Ness

Thanks for the mention.... just found this whilst looking for something online. A little update.... We moved into the house in May 2021 (about 3 days before BTD aired) and we did build it for just under £300k (after the VAT reclaim) and we have spent about another 30K on top after finishing off bits and pieces, garden etc... The journey was crazy (and over dramatised) by channel 4, but by doing most of the work ourselves, we saved a fortune. For insurance, they advised the re-build cost would be £650k - so a huge saving - Plus we have a very efficient, warm family home! We've had a few valuations since and because the house is so unusual,, they have struggled to value it. They range from £950k to 1.2M - Not bad for a couple fo years of work and yes..... we would do it all again. We over spent in areas and massively clawed back in others!! Wishing anyone who is on their self build journey to keep going, if you dont give up.... you will get there

Thank you @TheMitchells.... our house was originally a CSH level 6, but we changed it after the government scrapped it. It shouldn't really cost anything to run once built (well that's the plan) and yes we already had the plot (it was part of our current house) Planning was a nightmare, took nearly 5 years in the end and our first house was refused for looking "too normal" amongst other things. We are outside the building boundary, so we had to getting planning via paragraph 55 of the NPPF. All things that need to go in the blog! We have loads of info before we have properly started..... lol! ?? if we had to purchase the land with permission on top, we wouldn't have been able to afford it..... so the time was well spent. ?

Sorry for the late reply @JaneM..... I've been really poorly this week I cant believe your in Hockham.... it's crazy..... we are practically neighbours! We are in East Harling..... it's a small world.... lol! I will message you, maybe you could pop over next week for a cuppa and we have a nose at these conditions. Breckland have been pretty good (I bug them a lot.... lol) Also Holdens are great at repairs of the digger and dumper, we use them all the time and they are really reasonably priced.

Thank you @TheMitchells..... it isn't in full swing yet, but we have a basic site up..... your welcome to have a nose. We wanted to share info to help other people, even simple things like trying to get a digger without being scammed.... lol! Once I pop the baby out, I will knuckle down and get some serious blogs on there ?? it's www.selfbuild-ecobuild.co.uk

Thank you @JaneM.... I wish you all the luck with yours too. I think I commented on your post yesterday with 21 conditions? We had that too, ours were not too bad in the end. Dont make the mistake I did..... the ones that say "prior to the commencement of any work" take 8 weeks to get discharged with Breckland! I had no idea and we only had 6 weeks till our planning ran out.... doh! Got there thou..... phew! The homebuild and renovation shows are good to go to and just ask if you ask if you need any help. I discharged all our conditions myself (well the ones that needed to be done so far) x

Thank you @ProDave..... don't even get me started on estate agents..... lol! And you sure said it...... bankers alright.... there another one.... lol! Rekon we could dedicate a whole threat to that one..... ha ha ??

We don't get paid at all @ProDave.... my theory is giving value back.... that why sites like this are so great! Thank you @Redoctober.... we were very dubious of other shows.... but Building the dream seemed different. I must say Charlie Luxton was lovely and really helpful when he looked through plans and bits. He does know his stuff. It should be aired this summer, but I very much doubt that is happening, so presumably next year now. Our loan that was arranged (till we sold) was revoked due to "Brexit" and uncertainty in the market. Then our buyers pulled out of our house sale after 8 weeks, so here we are today with new buyers (hoping to complete end of this month or Feb) and foundations..... still a long road ahead! So..... what will be will be! I have given up trying trying to plan too much..... lol! ?? Good luck with your show too..... sounds exciting.... we had to go through interviews and all sorts ??

Lol @IanR.... I agree! I always seem to do things the hard way ??? He took 9 months to do the original calculations so I should have realised then! We were in no rush at the time. As I said.... learning curve. I don't think he is bad person..... just not very efficient..... which doesn't help my cause.... lol! We will get there in the end....

Lol.... @Onoff yep.... sounds right! This is number 3 thou..... so I am thinking feral all the way ?? Our daughter is 12, so I am hoping she will be pretty useful??? You never know..... stranger things have happened ??

