Thedreamer

Hi @Trippy21 We put in full planning for a house with dormers and were then able to achieve a Non Material Variation to change to velux windows. Our build is in national scenic area and houses are never the full two storey here. There is a bit of work in dormers, they are almost like a mini house in your roof. We put double ones in our loft conversion and the space you gain is quite limited for the amount of work involved. We liked our top hung veluxs as you can stand out of them. Here is a couple of photos one of the external and internal of the house.

Fingers crossed this gets resolved for you. ? Is your mortgage with Newcastle Building Society, when we looked at buildstore this was lender they wanted to arrange?

Hello, Another post and another year of self building. Since my last entry we have made some progress in a few areas. I previously mentioned some trouble that I had with the treatment tank. We choose a Tricel model as it is widely installed on Skye and the local merchants all suggested it. The alternative was a rotating one with moving parts which I was keen to avoid. Other models were getting costly to be delivered and would require some form of mechanical unloading at my end. After my post I had a fair bit of communication with the manufacturer and the merchant. I didn’t back down and didn’t pay, in the end they backed down and sent a replacement. This went via Inverness and the merchant wanted to inspect before delivering to Skye, guess what they found? Three tanks later and it’s now in the ground. Discharge will be to a ditch, which at this time of year is wet but for most of the year is usually dry, this runs off to a wooded area at the bottom of the croft. Our original warrant and SEPA approval was for a traditional septic tank and soakaway (amended installation was agreed with both parties). After some posts on BH it was clear that a treatment tank would be the better option all around. I should say that a traditional septic tank and soakway is still quite popular in the Hebrides, two recent self builds both installed this set-up. Whilst the digger was here, we decided to get some further work done. A gravel drain was put around the back and is working well. Rotten rock which was at the front of the house was used to bring up the level around the house. A big pile of clay and top soil (or mud mountain as some called it ?) from works back in 2015 was then landscaped around the site. We are pleased with how the house sits in its surroundings. Finally, here is one from the Broch. People have been self building here since the Iron Age! Although this one is down to foundation level with the rock reused multiple times in various self builds during the last two thousand years. We now need to put the fence back up around the site to allow our sheep to come back on the croft. Today’s job has been digging and fitting four posts. The electricity connection was moved from the temporary supply box into the house. The cost for this work was cheap at around £200 and done by two very tidy and polite SSE workers. This simple homemade box was constructed from scraps and has lasted four long Hebridean winters but will now be recycled for another purpose. Talking of recycling, I don’t have a skip on site and everything apart from dust is stored and will be used for another job. Internally all our efforts have been on the upstairs of the house. Upstairs is an easy win to get completed as it’s just our two children’s bedrooms and an upstairs living area. A bit of time has been spent with our MDF skirtings, architraves and cills. We used real wood in our last build project and it has moved slightly over the years, MDF won’t do this and is cheap, but requires work in sanding and painting. Carpets are due to be fitted at the start of January and once these are down it will just be electrical sockets, lights etc to finish the rooms. Internal decorating can then commence downstairs. That’s about it, the kitchen has been fitted and downstairs flooring is done but both are covered by copious amounts of cardboard and I’ll upload some photos once this is removed. Thanks for reading. This will be the last post for 2019, hope everybody has a great Christmas and best wishes for your projects in the New Year!

I watched some videos on MVHR recently and wondered whether the ducting ever gets mouldy?

I also have a sloping site. The water mostly collects from an area of woodlands alongside our access, it passes into a culvert under the road and then runs down a ditch off the site. Last week we had our groundworks contractor put in a big gravel drain to reduce the water that collects when the water table rises after heavy rain. Don't under estimated the size of culvert you need to deal with the water and also that it can handle the weight of a concrete wagon.

Just out of interest where did the water go?

Is there a difference between a masonry home constructed with light weight block and dense concrete block? We used a few lightweight blocks and were surprised how crumbly they were compared to the dense concrete block we used for the blockwork external skin.

My point was more to do with the passive house projects. I suggested rainwater harvesting earlier in the thread.

But anyway that's irrelevant to your borehole query. Hopefully a member can assist with that.

I agree lot of work there. The couple are building a new house just about twenty minutes away from me. https://portreepassivhaus.uk/

I agree not sure what the issue was. I have a bit more work to do for the drive way so might be useful there.

I'm hearing it on the windows at the moment! This house was in south of England, but with the rain we have here, surely there would be ample.

What about rainwater harvesting, storage?

I don't have a skip here. There always hole to fill or scrap wood for burning or for some think else. Even old nails get recycled. So far I've taken 10 bin bags to the dump since starting the build.

He could have taken it today, but was cranky because we dared to question him about it. He was politely asked on many occasions and drove by often. But wasn't top of his priorities. In the end back in October I had to barrow the sand into tonne bags so I could get the container away. No contract, no waste disposal it will now be used somewhere else.

Yes, I wasn't looking for left over materials, they were his. But my site is not a depot for storing materials, certainty not for half a year. He was treated well here and paid on time etc.

Nah it's been peeing with rain here, so wouldn't have been working for a few days.

I had some excess materials left on the site by our brickie. A pile of sand that he left in the corner (which I bagged up) and some left over blocks. My contractor did the work in May and I asked him in writing in August if he could clear any excess material and equipment away. He collected his tools and left the materials. Although he supplied the material and when finished the excess is his, how long is it reasonable for him to no longer have a claim over these. Presumably this can't carry on forever, He rocked up today whilst I was at work and my wife told him he could take it but it was cheeky to turn up unannounced seven months after finishing the job. In the end he drove away saying you can keep your sand.

Just the two for us during the build and forty sheep.

Bit like us. Hopefully we will be in late February.

Where in Scotland, further up north, the more relaxed the rules (unofficially) are.

Often up here, people build a garage and then put a wee studio flat above that to save money. Depends on your situation (kids etc) whether there is enough room for that to work.

@KTCastle looks great. Is that you finished? Or still work required inside?

In the beginning, there was a dream. 11 years, but getting close. Self building is a roller coaster, how intense that ride is depends on what else is going on, how much your prepared to do/money to throw at it and what you are planning. At this stage you need to become a self building sponge and soak up as much knowledge as possible (not just the technical stuff but what you want to achieve).

Thanks for the comments chaps, much appreciated.