Borders House

Putting Your Foot in It!

2010-11-06T15:36:00.012Z

What happens when you put your foot in it? See below!

I lost my footing when up in the loft installing the downlighters upstairs and this is the result. The only saving grace is that we're also using the plasterers to tile the bathrooms so when they come next they can hopefully put things right.

We have also had the front steps and disabled ramp built outside. Because this is a new build we have to have wheelchair access into the house not to exceed a certain gradient. This has meant that we needed to install a wheelchair ramp as well as steps as the entrance is higher than the pavement. We chose a grey granite slab with a pink fleck that is similar to the stone we have used at the front of the house. The same stone was used to build the steps too. The slabs are a bit damp in the photos so below is the photo from the website showing the colour of the slabs.

Grey / pink granite slab. Actually this photo makes it look more pink than it actually is, so it's somewhere between the 2.

Front Steps

The wheelchair ramp. We are going to put some plants in the space in the middle of the ramp.

Once we get the planting done in the middle of the ramp and round the edges of the paving it will brighten things up a bit. That will probably need to wait until next year now as it can get quite cold up here in winter time and we don't want the plants to die in the frost.

It was also Ari's 14th birthday this week and here is him sitting on the new front steps.

Also on Ari's birthday Dot's litter sister Zap gave birth to her first litter in California. 4 pups, 2 dogs, 2 bitches all black and white.

September 2010 - Going Green

2010-09-19T14:51:00.005+01:00

The plumbers finally turned up last week to fit the solar panels that have been sitting in their boxes for exactly a year. Pity that the summer has all but gone so we won't reap the benefit of these until next summer but the good news is that when they're fitted and we've received the certificate from the installer we should be able to claim our grant money from the Scottish Energy Trust. The grant scheme has now stopped so we were lucky to get in before they pulled the funding.

One solar panel has been fitted so far and they are coming back on Wednesday to fit the other one. They've already carried out the internal work to the boiler so hopefully that should be it.

The builders also completed the main patio area last week but it has still to be pointed and we still need to get the path laid from the patio to the driveway. We also need steps to be built up to the back door. This should be done over the next week or so and then we can finally let the dogs onto the patio / dog run outside the back door instead of onto mud in the garden. We still have to get the area fenced however before it's finally complete.

We've just about finalised the layout for the steps and ramp leading from the front entrance and we're just choosing the slabs to use. Favourite so far are granite slabs that should complement the front of the house.

Solar Panels

New Scaffold Tower

1 solar panel fitted to the roof.

This photo shows up the top half of the house that has been painted and the bottom half that hasn't

Patio / Dog Run

Drainage channel at the back of the patio

The garage will eventually lead be built at the back of the patio

September 2010 - Where Has The Summer Gone?

2010-09-11T16:24:00.009+01:00

It's been quite a while since I updated the blog and it's been pretty slow going here to be honest. We had a week off in August to do the processing for the Kennel Club's International Agility Festival followed by another week at Kelmarsh when we went to help out at the show, and when we came home to Scotland we had another week of holidays taken up by day trips round the Borders to places we hadn't been before. And now it's mid September and the summer is all but over!

Some small steps have been made as far as the build is concerned. The sanitary wear in 2 of the ensuite bathrooms is in the process of being fitted, 2 of the bedrooms have been painted, and the underfloor heating has been laid in the 3rd bedroom and ensuite. Next week I intend to start fitting the wooden flooring in that bedroom and then I can make a start on the main bedroom. We've also ordered all of the remaining tiles for the upstairs bathrooms.

Outside we have had builders in for the last couple of weeks working on the rear patio / dog run and front and rear entrances. The rear patio is about half finished but there is still quite a lot of work to do to complete the entrances (we only have a trench at the front so far!). New building regulations (Part M) state that we have to have a disabled (wheelchair) access into one of the entrance doors so we are also having to have a ramp built with a less than 1 : 12 gradient to connect the pavement to the front door. It'll be good to have the dog run sorted and fenced before the wet, muddy weather sets in.

