Redoctober

Thanks @newhome yes I was happy with the erection costs including the crane hire. Well worth it thought when out against the time it would have taken to cut that all on site etc.

It has been 3 weeks now since the last post and the TF arrived as planned. Sadly the tele handler didn’t!! It was two hours late and thankfully, didn’t impact on the delivery of the TF, although the driver was less than pleased being held up for so long. During the second week of erection, we saw the arrival of the large crane which really did pay for itself as it made light work of the roof timbers. A long day for all, but worthwhile. The final week saw the sarking and dormers being fixed and created respectively. A few little jobs remain but in essence the TF is up. The details – two joiners spent a total of 14 work days across 3 weeks – half a day being lost due to one of them nailing his finger rather than a rafter with his nail gun. Ouch!! The erection was arranged via the TF supplier, as was the large crane hire for the day. A total cost of £7600. This includes the sarking, soffits and barge boards. The crane hire alone was £500. Whilst all this was going on, the following was also being taken care of – A water connection from the mains across the other side of a single track road into a stop cock just inside the plot boundary. Our contractor carried out the road crossing whilst Scottish Water inspected the trench and established the connection. Cost of Scottish Water services - £976. Road crossing by independent contractor - £932. We took the opportunity to fit in the BT ducting at the same time as the BT pole is also across the road. The electric meter was fitted and power connected. This is being housed in the corner of the car port. Our electrician then came out and fixed up a temporary supply for the various trades to use. I have to say the Utility companies were fairly straightforward to deal with despite their somewhat strange working practices - SPenergy supply and fit the cable but not the meter. That is fitted by someone else. SPEnergy then have to come out and make the connection!! The stand alone car port /shed / log store was also completed. Just the door and window to the enclosed shed remain outstanding. This structure measures 7m x 6m deep – It has an oak frame and larch cladding. [Photos to follow] Finally, a word on the scaffolders. They have been called back to site on a number of occasions to move the structure or indeed amend the position and in fairness to them; they undertook these tasks without complaint. Yes, I will be pleased once they are off site but to be fair, when they have been asked to do a job and have done it. Coming up............the windows and doors will be fitted as will the ground floor insulation, ahead of the UFH pipes and screed going down.

Sorry for the late response but just catching up - a very informative blog. Thanks.

Many thanks to @ProDave @divorcingjack @lizzie @AliG and @vivienz Message received and understood. Very grateful to you all thanks. As for @MikeGrahamT21, nice idea but sadly out of my scope.

Our windows arrive next week and the window manufacturer is also installing them for us. The final payment is therefore due soon after completion. I have been told by them that the VAT is payable up front and I will be able to reclaim at a later date. However, I have also heard that if I submit an invoice for such a claim it will be rejected as it will be considered to be a wrongly charged VAT invoice. That is, the VAT shouldn't have been charged in the first place and therefore can't be reclaimed as a result! What is the collective's view on this? Thanks.

Yes now the TF is going up, we too have experienced similar issues with our scaffolders - Despite having the plans they failed to take into account the overhang and ended up sawing the uprights off rather than move the entire run. On anther day they failed to turn up with a saw so I ended up hiring one for them otherwise the crane would have been held up! And if that wasn't bad enough, they leave their off cuts and rubbish all over the place ! Talking to other trades, the scaffolders generally aren't held in high esteem.

Yes @Bitpipe I have to agree, they really let the side down - bring a true meaning to the word cowboys!!

Ouch indeed. There are many other "ouches" to come - Yes it is a fine balance against the economies of time and money. Throw into that equation experience and confidence and you have a heady cocktail which could go many ways!! We are hoping for a 26 week build from start to finish and that unfortunately, comes at a premium. Fingers crossed.

By way of a quick update as the TF arrives on the 29th May - The Car port now has a slate roof on it - the sides and enclosed shed will be finished once the scaffolding comes down, hopefully the larch cladding will be complete within the next 10 days or so. The scaffolders have erected the main structure in readiness for the TF. You will see one section has been left "open" to allow the panels to be fed inside. This will be closed off upon completion. I'm told the TF will be ready for the windows and doors within 3 weeks. For those interested, the scaffolding you see for both structures - the main structure being on an 8 week hire has cost just shy of £5k. This was the agreed price after 3 separate quotes. Which in fairness were all in the same ball park. The Telehandler with a 10 metre boom will arrive on the 29th, and the hire for that for a week, amounts to £300 plus £40 delivery and £40 collection - another one of those "hidden" costs! The TF company will be erecting the TF and the carne they will hire in has been absorbed in the erection costs. I will breakdown the erection costs when I post about the TF arriving etc. Thanks for reading - PW.

Hi @epsilonGreedy Yes the "pad stones" were requested by the Oak frame manufacturer - I would have preferred stone but time beat my decision making / sourcing options, so we tied them in with the dwarf walling. They were not without their issues but after some "correction" those issues were resolved. As for the roofing, sarking has been installed - this is very much a Scottish thing and then today as it happens, the membrane went on ahead of the slates, which will go on tomorrow. I hope this helps. PW

Hi and welcome. You have certainly come to the right place. Your project sounds very interesting and you should be prepared to make some tough decisions ahead. What size house are you looking to build - that in itself, might be an indicator as to whether or not your plans are realistic, especially given the fact that the main trades are having to be brought in so to speak. That said, I'm sure it could be done providing you are "economical" with your finishes. Either way, keep us posted as it will be a very useful sharing experience I'm sure. Good luck. PW.

