Leaderboard

We had always heard that self build was not only exciting but difficult and stressful, and it was living up to its reputation as we worked through all the issues of foundations and sub structure to get ready for the Timber Frame. There was a hiccup in the Beam and Block floor supply that pushed the schedule out a week but it was all looking good for B&B on the 27th March and MBC Timber Frame on the 6th April. This was a really tight but achievable schedule, and the Internorm with windows on the 11th of May would have been great - heading to wind and watertight by end of May. Then the world went crazy!!!!! Right now we are pushing ahead, and have been amazed at how committed and flexible our suppliers have been, but who knows what will happen tomorrow - things change hour by hour. Today we have the scaffolders on site preparing for the TF, we have a somewhat tenuous commitment to deliver the B&B floor and crane onto site on 1st April (the irony of that particular date has not escaped us). our groundworks lined up to fit the blocks and prepare the plinth, and MBC on site on the 8th. This all sounds possible - but it is so finely balanced and inter-dependant that one element in the critical path will bring the whole project to a standstill. And we get the feeling that this could happen at any minute. Guidance seems to allow work on site and as long as the folks are safe and able to maintain distance then we are happy to have them working. We are keeping our site visits down to a minimum but as self builders we believe that we are OK to follow the guidance for the construction industry and are able to travel to site - anyone out there been challenged on that? Our intent is still to try to get to a shell, but there is certainly an argument to pull back and sit it out - however we are in rented accommodation so that adds another element of pressure to the equation. Added to this is that most of our build budget is invested and shrinking by the day so funds are tight to the point that we will need to get stuck in and do the unskilled labour to even get close to finishing. Internorm just pushed out the installation of our windows out by about 4 weeks, and subject to review, so if we get the TF up then it will sit without windows for ages - a situation we have been trying hard to avoid. We have a roofer 'pencilled in' but who knows if he will be able to work, or if he can get the materials to site. So , this is not in any way belittling the major world wide disaster that is unfolding around us all - more to just to let you know that we are doing our bit to keep our project afloat and keep the very squeaky wheels of the construction industry turning. While there is some criticism of the construction industry continuing to work, our position is that, providing its safe to work, then if we dont pay the guys then they dont have money to feed their families. We are painfully aware as our Son lost 16 weeks work as a self employed lighting designer when they cancelled his David Gray WW tour as it hit production rehearsals and he lost all his income from that and the summer festival season. Hats off to anyone else who has been attempting the impossible over the last few weeks - and commiserations to anyone who has put their project on hold on these 'interesting times'. As we seem to have some more time on our hands we will get round to the time lapse video and keep our blog up to date

I was due to be writing about the happy day when my SIPS kit arrived on the Island, but instead I find that I have closed up the site and reduced outgoings as much as possible because the SIPS team can't be accomodated and fed on the Island given current restrictions, and travelling the length of the country is hardly sensible conduct at this stage. Just so there is something to see from the site, here is the beam and block floor going in. Close to 1000 blocks and 68 beams placed in 3 days by 3 people and 1digger. The white blocks have good thermal properties and will be used along with a PIR insulation upstand at the sole plate interface to reduce the thermal bridge. So now I have to find something else to write about. I haven't said much here about the house design and my goals. Here are the floor plans as submitted for planning permission. Chris (my architect) and I spent time discussing dimensions and circulation spaces but the overall concept remains to my original plan. The only change from planning to build is that the main bathroom has been flipped so that the large cupboard will double up as a service access. These pictures show the elevations (apart from north west - which is really boring). The planners decided I had to have real wooden cladding instead of cedral. Bricks were similarly not allowed. You may ask why there isn't a window in the obvious place on the SW elevation. It makes the bedroom layout impossible! The master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling, so the half round window will provide light from the SW and the window on the SE will provide a good view of the garden. I have designed a sundial to fit in the place where one might otherwise have expected a window. The house will be a SIPS panel build, aiming for a good SAP A rating without "cheating" by putting a vast solar PV power station on the roof. Because of the design of the roof, based on SIPS panels and purlins, the attic space is open. This gives a good amount of space for hobby rooms or allows eventual accomodation of 6 double bedroooms. There is a designed in space for a spiral staircase to access the attic. There is no mains gas and I am not keen on burning things within the house so it will run on electricity. I plan to fit 6.6kW of solar PV panels (apprx 20) on the southern roof space. This should generate sufficient energy for 60% to 80% of hot water and heating needs. Heating and cooling will be provided by a ducted airconditioning system and hot water by a thermal store or unvented cylinder driven by an immersion heater. I will be allowing provision for water heating by ASHP but initially this seems unnecessary. Similarly, I am provisioning space for a battery storage system but will wait for battery pricing to drop. I will be installing a rain water capture system and using it for toilets, garden and probably clothes washing. I know the payback is long, but my building inspector is quite keen I make an effort at meeting the water use targets, and this tips the balance and allows the bath that the boss has asked for. Final SAP rating for the design was 96 (with limited solar PV) and well over 100 with the full 6.6kW.