Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Back To Work We Go!

It was back to work for us this weekend after a long Christmas and New Year break. We had intended not to work over Christmas as we both needed a break and to do some research and planning for the next stages. The weather also meant that for a couple of weekends we were stuck due to the snow.

Today we pointed some more brickwork around the garage plinth and took delivery of the copper pipes and fittings to start the plumbing. We also decided where our raised vegetable beds are going to go and will be marking those out tomorrow. I can't wait to get growing!

In other news, we had our defects inspection for the slab and drainage a few weeks ago. A percentage of the total cost of this stage of works was retained until six months after completion of the stage, when another inspection takes place and any mistakes/problems that have crept up are either rectified, or the outstanding balance is reduced accordingly. We have had a problem with the drains, as they are set too close to the slab and we can't get bricks, and sometimes not even the backer panel for the bricks, in behind the drains and the block work. The architects are now contacting the contractor to see whether they want to come and dig up the drains, chop a bit out and reset, or they reduce their balance. Secretly hoping for a bit of both, but I think it will be one or the other!

Hitting A (not-brick-but-timber) Wall

Today we learnt that: -

1. Our block work around the garage was wrong.
2. Katie can't read a tape measure (well, not consistently anyway).
3. When it rains hard, the slab fills up with water to create our own indoor swimming pool in the sitting room (this is normal though, there is nothing wrong with the slab).
4. Hardcore is really really really hard to dig a hole in.
5. The cat over the wall is attracted to the sound of Darran's nail gun firing.

So not such a productive day really.

It didn't start that well as by 8am we found that the block work around the garage that the frame sits on ranged between 30mm and 50mm too narrow. We called the architect who came down and agreed and then we had to wait all day for a solution. We managed to build the frame but just not stand it so the time wasn't wasted but it was so frustrating. The architect called back late this afternoon and said that our Contractors had only been sent a part sectional drawing of the garage showing the block in front of the metal post, and had assumed that the 125mm blocks went all around the garage and not just in front of this post. Anyway, not wishing to get into who said what to who about the blocks, our architect came up with a solution to pack out the bit of block missing under each stud with a packer. This will work and we will be compensated by the architect for his lack of scrutiny when signing off the groundworks. All the frame is now cut and ready to stand tomorrow.

So, when Darran eventually found his carpenter's mojo again after the morning frustrations, I was set the task of measuring for the noggins (the horizontal bits between each stud that keeps them straight). I had the worst tape measure in the world that was rusty and a lot of the millimeter lines weren't there, but I persevered and diligently wrote everything down, only to find when Darran cut them that some were way out. I kept taking them back having to own up to the fact they didn't fit, and it was raining and about 5 o'clock so not helped by being at the end of a long day!

The more it rained the more the slab filled up and up so we were splashing about it in by the end of the afternoon, adding to the enjoyment of cutting bits of wood in the rain!

I was also given the job of digging two holes outside the dining room patio doors down through the hardcore to find the concrete pad to set the supporting beams on. I found it, but the hole is more conical than square, but it's a good start!

On brighter notes, we have a little black and white cat who lives over the wall and seems to be attracted to us by the sound of Darran firing his nail gun. This seems really odd as you would think that sound would be quite scary for a cat. It hasn't actually come to say hello properly yet, but it won't be long. We also have a site office, already moved a few things in, fire extinguisher, site manual, safety equipment, picnic chairs, it's also really good when it rains!

Tomorrow we're back on site and can make a noise until 1pm so will stand the garage and finish the noggins and studs in the house. We will then do some measuring on the external frames to fit ply board to. We had 75 sheets delivered today, and all need to be cut to size for Monday.

No rest for the self-builder!

The Right Wing

Today we completed the right wing of the house all bar the noggins and a couple of extra studs but we ran out of timber. We had a lot of visitors to site today so we're lucky to have finished. Our first visitor was the architect at 8am, followed by Building Control at 10am, then our foundations contractor's Site Manager stopped for a chat a couple of times throughout the day, then one of the groundworkers wanted to tell me all about his dog's trip to the vets, then the contractor's Site Director turned up and wanted to chat, and then our representative from Buildstore's Trade Card arrived at 4.30pm. So I think we did quite well really!

We're framing the two sitting room walls of the house tomorrow after the arrival of more timber and framing the garage. The weather is still on our side so we're hopeful we may even get a day off at the end of next week before we go back to 'real' work.

On our way out of the development tonight our truck got stuck down a man hole! The contractors that had been doing our foundations had damaged one of the man holes in the communal area so had replaced it tonight before they left. On our way out we heard a crack and thought Darran had hit the cottage which is one side of the access way. I got out and had a look and couldn't see anything and then there was a massive crack and the front wheel of the truck sunk and got stuck down the man hole. Oh. Now what do we do. As luck would have it, the Site Director had given Darran a card today for possible work in the future, and on it was his mobile number so we called that and he dispatched two vehicles and four men to come and replace the cover and pull us out! About half an hour later they arrived and managed to free the front tyre and pull the truck around too. They have put a temporary plate over it tonight and will come back in the morning to replace the cover.

