Building Blogs

Steaming off wallpaper

Monique — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:05:49 +0000

When working on a project that’s about 450 km from where you live it’s not always going as fast as you’d like. Add to the distance a full time job, a part time job and projects in the town you live in and two teenage children and a social life, then it’s obvious that there isn’t always news about the project to write about.

Demolition is Complete

Mark Boulton — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:36:47 +0000

After a busy two weeks demolition of the old farmhouse was completed today. I cannot speak too highly of the small team from Winchcombe Reclamation – pleasant, proficient and professional. I can thoroughly recommend them if you need demolition services.

A house, a heat pump and a cuppa

Eleanor Bradford — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:46:31 +0000

It's January and the garden may look like the Somme but our steading is starting to look like a house. We had lunch in the lounge for the first time - admittedly sitting on deckchairs, in puffa jackets with a flask of hot chocolate, but the view was terrific.

The first year; don’t under-estimate the preliminaries

Mark Boulton — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:45:56 +0000

We took possession of Colemans Hill Farm near Chipping Campden in February 2011. The one acre rural site with its old farmhouse and steel grain barn is located within the boundaries of our youngest daughters farm near Chipping Campden in rolling Cotswold countryside.

Part Ten......No, it is the end in sight

McG — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:55:17 +0000

Fitting Out – Part Four

The next job on the list was the building of the soil stack and the drilling of holes in the external wall for the toilet and sink waste pipes.
After considerable research and frustration at the lack of information out there, I finally settled on Marley, as they were the only company I could find who offered all the fittings I needed in a white finish. As this soil pipe was external, a white finish was essential.

Part Nine......But is it a train coming the other way ?

McG — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:50:02 +0000

Fitting out – Part three

Looking back on all this writing, perhaps a time check is in order. We are now at 2nd October 2010.
Perhaps that gives some idea of the time it takes to do this stuff yourself and hold down a regular job at the same time. Perhaps it also gives an indication of how long it takes me to write all this…

As I mentioned way back at the start, the master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling. This is approximately four metres from the finished floor level at its apex. As also previously mentioned, plasterboarding it was a right laugh. Now I had to plaster it.

Part Eight.......The end is in sight

McG — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:44:29 +0000

Fitting Out – Part two

Now, anyone who has read the previous posts will probably be thinking,
“I thought the kitchen was finished in time for the wedding ?”
Well, technically, yes.
However, it now had to be plastered, have coving fitted, be painted, have the hob connected, have the worktops sanded and sealed, have splash backs made and fitted, have flooring laid and finishing woodwork done.

I feel your pain, Kevin McCloud

Eleanor Bradford — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:40:24 +0000

Even Kevin McCloud falls out with his architect, it seems. Having watched the first episode of 'Kevin's Grand Design' on Channel 4, I was amazed to see that the presenter of a house-building programme isn't immune to this common problem.

Apartment nr 1, Ground Floor

Monique — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:17:34 +0000

This morning I woke up in apartment nr. 1. The sun was shining in my face and the view of the hills was magnificent.

The apartment is on the ground floor and is actually just one big square space. At the time we bought it, the tenant was living there with her dog and cat (and a legion of mice), and since she had no water she apparently decided that she couldn't clean the place either.

The apartments (1)

Monique — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:03:22 +0000

So, after I had cleared the bulk of the garbage out of the house, we could take a good look around and see what we'd got ourselves into.

Introduction

SIMONB — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:51:48 +0000

The arrival of our first daughter 9 years ago initiated the search for something that we could work with to create a rather special home to meet her rather special needs. Unfortunately she is seriously disabled and requires the best part of 24 hours a day care. The prognosis and outlook back then was rather grim, she was going to be not much out of a vegetative state and spend her entire life (however long that may be) on a specialised bed being fed drugs intravenously and food via a tube into her belly.

That's life in the country!

Eleanor Bradford — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:29:37 +0000

August began with the bad news that the timbers in our roof are in a worse condition than expected and it's going to cost an extra £10k to replace them. Our builder, Steve Cox, suggested we save ourselves some money by taking the tiles off ourselves. After 8 days work, 2 soakings in the rain, countless bruises and one sore elbow, we wondered if this was actually because it's just the job everyone else hates.

An Introduction

Monique — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:39:14 +0000

For many years I have fostered the wish to build a house for myself. I was (and am) an avid fan of British series like Grand Designs and the like, which are fortunately also broadcasted in the Netherlands. In actual practice I didn’t get further than refurbishing and refurnishing this places where I lived, so I was more or less like a football fan sitting in front of the tv fantasizing about a career in the Premier League.

