Self-Build Story

There are two things that almost always emerge from any self-build or renovation story. One has an unav oid ably negative effect on the progress and the other — completely the opposite!

In January and February of 2009, the weather took a turn for the worse as temperatures plummeted to a record low. With the sand and water supply frozen solid, the bricklayers found their festive break extended by two weeks.

As ever, main contractor Jim Evans (Arbour Developments: 07715 379793) remained positive, using this period to spring clean and prepare the site in readiness for the next stage of the build. Even the heaviest snowfall in 18 years failed to deter the team as they ploughed on through regardless. However, the enforced delay left a dent in our budget — how unfortunate that the first real problem on site should be one completely out of our control.

But on the first day of March, a week later than expected, we had a new arrival — our daughter, Lily Catrin. It somehow seemed appropriate that James’s baby sister should chose St David’s Day to make her appearance, and her arrival sparked new life into the build. Until the new house was complete, Lily would have to share a room with Yvonne and I and so it was now even more imperative to get the house completed ahead of schedule. Thankfully spring arrived in tandem with Lily and the driest March in years brought the bricklayers’ (Martin Wild & Nick Irving – WI Builders: 07921 688500) time on site to an end. The three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor were completed, then to speed things up, a crane (Bob Francis Crane Hire: 01745 591753) was brought in to assist with lifting the steel and laying the block and beam floor. The decision proved to be the right one as the floor, which would normally have taken anything up to a week, was laid inside a day!

ABOVE: Bricklayer Martin checks the level on the upper storey of the house — which will enjoy spectacular views. BELOW: Getting a crane in on site to lift the steels and beams for the floor structure into place did a week’s work (which would have cost £3,000 in labour) in one day. It cost £480, including a driver.

The guest bedroom, en suite bathroom and garden room quickly followed and the house seemed to go up as quick as the scaffolding. As Jim and the lads picked up the pace on site, organising the trades needed to make the building watertight became a priority. We had elected to go for a zinc roof above the top floor bedroom but with so many complicated flat roofs and terrace areas to seal, choosing the right system was going to prove to be the toughest decision to date.

Before that, it was essential to get my window order in as lead times are normally anything from eight to 12 weeks and, invariably, it is the late arrival of windows that cause the majority of delays on self-builds.

Having taken the decision to visit a number of self-build shows in 2008, including the Homebuilding & Renovating Show, we had asked three of the most high-profile companies – I-D Systems, Velfac and Franklyn Windows – to quote for supplying the windows. With the first quote coming in at a staggering £56,000, I decided to play the waiting game and as each quote came in, I began chipping away at the price. It was this approach which eventually paid off when Danish manufacturer Protec (protecwindows.com) threw their hat into the ring after popping in to visit my architect. They agreed to undercut their rivals by £5,000 and offered to supply the whole window package for just over £25,000!

With the windows ordered, it was time to start concentrating on external finishes and, in particular, the stone cladding. With expensive Welsh slate and limestone quarries on our doorstep, either of these would have been the obvious choice but we chose to go slightly further afield for our first sample — Scotland, to be precise. We wanted to give the walls the appearance of being built like a dry stone wall and I had seen a company (denfindstone.co.uk) on a website advertising guillotined stone which looked perfect for the job. My request for a sample proved to be no trouble and they duly delivered half a metre. What I hadn’t banked on was the small bag being delivered on an articulated flatbed lorry — alongside a 1960s fire engine which was being dropped off later in the day in Anglesey. The sight of this huge wagon trying to make its way down a small winding country lane proved to be one of the lighter moments during a stressful month.

NEXT MONTH: We get started on the roof...