dream come true -but hard work ahead

[BTS]

well for the past 10 years have been looking for a plot of land near my home town of canterbury kent and finally have found a 2.7 acre plot with planning permission. its a daunting challenge, as i live at present 3 hundred miles away with 3 young girls, has anybody done their own self build and have any tips they could pass on, i plan to move down and do a large portion of the works myself.

[Perkins]

Yes I've done a self build, there are loads of things I would do differently next time around, too many to list here, but probably advise you to build the house for strength, make good foundations, make the rooms plenty big enough, design in a boot room/utility, use at least 4" kingspan in the roofspace. We run entirely on wood for our central heating and hot water, which saves a fortune in bills. Think about running costs. If you don't need gas central heating, bottled propane will run a 5 burner hob for 18 months at a cost of about £50 (47kg). Think about your services and how they will be routed through the house. Pipes and wires need to be hidden. I have a spreadsheet for sizing a boiler and calculating heat requirements per room depending on internal/external wall/window areas. Use a mains pressure hot water tank if poss. it removes the need for a header tank. erm what else, how big is it going to be??

[RobArb]

Is it going to be grand designs-esqu?

 

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[markieg31]

I am toyoing with the idea myself. But it would be a slow build. Ie buy a pallet of blocks as and when I can afford it so I don't end up having a wacking great mortgage.

[easy-lift guy]

BTS, congrats on your future project. Depending on the age of your daughters, make sure they are involved with the building process, simple things like pouring the concrete and leaving their names and dates so they know that they helped their Daddy with this new family project. Sweat equity can go a long way with future development of your children.

Pride of ownership can last a life time. All the best.

easy-lift guy

[face cord]

Zero energy building

 

Zero-energy building - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[difflock]

Having survived the process 15 year ago I am definately

(i) Older

(ii) Poorer

&

(iii)definately better informed.

Would I do it again for a retirement build....hmmmmm............ depends:lol:

Certainly

Go for wider doors, when we built 2'9" doors were the same price as 2'6" doors.

Believe no-one on the sales side, always ask to see examples.

Assuming a reasonable mains water supply. Go for an unvented system

Go for Solar Domestic hot water panels

Consider leaving a spare coil in the cylinder for altrn heat source input.

insulate insulate Insulate, though i think current Bld standards demand this anyway.

I would not worry about attempting to achieve Passive-haus standards, settle for a Scandavian style centrally located wood stove to heat the whole house.

DO not site an oversized stove in the room one is for "living" in!

GOOD quality double glazed windows.

No radiators or underfloor at all should then be possible? Other than towel rails.

If plumbing towel rails with radiators ensure the towel rail is plumed on the same circuit as the hot water coil. then they still work even if the radiator circuit not on.

Def boot room with shower and toilet.

Consider a study/office space somewhere handy downstairs.

Consider an integral "garage" if only for secure warm tool storage.

Try and site the dwelling on the site so as to benefit from Solar Gain/ but with shelter from the prevailing wind for the door that will be used most.

Think about the whole site/garden/future plans??

BUT

As commented above, and has been told to me by experienced builders.

One requires to tumble the first house and build the second one right for the site plus ones needs. Which can only be ascertained after one moves in.

Think about window and door placment vis-a-vis furniture???

I made quite a few lay-out mistakes, despite designing the house myself........with Senior Managment breathing over my shoulder.

Build it big but keep it plain.well that was our choice.

look up the "greenbuildingforum" and get your head fried with information over-load.

Good luck.

Edited September 21, 2012 by difflock

[BTS]

thankyou for some good points and the boss would like it to be on grand designs (but she thinks money grows on trees and we all know it does but in small amounts) but it will be a decent size on a very very tight budget.

[likeitorlumpit]

Is it a home from the heart= all eco and funky or is it a more traditional builders house if you know what I mean.

[rammer]

Nice one mate.

You could give Ste Smith a ring,I don't have his number to hand,but i'm sure Mick has it.

Good luck bud.