Beechgate Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Not as exciting as when we completed on our plot but it still feels good! He was one of the more expensive options we shortlisted but we got on very well, met current clients who were very happy with him, and we reviewed some of his previous Design & Access statements etc. which we thought were good quality. Will probably create a thread to share floorplans etc. in due course to benefit from the experience of other BH'ers. Haven't yet figured out how but I'm half tempted to start tracking the process through blog posts, even if it's just for us to look back on (hopefully fondly) in a years to come! Also a massive thanks to @ETC who has offered some great support and advice to help us get to this point. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Congratulations. It's always interesting looking back at these stages. I used to post progress photos on Facebook for relatives and often get a surprise when I see them pop up in Facebook memories alerts. I had one today as we started ground works 3 years ago to the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 congratulations. one thing we learnt after appointing an architect is that they never work as fast as you want them too! 😂 start a blog! it's a great way to track your progress and a source to refer back to. it's also great to see how far you've actually come when things start to get on top of you and getting you down when you feel things aren't progressing. i don't regret starting our blog. also, even if for personal use only, take loads of photos and also timelapse video footage. you'll forget so much as you go through your journey it's great to look back occasionally to remind you of what you've achieved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Let us know how long it is before you want to kill him, her, them. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 19 minutes ago, Thorfun said: take loads of photos and also timelapse video footage Also keep a diary. An A4 page a day one. 1. Very interesting to look back on. 2. Keeps all notes and contacts to hand. 3. Conclusive evidence when your suppliers deny dates, agreements etc. 4 weather and conditions and who was on site until when. 5. In the unfortunate event of any problems you will have this as confirmation. 6. You will forget some problems that have been overcome. This will remind you how well you did. Start it now, summarising the verbal agreements with the architect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechgate Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 2 hours ago, Thorfun said: congratulations. one thing we learnt after appointing an architect is that they never work as fast as you want them too! 😂 start a blog! it's a great way to track your progress and a source to refer back to. it's also great to see how far you've actually come when things start to get on top of you and getting you down when you feel things aren't progressing. i don't regret starting our blog. also, even if for personal use only, take loads of photos and also timelapse video footage. you'll forget so much as you go through your journey it's great to look back occasionally to remind you of what you've achieved. My partner (SWMBO now thanks to this forum) is a photo fiend, so we should be well covered here. Good advice though. Can't see how to start a blog on here... can you point me in the right direction? 1 hour ago, saveasteading said: Also keep a diary. An A4 page a day one. 1. Very interesting to look back on. 2. Keeps all notes and contacts to hand. 3. Conclusive evidence when your suppliers deny dates, agreements etc. 4 weather and conditions and who was on site until when. 5. In the unfortunate event of any problems you will have this as confirmation. 6. You will forget some problems that have been overcome. This will remind you how well you did. Start it now, summarising the verbal agreements with the architect. Good idea. Will do it digitally and add to my rapidly expanding project google drive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 22 minutes ago, Beechgate said: Can't see how to start a blog on here... can you point me in the right direction? I certainly can! as per the site guidelines https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/guidelines/ Starting a Blog Many members choose to record their project by using the forum’s blog facility. A blog is a great way of recording your progress and sharing it with others. The blog functionality can be enabled via a request using the Contact Us link at the bottom of the forum. Once the functionality has been enabled you will have the ability to ‘Create Blog’ from within your user profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechgate Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 Thanks @Thorfun I'll soon be a blogger! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETC Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 9 hours ago, Beechgate said: Not as exciting as when we completed on our plot but it still feels good! He was one of the more expensive options we shortlisted but we got on very well, met current clients who were very happy with him, and we reviewed some of his previous Design & Access statements etc. which we thought were good quality. Will probably create a thread to share floorplans etc. in due course to benefit from the experience of other BH'ers. Haven't yet figured out how but I'm half tempted to start tracking the process through blog posts, even if it's just for us to look back on (hopefully fondly) in a years to come! Also a massive thanks to @ETC who has offered some great support and advice to help us get to this point. Happy to have helped out in some small way. Looking forward to seeing what your architect produces. Care to share his/her work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechgate Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 16 hours ago, ETC said: Happy to have helped out