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Hello all fellow self builders!


DreamHouseDreamer

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Hello everyone

 

[and as is traditional, I stand up]

 

My name is DreamHouseDreamer and I'm a would be self builder!

 

[sits down, embarrassed]

 

Now that I've got that off my chest, I would like to say I'm a recent but avid lurker of this forum (who knew it existed?!  don't answer that one, I found you!) who has taken the plunge to sign up.

 

Where do I start to introduce myself?

 

Although living in my dream house is still a dream, and of course the dream will never quite be realised owing to far too many reasons you will all probably be far too familiar with, there does now seem every possibility that by the end of 2019 or early 2020 we will actually be living in a brand new house that is as close as is realistically possible. 

 

I now feel that I won't be wasting your time when I start my round of endless questions, hence choosing now to sign up and participate.

 

Why now?  Well, 10 days ago we received a cyber letter which had a magic word in it.  That word was 'approved'!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yay, our best possible Christmas present.  Up till then, or at least for the last nearly 3 years all we had to show for our dream was an ever growing hole (money hole, that is, for now) and a growing suspicion that we had actually entered some other world where you engaged and commission one consultant or specialist after another to conduct a survey, produce a report, send you irrelevant lists, tell you things you'd already figured out but needed it on official letterhead (virtual or otherwise) or hold your hand about some new hurdle that you never new existed.  All in the vain hope that you would one day gain planning permission to build the realistic version of the dream.

 

Of course, we also had a little bit of luck.  Without that we would not be where we find ourselves.

 

I think I'll stop there.  The gestation period has actually been over 22 years during which time giving birth to a mastodon would have happened sooner .........

 

Dreamer

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Welcome to the forum! When you're half way through the project, try to remember that incredible sense of enthusiasm that you have right now- you will need it by the sack load to get through this :)

 

So go on then... we need the juicy details... whereabouts are you, what are you hoping to build, and how far along have you got so far?

 

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Welcome

[ embarrassed at my rudeness, I also stand up]

My name is  ......  (not Michael Cane) Ian

[I blush at the stupidity of the joke and sit down again]

 

One thing you are not is a WouldBe self builder. You are a self builder.  You have your first badge: Lurker. Who in their right minds when about to invest (say) £200,000 doesn't lurk a bit first? 

So, sew the Lurker  badge on your dungarees and work towards your next one: Architect Botherer. Lots of us have that one.

 

22 years waiting, eh?  Debbie bought our plot in 1985 for £1000. Canny lass .....

 

 

 

 

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OK, so I've just found the thread I started 5 days ago.  Thank you to those of you who have kindly commented, it is appreciated.

 

I will clearly need to figure out how this forum really works.  I saw an option to get notified of replies, switched it to a green tick and assumed (erroneously) that I'd get email alerts when anybody bothered to add to the thread.  Seems that's not the case, or I'm missing something?  Also, while I found my way back to the website easily enough, it took me a while to find my own thread as it had dropped down the list. 

 

Is there somewhere were I can ask basic questions about how this particular forum works, what the symbols (stars, blobs and similar), number count and much else means, the local 'netiquette' and how to not upset all of you kind and welcoming people?  Or is there an admin/tips area?  After all, I'm here to pick your brains and may also need some cheer when things are not going to plan.  I'm in no position yet to pay anything whatsoever forward.  While I'm a self build newbie and also newly signed up to this particular forum, I am an active participant and contributor to other web based specific interest forums, but each is very different.

 

Meanwhile, I notice that some of you have asked questions about my project and would like some further details.  I will return later with some basic background info and details, assuming this is the correct place to post all this stuff. 

 

DHDreamer

 

 

Edited by DreamHouseDreamer
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I’m not sure there is a place that goes into all of the things you have asked about but there is a sub forum here with a few topics covering similar things. 

 

https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/forum/10-forum-news-and-site-issues/

 

In terms of follow, depending on what browser you are using you should see a ‘follow’ option somewhere. Clicking it shows this (in Safari)

 

AC1C2051-587A-4635-A1F9-00E2C1D49E97.thumb.jpeg.6f37581e57f6284cebdac16c75a7c214.jpeg

 

I can see that you follow this thread but the default (as above) is to see the notification when you visit the site and not receive an email. You can change that however by selecting one of the email options. And if you click on ‘change how the notification is sent’ you can change the default for your account. 

 

The ‘activity’ information can take you to new content, unread content, content you started or whatever. 

 

The ‘bell’ at the top should show various alerts that should also take you to relevant posts. 

