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Here goes the next stage. Building the reinforced concrete ring beam. The plan is to build the steel cages off site in a shed due to awful weather, then deliver to the site. Lots of things arriving on site! The yellow plastic takes the place of traditional shuttering. Apparently this is faster and therefore cheaper. This will help pay for the huge amount of claymaster I need. It's still a little wet out here so digging might get interesting. We're armed with pumps and a couple of diggers so what could possibly go wrong? It took a couple of hours on Monday morning to measure out the site accurately, then the team got on with digging and cutting the piles to the right height. The cages started to arrive on Tuesday and installation was swift. The kitchen and family room cages nearly complete. The building inspector was happy with the progress on Wednesday so on with the show! With a bit of luck the concrete arrives on Friday. Then we can open the first of the four bottles of Cava allocated to the significant milestones.

I am hoping to start work on site in May, about two-months later than my original plan. Things may well slip further and I am fine if they do. Currently, the timber frame is being designed, by a specialist frame-designer based in Herefordshire that was recommended by (and contracted via) my chosen local timber-frame company. And the frame designer has just sent me the line-and-point loads (see below), so I have in turn just sent those on to my foundations designer in Ireland so that the insulated concrete-raft foundation can be designed in parallel with the frame. (To save on VAT, I also contracted the foundation designer via my frame company.) In parallel, with this, I am in the midst of arranging a fibre-optic data connection to my plot. I already have electricity connected. The fibre connection comes from a local fibre ISP who have been pleasingly helpful. The connection requires a new overhead wire from the end of the access road about 40-metres to the gable of my neighbours house and thence down to the ground and on to my plot. My neighbour is being most obliging, partly because he also gets a connection and can drop VirginMedia, who has been unreliable for him. To my astonishment, the whole installation will be free as I, it seems, am eligible for a voucher from the government that covers the cost. The voucher does not cover the VAT but the company kindly agreed to absorb that cost themselves (!) when I mentioned zero-rating. I am getting closer to choosing a groundworks team and finalising the details of the groundworks. I am pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable for what is supposed to be a "no-dig" build but it will all be done with expert tree-specialist oversight. I need clay heave protection which will be 220mm thick so digging down about 375mm was needed if my final floor level was not going to be high in the air. For my screw piles, I will probably go for a supply-only deal for the ground screws themselves and have the groundworkers install them with a mini digger (in my presence). I am told that installation is simple. For the installation of the insulated concrete raft, I still have not identified who will be the installer. I am tempted to speak to all the local concrete pourers to see if I can find someone who has experience of insulated rafts. The raft design is going to slightly unusual. Because the insulation is not load bearing and because I have a ridge height restriction and want tall ceilings, the insulation will be thinner PIR rather than the usual EPS. To my distress, the local water company has insisted I make a water connection all the way 40-metres back down in the access road to the 5" water main there rather than 2" main directly in front of my plot, citing "the impact of another service". Oh well at least the water pressure will be good! I need now to apply for my drains connection. I had been waiting on the tree matters to be resolved as it has an impact on the trench routes. For the protected trees around may plot, I have just finalised the Arboricultural Method Statement (AMS) with my tree advisers. This unlocks the chance for me discharge my nine planning conditions, all in one go. It took a surprising amount of time to work out how this is to be done, requiring a counterintuitive use of the planning portal to create a new planning application (!). I have paid deposits for my windows and front door (IdealCombi) and my roof lights (Roof Maker, their passive-house-certified product). Bauder, my chosen warm-roof and green/sedum-roof supplier, has been very helpful with advice on matters such as waterproofing when the rooflights are too close to the edge, and on standard roof-edge details for my architect. As soon as the frame-design is ready, I will be tendering among the local Bauder-approved installers. I have identified my brick-slips cladding I will use (Eurobrick P-Clad) and worked with my architect so the corners and window openings are properly proportioned for the brick counts. I have just booked myself on a slips training-day for 2nd April in Bristol. On my to-do list are signing up for building control, warranty company (reluctant purchase) and buying site insurance. I also need to arrange some bespoke aluminium copings and profiles. The intention is that the frame will go up, the roof will go on, and the windows and rooflights will go in, in quick succession followed in short order by brick-slips cladding. With all of these done and installed, I will have a weathertight shell ready for first fix to start, perhaps around mid-summer time. Hopefully. (I am already dreaming about @nod-style metal framing!) I have been continuing to visit other Buildhubbers, with visits to two people installing Fermacell, and one Buildhubber all the way at the end of second fix. As always, I learn so much from these visits and am gratified by everyone's immense generosity. They are truly inspirational. And thanks to everyone at BuildHub for all the advice I havre received (and will undoubtedly receive in the future). The journey is just beginning. Comments, observations, guidance, suggestions welcome, as always ?