Part Seven.....This house is not a home

McG — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:26:45 +0000

Fitting out…and a million other jobs

So, where to start with the internal finishes ? Well, a wise man once said the beginning is usually best, so that’s what I did.
I had a wind and watertight shell. I had plasterboarded walls and ceilings. I had working electrics, heating and first fix plumbing. Plastering was next on the list. The mysterious dark art….

Now, you’re probably thinking I just got some quotes from plasterers, gave one the job and let him get on with it ?

Could do better, Energy Saving Trust

Eleanor Bradford — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:12:43 +0000

At last I have a photograph of building work. Work was due to begin two weeks ago but was stalled by torrential rain. Finally it's underway.

Local Hero

Eleanor Bradford — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:34:00 +0000

The chap giving the 'thumbs up' on the left is Brian, a force to be reckoned with. Sixty year old Brian has cut the majority of the wood our neighbours need for their wood-burning stove, for free. And our neighbours need a lot of wood because they run their entire heating system for a 4-bedroom house from this:

Oyster Catcher Stops Play

Eleanor Bradford — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 12:25:19 +0000

I know this is supposed to be a building blog.

For the last year I've been saying how much I want to preserve the wildlife around our steading. Now the wildlife is a blinking nuisance! Below is an Oyster Catcher's nest with two lovely speckled eggs.

Part Six......C

McG — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:12:11 +0000

Week thirteen

So, Monday came around and Danny was back from his holidays. He immediately sensed something was up and I imparted the weekends’ developments. He pondered for a moment.
“So……do you want us tae start takin’ it doon ?”, he said, tongue firmly in cheek and we all fell about laughing. It broke the atmosphere and we got back to concentrating on the job at hand. There was no way I was giving up now, after all the work that had gone into it so far.

Part Six......B

McG — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:08:32 +0000

Week twelve

Monday morning and I had to return to my normal job. Danny was still on holiday so only Paul, the sparky, was on site. Before I left for work, I recounted the weekends’ adventures in glorious technicolour and he nodded sagely, agreeing that it was not his favourite job either. After a brief consultation of the wiring layouts, I left him in peace to get on with it.

A victory for common sense

Eleanor Bradford — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:52:31 +0000

Week 14 – aesthetics versus practicality

Cathy B — Thu, 19 May 2011 14:20:23 +0000

Week 14 uncovered up an interesting situation: Here is a picture of our kitchen. A large window at the end of the room and French doors leading out onto a mud bath patio.

Week 13 part three - our toughest test yet

Cathy B — Wed, 18 May 2011 08:58:02 +0000

A self build project can be fraught with problems: budget, planning permission and getting the design right. Our problems are of a smaller nature: Our children are aged 11 and 9. They know what they want, they know what they like and they certainly aren't shy at letting us know what they don't like.

Week 12 - Moving on Up

Cathy B — Wed, 18 May 2011 08:41:08 +0000

We (that's the royal we) are now working off the scaffolding to take the ground floor walls up to full height. Thats a whopping 2.8 metres!

Dry Stain Dykes

Eleanor Bradford — Wed, 11 May 2011 22:45:11 +0000

'Dry stain dykes' are what they're called in this part of the world and we've decided to give it a go. Dry stone walls: how hard can it be?

We hadn't quite banked on how heavy a granite boulder is, but luckily our neighbour Jim came to the rescue (again.) He handed his metal pole to Ross while he manoevred one rock into position. Ross could hardly lift Jim's pole, let alone the rock. At least the dogs were having fun.

Annus Horriblis

Eleanor Bradford — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:13:01 +0000

What do you do with river cobbles? That's one of the nicer things we're pondering at the moment because we have lots of them. They're inside every steading and need to be back-breakingly dug out before renovation work begins. We have a stream so I might use them to cobble the stream bed (as above) or perhaps they'd be better in the courtyard like this...?

Okay, I'm calling this part Six.....A

McG — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:44:01 +0000

Week ten

Week 11 - A beginner's guide to building a wall

Cathy B — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:53:48 +0000

On 28th January, our youngest’s 9th birthday, the skies were a bit blustery but the rain, thankfully, held off. I paid a visit to site and Dick very kindly talked me through the mechanics of our brick and block wall.

First the external brick skin of the house is build to head height, i.e. as high as the brickies can reach without scaffolding, incorporating the metal ties as shown below.

Week 10 - A beginner's guide to building a wall

Cathy B — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:53:34 +0000

Week 10 Part 2 - House takes shape

Cathy B — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:59:49 +0000

Week ten heralded the time when our new build was transformed from a concrete helipad to a house. As soon had we chosen the mortar colour and pointing style, the team commenced the next phase of the build.

Anyone actually want to install a heat pump?

Eleanor Bradford — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 21:15:09 +0000

We've asked our local man-with-a-digger to enlarge the footprint of the millpond slightly. This has had the unintended consequence of giving it a phallus shape. Hopefully when it's full of water no-one will notice!