epsilonGreedy

Mine is +300mm also though in my case the concern is a flash flood rather than a flood plain type flood.

£5.5 million buys you an exciting solution to that problem. Can we all come around and test it? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/4305229.stm

There is a more complex exit route to an open pond. I am starting off with 150mm of 2 inch clean as they say in these parts which is more porous than MOT1 I understand. Presumably it is the "fines" that tend to gum up the surface drainage? I am going to give the drive a year to settle so no compacting planned at this stage. The digging contractor offered to drive over it multiple times with his monster jcb.

They influenced the drainage spec for my plot before I purchased it. I have to install 4.5m3 of storm crates for about 160m2 of roof area. In addition my drive must be gravel. At the end of the day it looks like £2500, £700 for the crates, £1200 for the regulator and 1.5 days for a crew of two to dig and bury the tanks.

It must be a regional thing because half the small scale sites I see around here have a simpler site boundary. I have no security concerns so public liability is my concern.

I need to improve my site boundary fence on one side of the plot because a nearby child is now mobile and the building plot could prove too interesting to a toddler making a brief escape from mum. The standard 1m high orange plastic link screen roll seen in BM's would upset village aesthetics and a green version of the same stuff is described as high vis. Scaffolding netting in green would be about right but this is 2m high. So I am looking for 15m to 25m meters of screen netting 1m high in a subdued olive green that would deter a toddler and as a secondary benefit screen the gory details of the site from passing traffic.

We did that over the weekend and it was a rewarding experience. Experts listening to my brick selection dilemma told me I need Langworth Yellow reclaim bricks. A Google search led to Air B&B rental photos showing exactly what we wanted. So we drove to a village near Langworth, walked around and chatted to a few house owners following a "yoohoo" from the roadside. Had a great chat with the owner of a late Georgian house, took photos, gave him tips on buying sash windows and he gave me a brick from his own pile of Langworth yellow reclaims. Another lady hanging out washing noticed us loitering and then spent 20 mins telling us about her cottage restoration and her new build garage. In the end she went inside and spent 10 minutes searching her builders documents before emerging telling us we wanted Hathersage Blend from Wienerberger.

I have visited 3 self build shows this year and Grand Designs London (Excel) in 2014. The talks at the 3 shows this year were the highlight and one day would not be enough particularly if booking some free expert one-on-one consultation. As my plot was still a green field at the time, every aspect of self build was of interest. NEC in the spring wins for sheer scale. Swindon was good too and has a niche feel plus lots of informative fixed exhibition displays. Bicester Build It was a dud as it was about 1/4 the size of NEC and seemingly relying on its proximity to that large self build site Graven Hill nearby. Grand Designs was a disappointment as it feels like a confused hybrid of a self build show and the Ideal Home show. Grand Designs has for too much generic show filler exhibitors selling ceramic knives, loft ladders and inflatable hot tubs. I have seen those each year at the Southampton Boat Show. My tip for interior design is artistic theft, just copy stuff you like.

I did not view a drainage plan as a challenge that required a specific billable task to be offloaded to an external pro. Any decent main builder would be able to pace around your site and work up a plan in his head within 30 minutes. As mentioned above you need to establish what flood risk conditions might influence your FFL, next is the invert level of your sewer interconnect, then you can work out the details. You also need a big picture plan for all external trenchwork, where will your electric conduit enter the plot, can it live in the foul drain trench to save some money. How will other utilities such as gas be routed or will you need to accommodate a hole for an lpg tank. Next you should think about the more shallow stuff such as roof drainage and grey water. This entails designing your kitchen and thinking about any fancy sink drainage in an island counter. Do you want a sink in the garage, what about conduits for garden lighting and a powered driveway gate. Swmbo moved the planned position for the garage sink so now I need to build an exit point elsewhere in the footings blockwork, this is an easy change with a suspended floor design, though you need to resolve the decision over your passiv slab or block & beam floor.

On the contrary, I think difficult plot shapes or orientation is where an architect can add value to a modest plot.

I have only been interested in self build for 6 months and have already spotted the divergent approaches to delivering a property between self builders and pro developers. First time self builders seem to want to distance themselves from risk by spending money on non structure outgoings. Consider: Newt enviro investigation. Archaeological dig and report. Planning consultant. Ground sample drilling. Special SE designed foundations. Architect. Architect's project management service. Technical architect. Building Warranty. Then tick all the optional boxes on the self builder site insurance application. Contract out CDM 2015 to an external consultant. Hire a deluxe site facility cabin. Install a fancy mineral water dispenser. Ring the whole site with shiny new metal fencing. Buy a pack of site health & safety notices. It is easy to blow £40k to £50k before getting to dpc.

"Architectural creativity" does not have to equate to an ultra modern statement home fit for a TV program. My house design is traditional but each month a spot some architectural nuance, for example I was puzzled about single story section that could have supported a master bedroom dressing room but I now realize this would have deprived the neighbouring plot of a view towards the principal hill one mile away. My house has a strange 8 degree rotation away from due south, I now realize this allows early morning sun to strike the sitting room french window at 7am and also let the sun illuminate another shaded lawn between 5pm and 7pm. I think all self builders should continually cross check their plans against market reality in order to maintain some financial sanity and prevent wayward decisions becoming baked into their plans. This is not to suggest that final market value should dictate the final property but it will prompt a self builder to review and validate personal deviations from market norms. Take ensuits and utility rooms, if any self builder has created a 2000 sq ft home in the past 10 years without an ensuit bathroom and utility room then quite frankly that person has made a mistake.

