iSelfBuild

That's a nice chunk of land. I would think carefully and come up with a site plan. Design it with the end in mind, think carefully about the long term vision of the site. Which area lends it self well to glamping and which area you could have maybe 3 larger log cabins on. Prove it works with the glamping site and invest in the log cabins once you know it will work. It's also a pretty good approach to get planning in a staged way and prove to the council it will be a benefit to tourism etc. Exactly break the mould and make it unique. The key is differentiation in the market, the more quirky the better sometimes. You can do research very easily on Air BnB and other site to check occupancy levels and typical rates.

I think you need to do your research on occupancy, competition nearby etc. I agree with you camping pods are pretty saturated. I'm planning a luxury site in 2020 where each 'hobbit house' has a wood fired hot tub and private decked area. There will also be a communal BBQ hut and sauna barrels on site. I'm trying to make it more of an experience rather than a typical camping pod site. I can pull in £150 a night for something like this locally and in my area they have high occupancy rates. A log cabin or 'holiday let' will typically have a restriction on it. You can't have it as your sole or prime residency. If you wanting a log cabin that's up to the spec of BS3632 (comfortable living not a wendy house) then even a one bedroom one your going to be looking at £40k-ish for it all finished and compliant. How much land have you got? Could you start with a glamping site and then look to develop a larger log cabin down the line?

Do you already own the land? If so why do you want to build a log cabin specifically? The cabin you have linked to is just a glorified Wendy house. If you want to make it compliant with the caravan act expect about £5k in design fees or loads of your own time and research for a method statement and maybe it will go down to £2k in engineers costs minimium. That's without the materials for a structural raft. If your looking to establish a small site for holiday let purposes you might be better off doing say 3 camping pods? They would be pre-built and craned off onto the site - less hassle for you as you say you don't have any experience. The planning application would be very clear its holiday let use and there would be no building warrant implications... at least I don't think? I don't even know myself how camping pods are dealt with in planning terms? Is it the same portable/mobile regulations anyone... I am guessing not? How is VAT treated? I need to brush up on this myself as it's looking like I will be supplying 3 camping pods and a mobile log cabin where my new offices are. The client has spent £20k so far on a planning consultant so I'll ask if I can have a meeting with them to find out the situation and let yall know.

You need structural calculations proving it can be lifted by a ”MIStructE” or “FIStructE" engineer and also a comprehensive method statement demonstrating how it complies and meets the caravan act and this should be accepted by the local planning and building control to prevent future complications. I think I cover the prices in my thread I linked, it's not a low cost option as it is 200mm round log and designed as a show home so has solid oak kitchen etc. The one you linked to is a very thin wall construction, it could be made to comply with EN 1647 - 5% VAT rated, seasonal use.

Feel free to drop me a message to set up a phone call. Happy to answer your questions, the cabin you have linked to does not comply with the caravan act. The vast majority that market their cabins as 'caravans' are none compliant and if investigated would get enforcement notices to remove off site. I have designed my cabin fully compliant with the caravan act, we have 2 identical cabins being installed this Summer and 6 further projects booked in for 2021 so far. Bit of background on my experience here:

Hi Roz, I don't think we sanded any of the cladding. We ordered quite a high grade of larch and from memory it was as smooth as a babies behind! I'd suggest you call SIOO directly as I can't remember much about it as it was so long ago. Got to say, we are so happy we applied the coating though and despite it being expensive I think it's worth the money. If the larch had gone black then we would have hated the look of it. Since the site is very damp outside of Summer it makes a real mess of untreated larch on nearby properties. Rich

I take it your in England rather than Scotland with those sizes? Happy to have a conversation with you, drop me a message and we can set up a call.

I know where to get the moulds from They really are the most basic of production, no reinforcement and a single lifting anchor wiggled in. You could buy the mould and put it in at a ready mix place and ask them to dump the waste loads in. Surely they pay to get rid anyway and once they see the potential sell them the mould back. Failing that you have Solway Precast in Girvan near you, would be shocked if they don't have lego block moulds.

Who are you speaking too for supplying the blocks and where are you based? I am still a consultant in the precast concrete industry so happy to suggest some local suppliers. Delivery is usually the killer on these items.

That's good to know! Wonder if anything will change with leaving the EU?

Hmm not sure how it works. I know they don't make it easy for me. I have about £100 in Polish and Estonian VAT from a business trip but never get round to it / If I give it to my accountant he'll only charge the same ?

Ian how are you intending to claim the VAT back from a German company? As a VAT registered business my goods are always supplied 0 rated. However if I ever pay VAT in their home country or say order something online on eBay from a VAT registered company in Germany I'm charged the VAT as they don't know better, pretty sure I have to file a separate claim for VAT paid in error or in the EU country when on business too. Just wondering how this works for self-builders as the VAT liability from Germany is separate to claiming back the VAT back in the UK... I'm guessing?

2 Years on:

That's EPS not Foil faced polyurethane ? Jewsons wanted £28.00 a sheet for that sort of stuff - GYPROC ThermaLine 38mm

Just had a price for 25mm insulated plasterboard @ £27.00 a sheet Is there any reason why we can't just fix 25mm Recitcel to our rafters, tape all the joints with foil tape and then screw the plasterboard through the insulation onto the rafters? Will BC accept that or is there a condensation risk because it's not bonded seamlessly? There is 100mm Recitcel between the rafters as well.