Here are some photos of the build progress:

Bedroom 3

Underfloor heating fitted

Bedrooom 3 showing doors to cupboard and ensuite

Bedroom 3 ensuite with cistern and frame in place for WC, wall mounted sink and shower cubicle,

Master Bedroom

Double ended spa bath and double sinks

Frames for wall mounted bidet and WC fitted. Shower cubicle is opposite

Rear patio / dog run

Ground prepared

Gravel laid as a base

Quite a few slabs have been laid

But there are still quite a lot to go

June 2010 - Moved in!

2010-06-12T12:36:00.009+01:00

It's been a few weeks since I last updated the blog and things have moved on a little. The main news is that Karen vacated her rental flat mid May and we got our possessions out of storage and have moved in. OK, so we're only living in a quarter of the house at the moment but we have the essentials and the rest will come on later.

I've been concentrating on the getting the kitchen completed since it's the kitchen family room that we're living in at present. It's quite a big room (10m x 6m) so it's not quite as bad as it sounds, and it's certainly a lot bigger than the caravan!

The main essential bits that needed to be completed before we could move in were to complete the downstairs shower room and that's a tick in the box although there are still 2 walls to be tiled once the toilet and basin are boxed in properly. We'd been waiting for ages and ages for the plumber to return but he never turned up so eventually I had to bite the bullet and finish off the downstairs shower myself. The downstairs tiling had to be completed and that's complete apart from 2 walls in the shower room as mentioned above, and the kitchen is to be more or less completed including the worktop. We had hoped to get the worktop completed before our possessions came out of storage but as it turned out the worktop was fitted 2 days after the things turned up from storage. Mostly we were worried about the dust that the worktop fitting might generate but it didn't end up too bad in the end.

We eventually gave up on our plumber and found another one. He came and plumbed in the kitchen sink, dishwasher, washing machine, utility room sink and basin all in 1 day. So we went from having no real running water apart from the shower and loo to having running water in all of the places downstairs in 1 go. The utility room sink is leaking slightly though as the Swedish sink waste that came with the Ikea sink isn't too compatible with English plumbing fittings so we need to get the plumber back to sort it out, and until that happens the washing machine won't be in place. So we're still using the one in the awning for the time being. The tumble drier is all present and correct though.

As far as the kitchen was concerned we needed to get the undermounted sink fitted when the worktop was installed, then fit the induction hob and then fit the handles and plinths. The undermounted sink was supposed to fit in a cabinet 800mm wide but it didn't fit properly so I ended up cutting the cupboard so that it would fit. We bought some oak plinth for the units but in the end we didn't like them and they've now been replaced with plain black. The under cupboard lights still need to be done and also the pelmets. The skirting also needs to be fitted. I have fitted the window sills in the kitchen but I still need to fit the sills in the utility and family room.

We also found out that we need to fit at least 50% low energy lights in the house and the halogen lights in the kitchen are not low energy so we need to think carefully what type of lighting we have upstairs.

Some pictures of recent progress are below.

Downstairs shower room. The walk in shower is complete with an overhead rain shower and a hand held shower but the hand held shower still needs to be fixed to the wall.

Downstairs tiles. We have these travertine look alike tiles in all of the tiled areas downstairs - boiler room, utility room, kitchen / family room, hall and shower room

Photos of the kitchen are below

Back of the kitchen including ovens and induction hob

Double undermounted sink and drainage grooves in granite worktop

2 fridge freezers and a larder cupboard

2 leather dog beds under the island

Other side of the island. The middle unit is a 2 drawer fridge

I will start working upstairs now as I intend to get the main bedroom, sitting area and bedroom 3 completed next. That will then be half of the house complete. Then I will move onto the bedrooms on the other side of the house before finishing off downstairs as the the rest of our possessions are currently living in boxes in the lounge and the dining room is full of building materials so these will need to be the last rooms completed

Off to the Highlands for a couple of days tomorrow - first proper holiday in over a year!