I find myself holding a contrarian view as is typical. Selfbuilding is scary for many and as a result folks try to wrap themselves up in a comfort blanket comprised of expensive middle class professionals, this equates to spending serious money early on in the building process on things that do not get materially incorporated into the property structure. In contrast the pro builders I know loath spending money on peripheral activities or things that do not enhance value during a 30 minute sales viewing. For the OP it depends on the plot and the optimum value that can be realized through building something right for the plot. If the OP's plot is on a hillside overlooking a sea loch with dolphins jumping for joy and in the opposite direction is the Serengeti with herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically to the horizon, then the plot deserves some top notch architectural creativity. Having looked at a book of plans I felt it was stuffed with dated designs from the 1970's that had been discarded as having no further commercial value. I suggest if money is tight the OP looks at designs from outfits selling modern kit home designs and then with an outline sketch hand it over to an Architectural Technician to knock into something ready to build.

The planning permission bans any additional hard structure, raised decking, sheds and green houses are mentioned. The most I hope to get away with is a bin store and french cafe style crank out awning. This was the principal I expected to apply when erecting the shed for the duration of the build. When 1200 blocks arrived on site I had 12 instant hard garden structures.

Yes I am definitely coming around to this idea particularly if we buy a decent static and we feel it is a tenable option for 18 months. Swmbo and I had reviewed our options this evening and I said a Sunday walk through the village or hike in the surrounding hills is just as rewarding if we are living in a finished house or cosy static. I am learning a lot doing the garage footings block work and like the idea of cutting my teeth on a less critical structure, it is a whole mini building cycle where I will learn hands-on to do everything from wall ties, air brick ducts, beam floors, wall plates, window and door and fitting. Once the garage is roofed the storage limitations of the static will be eased considerably plus we get a proper utility room for a washing machine and dryer.

I could really upset village aesthetics and park a Transit van MOT failure onsite and fit a plumbed washing machine in that. Tis all a bit silly compared to a shed painted olive green to blend in with the foliage.

Ok I can picture this now, something to consider. Is it common practice to take special measures when beam ends are sited near air brick vents? Underfloor void ventilation building standards must cope with terraced houses, I wonder if the whole issue can be sidestepped by fitting air vents on opposing walls at 90 degrees to the beam orientation. Taking into account all responses here I reckon I will put in the first two courses of below dpc facing bricks. This will then provide a gauge for positioning the inner ducts and in addition I will ensure the ducts are positioned within the 500mm pitch of the beam spacing. I might even take the facing bricks up to 6 courses high before swinging the beams into position because having laid 80 trench blocks for the garage I am full of empathy for the brickie's back.

My site is subject to multiple prohibitions post build i.e. no conservatory ever and not even a humble garden gazebo. I am ok with this because of the sensitive nature of the plot in the heart of a conversation area village. Prior to purchasing a static caravan I contacted my local planning office for an opinion. The feedback mirrored prevailing advice here that a static caravan for workers accommodation is an assumed right and does not need to be referenced in the planning approval but they need to see continual direct involvement with the build by the occupant. My local planning department warned they police this matter and will not tolerate site accommodation ahead of building work and there is a limited window for stalled builds beyond which a static would be deemed to be an unauthorized private dwelling. All this means no problems for me. I then threw into the conversation that I assumed an 8 x 6 wooden garden shed would not be an issue because it would be a storage shed for building equipment as seen in many building sites. Got a big thumbs down on that, I would need to seek planning permission for the site storage shed though the planning officer could not indicate the price for the application because I would not yet be a householder. Swmbo requires a washing machine somewhere. Think I might just pour my garage concrete slab early, plonk the shed on there and claim it will morph into the approved garage structure in time.

Sorry I should have provided more info, there is no specific brick size worry as I intend to build with modern regular sized bricks. My interest is more in the detail of the finished brick face. Some engineering blues appear suitable for fancy modern commercial building as they have glazed two-tone luster with a touch of an extra colour. To create an older property look I reckon a matt mid grey finish would be best.

My concern with leaving 325 gaps for duct inlets in the inner blockwork is that a beam end could end up sitting directly over the 325 gap just 2 courses above.

In view of the point loading from a beam end can this technique only be applied on opposing walls not bearing the beams directly?

Good to know, I suppose outer-first will be kinder to the brickie's back if the outer engineering face bricks can be laid while standing on the lower ground oversite.

Useful info, thanks. Most of my beams will be sub 3m due to a timely conversation with my self build neighbour the evening before the digger arrived to excavate the foundation trenches, as a result I decided to incorporate an extra trench mid way down the sitting room. My longest beams will be 4.2m. I am planning on the basis of 33kg per meter which means once a telehandler has lowered a beam onto the inner wall bearing, one end can be shuffled by lifting the weight of 2 heavy holiday suitcases.

I am assuming these are a commodity item best purchased from a local BM. One thing that might sway me is if a particularly brand of engineering brick complements a heritage look.

Ok. My thinking was a higher outer wall would be at risk from collision as beams are maneuvered plus if this is done manually the beams need to be lifted higher. I am not committed either way yet. Are there other benefits for doing the outer skin first up to dpc which in my case is 300mm aove ground rather than a standard 150mm.