It turned out that the (little) van that left our site today broke the first one when he ran over it, so swapped it with one on our soak away and would be back tomorrow to sort it out. Our truck is about twice the size of his van so how he thought we were going to get I don't know.

So that was fun and games at the end of a very hot day! We're warned tomorrow and have a spare piece of plywood to place over the man hole now in case it looks a bit dodgy.

A Post About A Post

Today was the first day of our two weeks off building the frame. As you'll see from the photos the contractors are still on site finishing the drainage and block work around the perimeter of the slabs. We can work along side them so it won't hold us back, progress will just be a bit slower over the first few days.

We went over to pick up the steel post on Saturday that will support the beam over the garage doors, and with the help of the contractors, managed to stand it today. Quite relieved that a digger and sling were available as well as a couple of men to help out as not sure how we would have done it otherwise. The post was about 130 kilos and I don't count as manpower for anything over about 30 kilos at the moment!

We have cut all the studs for the garage and about a quarter of the studs for the house. We will be standing the house studs tomorrow as the block work is still to be laid around the garage.

Stud Alert!

Darran went up to site today to fix some steel threaded rod studs into the supporting cross beams in the garage foundations to fix our vertical beam on to which will be holding up the garage door lintels.



They were really tricky to fit as the drill bits had trouble getting through the steel. To quote Head of Construction himself "they were a pain in the a*rse".

Buildstore Said Yes!

We finally got the OK from Buildstore yesterday morning that the letter the Council has eventually produced would be good enough for our Stage 1 drawdown. This is just as well as we have to pay our foundation contractors half the overall contract value in two weeks.

We’re in the money! Well, strictly speaking, we’re in the money for about two weeks!

We have had such a battle trying to get the right documentation together. Buildstore will only accept either full Building Regulations approval, a Building Warrant or a Notice to Commence Works. We’re currently going through building regs and a Building Warrant is something that you only get in Scotland, so this left us the Notice to Commence Works option.

So our architect wrote to the Council notifying them that work will start in 48 hours. We sent this off to Buildstore together with documentation on other matters so they could see the Council were aware of our build and what was happening.

Buildstore came back to say this wasn’t acceptable as they needed something from the Council stating the work could commence on site, understandable when you think about it. Then the fun started! Our Council don’t just write letters like that, they only write if they’re not happy about something, if everything is going as it should they’re happy just to let it carry on. We tried several other ways but Buildstore were still wanting this particular wording, it could appear in any letter, but had to state that work could commence on site.

Almost at our wits end, our architect contacted the Environmental Officer at the Council who had been out to inspect trial holes and had verbally stated that work could proceed and the foundations could continue, hence effectively signing off the pre-commencement condition (why our architect didn’t do this anyway still remains a mystery). We were confident (well, one of us was!) this would fulfil what Buildstore needed. And we were right.

Two weeks later, a few sleepless nights and a few big important count-ups of our loose change just in case, we got it and Buildstore said yes!

Phew.

During a conversation with Buildstore today they explained that the lender will now instruct an inspection of all stages prior to the next stage release being draw down. This inspection literally means someone just turning up and checking the foundations are actually there, and then the frame is up etc. They don’t interfere with anything further and will not stop a release unless you’ve been naughty and there is no evidence on site that you have built what you’ve said you’ve built. This is because some self-builders were asking a dodgy architect to sign their Certification of Work forms to say stages had been completed when they hadn’t, and then running off with the money.

I’m telling you this because I think it is very sad, and something else hard working legitimate people have to endure for the sake of the plebs of this world.

We’re looking forward to shedding blood, sweat and tears for our house (only blood to go already by the way!) and having the satisfaction and the scabs to look back on.

Foundations Update No. 2

We went and had a peek at the plot yesterday. Wow, what a difference! It looks huge!

The steel laying on the ground is the start of the foundations structure. It may not look like much from the surface, but when you consider that 1.8m of the offcuts of concrete columns shown in the third photo are stood vertically under ground and concrete has been poured into the middle of them, and then top soil has been placed over the top, they've been very busy!

In other news, the Council don't want us to use man made slate, it's got to be natural (see the £££ roll! But we did budget for the expensive stuff so that's OK. Lucky I'm so cautious and have a high risk profile!), neither did the Council like the fact we had proposed using aluminium smooth guttering, it needs to be cast (again £££ but we've accounted for that). We also have to set paviours as the driveway rather than patterned concrete. A bit of a pain, but there we are.

Hoping to order wood for the frame this week. Keep your fingers crossed the weather holds for our two weeks off at the end of June, although the plot has no shade at all at the moment so it will be so hot! Who needs two weeks in the Caribbean to get a tan when you can go building in Shropshire?!

We Have Water (but no bones)!

A quick update to say that we now have water on site! Phew, one down!