in some small way. Looking forward to seeing what your architect produces. Care to share his/her work? Firm is called Rider Stirland, there are some examples on their website https://www.riderstirland.com/pippins. They also shared some examples of their current projects (approved & in build etc.) that aren't shown online but I don't want to share on here without the owners permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 21 hours ago, saveasteading said: Also keep a diary. An A4 page a day one..... It takes a special kind of person to keep on keeping one. Four a couple of years, I was so deeply knackered at the end opf tghe working day. And now I really wish I had made the time 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 36 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said: It takes a special kind of person to keep on keeping one. Four a couple of years, I was so deeply knackered at the end opf tghe working day. And now I really wish I had made the time my wife keeps one of these. basically a short sentence summing up each day. https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Line-Day-Memories-Rainbow/dp/B09MYXS2Z6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=line+a+day+diary+5+year&qid=1677941670&sprefix=a+line+a+day+di%2Caps%2C202&sr=8-3 might be manageable for a self builder to write a line of a quick summary at the end of each day rather than worrying about keeping a full diary as that could take up a lot of time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETC Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 3 hours ago, Beechgate said: Firm is called Rider Stirland, there are some examples on their website https://www.riderstirland.com/pippins. They also shared some examples of their current projects (approved & in build etc.) that aren't shown online but I don't want to share on here without the owners permission. Their work looks great. Look forward to seeing what they come up with. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 10 hours ago, ToughButterCup said: special kind of person to keep on keeping one. It is a project notebook. Anything and everything can go in it. It doesn't need sentiments or sentences. Rain, 2 joiners til 4.00. Order nails tomorrow. Of course a younger person might prefer to use some electronic type thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johncraig8229 Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Excited to keep up with it. It is definitely worth keeping track weekly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 On 05/03/2023 at 01:49, saveasteading said: Rain, 2 joiners til 4.00. Order nails tomorrow And, sorry to sound negative, if there is any dispute, then your diary is an important reminder of what was going on and evidence if it gets heavy. I asked a lawyer why someone couldn't fiddle a backdated note. He explained that it is surprisingly easy to prove, and the result is jail. We worked all day: you left at 3. We made it work; no that was me. A good diary can be worth thousands. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvin Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 I have a page a day diary day book which I religiously fill in. It’s a habit from my work life. As above though it’s only a few lines. I also keep a more detailed action log in my planning spreadsheet. You make a lot of decisions building a house (over 2000 apparently) so it’s good to keep track. It’s already helped me with a difficulty we had during the design phase and some confusion with the architect. I told them at the start i write everything down. They never seemed to write anything down. When we had a disagreement about what was said or agreed on a call I read back to them what I wrote in my day book and they backed down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechgate Posted March 9, 2023 Author Share Posted March 9, 2023 Diary has been ordered and is arriving today. Had a chat with the architect this morning so I’ll have my first entry ready to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 59 minutes ago, Beechgate said: my first entry ready to go! Great. When there is nothing to record, still say something. Could be, 'nobody on site today as prev agreed'. Otherwise you forget if you forgot. Get workers full names, just the once. Thereafter it can be whatever they are called. Digger, sparks, trowel, leaky. My diaries were filled with things like ' joiner + 2' if it was the usual gang. This book doubles as your safety and incident record. Cut fingers, the lot. Nice pen ready for the first entry? Actually wouldn't it be nice to record your feelings and ambitions before it starts. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechgate Posted March 9, 2023 Author Share Posted March 9, 2023 36 minutes ago, saveasteading said: Great. When there is nothing to record, still say something. Could be, 'nobody on site today as prev agreed'. Otherwise you forget if you forgot. Get workers full names, just the once. Thereafter it can be whatever they are called. Digger, sparks, trowel, leaky. My diaries were filled with things like ' joiner + 2' if it was the usual gang. This book doubles as your safety and incident record. Cut fingers, the lot. Nice pen ready for the first entry? Actually wouldn't it be nice to record your feelings and ambitions before it starts. . Somewhere I have a nice fountain pen that was a present from my grandmother, but I'm not sure I've seen / used it in 10 years so it may end up being a BIC ballpoint I'm halfway through a blog post where I'm capturing some of that - but maybe a private version for the diary as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 4 minutes ago, Beechgate said: a BIC ballpoint Tie it down or have a mug of them next to the diary. I miss the screwfix pencils. A glut of them meant there was always one around, and nobody had to borrow yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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