Long overdue hello! First time family selfbuild in Sussex.

[sean1933]

Hi all, 

 

I have been a member here for at least a year now and have found everyone so welcoming and helpful, I should have posted this many months ago so apologies for the slack! Sorry for the long post, and I'll also apologise now for any of my (expect many) stupid questions.

 

So, 4 years ago my wife and then 1 year old daughter (my now 1yr old son was nothing but a future plan at that stage!) made the crazy decided to buy a 2.2acre greenfield site (very very overgrown and untouched for 30+ years - I have never seen brambles & blackthorn so thick!) without planning permission in a relatively rural area near Hailsham, East Sussex. Outside development area but with slight hints of positivity from our local planning office made us take the leap - land never comes up here and costs a fortune if permission in place. 3 architects and 2 approvals later (and a lot of near mental breakdowns!) and we finally achieved the design we wanted. In March last year we sold our house and following a brief period with the inlaws we are now all living on site in twin-static caravan - best decision we ever mad I must say.

 

We're building a large 5 bedroom 'contemporary barn style' (ie lots of glass) house and large garage/workshop utilising brick & block construction with a 200mm cavity (filled with grey EPS beads) and jablite insulated beam & block floor system. The philosophy behind the build is a low-energy house using relatively standard building methods. Externals to be clad with a mix of fair faced brick a black wood cladding.

 

I dont have any experience in the building trade other than being a keen DIY'er with an eye for detail - I hope to do as much as I can myself but know when to use professionals (brickwork being one prime example!). I do however have knowledgeable people around me (friends, google, and you lot!) and a retired builder (father in law) to draw from. 

 

Annoyingly due to delays with getting our B-regs plans signed off we couldn't start on the building structure until late summer, which has had horrendous repercussions! Most notably my father came over from the states in September for a week to help me dig and pour the foundations for both buildings, we got the dug & filled but the house is an entirely different story... rain hit 2 days before we were ready for concrete and we are now left with 150m of 1.2m trenches that are full have water and completely destroyed due to cave ins etc. As a result I've parked the house founds until spring but will be reverting shuttered trench-fill and blockwork. Not a problem as we've more than enough to be getting on with, bricky starts on the garage on the 24th!

 

I've attached a couple of photos/plans but plan to track our journey via instagram (there is also a cool little aerial video), should any of you at all be interested feel free to follow me 'sean1933'

 

Sean

Edited February 9, 2020 by sean1933

[Redoctober]

Hi @sean1933 welcome to the forum and also thanks for actually coming out of the shadows following a long spell of researching etc. This forum thrives because people like you are happy to share your experiences.

 

I would imagine the journey through the planning stages for a plot that didn't have any permissions attached would be of interest to some.

 

This looks a fantastic project and I wish you luck with it. Hopefully your progress will not be confined to Instagram as there are still some Luddites like me out there!!

 

[Russell griffiths]

Well done on getting that planning. 

[NSS]

Wow! Just wow! Looking forward to seeing how it progresses ?

[Tennentslager]

Smashing pics on Instagram @sean1933 looks fantastic 

[Danny68]

Welcome , I second what Tennentslager said regarding the pics on Instagram, seeing what you've gone through with the water problems on your trench  and peter stark's wrong concrete pour on his foundation high light how useful  these blogs are for flagging potential problems and ultimately solutions.