recoveringbuilder

Well that’s us 4 weeks in foundation all in , underfloor heating in , still haven’t solved the electricity problem although we have been in touch with the owners of the other five plots and believe they are looking into it so we’ll just have to wait it out, I did find out who would own the cable that WE would have to pay for and it wouldn’t be us but it would belong to whoever installed it either sp energy or private contractor! Everyone I tell can’t believe it, So waiting on the kit, when I ordered it 7 weeks ago it was a 7 week lead time, spoke to them 3 weeks ago and they were indicating 21st June, last week it was 2nd July and now today they tell me they’ve been chasing my SE for the last 10days without success for information to do with beams/joists which they had hoped would be timber but the truss firm can’t make it work so are now talking steels! Now they’re indicating mid July and our tempers are fraying! Hubby is blaming me as ‘it was my idea to do this again’ caravan life definitely doesn’t suit him, as for me I found myself in fits of laughter tonight trying to shower in a bathroom one square metre and when you drop something there’s no room to bend down to pick it up! And I thought we were so much better organised this time around- hey ho?

Yes mine was the same ,cross section with all details of insulation thickness etc and foundation plan with all details

Looks like he’s wanting more money! Our architect has issued drawings to any company who has asked for them once we made enquiries, he has also liaised with claymore timber frame on our behalf and a firm we are dealing with regarding boiler stoves at no extra cost

Yes would love to know what your better half has sealed the deal with, personally I only asked for one thing as a must have but since I’m the keeper of the budget I’m sure I’ll can sneak a few more in

@ProDavethis is a long term plan for when we eventually sell the plots we have on the market just now, not wanting to get the money for them and squander it as it’s our only pension pot we thought we’d buy a plot in the highlands , build a storey and a half log cabin and rent out as a holiday home when we weren’t using it ourselves.We have seen a log cabin suitable for this priced at 30k for the kit and reckon another 30 would have it up. As I say long term plan, need to get the current house up first ?

Wow @Triassic,this I am interested in, this is our next plan, we have two building plots for sale and this is our pension fund, we are hoping to build something along this line to use as a holiday home and holiday rental, looking to buy a plot up north and build a three bed log cabin, what size is yours?

we have just started a 260m2 build for which we have 240k, we have ordered a timber frame kit which includes everything for inside the house, doors windows staircase insulation gyproc etc, the supplier will erect to wind and watertight so no vat on this part of the build, we have employed a small building firm to do the majority of the rest of the work on a labour only basis, we will supply all materials to them that way you can shop around and most builders merchants will give a good discount, the heating and kitchen installation will be done by separate firms but again no vat as they are installing, it’s amazing how hard you will look for bargains when you know you have to, this is our third build and although we feel better prepared this time there’s always something that crops up unexpectedly

Right , back to this again! I got back in touch with SP energy and asked if I could have a reduced voltage- no there is none to have, I then looked at the quote and it seemed the majority of the cost (19k) was for excavating and laying 283 m of low voltage cable which was contestable work so I asked for a requote without this on it intending to get an outside contractor to do this, got the reqoute today, it’s down to 12.5k but they’re still charging over 10k for cable, surely they should supply the cable!? If not then the cable is mine and if I decide to move in theory I can take the cable with me?

Thanks, you answered two questions in one there! Hubby was just saying he’d been told to concrete it down but is looking online where they are saying pea gravel, 10 years since our last build and you start to question everything ?

Yes no problem getting the permit from sepa had it in 3 weeks, we’re looking at a Clearwater, why did you opt for the Conder?

