Self-Build near Norwich

[Phaedrus]

Hi, my name is Jeremy and I acquired a plot in South Norfolk last May with planning permission for three, four bedroomed, two storey houses.  The plot was acquired from a developer who had already commenced construction and will be completed as self-builds together with my parents and brother.  Progress to date has been non-existent due to Covid and the decision to submit a planning amendment revising the plans and building materials.  We hope to receive planning approval in the next couple of weeks and are looking at contractors for groundworks and timber frame.

 

I am particularly interested in timber-frame construction to near Passivhaus; wastewater treatment (package treatment plants & drainage mound); and environmental technologies (solar PV, rainwater harvesting, sustainable drainage).  I look forward to getting suggestions and feedback as well as sharing our progress and lessons learned with the BuildHub community.

 

Best regards

 

Jeremy

[Dreadnaught]

Welcome @Phaedrus!

 

There's a few us around East Anglia self-building. I'm in Cambridge and  @Nick Laslett is in Suffolk as two examples.

[Phaedrus]

Thanks for the welcome, good to know there are local self-builders on BuildHub.

 

I looked at your blog posts - the screw piles are a neat solution to your tree constraints.

 

I would be interested in getting more details on the timber frame supplier selection process you used and how it is working out with your selected provider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mulberry View]

Hi @Phaedrus from a fellow Norfolk member. I think I know the project you've bought...?

[LSB]

I'm also a Suffolk barn converter so someone else local.

[Phaedrus]

Thanks for the welcomes, it seems that Norfolk/Suffolk is a hot bed for self-builders on this forum!

 

1 hour ago, Mulberry View said:

I think I know the project you've bought...?

I think I know where your split plot is ?  Seriously I looked through your posts and see you are in the planning stages of an exciting new build.  You received some good advice on the foul drainage (defo ? connect to mains sewer imo).  Look forward to following your project as it develops.

 

1 hour ago, LSB said:

I'm also a Suffolk barn converter so someone else local.

My brother's most recent self-build was a barn conversion is west Norfolk.  Much harder than greenfield new build (e.g. underpinning, building in stone etc) but he's made a lovely job of it.  I wish you luck.

[LSB]

6 hours ago, Phaedrus said:

Thanks for the welcomes, it seems that Norfolk/Suffolk is a hot bed for self-builders on this forum!

 

I think I know where your split plot is ?  Seriously I looked through your posts and see you are in the planning stages of an exciting new build.  You received some good advice on the foul drainage (defo ? connect to mains sewer imo).  Look forward to following your project as it develops.

 

My brother's most recent self-build was a barn conversion is west Norfolk.  Much harder than greenfield new build (e.g. underpinning, building in stone etc) but he's made a lovely job of it.  I wish you luck.

totally agree, if it was possible I would have knocked down and rebuilt, but the LPA, they say NO NO NO.

So, conversion of nothing.  We also considered once we had planning selling the plot, but whoever bought would then be our new neighbours and I would hate seeing someone else getting the rewards.

[Dreadnaught]

On 15/02/2021 at 23:17, Phaedrus said:

I would be interested in getting more details on the timber frame supplier selection process you used and how it is working out with your selected provider.

 

 

Ask away. My frame is in the very final stages of specification and is due to go in to production very soon and will be erected on site hopefully the other side of Easter. Having chosen my frame company more than a year ago, I remain very pleased with my choice. They are a friendly relatively local company and it has thus far been a joy to work with them. They also introduced me to a splendid frame designer and it has also been a pleasure to work with him, albeit lockdown slowed him down as it has for many people with families.

[Phaedrus]

15 hours ago, Dreadnaught said:

Ask away

Thanks.  Please could you share the companies you considered and who you ultimately chose and why.  What frame and insulation package did you go for and why?  Did you choose supply only or supply/install?  Did any company offer an air tightness guarantee?

[Dreadnaught]

Keep in mind that I am building this dwelling primarily for my enjoyment of the process and journey, and as a learning experience. I am therefore optimising for my own involvement, which is close to full-time, not for the usual triad of price, time and quality (although from that triad, I choose price and quality over time).

 

1 hour ago, Phaedrus said:

Please could you share the companies you considered and who you ultimately chose and why. 

 

I'm sightly reluctant to name names on this public forum as it may be unfair to those I did not choose. I would be happy to send you a PM with the names.

 

In general terms, my long list was about eight frame-companies. I visited the factories of two and spoke at length with about four. Unusually, I was quite opinionated about the frame build-up that I wanted and so was looking for that flexibility. In the end I chose the company that offered that flexibility and which also happened to be a local company, not halfway across the country.

 

I learnt, with the benefit of hindsight, that it is perfectly possible to take a different approach. Having now also been introduced to an excellent and personable frame designer, next time I might start with them and ask them to recommend a frame-manufacturer in the local area of my next build, wherever in the country that may be (frame manufacturers are the clients of frame designers).

 

I learnt that it is perfectly possible to work with the various parts of the supply chain oneself, such as pile designer, foundation designer, frame designer, roof designer and make it all work, and not resort to using a one-stop shop, with the inevitable constraints that provides.

 

1 hour ago, Phaedrus said:

  What frame and insulation package did you go for and why? 

 

I didn't choose a standard package but invented my own. Its a bungalow:

• Foundations: a complicated and completely bespoke solution. Screw piles, 240mm heave protection, 230mm PIR insulation (not the more usual EPS), reinforced concrete raft (with UFH pipes and lots of other pipes and ducts embedded within it, including the potable-water distribution pipes). Three embedded recesses in the concrete (two shower-formers and a mat-well for the front door).
• Frame: 240mm I-beams full-filled with woodfibre insulation (either Wamrcel or woodfibre batts, I am still choosing). No internal walls: I will do those myself in metal framing. A single steel beam.
• Flat green roof: warm roof, by Bauder for the transferrable warranty and no worries about leaks. Bauder is also installing the extensive green-roof atop.
• Six windows.
• Nine roof windows.
• Passive-house-style front door (the only external door).

I chose this as I had read a lot about frames and wanted my chosen balance between thickness (which steals floor space), U-value, decrement delay, acoustic insulation, and greenery (saving the planet). I will be interested to see how this frame preforms.

 

1 hour ago, Phaedrus said:

Did any company offer an air tightness guarantee?

 

Yes, two of the big national firms did. But that was actually of no interest to me as I want to do the airtightness process myself anyhow to see what sort of results I could achieve.

–

 

(By the way, I simply could not have done this without BuildHub!)

 

Hope that's helpful. Of course, it is only one personal view and, as you may have gathered, I am somewhat unusual in my motivations for building. Others, and there are many here who have much greater experience than I, may be able to provide insights that align more closely to your own personal circumstances.

Edited February 22, 2021 by Dreadnaught

[Phaedrus]

5 hours ago, Dreadnaught said:

Hope that's helpful.

Yes, many thanks for sharing your criteria and thought process.