Grosey

Deal with the half acre of wasteland the surrounds my nice new house ? And start planning my outdoor kitchen! We have enough land to build a second house, which we won’t do to sell but a garden room / log cabin may be an option.

@Onoff Firstly with my in-laws, however soon after we started they came to see the progress, really liked the spot, noticed a small development of 3 houses being built nearby and decided to buy one of those. Their house went on the market and it sold within a week - so we were evicted mid build So cap in hand to my parents we went and moved in there. Fortunately both sets of parents houses were within 2 minutes of the build so it made it very easy to pop to site whenever required.

Thank you I appreciate that, the blog fizzled out as he work ramped up. But I think most people are more interested in photos than pages of writing anyhow.

It’s this, got it for about £42/m2 https://www.woodandbeyond.com/products/natural-engineered-oak-smoked-brushed-uv-oiled-15/4mm-by-260mm-by-2200mm-fl1542.html

I think i’ll do another post then, and give some more of a breakdown on how The budget panned out. If if there’s anything specific anyone wants to know just ask, I’m happy to share any details on costs or how I got things done.

Our only splurge is the kitchen really. (Was ALNO, ended up as Kesseler) Everything else is from “regular” suppliers, I spent 30seconds on megabad before realising it would send the budget through the roof. Stairbox stairs b and q utility room travis Perkins doors Victorian Plumbing Victoria Plum We bought the best in the range from cheaper suppliers as opposed to budget ranges from expensive suppliers. Seems to have afforded us a nice looking finish that the layman would think costs a lot more than it does - I know it won’t fool anyone on here though haha Will get some estate agents in this week and see where we are with valuations before deciding how much to spend on the outside spaces.

Haha left of the black sofa, view out the window, side table for my pint! The middle section is an electronic recliner so it folds out and makes the whole thing one big living room bed, I plan to be found here snoozing quite regularly over the coming weeks! highly recommend self build to anyone reading this and not currently doing it, we could never have afforded to buy this house so sitting here now I’m feeling extremely chuffed. It’s only work, and it’s really not that hard, get on with it and get it over with. I wasnt one one who was in it for the enjoyment of the process, it was always a means to an end so I never found motivation an issue, the sooner I start the sooner I can finish ?

I’m sat here mulling this over myself to be honest and trying to see if I’ve made a glaring error anywhere but I don’t think I have. Here’s a quick breakdown, I’ve done a LOT of work myself which is where the savings come in. £100k buys you a lot of materials! Watertight Shell (Materials & Labour contracted out to a builder) - £85k Rendering & Plastering - £6k Electrician - £3k Plumber - £1k Tiler - £2k Thats the only labour bills I’ve paid. Leaves approximately £100k for the internal build and finishes.

Yes it does actually, hadn’t really considered that, not sure the value of the receipts in my vat folder but it’s at least £10 - £15k i’d Have thought. Although when I reclaim that money it will go back in to the house somehow. So I guess the figure is still accurate.

Woke up this morning in our new home! Now sat on the sofa watching tv in my new home, waiting for a full day of rugby TV to start so I can sit and sip cold beers in my new home! Can you tell I’m pleased?! Facts and Figures 1 year, 1 month, 14 days (Breaking Ground to Moving in) 4 Double Bedrooms 3 Ensuite 1 Family Bathroom 1 WC Open plan lounge kitchen diner Utility Room Double Garage Workshop Land: £120k Build Cost: £200k Size: 300m2 Cost per m2: £666/m2 (This figure is slightly off as a large part of my ground floor is garage / workshop space so can’t really be counted as fully costed m2. However I’ve also got a £30k retaining wall in the ground floor section that wouldn’t usually form part of the cost per m2. Either way I think I can happily say I’ve built for approximately £800/m2 which I’m very pleased with) Photos below of all the finished areas. Garage and outside space an ongoing project!

The Osmo door oil isn’t much more expensive, so I didn’t see it worth the risk. Got it from wood finishes direct with I think free next day delivery.

Can anyone share photos of their doors that have had 2+ coats of the Osmo door oil (or polyx I suppose)? I’ve just done my first coat on some of our doors but I’m worried about them getting too dark/rich coloured.

Marley Cedral Lap in light oak, I’d have preferred the T&G Click system but they don’t do it in the wood effect colours. (Something to do with the paint not taking to the edge of the board or something - never made sense to me) Really happy with the Lap regardless, from a distance I’m not sure you can tell it isn’t T&G

@BillSmith Do you have a photo of your colour door you are trying to match?

I’ve just had my 2 Stairbox flights fitted this past week. Very happy with my decision and price.

I’ve bought all my stuff (4 bathrooms, 2 WCs) from both, had no issues.

They are just Howdens white gloss appliance panels cut to size. On touch catches so you give them a slight press and the click and pop open.

Clocks and bananas are different on the last line to the rest.

Haven’t really kept this blog going as I’ve been flat out working on things myself, was much easier to blog when the builder was doing all the work! We passed a year since we broke ground on 27th September and should be in well before Christmas so I’m very happy with progress. Kitchen being fitted on 16th Oct and then a few days of joinery work. Then gloss like mad and we should be somewhere close to moving in. Can’t wait!

127... or we don’t know as the last symbol is unknown? edit, completely unknown, bananas, time and symbol completely different. Another edit - 97

Yeah TV will be mounted on this “thing” above the fireplace. White cables are for speakers, double gang power socket in the little hole and a pull cord to get cables up from the bottom left where all the AV gear will sit. I say “thing” as it’s been a case of much amusement on site as I’ve been tinkering with the thing since about April! You see these things on Pinterest and Houzz etc but they don’t exactly give you plans, so it was designed and built on the hoof, and also dismantled and modified a few times as well. Im very proud of the “Thing” and it did make a few of the chucklers eat their words when they saw the finished article.

If it’s a flat fee I could also be tempted. Nice to put my feet up and not have another thing to stress about once we get completion.

Didn’t even know such a company existed, or is it just a standard accountant? What sort of fee would they charge?

@jamiehamy haha I did scroll back to see where the quote was from, figured it had come from a thread that I missed.

I did hear that the franchises were looking to buy out the business or maybe just the name. So looks like this could be a step in that direction. @Chalks it may be worth speaking to other intoto branches close to you to see if they’d be willing to help?