What's the right build route for us?

[Catlovers]

Hi everyone,  

 

We are building a brand new indoor boarding cattery, on the site of a former stable block.  It's an L-shaped building, single storey, 140m2, with corridor down each side giving access to 12 cat rooms, a kitchen, and reception area.  We've had quotes from 3 main contractors but they are all over our budget of £100k.  They all seem to feel the cheapest way to build is timber frame constructed on site, tanalised timber cladding externally (like a shed / stable block) insulated profiled sheet metal roof, internal stud walls for cat room partitions, then insulation, plasterboard, 2mm upvc hygiene cladding (all cat room surfaces must be plastic clad for cleanability).  Electric combi boiler (no gas here), wet underfloor heating, commercial vinyl flooring as used in hospitals.  Non opening upvc windows, and a ventilation system.  Building regs do apply because of the kitchen and reception area.  

 

We are stuck on alternatives to the main contractor build route.  If we use subcontactors directly I am worried about making sure the design works so we have a functional building at the end (eg what if we end up with a condensation problem, or fiddly gaps filled with sealant that won't withstand regular steam cleaning?).  I've got a quote from a stable manufacturer (they do barns, garages and garden offices too), for a barn style shell with timber cladding and metal roof, installed, for £30k, and a quote from a modular upvc cat pen supplier to fit out the inside with cat pens for £33k.  But then I still need to have groundworks, external walls insulated, plasterboarded, hygiene panelled, electrics, plumbing and underfloor heating, ventilation system, external windows and doors, tarmac planings drive, etc.  I just don't know where to start with finding tradespeople to do these things and making sure that they all work together so that the building functions well.  The architect who drew our plans for planning permission is no help, he has never built a cattery before and has no idea what the requirements are.  

 

Anyone have any advice?

 

[Ferdinand]

I have no idea for the cost per sqm of these, but alternatives might be SiPs (talk to people who supply garden offices as self-assembly kits) or Block with external insulation, which would reduce your internal-finishes costs.

 

There may be relevant thoughts on this thread:

 

Can you buy your cat rooms as offsite-constructed cubicles for a competitive cost, delivered whole on a lorry? Have a look at companies that make student bedrooms or modular bathrooms for hotels or hostels.

 

I assume that you have consulted with other catteries as to how they did it? Anything on cat forums?

 

I am interested that catteries do not require a room with water supply etc separate from the kitchen, or an isolation facility. 

 

The difference between contractors and self-management is a risk-cost sliding scale. You have to decide where you fit on that.

 

For some ideas (a lot of work for you) check out the blogs of @Crofter 

 

& @Triassic (the cabin part)

 

Ferdinand

 

Edited November 6, 2018 by Ferdinand

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, Catlovers said:

[...]

I just don't know where to start with

[...]

 

The simple answer is   somewhere.  The most important thing is to have a clear end in mind and stick to it.

 

It really doesn't matter where somewhere is. Choose one of the millions available to you  and think about it's dependencies.  Follow each one of those dependencies to the bitter end.

 

You'll find there are thirty or so things that you need to be thinking about in any month, of which 10 are important and 5 both important and urgent.

Lists and lists of lists are helpful.

If you need to share those lists, consider some of the free list apps that  abound on the Internet, we use Google Keep. But paper and a whiteboard are just as good, if not better in some ways.

 

The most difficult thing to judge  is how to penetrate the appropriate help network in a way that those network members approve.  Make no mistake: trades people act and communicate exactly as a more traditional elite. They are harder to talk to than the average mortgage account manager.  Harder to reach than your MP. 

Banging on a contractors office door (because they don't answer the phone) may be exactly what's needed to break the log jam  but  a turn-off for others.

Find out which pubs they use. Listen.

 

Welcome to sleeplessness. Welcome to networking. Welcome to compromise. Welcome to a lifetime's reading.

 

 

[Russell griffiths]

My thoughts would be I would avoid a timber frame building at all costs, I guarantee that no matter how well you seal your hygiene layer if you steam clean it regularly you will get water Ingres into your main structure, 

i would look at a galvanised steel frame, portal building, insulated sheet roof, timber clad on the outside but plastic coated internal wall panels, epoxy floor covering 

you could have all the pens in flat pack form so you can alter the layout later on if needs be. 

My wife wanted to open a high spec cattery, so I have already put a bit of thought into this. 

 

I would give a timberframe building 10 years before it looks very tired.