Thank you for your help. I agree @Daedalus but no it's not a typo, that's why we scraped the idea of a basement. I am calling the soil investigation people today @IanR to see if things could change as we haven't gone to the depths of a basement, but the section mentioning the loads was specifically about foundations only. It all goes over my head..... but to be fair I shouldn't be trying to work it all out, that's why you pay the experts ?? I was trying to see what the engineer said as he could clarify it and that could/should be the end of it. Piling was recommended for a basement and yes 3 bore holes to a depth of 3m. The irony is that the soil was perfect sandy "Norfolk" soil for foundations. We have spread footings so there not very deep and presumably (again) if the SE got back to us.... he could argue why he's done what he's done and the whole situation could be rectified. I agree about the money, he came recommended and most other quote were 3 times the amount. I should have listened to my initial gut reaction..... lesson learnt! Slightly painful lesson ?? I don't think I can get another engineer to answer the queries..... there are about 15 from LABC and some are things like, can he show calculations that he has taken into account x,y and z. If we hadn't poured the foundations, we would have them recalculated with a new "efficient" SE and that would be the end of it..... but hindsight is a beautiful thing! ? @bassanclan, I have an email sending the report, him thanking me for it and a later conversation stating that he designed it in that way due to the report. So yeah.... I am sure that would hold up ?

Yep and it's keeping it real..... lol! To be fair we contact them when we want them to come out and have a self build cam for the rest of it. But we are doing a self build blog and I would happily mention things like that.... as it's what happens. What's the point of only showing all the "good" things..... "warts n all" is my theory. Show people what real life building is like! If it helps 1 person, then it's good in my book! Wish some one one had some me"real" parenting.... lol! ???

On the contrary @ProDave.... I haven't blamed anyone or sent any guns blazing at all. In fact I have probably been too nice about the whole thing. I sent him the email direct from LABC and ask if he could please answer their questions. I have "repeatedly" asked "nicely". My email yesterday was simply saying that I am regretful for the situation but unless I get a response within a week, I will have no other choice but to take things further as I need his input. I have been asking over 2 months now and he promised he would be there for any future questions. I have never accused or blamed and I am sure he has designed them in a way that are perfectly suitable..... but unless he can clarify this..... we can not move move forward. His last email 10th Dec, he said he would respond ASAP, which is great, but he hasn't. I am sure it will all work out, but we are moving into a mobile home late this month, poss Feb with a newborn (as I am expecting in 3 weeks) and unless we can get this sorted out now..... we can't really do a lot more. In an ideal world it would have been sorted by now. It's just frustrating, but hey.... (as my mum says) I am sure it will all come out in the wash ?

Yes.... but we like that show..... we have our own reasons for doing it and I am more than happy to show the real ups and downs. If it helps someone else in the future..... so be it! I don't know anyone that's ever had a perfect self build and even if someone takes away the fact that they should choose a structural engineer better..... it's worth it in my eyes

2016 has been a definite "learning" year! Our new approach is to see the end goal and "let go" of how we get there! Plans don't always seem to work out how you expect..... as long as the end result is the same..... we're going with the flow.... lol! ???

Lol @TerryE..... hubby planed the end of his finger off too! Grew back pretty well thou ??

Sorry @ProDave...... I didn't mean to confuse. LABC are just a warranty company like NHBC. Plans were signed off by building control and then we approached LABC before we started for the warranty only. They are the ones that have the issues..... not building control. It would not be the end of the world if LABC pulled out of insuring us (which is the worst case senrio) but I would rather have them onboard. It has still been passed by building control and is ok to build. As far as the loads goes..... I get what your saying, but the soil investigation report was done before we even knew what we was building out of as we were seeing what the soil was like for a basement. So in theory what you say makes sense as the weight of what's on top would make a huge difference. The point LABC are making is that they should have been designed to take a load 25kn/m2 not 50kn/m2 so in theory they are taking less of a load than they should. Obviously the SE could answer all of this if he would take the time too. The other choice is that we have a new soil investigation report and hope it says something different..... but at 2500.00 it's a bloody expensive option.

Hey Jane.... welcome! I am a fellow Norfolker.... where abouts are you? We're near Thetford forest and I hear you on the conditions. We had 21 also, but in some stoke of genuis.... well a huge accident, we had amendments and actually had 2 live applications. One with only 12 conditions which is the one we are building too now, although the council accepted all the plans from the 21 conditions so we have way less hoops to jump though now. Hubby is a builder and although this is our first complete build, we have done quite a few renovations etc.... so if we can help, just give us a shout. Since planning, we have pretty much done most things ourselves.... so I have learnt some of the lingo.... lol! Good luck with everything

Lol @Onoff..... that is good advice. I was hoping the summer as we are also going on building the dream..... but I can't see that happening now.... ha ha! It will all be done when it's done.... that's my new theory ??

