Enjoying our new home !

We been in our new house over 12 months now, and it really feels like home. It took us a while to get used to the heating and ventilation controls, but now it’s nice and cosy and so much quieter than our old house. Rather than dreading gas and electricity bills,...

Nearly There !

Sorry for the delay in our updates. We’ve been very busy moving in so, are a little behind with posting on the blog. The photos below show the build almost complete, and finishing touches going in.  With the roof tiledand our aluminium windows fitted, the render...

The View

Now the first floor screed has set, we get a good view from upstairs into our new back garden. The bricklayers have now started the workshop and potting shed.                           Our sunroom roof has been loaded out with tiles, ready for the roofers to...

More 1st Fix

We never realised just how much pipework, cable, and ducting goes into a house ! Just glad that the plumbers and electricians know, what connects to where !!        Our plant cupboard looked huge when it was built, but now it’s full of electrics, water tanks,...

Studwork & First Fix

Internally most of the walls are blockwork, but the timber stud partitions also started going in after the roof went on. The plumbers and electricians also started first fixing the services, before walls and ceiling are plasterboarded.   Building the linen...

Tiling the roof

Felting the roof and inserting rooflights was a big milestone as it mean’t we were a step closer to being weather proof. Next the chimney for our wood burning stove was built up to ridgeheight, and a metal flue liner dropped down the inside and the voids...

Roof Trusses

With the blockwork up to wall plate height, the next big delivery was our roof trusses.  To maximise the use of space within the roof space, we had specified attic trusses which provide clear space in the attic for two extra rooms.   Arriving pre-fabricated from...

Blockwork

                                                                      After our super flat (apart from the fox paw prints) screed had set, the guys came back to site after the Christmas break and blockwork quickly began to fly up. It was great to see such rapid...

Up to DPC level

                                      After the drains had been laid under the floor, they were back filled and the ground levelled. As the drains wouldn’t be accessible once the floor was finished, they had to tested and several rodding points...

Goodbye Shed !

We love our garden but it was alot of work keeping it tidy, and as soon as we gained planning permission it really became a building plot. The railings went to a neighbour and the potting shed was dismantled and moved across the road to a friends garden.   Having...

Appointing a Contractor

Excluding one high price, the other five tender returns were quite close together. We had decided to provide many of the basic building materials ourselves, so when we added these costs to the builders tender figures we knew the total construction costs. These ranged...

Building Regulations & Tender Stage

Once planning permission had been granted, the next stage was to prepare the more detailed drawings and specification document that would be submitted for building regulations approval and gaining prices from contractors. Initially we were surprised at the level of...

Planning Stage

After informal discussions with Rushcliffe Borough Council the principle of a house on the site was considered acceptable by the planning department, although we had to submit a flood risk assessment to the Environment Agency. This did seem rather unreasonable, since...

Feasibility & Design Stage

Our brief to the Architects was the first stage, and when we really had to think about what we actually wanted/needed. When you are used to a spacious detached house in a double plot, it’s quite difficult to compromise and downsize. Fewer smaller rooms will mean much...

Introduction

After living in a large Victorian house for 20 years, we felt it was time to downsize into a more energy efficient home requiring as little maintenance as possible. Although a lovely property with many original features, the open fireplaces, solid brick walls and...