Forgot to update you with the finished result. Very happy!!!

I design and build log cabins. Yes, they can be made to comply with building regulations. But I wouldn't recommend them for a home, 99% of the time they are unmortgageable and depreciate rather than an appreciating asset like bricks and mortar. The one you have linked to is pretty much a wendy house in my eyes

I'm just looking at a new development site in SW Scotland. 3 Acre Woodland with with permission passed for 5 log cabins. None primary residence use though. The sellers had a bit of trouble getting permission due to it being classed as ancient woodland initially, however it was deemed to not be ancient and following that it seems D&G Council have to support anything that boosts tourism and can't say no! I'm trying to find some land without permission granted but everyone seems to be selling land with 20 year 50% overage PP clauses these days.

Hey Guys and Gals, I own a woodland building plot in South West Scotland and I'm now starting the development. I really want to get a phone line connected due to renting out this property to holiday makers and the need to tick this box! The site is currently serviced by a private electric supply and water supply. There is service connection rights over the land for phone lines etc and the connection point is about 900m away. What is the process for making a connection? Does BT allow you to lay your own private cabling and just perform the final connection at the connection point? Anybody have an idea on costs? I'm installing 150m of private electric supply shortly and It makes sense to lay the telephone cable in the same trench and terminate it in the electric distribution hut which is next to the mast (where the red lines terminate). Then the remaining of the telephone cable can be laid along side the forest wall 700m or so down towards the farms access track where in close proximity there is a telephone mast. I have no idea how it works and I want to coordinate a connection plan with the other 8 plot owners, do we all need a cable each or could we all tap into a distribution supply which would be connected to in the electric hut?

I have filled this in for you and happy to be interviewed. I know the struggle of getting candidates for university research so more than happy to help

Nothing wrong with using laminated timber for windows. It's what I supply as standard. They do not twist or warp the same and are much more stable. Just be aware the scantlings are made from very fine finger jointed timber. Some people find the finger jointing offensive so specify no visible finger joints if you don't like it. Photo attached.

I have a wealth of knowledge on portable buildings in Scotland as I have just secured planning permission and in the midst of LABSS approval for my twin unit round log cabin. If your ever near Dumfries and Galloway feel free to pop into my site and I can show you what can be achieved. We should start the build in 10 weeks max. It's a minefield when doing it fully by the book and achieving full compliance. So far my method statement is 50 pages long and I'm about 2 weeks away from my submission to LABSS which includes full structural calculations, lifting plan etc. There's a lot of cowboys out there offering supposedly 'compliant' log cabins.

Thanks everyone for your input! I profiled the logs and I can slim the ring beam down to 3 no 45 x 195 C24 - glued and bolted lined with 18mm marine plywood. In my old line of work we sell a 42mm internally threaded socket with a 130 x 130 8mm flat plate - this is rated at lifting 8 tonnes so plenty robust enough! This will be welded to various corner, inline, cross plates etc. It then is connected to the pads with 42mm threaded bar and a fixing socket. The pads have a widest radius of 400mm and slim down to 130mm at the top. This follows a 45* blow out force from the top. For the sloped sections I will set the pads on piers which are cast from 300mm pipe and faced with stone. With trellis between the piers I hope it will look less imposing! The cabin will be elevated by about 1.4m in one corner. Just not sure on the appropriate footing that will tie in the piers where it is elevated. My main concern is the potential for them to topple over!!! So I think I will have to tie them in to a strip foundation.

Hello Build-Hubbers As some of you know I'm getting pretty close to starting my 200mm round log cabin now, which is built to mobile regulations and in two sections for transportation. Each section will be about 15T. The overall foot print is 17.6m x 6.1m If I get the green light from planning I could be starting the foundations in August and I want to finalise how I'm doing the foundations. It's out of scope for building control so I pretty much have free reign to do as I please. The ground on my site is solid granite and I don't want to go overkill with the foundation design. At first I was going to have the timber ring beam delivered at the same time as the round logs, so the below system appealed to me as I wouldn't have had to get the location bang on as it all has adjustment. However I'm now constructing the timber ring beam in advance, which will be 4 number 45mm x 195mm, glued, screwed and bolted, potentially ply lined box beams - I'm still awaiting designs from my SE. So I can take my time and get it all correct. What would be a typical design for a building of this size? I was thinking concrete piers made out of 300mm diameter pipe, tied into a base of say 200 x 500 x 500 cast straight on top of the rock. The majority of piers are only 400m high. Some are as high as 1.4m and there will also be a 40m2 stilted decking area. I'm also considering having some T brackets, in-Line brackets, corner and stilt brackets fabricated that cab be cast into the tubing using a fixing socket and offer height adjustment - I'm good friends with the owner of a fixing anchor factory over in China and he has offered to make a system which I can roll out on future projects so it will cost me very little for these brackets and it's very reassuring to think I have say 50mm - 100mm of adjustment. Also the timber will not be directly sat on concrete so no wicking. I have to say the above foundation which uses a precast concrete pad and allows full axis realignment is great - They can take a load of 5T each, not sure I trust them for the stilted areas though, I'm sure they are OK for decking but I have doubts for the log cabin main structure. They are only 400 x 400 and 180 high so extremely efficient. Should I attempt something similar? Precast Pads In Use: My pier plan:

How many do you need, what size? My friend supplies the trade but will only really accept large orders.