Thank you @PeterW..... yes you are correct. LABC we're happy with the foundations until their SE looked at the paperwork, which should have happened beforehand. I was was thinking I need to send the recorded letter, I have all correspondence otherwise and it is pretty much all done via email. LABC have sent a list of things they were not happy with, most are pretty simple to rectify but it all basically comes from this soil investigation report. We was originally having a basement, but we scrapped the idea due to poor soil (we have a high water table) so this report had recommendations about foundations ect.... we have got spread footings and most people have commented they are an complete overkill at 1.2m wide, going to 2m in some places. The soil investigation report was never submitted to building control and they never asked for it.... but LABC said the foundations were designed with an allowable bearing pressure of 50kN/m2. However the Site Investigation Report confirms an allowable bearing pressure of only 25kN/m2 I can't answer that, I have since read through the report and that is what it says, so why would the engineer design it in such a way? LABC insisted on the site investigation report, which we had already had anyhow. If I get a letter sent out tomorrow, that may be enough to make him respond. To to be fair..... building control were pretty crap. He didn't even have the right plans with him when he came to pass it off. And the LABC inspector was the old building control officer (who we know quite well from previous stuff) so the BC just said, oh if he's happy with it, we are! Thanks for for the advice.... I will get this letter sent out and hopefully it can all be rectified.... I think I will need the luck too.... ha ha!

Welcome..... my hubby is a carpenter too and grew up in the building game, so he knows that side too. If we can ever help, we will.... there is a surprising amount of knowledge that is floating about in the old brain cells...... but most of ours is planning and stuff as we are not in full swing yet! My OCD does help with looking into companies so I have picked up quite a bit of knowledge about products etc.... (if it's any use?) Anyway.... good luck with everything and I am more than happy to help if I can ??

Nope @Nickfromwales.... just got an email with your reply.... lol! I had checked that.... but when I went into my settings..... email notifications were switched off for everything. I hadn't changed it so it must be an automatic thing?? All changed now.... so I know what your all up to..... lol! ??

It's hard to say. We have protected trees and had to get an arborist to do a report which cost about a grand. My dad's extension had to have a 3m wall in front (and below ground) of his foundations to protect of an oak.... so if the council are only recommending a 1 or 2 m depth..... I don't think that's too bad. As a guide, in Norfolk (and it changes everywhere) to hire a digger for the day is £150 and a driver is around the same price. My hubby dug ours and we bought the digger to start. Our foundations were £83.50 per cubic metre, but we needed a stronger mix which bumped the price up and a pump at an extra £450. I rang round concrete places to get the best price.... but at least that could give you a starting price? Or ring a couple of builders and get a price from them? All in? Good luck

Thanks @Nickfromwales, I did..... that's why I assumed I would get a notification of any replies. I was just checking in my settings to see if anything was turned off there Here's my screen shot, but I had no clue anyone had replied, till I just checked in this eve.

Can anyone help please? We took on a structural engineer who was recommended (and cheap) and we have had nothing but problems. He took 9 months to provide calculations which meant nothing to me (I know they're not meant to..... hence the reason we paid him), so they were passed onto the architect. All seemed well, foundations were poured, we took on LABC as our warranty and they over saw the foundations. We stopped due to lack of funds and are waiting for the sale of our house to go through now, but we got an email from LABC saying that their engineer has reviewed our plans, the SE calculation and the ground investigation report provided and (2 months after the foundations were poured) he doesn't think they have been designed correctly! It is very naughty when they had all this info at the start, to come back at this late stage, but basically the foundations we have have not been designed to take enough weight and should have had steels in them. This is according to the soil investigation report (which the SE had). So so I have spent 2 months chasing my structural engineer as I need him to come back with why he has designed it the way he has, which may be enough, but he keeps ignoring my emails and calls, or I get the odd one saying he will respond, then nothing. I can not by pass him otherwise I would and we have already taken on a second SE to complete some of the things that were unclear from his calculations. So (in a long winded way..... sorry) my question is.... does anyone know where I take this as I cannot get a response. I know that SE have warranties, how would I find out who this is? Or would it be a case of instructing a solicitor? Small claims court..... I just have no idea? We paid 7k for our foundation and simply do not have money to put this right if it comes to it, so surely his warranty should cover him? I know LABC go over the top, presumably most insurers do? I have pleaded with the SE etc.... and been extremely patient and we paid him to do a job.... where do we go from here? We can't do anything else until he can satisfy LABC's questions (it has been passed by building control though) and we may need to get a mortgage at some point. I know the SE had a breakdown a couple of years ago which explains a few things..... but it's just bad work ethics. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I have tried googling and looking into everything I can to find out..... but I just have no clue what to do! Thanks everyone and a happy new year to you all