Walkaholic

That's right, test pits. Great advice, thanks!

Thanks for this excellent information Gus, and apologies for the delayed response, as I've been away for a few days. (I'll be going away again next week on a clay plastering course - exciting times!) Interesting what you say about the trial pitting - I thought doing a land investigation would help establish the best position for the house. The plot is about 10 miles inland and it hasn't been built on before. It was formerly part of a large estate, and is described as reasonably good agricultural land (3.2), so it's likely to be a mixture of clays. There are no watercourses running through it and there are houses built nearby. Also it's pretty flat which is always helpful! At the moment I'm living near the coast and we do get battered by the westerly winds. I should probably spend some time at the plot with my anenometer checking the prevailing wind, which will probably be westerly. I'll be getting help from Phil Christopher who has experience of working on cruck frame buildings so I think the main challenge will be convincing the planners. They usually like houses to be designed according to the "vernacular" but the vernacular from what century? Which time period are they trying to recapture? Hopefully they'll be open-minded!

Last year I worked on the construction of a straw bale extension to a community centre. It was good fun and a learning experience. The design I'm looking at is a wood frame with straw bale insulation so it will be a bit different. It should keep the wolves at bay, and more importantly the westerly winds. 😁

Thanks Ian. Actually a couple of years ago I looked at a plot in a different council area, made enquiries to the local planning dept and received a positive response. I think they liked the idea that it might be an eco-friendly design. The purchase fell through for different reasons.

So I can return to it in my next life? 😁

Thanks for the info.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I have been doing research, and a few courses as I intend to do most of the build myself. There is one strawbale cruck frame home of the type I'm interested in which is I think about 8 years old. I will have help from someone who has been involved in these builds before, and he is going to speak to the builder and owner of this house soon - I've asked him to let me know about any issues. Hopefully I'll be able to speak to him directly at some point. There is another house of the same design, but it's only a couple of years old. I'm hoping to speak to the builder of that house too. There are straw bale houses in the US and France which are more than 100 years old. Apparently no one realised they were built from straw bales until repairs were being done in the 1970s and 80s.

After a search of at least 18 months I've finally got myself a half acre plot, in a lovely rural part of North Ayrshire. The idea of being a landowner is still sinking in - I've looked at so many plots and have generally been outbid. I've put in two offers before this - I pulled out of the first one and the purchaser pulled out of the second. I'm planning to build a cruck frame straw bale house - if the planners give permission. Maybe an eco-friendly design will appeal to them. Anyway, the real fun starts now, and I'm sure I'll have lots of questions for this forum along the way. Maybe I'll be able to answer some too. The first question I'll be posting is about soil surveys - if anyone can recommend someone to do this in Ayrshire, please let me know. I'll also be looking for someone to dig test pits. Looking forward to sharing my journey.