Olly P

As far as I'm aware a dormer bungalow can be classed as a 1.5 storey. We have a similar case with outline planning passed for a single or 1.5 storey bungalow with no ridge height restrictions. We have submitted reserved matters plans for a large traditional dormer bungalow but with modern elements.

We are looking for a site security camera which we can look at remotely and will also record movement. There is no power or internet yet but I'm led to believe cameras are on the market that accept a SIM card and have batteries in. Has anyone any experience with such devices?

I'm convinced that the price per sqm will lower slightly the bigger the dwelling due to various factors buying larger amounts of materials for better prices is one

All going well we are going to start our 1.5 storey dormer bungalow in the spring or before if the reserved matter PP gets approved quickly. I'm going to do the groundworks myself then pay a team of block layers to build the shell with myself labouring. I will do all the roof structure, fit windows, first and second fix joinery, insulate and plaster board and skim, decorate, fit the bathrooms and kitchen myself i may need to get a hand from a friend at certain points so i will need to pay him. Another friend of mine to render and stone face the exterior he will be paid also. I'm not on any timescale as we already have a house to live in whilst we build it. It's around 350sqm and I'm determined to achieve 800 per sqm with average finish. Block built, slate roof, average kitchen bathrooms etc. Am I dreaming?

Thanks it was a lot of work as we did it all ourselves and there was a separate rope and pole marquee for the ceremony. We also made the decorations, table centres photo booth etc etc We had an absolutely brilliant day and night, made even better as we are building our home here starting in the spring. The cable drums were great but proved difficult to get hold of as most electrical firms return them for a surcharge.

Bit of a late reply on this thread but the grass and weather came up well for our big day.

This is good to hear thank you ?? I had 34 (!) Objections with the outline planning application and I don't want that all to be dragged up again! I used a planning consultant during outline planning so I would use her again if I come across problems.

Thanks for the reply The attached conditions of the outline planning approval stated the approximate position, single or 1.5 storey dwelling, the materials and some other details which we have complied with in our design along with consultation with the planning officer. I'm pretty confident it will be granted but I will attend the parish council meeting to explain the design and materials to try and avoid any objection from them

We are about to submit our "reserved matters" application which consists of design, appearance, layout etc. Outline Planning was approved in April and the access approved as a discharge of condition in August. Does anyone have experience with a reserved matters application? I'm wondering if a site notice will be put up and neighbours/parish council consulted as I didn't enjoy all the objections one bit when going through outline planning.

@Onoff I had the same issue with mine when changing gear or going into reverse it would jump off the gearbox pulley. This was after I abused it by pulling out fence posts, dragging chain harrows and a field roller for a fair while . I fitted a new drive belt and it's been perfect since. Judging by the pictures it looks like the belt needs to go up to the upper notch on the engine pulley but I will take a look at mine in the morning and confirm.

Well it's as close to a lawn as it's going to get. I'm pretty happy with it to be honest. It's took a lot of work to get it to this standard from a cow trodden tufty field but it's well worth it. Best advice I can give to anyone else wanting to do this is keep mowing it once a week, start on a high blade setting and work down as the grass improves. Chain harrows work wonders to pull all the dead grass out and smooth out lumps and bumps . And roller it plenty as well.

We've had Outline Planning passed for one self build dwelling on our field in April and also We have submitted a discharge of condition planning application for visibility splays so we can create a new access onto the highway ( literally demolishing a section of dry stone wall to create access and putting some hard-core down). Hopefully we have done everything needed to satisfy the LPA and HIGHWAYS and we should have it granted next week. We have our wedding on the field in 5 weeks time so it would be fantastic if we can create the new access in time for then. I have raised the question with the council and can't get a clear answer yet until next week but, does the creation of a new access determine the start of works and thus mess everything up regarding CIL?

Yes that's correct the default for a 30mph is 60m. However if 85 th percentile data comes back at 30mph or below then it's reduced to 43m.

Yes an extra driveway/ access was added he opposite side of the road to our site earlier this year but because of the bend of the road it was easier for them to achieve the 60m splays so no speed survey required. I have got rid of all vegetation and strimmer back the verges which we have told them we will maintain but the neighbours wall pushes the splay into the middle of the road and not the Nearside. We can achieve 60m splays in each direction although they don't touch the Nearside verge.

We had Outline Plaaning granted in April with attached conditions. To discharge a condition for visibilty splays we have been told by Highways we need a speed survey to reduce the splays. It's on a classified road and in a 30mph zone. Has anyone any experience of getting such a survey done and did it work on their favour?

I was looking at a JCB 3cx as the 4 in 1 bucket with forks would be very handy for lifting pallets around the site and upto first level of scaffolding ( were building a 1 1/2 storey dormer bungalow). I did have my concerns over the mess it could make of the site though and as it can get very wet and mushy I would imagine it would get stuck too. So after reading this thread I'm now steering towards the 3-5 tonne tracked digger option. My question, what weight and height could a 3 tonne digger lift with pallet forks? Has anyone used their digger to lift pallets of materials onto scaffolding etc?

Well the first cut with the mower took 4hrs!! Looks better already though and hopefully by cutting every 2 weeks it'll keep it at a reasonable length inbetween cuts. Next job is to chain harrow and roll it end of this week after the bad weather.

Thanks Lizzie. This is it today, I will post a pic up a few days before the wedding hopefully looking a lot greener and level!

Our building plot is in a agricultural field just short of 4 acres in size. The wife to be and myself are having our wedding reception in a marquee on the field in the middle of August and we would like to get the field looking as flat and green as possible for then. We are only going to concentrate on the part where the marquee will be and around it for photos etc. The rest will be car parking so that will be rough cut and rolled a few times before hand. I would like some advice on how to go about this, and i assume some of you would have used a section of field as your garden for self builds on greenfield sites? The farmer has just took the grass off this week and bailed it so it's time for me to start nurturing it. I have a 36" ride on mower, a roller and some chain harrows. Any advice would be appreciated! TIA

Same happened to me with my garage. We got hold of some industrial self smoothing screed that we mixed and applied then painted and its had some hammer over the last 10 years or more and is still as good as when we did it.

Had the quotes back from British gas and electricity north west. £475 plus vat for gas...... £6700 for electricity!! ?. They say this is down to a road closure to carry out the connection ( although the gas connection will be crossing the road too) So far we have on the short list of must haves in energy efficiency terms; wider cavities, UFH and ASHP. We will be running a log burner too and have a tree surgeon friend who gets us logs virtually FOC so that will be a source of heat in the winter.

Looks fantastic joe90 you should be very proud of your build ????. We were also thinking of a wide cavity for increased insulation and warm roof construction. It's worth mentioning that gas water and electricity are on site so energy generation isn't essential. Very interesting about the GSHP vs ASHP, as we have enough room for GSHP I was advised to go for it but if ASHP is cost efficient then i think that's the way to go. Solar PV DIY, something I am interested in. Any links to suppliers? Thanks all for the helpful comments.

We are designing our 275 sqm self build dormer 1.5 storey 4/5 bed bungalow set in a just under 4 acre field. We are planning on living here for the rest of our lives and would like the dwelling to be well insulated,and have some energy efficient systems such as MVHR and possibly a ground source heat pump, may be triple glazing to reduce the running costs. With out going all out "eco home" (we are wanting to build a traditional design with a few modern elements) what would be the the must have energy saving systems that you would suggest?