 

53E67429-E919-44B4-B46A-994E5A3D5D63.thumb.png.ab09069202ad5be24605493f677f6e0d.png

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Thank you TheMitchells for your comments and included links.  While not quite what I had in mind right now, that list of trade TLAs and accronyms will be super useful.  When lurking and searching previously, I'd found some threads with nothing by abbreviations and it was a foreign language to me.  I've already had to get my head round ASHP, MVHR and SIPs, but there are hundreds and thousands that will surely come my way!  And I just emailed our planning consultant about the CIL exemption (fingers crossed).

 

newhome - thank you, I think that's just what I was looking for.  The bell I had just about figured out but there's more to learn as I navigate my way around this website.  While I use my PC all the time for research and email, I'm not exactly a techie - whether in relation to IT or the building trade!  I noticed, for example, that I have a post count.  But under the word members I have a grey blob with a zero where most of you have a different number count, and that's a puzzle, for example. 

 

Now to work out how to extract some data from technical drawings and other plans to show you where the entire doc is not my intellectual property to share, or where to do so would compromise my privacy.

 

I have a very long 'to do list' for the next week or so.  No. 1 on the list is to learn how to use the action camera we bought in order to record the whole gory process, and I need to get going on that so I have a record of the whole site as it currently looks before any ground worker sets foot.  Some trees and a bit of a hedge have already gone, and that's not been recorded so we're already behind the curve.  It was one of MrDHD's tasks, but he failed and put the camera back in the box after declaring it too hard to figure out. 

 

You can see we are seriously technically challenged.  It's as well we plan to remain armchair builders.

 

DHDreamer

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11 minutes ago, DreamHouseDreamer said:

 I noticed, for example, that I have a post count.  But under the word members I have a grey blob with a zero where most of you have a different number count, and that's a puzzle, for example.

 

You should now see that the number has gone from zero to one, as I "liked" your post.  That number is intended to indicate the reputation of members, very roughly, by indicating how many times someone has reacted to a post.  Not sure that it's a very good guide, though, as a fair few reactions will from laughing at jokes.

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Oooh, there was a question I had:

 

From both the type of responses, your post count and the threads each of you chooses to respond to, I have gained something of a vague picture of where a few of you are with your build.  Many of you seem to be in the throes of the only project you will ever do, but others are post build just paying it back and some are serial self builders with clearly a wealth of knowledge.  Other contributors seem to be in the trade, either working on somebody else's project or have specialist knowledge like kitchen construction/design. 

 

Is there somewhere that I can find that info?  Do I just need to keep reading or what?  Also, there seems to be a message facility.  I've no need for now, but can see that that could be a useful feature to alert somebody of a question I could do with an answer to.

 

Sorry for all this waffle, I'm still figuring my way round here, ready for the 'launch' of some activity next week.

 

DHDreamer

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You're pretty much spot on, in that there are a real mix of people here.  The only golden rule really is that we don't allow people to advertise on here, so those who work in the building industry and post here have agreed not to tout for business. 

 

I don't think there's an easy way to find out who's done what, unless they have added information to their profile.  Checking everyone's profile would be a bit tedious, though.  The build and renovation blogs section here is a useful guide as to who is doing what, though, plus some of us have blogs hosted elsewhere, perhaps with links to them in their signature, although mine is now a bit out of date, as we've completed our build, moved in and there's not been much to write about recently.

 

The Private Message (PM) facility allows you to directly contact a member, if you need to have a private conversation.  My personal view is that it's better to ask questions on the forum, rather than by PM if you can, as that way you're likely to get a better range of answers.  PMs are useful if you want to arrange to meet someone, or have a look at someone else's build, something that a fair few of us have done over the years.

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There is a bit of a varied membership here as you note. There is nothing that really tells you who someone is really unless they have entered some information in the 'about me' section of their profile. Here is one example (sorry @Ed Davies to pick on yours but you have completed this info :)). 

 

https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/profile/1604-ed-davies/


I didn't know one member from another when I joined 11 months ago but over time you will start to get to grips with who someone is. Just takes a bit of time. 


And @DreamHouseDreamer if you type an @ sign and then start typing the person's username that you want to reference a list of members should pop up that becomes more refined as you type. When you see the one you want to reference click on it and it should put a link in as per your own username here @DreamHouseDreamer. This will send the person you have referenced an alert so that they know that they have been mentioned and may need to respond to a question or whatever. 

 

And as @JSHarris has demonstrated if you want to like someone's post, thank them, or even laugh at their jokes click the heart symbol and that will add to their 'reputation' score. Not that it means a lot in the great scheme of things however, but it's nice if people know that their posts have been helpful to someone. 

