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Part 0 - The start of the middle or the end of the beginning?


SuperJohnG

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I've finally got around to starting this blog. I'm hoping that it'll be easily updated and I'll provide lots of good pictures and info...we'll see how that goes. 

 

I'm at the point now where we have just taken our first big delivery, which is our insulated foundation system from Kore, this morning. So albeit, this process of building a house has been ongoing for some time, it has just become real that we are at the beginning of the build phase, which is very exciting.  

 

Some light background info - I've always wanted to build a house for the last 5-10 years, but it was a distant dream and wasn't quite sure how feasible it would be.  I grew up in a rural house, my parents bought in 1983, modernised and updated over the years. It was a great childhood and spent many hours in the fields and in our garden, even just cutting the grass was fun (1 acre and a ride on mower). We sold that when I was 21 and ever since I've wanted to return to that life. I have two young kids of my own now and hence the want to return to the countryside to give them what  I had was strong. 

 

I was always keen on building, swmbo, wasn't as such. So we searched and searched, but mostly the houses we could find that suited our needs were out of league (price!) and even if they were to be  in our league there were things we would change or in the end it would be expensive to run. And hence that search helped my other half make the realisation that self build was our only option. 

 

My dad died in 2017 after a long illness with Dementia, a relief for him and for everyone else involved. We were very close and I took care of him day in and out, until he was in care.  He was an engineer and had owned his own business since I was a child, albeit he lived a pretty simple life and was happy being at home in the garden he made and house he had renovated. Riding around on the ride on mower enjoying a quiet life...and now I guess that's exactly where I want to be.  His passing left us with a little inheritance which has allowed this dream of self building to become a reality, I'm very thankful for this. I know it is something he would have been very excited to be part of and watch us do. 

 

So after messing around since 2017 and not being able to negotiate a plot or find one that was suitable (there's a lengthy thread on this!) I'd finally identified 4 acres in July 2019. It took a bit of time ( I had to confirm services and remove an Agricultural tie) but completed purchase in Jan 2020. I'll not cover the planning process in detail, but the plot had legacy planning permission which was 24 years old, but at that time the development had commenced and hence it was a straightforward change and submission of our designs. Building warrant was granted a week ago, with very little hassle really. 

 

I joined Buildhub in September 2019 or thereabouts. It's been a wealth of information that has helped me shape the design of the house and provided no end of guidance which I am very thankful for. It has allowed me to validate my opinions and approaches and learn from others to ensure i am following the right path. 

 

I started out prior to buildhub wanting a SIPS house, in fact googling that may have made me find my way here. Quickly I decided I wanted an insulated foundation too, I went around in circles a little bit with both of these decisions and reading others opinions on here. I even thought at one point they would both be too expensive for me , however I sit here writing this first post having taken delivery of my insulated foundation today and my SIPS kit is on order and due sometime in February.

 

I don't actually need the insulated foundation till mid-late January but made a decision to get it in the country before Brexit issues occur and tariffs are possibly applied in January (rumoured at 6%). I'm very glad I made that decision as today our new strain of COVID has caused everyone to close the doors to us here in the UK, another couple of days and god knows when I would have gotten it. 

 

There is lots of other decisions and stuff has gone on in the background with planning and mortgages and budgets to get here, but that is mostly done and hence I feel this is the end of the beginning and now we can enter the start of the middle.... I'm very pleased and excited for the road ahead. 

 

I like pictures in blogs....here's a few of the Insulated foundation delivery today. Stored at a friends farm for the time being. It's being stored outside, has a few tractor tyres on it now to stop it blowing away and the main pallets are all strapped down. That's me standing on top.......

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Good to see it went ok for you bud. 4 acres is nice, I only have half of one? Its funny how self building can skew your perspective, I've never lived in a big house or had a big garden and they all seemed fine. Now I'm in the countryside with loads of space, big garden, big house, everything else just feels small and claustrophobic now. Its great for the kids to have so much space available to run around in.

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Well done John, if you enjoy your build half as much as I did you will love it, yes problems will arise but try to treat them as challenges, looking forward to your pictures and questions ?

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Looking forward to seeing this development over 2021. 

 

You have similar priorities to me regarding the rural lifestyle. It might come as a shock to my kids one today that some children live in a world surrounded by tarmac.

 

 

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15 hours ago, LA3222 said:

Good to see it went ok for you bud. 4 acres is nice, I only have half of one? Its funny how self building can skew your perspective, I've never lived in a big house or had a big garden and they all seemed fine. Now I'm in the countryside with loads of space, big garden, big house, everything else just feels small and claustrophobic now. Its great for the kids to have so much space available to run around in.

Thanks. Its funny actually out of all the plots I found, the 4 acre plot was the cheapest (less than a third of others). It was by chance a owned by a previous self builder who built a passivhaus, who sold it to me for the very reason he wanted a self builder to have it, could have went for 3 times the price. A very nice man. 

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Good for you - reading between the lines, it seems the back stories have there own issues but the main thing is you are now in a position to push forward and realise your dreams. I'm sure your Dad is proud of you. Enjoy the build and I will look forward to seeing this unfold over the coming year. Good luck. ?

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Good on you, John. I’m in North Ayrshire and still at the dreaming stage. Finding land is a nightmare, either too dear or too wee ?

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Thanks @Geordie. Not far away at all then, Ayrshire is definitely an expensive place for land up here, but have a read through my posts. This was the 8th bit of land I'd tracked down and tried for so keep at that dreaming. Everything eventually falls into place. 

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On 26/12/2020 at 20:41, SuperJohnG said:

Thanks @Geordie. Not far away at all then, Ayrshire is definitely an expensive place for land up here, but have a read through my posts. This was the 8th bit of land I'd tracked down and tried for so keep at that dreaming. Everything eventually falls into place. 

All the best to you both.

 

Thanks for sharing, much appreciated.

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Good luck. I hope you enjoy the build as well as the finished house.

 

I am really pleased with our SIPS kit so far. The supplier was supurb to deal with and it is so much easier to work on the structure when you can rely on it being accurate.

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