Thanks @Temp I was going to let the oak frame weather naturally as with the larch cladding. Should go a lovely silver / grey in time.

Hi @Onoff the right hand section will form an enclosed shed. The middle section will be the car port itself and the final 3rd, about 1000mm will be the log store. Running across the entire front will be a 1000mm covered walk way. Basically allows us to exit the shed and car without getting rained on. The upper space will remain open. No intention to use as storage or additional accommodation - the budget just wouldn't stretch that far!! Thanks @Crofter you have explained it well and also reassured me in the process!! I just told the company what I was after and they drew it all up - a complete design, manufacture and installation package. And yes, I don't think it will be going anywhere soon!

The roof will be slated back end of next week - The TF for the house arrives on 29th May 2018. Will update again thereafter.

Yes, I have to agree I did enjoy the process and the decision making wasn't too difficult either. I'm sure that will soon change!! Thank you, yes, the builder has been good and the figures mentioned were what I budget for. Although having said that, I had forgotten the dwarf wall so that had to be included - but in the scheme of things not a problem.

The ground works have moved on considerably, no doubt assisted by the fine weather we have experienced since mid April. The dwarf wall and base for the car port was always the priority as the frame itself arrives to site on Monday 14th May. The main house sub structure is almost complete – the ducting for the electricity cable and water pipes are in as are the drainage outlets. Over the next week or so the sub base will be completed. The TF is due to arrive Tuesday 29th May. You will see I have electricity going into the car port structure – this is where I will be housing the main electricity meter. Look close enough and you will see an additional piece of ducting. This will allow a return run back into the house. I have also allowed for water to be supplied to an outside tap in future. You may be able to pick out the orange temporary fencing. Installed to protect the tree as per a planning condition. However, more importantly, nesting in the long grass between the fencing and the tree is a pheasant. She is sitting on a nest of at least 10 eggs. I discovered this as I was strimming the long grass a week or so ago!! I have also attached an image of the trench in which we placed the water and electric ducting. One of the many reasons for joining this forum was to try and establish the likely costs for various elements of a self build. A s a complete novices it was important to us to try and establish such costs as we didn’t want to venture into something that was going to financially break us. So with this in mind, I am happy to disclose the cost of our ground works to the point displayed in the photos shown in this entry. Hopefully, others will appreciate it as I am keen to offer whatever information I can for the immense wealth of knowledge I have gleaned so far from this wonderful forum. Total cost so far for the ground works – Strip site and to do concrete foundations - £5500 To build to floor level - £4100 To prepare and concrete ground floor - £9000 [includes car port] Thanks for reading.

Funny, when we were pegging it out to place it within the plot, both I and Mrs W thought how small it looked ! . The ground floor is 90 sq. meters and the first floor is 75 sq. metres - a total of 165sq. metres.

A few days for the foundations to settle and then the deliveries arrive and the builders set to work again............ The images will show the footprint of the house and utility room together with the walling and dwarf wall on which will sit the oak framed car port.

Yes the doors will be accessible entrances and I do intend then to have level access so I am grateful to you for your thoughts. No problems, we are all on this forum to give and receive, so once I finalise such matters I will post again. Yes, I am aware of how tight the SBC can be on such matters but thanks for the heads up anyway.

Nothing has been discussed re bridging the gap between the stone and TF of the door as yet !! It will be in the morning mind when I chat things through with the builder. It is clearly an area I have failed to identify - The attachment shows what is going to be in place for everything above the door thresholds!! Quoins and Cills.pdf

Thanks for chipping in - Yes we have a TF with natural stone as the external wall - the windows will have stone sills to them, just didn't think they would be needed for the doors! As a result the windows will come with what they are calling stub sills, which sit on the stone sills. So, I suppose the options are as you state - a timber threshold, or to cast a concrete one or fit a stone one. Thanks for your assistance - very much appreciated. PW.

Hi - I'm having difficulty in getting my head around what our Doors and window supplier are asking - they keep referring to the Thresh detail for the doors and after a bit of toing and throwing I have received this response - Regarding the thresh details again thank you for the information provided. The problem being as on the drawings you will require an external cill min 262mm which is not achievable as external cills are only 160mm projection. As you have 82mm frame which fitted flush with timber kit then 150mm external treatment and 30mm overhang = 262mm. Ways around this would be to have the doors on a cantered stone similar to windows. Is it me or can someone please try and explain in a better way, what it is I should be looking to achieve?

I'm in the Scottish Borders and their website had a page dedicated to such matters - From memory it is based on size verses their build cost estimates I believe - might be worth a look on your local Council planning website.

@Tennentslager good question - and answered superbly by @Triassic. In our case they were set at 200mm high so the concrete would just cover the pegs allowing the ground worker to float the surface off. I have to say the dumper truck driver did do well as on occasions there were some dodgy over hangs!! Sorry, forgot to add - yes 500mm mesh was placed in the trenches as the concrete was poured.

An update - photos speak for themselves........