May 2010 - Front Entrance

2010-05-02T18:59:00.002+01:00

Today we fitted the glass in the front entrance and the internal doors and cupboard doors, and the entrance hall now looks much lighter and brighter than it did with the temporary wooden panels fitted. There is still some work to complete in the entrance - tiling (due next week), electrics and painting, and of course the outside landscaping that will complete the steps to the house, but the work is largely complete.

May 2010 - More Kitchen

2010-05-01T18:23:00.001+01:00

More progress has been made on the kitchen and here are some new photos. The floor has been cleared ready to prime in preparation for the floor being tiled (tiling starts this week). The island has also been removed in preparation for tiling. We have chosen a supplier for the worktop (black starlight quartz) and the template is being taken next Friday. Fitting will take place about 2 weeks after that so we're about 3 weeks away from having a properly usable kitchen. They are also supplying the sink so that removes the need to source a sink, but we still need to find a tap that we like that is low enough to still open the window inwards (we have tilt and turn windows).

May 2010 - Doors and Floors

2010-05-01T11:37:00.002+01:00

The internal doors downstairs have now been fitted (still have some of the frame work to complete and some of the handles), and here are some photos.

Door from the kitchen into the utility room (gap under the door is to allow for the Durabase tile matting and tiles to be fitted).

Double doors in the lounge (handle needs to be fitted)

Having looked at many, many samples of engineered oak we narrowed it down to an Atkinson and Kirby 22mm board that conveniently we can get through our main builders merchant, Jewsons. We ended up with about 3 samples that we would have gone with and in the end it came down to price. It's also the most convenient option for us supply wise.

Just to make absolutely sure that it was what we wanted we ordered 2 packs before putting in the main order and laid them out in the lounge. Here is a photo of the boards.

April 2010 - Kitchen

2010-04-25T18:44:00.007+01:00

The kitchen is starting to take shape now. Most of the units are in, and the fridge freezers, oven and microwave are now working. The dishwasher still has to be plumbed in (waiting on the plumber as usual!) and the drawer fridge that goes in the island will need to wait until the island is in place once the tiling is complete. We're currently getting quotes for the granite worktop and it seems that we will keep in budget so that's a good thing. We hope to get this sorted in the next couple of weeks. We still have to buy an undermounted sink and we have to choose a tap carefully as we have tilt and turn windows that open inwards for cleaning so we can't have anything too tall. Of course, all of the stylish ones we like are too tall! The hob will be fitted once the worktop goes in and then we have the plinth, handles and pelmets to fit and we should more or less be there with the kitchen.

2 integrated fridge freezers and a tall cupboard fit exactly into the alcove. I changed the original plans for the staircase to create this alcove with just this configuration in mind and I'm happy with how it has turned out.

Side of the kitchen. The sink drawer doesn't sit back properly yet as the plumbing for the sink is preventing it. This will be sorted out when the plumber (eventually) turns up.

Oven and microwave

Wider view of the back of the kitchen. The white microwave is the one from the old house and we shouldn't need it here. There is one more fan cupboard to fit on top of the hood.

So what's next?

Finish painting the other end of the kitchen family room, complete the electric in the kitchen and utility, fit the downlighters, fit the internal doors downstairs, fit the island once the tiling is complete (tiler starts a week on Monday) and complete the downstairs shower room (once the plumber finally turns up - sigh). So much to do, so little time ......

April 2010 - Staircase fitted

2010-04-18T18:30:00.001+01:00

Today the joiners arrived to fit the staircase. We've got a whole stack of things stored downstairs that are too big / heavy to go up the ladder so it will free up quite a lot of space once we can move this up the stairs.

I had spent quite a lot of time staining the staircase in the few weeks before fitting, and the last thing to do was to stain the spindles that I did earlier in the week. Here is a photo of them looking like windchimes drying in the sun!

The staircase, although custom made, still required a bit of alteration on site as it didn't quite fit as planned. There are still a few things to do, like fitting the bottom bullnose step (waiting for the tiling to complete), and fitting the spindles upstairs, but the main parts are now complete. At the moment we've covered the stairs with cardboard to protect them whilst there is building work going on. We have a straight run to start with and then a platform and then a 90 degree turn to 2 further stairs to take you to the top.

