Hello from Perthshire

[jaymd_123]

Evening all,

New here but I've been following this forum for over a year. 

We're currently making baby steps toward building our first self-build and still trying to leave the dreaming stages; it's all a little overwhelming. 

We plan to build a 230m2 bungalow (190m2 heated) in Perthshire. I've attached plans and renders I created using Floorplanner for anyone interested. We've spent several hundred hours over the two years redrafting our floorplan based on our findings and recommendations, and learning what is most important to us. I will admit the current flaws I can see are: the bathrooms are far apart and will create additional cost, the utility next to the office isn't ideal, no mech room (we will likely use the garage), and the kid's rooms are slightly smaller than I had hoped.

We're on a pretty lean budget for the construction, at around £1300 per m2 for the total build. I've renovated a few properties previously and will be doing some of the work myself, using friends & family to help where appropriate, and managing the project myself.

Glad to finally have taken the plunge to sign up and share the above. It makes things more real.

Next step is to find a plot and hopefully figure out a way to work out plans in (though appreciate we may have to start again!)

Cheers
J


 

Edited Tuesday at 17:38 by jaymd_123

[Pocster]

You got this . I know you have . Why ?

Because a (expletive deleted)wit like me did a self build .

[jaymd_123]

Love this haha! Cheers, Pocster.

Top 3 pieces of advice you could offer for someone in the very early stages?

[ProDave]

Any reason it is single storey?  1.5 or 1.75 storey will enable a smaller footprint building to deliver better £ per square metre.

 

Lots of things don't flow well for me on your present layout, particularly your office, utility etc.  I am not a fan of living room and kitchen together but if that is what you want and don't mind the noise of a fridge or dishwasher disturbing your relaxation.  Kitchen / diner and separate living room for me.

 

The key to our low £ / square metre cost was building slowly doing a lot of the work ourselves to save labour, and careful buying of everything.

 

One of my design criteria was minimise corridors, make as much of the square metres actual rooms not circulating spaces.

[jaymd_123]

23 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Any reason it is single storey?  1.5 or 1.75 storey will enable a smaller footprint building to deliver better £ per square metre.

 

Lots of things don't flow well for me on your present layout, particularly your office, utility etc.  I am not a fan of living room and kitchen together but if that is what you want and don't mind the noise of a fridge or dishwasher disturbing your relaxation.  Kitchen / diner and separate living room for me.

 

The key to our low £ / square metre cost was building slowly doing a lot of the work ourselves to save labour, and careful buying of everything.

 

One of my design criteria was minimise corridors, make as much of the square metres actual rooms not circulating spaces.

We wanted the vaulted living area so we stuck to a single story. I would certainly consider a 1.5 or 1.75. We didn't find a plan we fell in love with that met our requirements and was small enough to fall in budget (office, garage, kids living space, three kids bedrooms, vaulted living space, simple rectangle design, etc)

 

My wife wanted a large all-in-one living space (nostalgia from our old flat-life days) for socializing. 

I hear you on minimising corridors. We have tried to do the same here, which is why the living space is central to the building. 

Edited Tuesday at 18:17 by jaymd_123

[saveasteading]

16 minutes ago, ProDave said:

better £ per square metre.

Not necessarily. As you say later, there is the space taken by the stair and landing x 2 levels. so take that out of the useful m2 and it all changes.

It depends on a lot of other factors too. slate roof would be expensive, metal much cheaper, tiles in between.

 

To me that is an economical shape and easy to build, and everywhere is near a window. 

Plus it is totally accessible for the future......the owner ageing, visitors, future purchasers.

[ProDave]

1 minute ago, jaymd_123 said:

We wanted the vaulted living area so we stuck to a single story. I would certainly consider a 1.5 or 1.75. We didn't find a plan we fell in love with that met our requirements and was small enough to fall in budget (office, garage, kids living space, three rooms, vaulted living space, simple rectangle design, etc)

Think about vaulted living space at one end, and 1.75 storey over the rest of the downstairs and over the garage for upstairs rooms.

[nod]

 

The key to our low £ / square metre cost was building slowly doing a lot of the work ourselves to save labour, and careful buying of everything.
 

Great advise 

Fast =£££
Lots of labour that we can all do 

Buying materials There can be a massive difference in costs of exactly the same materials Suppliers have got used to us excepting that things cost more due to inflation 

Un less you are governed by planning I would consider 1.5 floors 

£1300 m2 is definitely doable if you consider all of the above 

 

To add 

Try and get a plot that is reasonably straight forward No overhead cables Flat as possible 

Reasonably near to utility Conections 

and and some means of run off for tip water and discharge from Treatment Plant 

Jeep professional fees as low as possible 

[jaymd_123]

15 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Not necessarily. As you say later, there is the space taken by the stair and landing x 2 levels. so take that out of the useful m2 and it all changes.

It depends on a lot of other factors too. slate roof would be expensive, metal much cheaper, tiles in between.

 

To me that is an economical shape and easy to build, and everywhere is near a window. 

Plus it is totally accessible for the future......the owner ageing, visitors, future purchasers.

These were all points I had considered when designing. I'm hoping we won't need to move home again after we build this, so future-proofing was in mind. I also agree with your statement on space for stairs and landings. I had designed a handful of 2 story plans (could have worked as 1.5/1.75) and I couldn't keep the footprint down due to these areas, which typically added double-digits to the footprint.

