Thedreamer

When we applied for ours we had a valuation of the plot and estimated value of the house when completed, is your change going to affect the valuation when completed? Also is the change going to be more expensive, are you able to meet this within your budget?

Welcome @Haggis Rustler to the forum. There is a few in the Highlands and Islands here. I'm building a timber frame house on Skye. Whereabouts are you?

@Amateur bob I started off with a bit that jutted out at the front. This can add to the cost of the project as you have knock on costs in pretty much all trades later. Seems a bit pointless as you appear to be gaining hardly any extra space. Below is what we started off with. Also for the roof prehaps its different where you are, but it would appear that you have two full height rooms and then a loft space (why not just store in a shed if you live in a farm)? What about building a room in the roof design, with the roof trusses forming the structural walls of the upstairs as well, there are many different ways of doing this. Just out of interest what do you keep on the farm?

And what is the build budget?

I'm sure others will offer comments here. But one point on the elevations which way is south, north etc Also if cost is a factor are four bathroom/ensuite/wc required?

Thanks I'll have a look at these.

Afternoon, I want to start collecting some data on the temperature in the house. Can anybody recommend a thermometer that I would leave there and then collect data onto my phone/laptop. I don't have wifi at the house yet.

We using the quickstep vinyl from Howdens, everywhere on the ground floor. How has it performed in the bathroom? It felt like a good option to us as looks like engineered oak, durable, water resistant and should be warm on the foot. Cost wise it was upgrade on the engineered oak, but we got some economic scales on material/labour and it should provide a continuous look throughout the house. I note your point about the extra packs.

The same situation here. It's the next item on the list. Fortunately it just an en-suite and bathroom to buy.

Nobody is trying to impress buddies/gangs, we are just working hard to get projects done, help others, learn and prehaps have a bit of banter. This attitude is terrible brings down the general feeling of forum. ?

A lot more work in insulation, ventilation etc. I think these days people only ever go with a suspended timber floor if there is a good reason for this. For us this was due to ground conditions and a sloping site.

I'm not aware of any others. They were recommended to us by other self builders and tradesmen. We were pleased with the hearth, it's was reasonably priced, nice finish and they cut the dimensions spot on to the measurements we provided. Could you consider a little further field, prehaps a trip to Aberdeen?

I take it was stone source you were at @ProDave that's where our hearth came from. Some lovely marble outside when we were there.

Starting to put in the exciting stuff. The stairs measurements were taken back in August and we then had to have a good think about what type of timber and finish we wanted. The vaulted ceiling had a bit more structural work and being the most interesting feature in the house and we decided that this would be good place to invest in a high finish and we decided go with a solid oak stairs and balustrade with toughened glass panels. Like many self builders we have adopted a fabric first approach and although not part of the building a good stairs to us is worth investing in. Before we could install the stair we had to get rid of the internal scaffolding and before we could do this we needed to finish any awkward decorating. In the summer I tackled the external painting and my wife is going to be doing the internal decorating. These bits were probably the most awkward in the house and with the caulking and painting done, the scaffolding could now be carefully taken down. I was working on the day of the stair installation, but had a quick glimpse early in the morning when helping to lift it into the house. The installation of the stair and balustrade was done in a single day by two joiners from Inverness and the following morning I was excited to see what had been done. When I went into the house my eye was more drawn to the velux windows which were all covered in the most amazing frost. Here is the best photo I could take on my phone. The three velux windows were like etched glass, hopefully this will happen again. And here are some of the stairs and balustrade taken today. We are very happy with the installation. The stairs feel solid on your feet, easy on the eye and pleasant on the hand. Finally, just to provide an update on my last entry regarding the stove. I did the first burn and was pleased with the results. The render/blockwork surround heated up well and retained a good temperature for a while afterwards. The air feed for the stove also worked well. Our house has a suspended timber floor, but hearth/stove are supported on a small slab which had a pipe buried into the concrete to allow a direct air feed to be drawn from below the floor. A bit different but work well for us. What’s next. At the point of posting this entry, as you might see in the photos, the kitchen and ground floor flooring are being installed and this will be covered in the next entry when this work is finished. Thanks for reading.

Are these trees mature and what type are they?

A wood gasification burner, sounds complicated, expensive and I think we would struggle to get one that deals with the output required for the house. Wind turbine - What would you prefer to look at in a national scenic area, some trees blowing in the wind or a turbine? Maintenance issues. Not an option here. Solar - A few houses have panels here but they look a bit of an eyesore and not in keeping with the area. Expensive to install, better in sunny climates and not everybody cup of tea if considering resale. You could export electricity to the grid for wind and solar for a financial incentive, use electricity in your home, but it's all dependent on the weather. Battery storage is a consideration, but nasty chemicals on disposal and the whole system becomes complicated. A split seasoned log is like a natural battery of energy, it can be stored, managed and used when required. It regrows and can clean the environment and provide a home to natural wildlife for decades.

I live in a remote area and manage an area of sustainable woodlands. The trees we fell and burn would over decades remove pollutants from the atmosphere. The wood is stored and seasoned and will be burnt in an a-grade efficient stove. We plant new trees throughout the year to replace the ones felled. I agree that the use of wood burner in residential areas is a bad for the environment and the local population. But this is unique situation where the tree we grow and sustain have benefits to everybody and when the trees are cut often to encourage new growth, the timber produce is just a by-product. Can you name an alternative heating system for our house, that works on a fuel that actually benefits the environment during it's production, is sustainable, completely natural, simple, require no infrastructure, attractive when being produced and is free (apart from some sweat when cutting ?)?

I don't understand what you mean? Mess???

Yes considering this.

I'm not really fused about the flue temperature, I agree it would not be hot. Boxing the flue is more about protecting the flue from my kids.

The upstairs middle section was originally going to be cupboard (flue to be exposed in the cupboard), toilet and wardrobe, but the triple velux view is to good so be wasted as a walkway so now we got to reconfigure the space. If it was just us I would leave it exposed, but with young children and this spot upstairs is going to be their living room , therefore we need the flue to be protected and consider practicality rather than aesthetics. I have visions of bits of lego going into the floor grill, finger prints on the flue and all sorts of potential accidents. In our loft we had to box in a chimney and at the time it was like we gonna lose so much space, but we worked around it and it actually been great in dividing up the space, bit different here but we plan to put some furniture next to the boxing in and then keep the space flexible for future needs.

Looking forward to seeing this develop in 2020, hopefully we will be done by then. How about a nice photo of the plot? ?

Well done @Dreadnaught When do you hope to break ground?

Thanks, yes the plan is to allow the larch to sliver and then consider a treatment.

A bit unusual here having a suspended timber floor, but when our foundations were poured we put in a pipe so we could draw air from under the floor, not strictly necessary as our stove at 4.8kw is under the limit and can take air from the room.