G and J

I’ll cost up my ‘stick built’ plans and contrast. Once I’ve worked out how to build my nuclear war proof, 30 year expected life, base.

Rather naively, I assumed I’d be able to buy cable labelling sleeves on eBay or Amazon for nothing ha’penny. However, Ive drawn a blank. What does one use to attach labels to cables?

When we built in ‘91 we were constantly on a hurry up to stick to the plan, so nothing was labelled. A good few times since I’ve wished that I had labelled me cables. My aspiration is to label both pipes and cables. I wonder if I’ll manage this time round.

Love the idea of DIY passive style raft. I think you need fairly solid ground to base that on which would mean greater than a 1m deep layer of polystyrene - 25m3 of that would cost and take some doing and I think that means I’m back to pumping lots of concrete for the raft. The floating double layer wooden floor is definitely part of the plan though. I’d go for caberdeck type over OSB, partly as I won’t be carpeting.

Thank you for that @JohnMo . Very interesting read. If we weren’t cladding to match the house it would be very tempting. Sadly I don’t think I can replicate your solid paved subfloor.

If I’ve understood that means a suspended wooden floor, with less concrete. I can easily imagine the merits of such an approach in building terms. Rightly or wrongly I’ve got my heart set on a solid base. Solid meaning concrete or, as a second choice, bnb. Trouble is what’s there right now is a crater, just over 1m in the centre where I dug out a three stemmed conifer root. And I’ve two 25’ but very weedy silver birches to come out at the edges of what will be my building too. In combination with the light soil I think it makes a solid floor impossible. Likewise a paved sub floor methinks. Hence the block and beam option.

We’ve tucked our kiosk where it will be behind a low wall and hidden by our bin store on the very edge of our plot. 110mm duct for the armoured cable means our consumer unit can be in our ideal location in the middle of the house, but then, ours is quite a modest build. At the mo the kiosk also stores our hard hats and hi vis waistcoats we make peeps wear…

Naaah. Tonight it’s lightsaber practise. Shall I use the green or the red one? (Yes, I do genuinely have two!)

Hmmm. Each time I look at garden rooms on the net I get depressed. There’s so much glossy sales and I’ve convinced myself I can build cheaper and more solid than I can buy. We’ve gone panelised timber frame for the house, and I guess this is my chance to actually put together a building from base components. Rereading that it does sound like a recipe for more work than really necessary. Sigh.

Dangerous things, days away from site, it turns out. I’ve got me notebook out and for a variety of reasons I’m considering the merits and costs of bringing forward the plans for the hermitage (aka the Hide, or Pigpen) at the far end of our garden. It’s planned as roughly 5m by 5m with a very shallow pent roof, timber framed and timber clad to match the house, but in my notebook I’m not even out of the ground. Soil conditions are a base of silty sand with some gravel, which apparently is fine for strip foundations except that base doesn’t start till 1.2m down below some lovely soft, silty sandy soil. It’s just over 60m from the road with no other access available. Between the road and the Hide are some lovely trees and shrubs and to preserve that it’s wheelbarrow access only. So I either dig by hand an awful lot, hand mix some concrete (I’ve recently learnt what a starter bar is and no, it’s not something on a very early combustion engine), block up lots and top that with beams and blocks; or I dig a raft and pay out lots (I’m told) on a pump to move concrete from a lorry as trying to mix a raft by hand is not likely to end well. Or something else? It will be a combined workshop and gym, but not accommodation. I’m not keen on wooden bases as I’ve concerns on longevity and inadvertently creating a rat hotel. What am I missing? Are there any other options I should plan/cost out?

be with us all….

The 5kW Clearview Pioneer in my lounge arrived in the boot of my Saab estate, so I know it’s possible. However, I like my neighbours at the new pad so maybe not the best option.

ooooh, so can I pick one up cheap?

I was told recently that Clearview have stopped selling due to failing emissions levels. The Charnwood Aire range is direct air and looks vaguely modern. What wattage do you actually need?

We put a meter kiosk in to give us both our building and permanent supply, partly because I'm not keen on a carbuncle of an external meter box slung on the outside of my new pad and it saved the cost of moving it, so that may be an option. And, erm, bugger the architect, what do you want as far as meter boxes go? I'm assuming it's your house.

is it still April the 1st?

We have clearviews and they are brilliant, but fir our new place we are going for a small charnwood with external air kit which is , for us the next best option performance/cost wise and more modern looking.

It's attracting them to you in the first place that can be tricky.....with a pool of happy clients, event with word of mouth, self build (or garden design) frequency isn't ever going to be like needing an electrician. Certainly good designs and 3d presentations are going to serve well for prospective clients once they are in conversation with you, but

Are you or your representative going to the meeting? I ask because we, and our next door but 1 neighbours where we currently live objected to our shared neighbours planning app for a balcony (before you conclude we are nimbys, they had just put on a 7m 2 storey extension which we were happy to support, growing family etc which they "sold" and we supported on basis of no loss of privacy and then applied without letting us know in advance for the balcony.....yes we are still upset 😞 ) anyway the point is that as in pursuit of good neighbourly relations we decided not to go to committee to argue the toss (they did) it was passed with the comment along the lines of ".......as the objectors could't give us the courtesy of attending........

What's your unique offering to self builders? I ask because I had a small garden design business whereby my planned "usp" was to provide a design that the house owners could then implement over a number or months/years. I say planned as being a gardener myself this was a service that I would have been interested in when I was starting out, rather than the "we'll do you a design and implement it in the next 4 weeks" that seemed to be the norm. However it turned out that there was a limited audience for that and I increasingly became a project manager of others, or worked closely with a trusted landscaper that I could hand off too. Either way not what I imagined. So is your main "sell" cost based i.e. your service, or that you design for cost effective build or...... For info we are 2nd timers, had a basic floor plan for site but used a local architect for planning/building regs. Did this partly to bring us up to date on build methods (last time round early 90's) but the clincher was his knowledge and relationship with the local planners, that for us was the initial "sell". We then went on to meet him and the thought we could work together.

So you’ve one or more vents where you want/need to do a level wheelchair type access (is that part M?). Is that correct? If so, are there any other vents that serve the void which the threatened vent serves? If there is then might it be ok just to block that vent? If not could you put a drain grill just outside the door with cutouts to allow air to get to the vent?

Certainly would be interesting....have seen a good range of images trawling through, but having them in one place would be helpful. Not only finishes but also profiles e.g hidden fixings/board on board, wood types etc etc? And window colours in relation to cladding finish....I (j - aesthetic rather than technical lead), have asked several hubbers, including yourself ( @Kelvin @Susieall of which have helped me.

In fairness I think you are spot on. That’s why I pressed the like button thingy on your post. I have many, impressive talents, and worrying myself sick over nothing is one of my best ones!

This is very much what we are hoping our end result will be...ta for pictures. Just shows what a great material wood is allowing us each to personalise to our own preferences. Thanks also to @JohnMo for the contrast image.

Good to hear and exactly what I was hoping. Would hate to be standing in my hall, listening to odd noises wishing I’d asked more questions.