Anybody have any experience of installing a sewage treatment tank, in our previous builds we had a normal septic tank with the outfall going to a soak away which my husband did himself however this time we have to install a sewage treatment plant, no soak away, straight to the burn running through our land, just wondering if there’s a lot of difference in the installation method

We are just about to start our self build, it will have underfloor heating downstairs, radiators upstairs, a double sided boiler stove (30kw) will supply to a thermal store tank which will supply all our heating and hot water needs, working with a great company up north who has done all the calculations

Water is applied for not expecting any shocks there as we did a pre application enquiry and phone will be applied for at a later date, sewage is to a treatment plant in our land with the outfall going to the stream behind us and we have this approved by sepa

Have you had a quote from an underfloor heating company? I only ask because all the plumbers we spoke to weren’t interested in doing the underfloor and the company supplying it are doing the installation for £850 so we decided to go with them better than trying to get someone to do it that knows very little about it. On our last build my hubby did it all himself- 5 miles of pipes but I’ve put my foot down this time- laying pipes with me as a labourer on Hogmanay is not my idea of fun

I was actually just thinking that, the chap started up on his own this year after 12 years working for someone, he’s shown us pictures of his work and explained how he will do the job, I don’t know if he’d be interested in a job away from home

No he lives in strathaven South Lanarkshire at least we’re in the same country ?

We are doing a 260m2 1.5storey house, 3 ensuites , bathroom and wc, underfloor heating downstairs, radiators upstairs a thermal store tank, oil boiler, u/f heating supply and fit by company 3850, we are supplying everything else, tank boiler radiators all bathroom fittings, kitchen sink and all pipe work plumber on a labour only price £5900. Roofer Will do lead work gutters etc

In our previous property we had several poles which we were paid something like £4per year per pole until the late 90s then they gave us a one off payment of around £200 but it was never mentioned in our title deeds

Not free but bought as just a piece of land without planning and any of the houses we’d looked at buying for around the 40k mark at that time are now still worth less than we sold ours for

We built our first house in 1992, it had never been a dream we just couldn’t afford what we needed where we wanted to be and my mother in law owned a small farm with greenhouses on it that we had been using, we bought the land from her and managed to secure pp on the basis that we needed somewhere to live to run the nursery, we build a 7 apartment bungalow 168m2 for 40k and sold it 14 years later making a 200k profit, that led to the next one and so on!people think we’re mad roughing it in a caravan for the duration but there’s just something so satisfying about self build!

Well, where to start! Never employ friends, never pay an hourly rate get a price in writing for the job, double check everything you’re asked to provide- on our first build we were left with boxes of plumbing stuff that we’d been asked to provide, they ask for a dozen but really mean 2! Don’t get too friendly with the workers that’s just an invitation for them to take the Michael, make sure your architect really does pay his visits to check everything is being done to spec,if you’re looking for decent trades be very wary of any that can come right away, the best tradesmen are usually busy, ours for this build have been booked in since November last year,trust no-one until they’ve earned it, make sure you’ve had your quote for utilities so you don’t get any big shocks! The kit firm will have no input after the wind and watertight phase unless any issues arise stemming from the erection and they will supply the roughing and finishing items as needed. Our builders are erecting the scaffold for the kit firm and we have to supply the means of offloading kit and loading roof trusses, fortunately my hubby has all necessary experience on plant and machinery so we’ll hire this when needed.I’m holding the purse strings, I have most things priced up but there’s always something you haven’t accounted for! On our first build I was out barrowing type 1 into the solum but am afraid since I’m now fast approaching 60 I don’t have the stamina for that now, will keep you updated on progress ?

We are planning to start building week on Monday we have ordered a kit to our spec and employed a small building firm to do all the work on a Labour only basis, we will supply all the goods, the kit company will erect to wind and water tight and builders take over from there. With us supplying all the goods we can shop around for the best prices. The builders will give us a scope of works so we can have everything on site as needed.the house will be 260m2 , my husband has taken a 12week lifestyle break to keep an eye on everything, we have 240k to do all this and it makes you shop around a lot more, every penny saved helps a lot and I’m going to make sure I get my hand built kitchen! this is our 3rd self build and we have to get it right this time!

In our previous property we had several poles which we were paid something like £4per year per pole until the late 90s then they gave us a one off payment of around £200 but it was never mentioned in our title deeds

They definitely will have spent a lot as there was a lot of opposition to the plans , bar surveys badgers, trees you name it the neighbours threw it at them even a petition with over a hundred signatures from people miles away, they are a small building firm and we thought they would build the houses but next thing we knew they were marketing the plots so maybe didn’t want to spend any more