice to have a minute or so before somebody appears.

 

8 minutes ago, markc said:

Well done, love the house and views

 

Thanks

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Thorfun

looks fabulous. well done. thank you for the blog and sharing your journey, I have enjoyed reading it and I hope I have learnt something from it!

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Thedreamer
6 hours ago, Thorfun said:

looks fabulous. well done. thank you for the blog and sharing your journey, I have enjoyed reading it and I hope I have learnt something from it!

 

Thanks

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Thedreamer
13 hours ago, Bozza said:

Great job. House sits lovely in the area.   Were your gates handmade or bought ? 

 

Hi Bozza,

 

Thanks

 

We bought these and then added a lick curprinol willow in the summer.

 

I can get my car through just one of the gates which is handy. 

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Bozza
4 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

 

Hi Bozza,

 

Thanks

 

We bought these and then added a lick curprinol willow in the summer.

 

I can get my car through just one of the gates which is handy. 

Nice.  Where did you get them from, I was thinking about gates.

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Thedreamer
3 hours ago, Bozza said:

Nice.  Where did you get them from, I was thinking about gates.

 

This gate came from agricultural distributor called Harbro. Not sure who makes them.

 

The gate and fencing were partly covered by an agricultural grant.

 

 

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flanagaj

House looks fantastic!  I am really interested to hear the construction method that you employ for the cladding which is set back from the render.  Is that section simply made using a SIP panel and cladded?

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