That said, I can certainly appreciate why a 1.5 or 1.75 would be desirable... Especially when land is at a premium like it is here. Maybe I need to go back to the drawing board.

[jaymd_123]

17 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Think about vaulted living space at one end, and 1.75 storey over the rest of the downstairs and over the garage for upstairs rooms.

I totally hear you. I'll grab a pen and paper and see if I can figure out something that will work within our footprint. Each room in my current plan is "essential" (or so I am told!) for this build. Room sizes are also edging on small so, as mentioned above, I may struggle to fit in the additional landings and staircase.

[jaymd_123]

15 minutes ago, nod said:

 

 

The key to our low £ / square metre cost was building slowly doing a lot of the work ourselves to save labour, and careful buying of everything.
 

Great advise 

Fast =£££
Lots of labour that we can all do 

Buying materials There can be a massive difference in costs of exactly the same materials Suppliers have got used to us excepting that things cost more due to inflation 

Un less you are governed by planning I would consider 1.5 floors 

£1300 m2 is definitely doable if you consider all of the above 

 

To add 

Try and get a plot that is reasonably straight forward No overhead cables Flat as possible 

Reasonably near to utility Conections 

and and some means of run off for tip water and discharge from Treatment Plant 

Jeep professional fees as low as possible 

Sound advice. I appreciate it.

We're on our third renovation, having completed a lot of work on previous jobs ourselves.

I've been told an architect isn't necessary and we can move forward with a combination of structural engineer and architect technician. Hopefully, this is true and will prove a fruitful shift from much of what I've read.

[Pocster]

1 hour ago, jaymd_123 said:

Love this haha! Cheers, Pocster.

Top 3 pieces of advice you could offer for someone in the very early stages?

3 pieces of advice from me ….. 🤔

Ok !

 

1) You’d be surprised at what you can do . I mean literally it’s possible to do 90% + of it yourself ( with help from forums like here )

 

2) Creative solutions can save you £1000’s ….

Every problem has multiple solutions ( in life and self builds )

 

3) Take forever doing it and have no budget . Welcome to the infinite build 

 

 

[jaymd_123]

6 minutes ago, Pocster said:

3 pieces of advice from me ….. 🤔

Ok !

 

1) You’d be surprised at what you can do . I mean literally it’s possible to do 90% + of it yourself ( with help from forums like here )

 

2) Creative solutions can save you £1000’s ….

Every problem has multiple solutions ( in life and self builds )

 

3) Take forever doing it and have no budget . Welcome to the infinite build 

 

 

 

Solid advice. I appreciate that. Hopefully number 3 isn't our outcome, but I did say I would never renovate another house, two houses ago 🤣

[mjc55]

Slightly surprised that you have spent so long designing for a plot you haven't got yet!  From our point of view the plot came first and then design to fit the plot.

 

I can't quite read the dimensions properly but it is around 10m x 23m?  Pretty wide so would require a particular shape of plot.

 

Was there a reason that you have done it this way around?

[jaymd_123]

11 minutes ago, mjc55 said:

Slightly surprised that you have spent so long designing for a plot you haven't got yet!  From our point of view the plot came first and then design to fit the plot.

 

I can't quite read the dimensions properly but it is around 10m x 23m?  Pretty wide so would require a particular shape of plot.

 

Was there a reason that you have done it this way around?

The design isn't final as such. It is more a representation of what we want and how we believe we could make it work if that makes sense. Something we could do whilst saving and looking for land. It's all part of the "dreaming" process, right? Or maybe more like keeping the dream alive whilst we got our finances together.

I had to get my better half on board and she's nearly completely visual when it comes to believing in it. There would be many ways we could redesign - this was just the first floor plan we created that ticked all the boxes, was a really simple design, and could be realistic within our budget.

It's 27x11m
 

Edited Tuesday at 20:10 by jaymd_123

[Pocster]

Garage is asking to be a sex dungeon 

[ETC]

Not a fan of the floor plan or elevations. I see the concept but I think it could be handled a bit more rationally. Sorry.

[ETC]

So much great Scottish architecture out there.

[ETC]

[jaymd_123]

6 minutes ago, Pocster said:

Garage is asking to be a sex dungeon 

I didn't include the plans for the basement...

[jaymd_123]

7 minutes ago, ETC said:

Not a fan of the floor plan or elevations. I see the concept but I think it could be handled a bit more rationally. Sorry.

No need to apologize. Happy to take on constructive, useful feedback. Any tips on how you would make things more to your taste that you feel would be worth considering?

[Pocster]

7 minutes ago, jaymd_123 said:

I didn't include the plans for the basement...

I know . That’s where my sex dungeon is 

[ETC]

There’s nothing wrong with your concept - take a look at contemporary Scottish vernacular architecture - here in Ireland the development of the home started off in a linear fashion - a central living space - much like what you have with bedrooms off the room and a long front corridor.

 

Leave it with me. I’ll sketch a few ideas.

[nod]

1 hour ago, jaymd_123 said:

Sound advice. I appreciate it.

We're on our third renovation, having completed a lot of work on previous jobs ourselves.

I've been told an architect isn't necessary and we can move forward with a combination of structural engineer and architect technician. Hopefully, this is true and will prove a fruitful shift from much of what I've read.

Definitely 

SE is a must Most will do your BC submission if required A lot cheaper than an Architect 

[ETC]

A couple of sketches I’ve done in the past.