Bitpipe Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 We had a milestone weekend, moving in to the (almost) completed house. Promised kids & wife that we'd be in for the return to school. Still a long list of jobs to do (including commissioning the MVHR, boiler & heating) and all the exterior finishing but interior is more or less complete. As a couple with no prior experience, we've pulled off a 400m2 passive (ish) house with basement and garage with relatively few major issues once we got started. More or less stuck to budget (although what's left is rapidly evaporating!) Couldn't have done it without all the advice and support from this forum and its predecessor - so a huge thanks to everyone who has helped one way or another. Somehow we decided to give up booze for September so will need to wait another few weeks before popping the champagne (or climbing into the bath with a bottle of red ). Currently sitting in a furniture shop just outside Copenhagen overseeing delivery of our new dining room to UK, but that's another story... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Great stuff - fantastic feeling isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 1 minute ago, jack said: Great stuff - fantastic feeling isn't it? Still a bit chaotic to be honest, lots of our stuff is still in the caravan and container but it does feel good. Really enjoying the space though, nice not to whack my shins every 2 mins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragg987 Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Great to hear - I await that event eagerly... How are you coping with hot water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Just now, Bitpipe said: Really enjoying the space though, nice not to whack my shins every 2 mins. Indeed. Moving out of our tiny, horrible, freezing, mouldy, falling-apart rental property around the corner was a superb feeling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 5 minutes ago, ragg987 said: Great to hear - I await that event eagerly... How are you coping with hot water? Water is all live so we're using one of the tank immersions on a plug top for now (during the day to maximise PV usage) and boiler should go live early next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 4 minutes ago, jack said: Indeed. Moving out of our tiny, horrible, freezing, mouldy, falling-apart rental property around the corner was a superb feeling! I was in the 'van last night getting some things - noticed that without the de-humidifier running how damp and cold it felt. Hard to believe we lasted 18 months in there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Give it a few months and you will sit down and let a big sigh out of you and then have an enormous smile when you see what you have achieved. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 1 hour ago, Bitpipe said: We had a milestone weekend, moving in to the (almost) completed house. Promised kids & wife that we'd be in for the return to school. Still a long list of jobs to do (including commissioning the MVHR, boiler & heating) and all the exterior finishing but interior is more or less complete. Interesting the different approach. I have not done a thing to the interior yet as I am still working on getting the exterior completely finished so it's totally wind and water tight and I don't need to worry about it. And I am just started on the landscaping, so soon we will have a flat (ish) piece of ground with some grass growing on it. I will admit landscaping at this stage is a little unusual but it means i will be finished with the digger and can then sell it, rather than having to keep it longer, or horror of all horrors have to hire one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeJunFan Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Happy Days, Well Done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Congrats, can only imagine that it's a great feeling! We're just having the windows installed at present, and "moving in" feels a little beyond the current horizon, hopefully it will come in to sight soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Well, Hugh, not long now before all you'll need to do on a Sunday is mow the lawn. Whatever will you do with all that spare time eh? Well done. Any thoughts on serial house building? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallingditch Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 5 hours ago, Bitpipe said: Couldn't have done it without all the advice and support from this forum and its predecessor - so a huge thanks to everyone who has helped one way or another. I am currently just approaching wind and watertight. My feelings exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stones Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Congratulations. I'm counting down the weeks until we can get into ours and say goodbye to the rental we are in... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 400m2 is pretty epic. I take it that this is quite rural? Where I am yours would be worth about £1.7 to £2.1M and cost a minimum of £550k to build if you did a lot yourself. Quite an achievement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldwidewebs Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Well done Hugh!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiehamy Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Well done! Probably another year for us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 21 minutes ago, Mr Punter said: 400m2 is pretty epic. I take it that this is quite rural? Where I am yours would be worth about £1.7 to £2.1M and cost a minimum of £550k to build if you did a lot yourself. Quite an achievement. House is approx 10m square over two floors and a room in roof. Basement adds another 100m2 and the garage another 21m2. Edge of Maidenhead so best of both worlds - rural setting in a Crossrail town, 20 mins from Heathrow and bang on the M4 & M40. Build budget is not far off but I don't think we'd quite hit that valuation - we get the local EEs round once we've completed the landscaping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 4 hours ago, recoveringacademic said: Well, Hugh, not long now before all you'll need to do on a Sunday is mow the lawn. Whatever will you do with all that spare time eh? Well done. Any thoughts on serial house building? Hmm, need to get rid of the caravan, container and get a few handfuls of grass seed first. I plan to catch up on a few tv box sets, starting with The Wire, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones - that should occupy a few evenings... Space at the bottom of the garden for another one, but not just yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 7 hours ago, ProDave said: Interesting the different approach. I have not done a thing to the interior yet as I am still working on getting the exterior completely finished so it's totally wind and water tight and I don't need to worry about it. And I am just started on the landscaping, so soon we will have a flat (ish) piece of ground with some grass growing on it. I will admit landscaping at this stage is a little unusual but it means i will be finished with the digger and can then sell it, rather than having to keep it longer, or horror of all horrors have to hire one. When I say exterior I mean the landscaping and hard surfacing, building itself is finished externally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now