The Historic Officer came and looked in the trenches yesterday and was happy that no remains, bones or otherwise, had been found. As the plot is in the grounds of a listed building and close to the old castle site, it is classed as a site of potential archaeological interest. I would have secretly liked them to have found something, but we're not archaeologically interesting, so I suppose that is a good thing really!

The contractors were hoping to pour the concrete for the base slab yesterday, but as the weather hasn't been that good we're not sure how far they've got.

It's all happening now!

Foundations Update

Just a quick update on the foundations at the end of week one, everything seems to be progressing well.

Our architect thought there may be an issue getting a sycamore tree root out yesterday as it was partly under the old wall and the back boundary fence. We're waiting for an update on this but don't think it should be a problem. The contractors made a worrying discovery yesterday in the top soil; a lot of used hypodermic needles. I was quite surprised when I first heard about it, but when you think the front house and therefore the garden were left derelict for many years, and the plot is 'urban' (if you can call it that!) then it's probably not that unusual. It's just not nice to think our contractors are working with that sort of thing, and now means our top soil will need to be sifted and the sharps removed from site. Anyway, on the bright side, and after we politely declined suggestions for the house names 'Needle Cottage' and 'Dundealin'.......with all those 'additives' in the soil my vegetables should be huge!!

Today the contractors were pegging out and will start digging on Tuesday. They also discovered a lovely silver birch at the bottom of the garden which we're keeping, and a maple tree that is currently in the middle of the garage but that they're hoping to be able to dig out and replant for us to use later. One of the attractions of the plot was that it would have established trees when the house was finished, so we're really pleased with this.

In other news, our water is being connected on Monday. Hooray! They'll be stop-go traffic lights on the main High Street whilst Severn Trent do their work! Our structural warranty application has been accepted which is great news and just in the nick of time as their surveyor also needs to look in our trenches before concrete is poured. BT are carrying out their survey this week too to see whether we will need an overground or underground connection, and electricity seems to be progressing.

One hurdle at the moment is the Conservation Officer at the Council isn't that happy with our brick and slate samples that we submitted for approval. Our planning permission states that the materials chosen have to be 'in keeping' with the main house as it's a listed building. We thought we had chosen well, but it would appear that the Conservationist wants natural slate, even though there are no neighbouring houses with natural slate. Anyway, our architect is on the case and doesn't seem unduly worried. Apparently conservationists can be a bit blinkered and sensitive towards these things, and in some ways they ought to be to preserve the history. Just hoping they won't be too sensitive though or we'll be scavenging reclamation yards for old bricks and slates!

PS - the picture is taken from our actual foundation drawings.

Site Clearance - Day 1

My Mum and Dad went to the plot this evening to take some photos for us. We can't believe the difference in a day! They even managed to salvage the bird box from the old conifer tree that was in the middle of the plot!

It Is Finally Happening!

Today is the day that work starts on our plot. We're feeling a nervous excitement that this is actually happening! After such a long wait, someone is actually starting to build our house for us.

We will be going up to the plot in a few weeks time to have a look and take some photos. The work should be about half way through so there should be something to see.

Still slightly struggling with the services, it's all just wait wait wait! I was volunteered to ring the Gas board today (although I do think this is technically a construction matter = Darran!) to try and get some coherence out of someone called Farooq. Came away still with a clean page in my notebook so rang the shipper of the actual gas who could explain everything and were much more helpful. They also fit meters for free. FREE! Now there's a word we haven't heard for a very long time.

So, that's about all for now. All seems to be going smoothly and as planned, but as with any self build, watch this space!

PS - If you've some across this site by chance and are also a self-builder and own the The Housebuilders Bible, multiply the cost they give you for service installation by four, that will be far more realistic!

Go!

We met with our project manager and architect yesterday and have pressed the 'Go' button!

We have signed a contract and appointed a contractor to carry out the foundation and groundworks. They start on the 11th May and will complete on or before 19th June.

We are so pleased to have a start date, both for starting on site, but also to have a date that we can work to. We will now be able to plan our time so much better and work out delivery schedules and lead times.

Our project manager was far more positive and we have definitely found a level. He seems genuinely enthusiastic and interested in our build and what we will be doing when his role has finished.

For now though, it's a huge sigh of relief. This may only be short lived but we're enjoying it at the moment!

Why It's Worth Having A Project Manager: Point 1

We don't need to worry about how we're going to get 1.8m concrete columns on to the site and into the ground.

They do!

The Drawings Have Arrived

Now, I don't want to get too carried away, but....yesterday a big package arrived from the architect with all our foundation and ground works drawings enclosed, and they have gone out to tender for the work too. Wait, there's more, I also had an email back with the information we asked for last week. Things are looking up!

I think it could be time for another celebration!

Darran was just about to call them again and then the postman arrived. Saved by the bell! Darran was off yesterday too so had the day to really look over the drawings. He is happy with them and just has a few things to clarify today with the project manager.

He also phoned the water board and our water connection is now being 'fast tracked' so we should have that sorted fairly soon.

It is nice to know we have a bit of persuasive influence (or clout!) between us when necessary, just a shame we have had to use it so early into the project!