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Semi-experienced newbie


aguitarpenter

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Hello,

I have helped out on two self-builds - one was mostly insulation/plaster boarding work, and the other I've been heavily involved right from the demolition stage - including laying a seemingly endless retaining wall! I'm in the process of selling my house in the big smoke (Bristol) with the aim of moving to Devon/Cornwall and finding a plot I can buy outright having got very lucky in the 7 years I've been here. 

 

At the moment I'm still trying to work out what my 'must have' and 'avoid' features are - I think I missed the closest to ideal plot by dithering! A small barn with permission for a one bed conversion that came with a huge dutch barn, perfect for the massive workshop I am so desperately lacking in the city!

 

Hoping to at least leave room for cool off-grid options if and when I can afford them, and considering aiming for Passivhaus standard, but sceptical I'm up for that level of skill. Aiming to do everything I legally can myself (wish I'd trained as a spark rather than engineering technician!) as I've done pretty much everything before (including running the cabling for the spark to connect up and sign off), so it's just keeping the cashflow to fund it that I'm really worried about.

 

Oh, and how long I'm going to be stuck living with my parents while I find the land, of course! D:

 

Probably going to have a few planning related questions soon, but got a lot on sorting moving out for now! 

 

Cheers, Rohan 

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Welcome. For passive standard build, you can make life easier for yourself but firstoy using an architect that is experienced with the standard and can design accordingly. If you use a modern construction method such as ICF or SIP, you can achieve passive standard much more easily than traditional techniques like brick and block. 

 

About to start our passive build using ICF... Hopefully will have more knowledge to impart over the next few months. Check out the blog sections on the website, lots of first hand experience.

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Welcome to THE forum for self builders. Sounds like you might be underestimating your own capabilities if you read here carefully you will find that the challenge is most often not the building skills but the emotional / psychological / financial stresses and strains that crop up along the way.

 

Mike

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