An Oak Framed Self Build in Oxfordshire

Graham and Annie Boon had already renovated and extended two houses in their married life, but for years dreamed of building their own home. The opportunity at last presented itself in 2002, when a quarter-acre plot came on the market in the village where they had lived for nearly 30 years. The plot was adjacent to their existing home and they were able to add a further quarter-acre to it by separating off part of their existing garden — ensuring it was big enough to take the large house they had always wanted.

Instead of extending their existing house, which they had been contemplating, Graham sold his agricultural advisory business and prepared to devote himself six and a half days a week to his very first self-build. Annie, in the meantime, continued to work as an academic in Oxford part time.

For some years, the couple had been in little doubt that any self-build they would undertake would be of oak frame. "Oak gives instant age and character, and a new oak framed house like this has all the advantages of modern insulation and comfort, and none of the disadvantages of old oak framed houses," Graham says. "Annie loves it, and above all - for me - there is the nostalgia factor. I was brought up in a 17th century oak farmhouse in Sussex on my parents' farm."

The Boons made some initial enquiries and found out that a house of this type would raise no objections from the planners in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, where they live. Planning, in fact, proved so simple that they did not even need to employ an architect. Border Oak Design and Construction, whom they commissioned to build the oak frame, prepared the detailed drawings, which were then submitted by Annie, a trained town planner.

So after many years of waiting, all started extremely smoothly, especially because the couple managed to sell their old house and obtain a nearby rental for two years. In addition, having lived in the area for so many years, Graham and Annie had their roots firmly embedded and could easily find reliable local tradespeople to work on the project.

"We aimed at employing mainly individual tradespeople on a casual, and sometimes weekend, basis," Graham says. "This both helped to keep prices down, and as far as possible meant our labour force was going to turn up and not be diverted to other jobs." This is one of Graham and Annie's main pieces of advice, as generally they were able to get the relevant labour at the time they wanted it.

Graham and Annie were well pleased with the Border Oak quality and service. "It took two highly skilled erectors with a large high-load machine with a telescopic arm three weeks to erect the 22 tonnes of oak posts and beams," Graham says.

He continues: "We had been H&R subscribers for many years and had attended a number of shows, so we realised that Border Oak deliver a quality product. Above all, we found them adaptable. We were able to pick and choose and put together parts of the Border Oak designs that we liked. The result is not a standard house, but one built to suit us. And now we are in, it is not throwing up too many shakes, and is maturing beautifully." The Boons also used Border Oak to supply the roof structure and windows.

"In addition, Border Oak were happy for us to use a lot of our own materials," Graham says. "For example, the staircase and all the linings round the Romanian-sourced oak doors are made from Oxfordshire oak I bought and had planked 20 years ago. I also used local ash I purchased many years ago for the bookshelves in the sitting room."

It has all resulted in a house that is exactly what the Boons wanted - and considering the quality of the build, at a very reasonable £950/m².

The features the couple are particularly enthusiastic about, aside from the staircase, are the magnificent full-beamed drawing room, the jettied front and rear on the east side of the house, the galleried landing, and the full-height windows at the rear and the rear southfacing ‘sun space'.

"We find the house extremely warm and well insulated and have had no problems with the underfloor heating, about which we were a little concerned initially," Graham says. It is encased in a screed beneath the oak boarding and stone and terracotta tiles flooring on the ground floor, and beneath chipboard on the carpeted first floor.

Apart from managing the project themselves and putting in a massive amount of time, they saved money in a number of ways. "For sourcing, H&R was vital for contacts," says Graham. "We also managed to obtain discounts of 30 per cent and above on many of the fixtures and fittings by dealing direct with suppliers and opening accounts with builders' merchants.

"We did a huge amount of the labour ourselves, and instead of using oak throughout, which I reckon adds about 25 per cent to the total bill, we saved money by using brick and block construction in the larder, study, and utility room on the west side.

"We also had one key man - Geoff Boswell. We could not have done it without him and he nearly always came just when we wanted him. He also worked at a tremendous pace."

Graham admits that acting as a general labourer, often digging parts of footings that a digger could not reach, taxed him to the limit physically. "It was exhausting, at times reducing me to a wreck. The main part of the build was 18 months of continual grind, and there was no let up," he recalls. "Physically it was far harder than I had anticipated. I lost a stone in weight over two years and much of my fat turned to muscle. Looking back I think I overestimated my capabilities and underestimated the time it would all take!

"Apart from that I did most of the internal carpentry. This included all the studding and partitioning, laying all the joists and floors - the oak drawing room floor was particularly challenging - and also making all the door linings and hanging the doors."

In this way the Boons have achieved the house they wanted - or, as Graham puts it, "Ninety-five per cent of the house we wanted." The one disappointment has been the large open fire in the drawing room, which after one winter they had to abandon in favour of an enclosed stove.

"It just smoked too often. We tried a number of ways of reducing the smoke, but failed," Graham explains. We were given a detailed chimney design with two flues by Border Oak that we thought would work, but it didn't. It is a matter of regret because it was very difficult to build, as three large register plates were incorporated in the chimney.

"On the whole, we found Border Oak to be very good - and very willing to work out and explore what we really wanted, and we haven't complained because, after all, it was us that built the chimney. In the future we may have another go at making an open fire work, but my advice to anyone wanting a large open fire is to really seek out expert advice at the design stage and definitely don't start building unless you are satisfied with the plans. As it is, I fear that to alter our flues in order to make an open fire work would be a huge job, and probably not worth it."

The final stage of the project is to add two further bedrooms to the three bedroom 360m2 house. The roof is built with attic trusses and Graham, who loves carpentry, is thoroughly looking forward to the task - and will be taking the work at a more leisurely pace!

Further reading:

• An Oak Frame Home on a Sloping Site
• A Three Bedroom Oak Framed Home
• The Evolution of Timber Frame