 

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@JSHarris your 'about me' section seems to have got messed up as this is what I see? O.o

About Me

<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_05/573eec7b190c1_Croppedpictureforavatar-1.jpg.ddce6c04bada76e7f9084efdd5664dff.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="11" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_05/573eec7b3c539_Croppedpictureforavatar-1.thumb.jpg.82bf4596124b669fa8c295c37295ec21.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt="Cropped picture for avatar - 1.jpg"></a></p>
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23 minutes ago, newhome said:

@JSHarris your 'about me' section seems to have got messed up as this is what I see? O.o

About Me

<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_05/573eec7b190c1_Croppedpictureforavatar-1.jpg.ddce6c04bada76e7f9084efdd5664dff.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="11" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_05/573eec7b3c539_Croppedpictureforavatar-1.thumb.jpg.82bf4596124b669fa8c295c37295ec21.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt="Cropped picture for avatar - 1.jpg"></a></p>

 

Thanks, not sure what on earth happened there.  I haven't checked my profile for ages, so thanks for spotting that it had somehow got messed up.  I've added a bit of up to date text in there now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Everybody

 

Sorry I've not responded, been busy!  I promise I will get back and provide more info about our project, but sadly it's not really a priority, and not being a techie, I may need to learn how to add documents, document extracts, photos, etc - something I've always struggled with.  The 'chatting' alone I can do pretty well, lol.

 

More pressing for now is to go searching this forum for technical and other help, or ask specific questions.  All my searches on a specific topic or 2 draw a blank, but that's probably my search skills failing, not that the topic has never been discussed.

 

DHDreamer

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OMG, this forum is awesome.  Now that we are trying to get to grips with the nitty gritty I am learning so much.  Every time I pop into the forum I have a quick peek at the topics that have had recent comment - that list down the right side when you click browse - and almost every topic has a learning point for me. 

 

My problem now is one of info overload and getting my wee brain to retain all of this.  Even keeping copious notes with relevant headings is not easy because many things have overlap in different areas. 

 

While we are both still super excited about our self build, I get increasingly daunted by it all.

 

DHDreamer

 

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8 hours ago, DreamHouseDreamer said:

OMG, this forum is awesome.  Now that we are trying to get to grips with the nitty gritty I am learning so much.  Every time I pop into the forum I have a quick peek at the topics that have had recent comment - that list down the right side when you click browse - and almost every topic has a learning point for me. 

 

My problem now is one of info overload and getting my wee brain to retain all of this.  Even keeping copious notes with relevant headings is not easy because many things have overlap in different areas. 

 

While we are both still super excited about our self build, I get increasingly daunted by it all.

 

DHDreamer

 

 

Lots to take in. I would recommend you purchase this book:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Housebuilders-Bible-12-best-selling-building/dp/1911346059

 

I did after joining the forum.  It gives a basic understanding of all the areas of self building. 

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8 hours ago, DreamHouseDreamer said:

While we are both still super excited about our self build, I get increasingly daunted by it all.

 

 

Every time we feel like things are relatively under control and find half an hour to update the blog or watch a bit of telly with the kids,  something happens to remind us that are lives are now our build, probably for at least another 9 months. Daunted is a semi permanent state but it’s OK as there is so much support on this forum to help you through it.  Stay super excited. It is exciting ?. And remember that there will be set backs and frustrations but you will bounce back and you will get through it, with everyone on this forum cheering you on.  Congrats on the planning permission. Now what are you building? Plans, images?

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I promised to get back to you all with the requested details.

 

Sorry but better photos have to wait.  Still trying to learn to use the action camera and the photos we have of the site were chosen not to show it's best features so much as trying and support our planning app - rather different approaches!  ?

 

However, here's a stab at uploading the redacted version owing to fussy architect of the floor plans and elevations.  Location is SE England, south of the Thames.   Photos will be in next message.

 

DHDreamer

 

001.thumb.jpg.d25bbf578f22008d0f76375e2551e510.jpg

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This is the only halfway decent photo I can find of the site at all.  All the photos I can find are to prove the site is not overlooked, so look away from, rather than towards the site.  This photo is taken from the south of the site, the stable building on the right of the photo is the end of the garden and once the stables are knocked down the new house will be sited behind it on the south facing lawn.  The photo is taken from the bottom of a field which is part of the view the new house will enjoy. 

 

Now I realise we don't have any photos of the site, I will take some with my phone, as I want some anyway - and I can manage that!

 

DHDreamer

 

2018-10-05_house_photos_003.JPG

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