March 2010 - Shed to Go

2010-03-31T12:44:00.002+01:00

We had a horrendous storm overnight with crazily high winds. At 3am I looked out of the caravan window and saw that our 12' x 8' metal shed containing lots of fittings for the house had disappeared. I shot out of bed into the blackness and had trouble even standing up the wind was so strong. The shed had ripped away from its fixings on the concrete base and had peeled away like a sardine can. There wasn't much I could do in the height of the storm in the pitch black but I managed to hook the trailer up to the car and reverse it over the shed so that at least it couldn't do anymore damage. No sleep that night and at dawn I surveyed the damage.

Everything in the shed had fallen over and the rain had soaked through all of the cardboard boxes exposing everything inside.

The shed was lying across next door's drive so had to be cleared so that they could go to work. Next door neighbour Barry helped me move the shed onto the trailer and the 2 fence panels that the shed had knocked down. There wasn't much I could do to move the items stored in the shed at that point as the wind was still so strong I couldn't actually stand up and pick things up to carry.

Karen took an inpromptu day off work and came from Edinburgh by bus and taxi to help me move the contents of the shed. The trains weren't running due to a landslip at Grantshouses 4 miles away so bus and taxi was the only option. The winds were still really strong and I couldn't leave the site to pick her up.

By the time she had arrived I had gone through 3 changes of sopping wet clothes. It was still chucking it down but the wind, although still strong, had started to die down. The next few hours were spent moving the sodden items into the house in the driving rain. The additional double glazing units had fallen down and one of the new WC pans had fallen on top of it. Miraculously though nothing had broken. Even the fragile solar panel tubes in their sodden cardboard box survived intact.

The mudwall at the bottom of the awning has ripped away from the canvas in places, so, all in all, a horrible day but the outcome could have been far worse.

Dead shed!

All of the sanitary wear now in the house rather than in boxes in the shed! A miracle that it all survived intact. Now to remember what was to go where ......

March 2010 - We have a front door!

2010-03-20T08:53:00.009Z

Since the final delivery from Scotframe arrived I've been busy getting the staircase and entrance door and frame ready to install. All of these have needed to have several coats of varnish. On starting to varnish the staircase I noticed that it wasn't in the best of condition having been stored at Scotframe's Inverurie factory. There are a couple of nicks out of one of the treads in the small part of the staircase and the whole staircase has obviously been stored without being covered so there are a few stains here and there. As we paid quite a lot extra for an oak staircase so that we can use this without carpet we're a bit disappointed and have asked Scotframe to sort things out. The design also isn't quite right and some of the banister rails are the wrong height so that needs to be sorted out too. I've got someone lined up to install the staircase after Easter so hopefully it will all be sorted out by then.

The kitchen was delivered last Tuesday so the focus was on getting the painting done in the utility room and kitchen ready for installation. To save some money (and because we don't have to pay for my own labour) we went for a flat pack kitchen so there will be many hours spent putting the carcases together in the near future. We have ordered a standard worktop for the utility room but we would like to have something nicer in the main kitchen, probably granite, so we will order this once the units have been installed. We also need a sink for the main kitchen and as this will probably be undermounted we'll wait until we finally decide on the worktop to order this. To begin with we can make do with the sink and units in the utility room and so that is what I have focussed on and here is the fitting of the utility room in progress. Because we still have quite a lot for work going on inside the house the kitchen units and worktops are being covered up for the time being to save any bumps. The doors and wood end panels will be put on last once we've finished most of the other work to save anything getting damaged.

Units along the back of the utility room are now installed. Mostly covered up but we have a white ceramic sink and mixer tap with pull out spray that should be useful for all sorts of things. The window just opens inwards with this tap (we have tilt and turn windows) so we need to ensure that we measure the tap for the main kitchen very carefully as anything too high will not allow the window to open inwards. The 2 gaps are for the washing machine and the tumble dryer when they arrive from storage.

The painting has been done in the boiler room and the utility room, and the ceiling of the kitchen / family room. Everything is going to be magnolia/white to start off with for speed and simplicity and we can decide later if we want to change colours.

Most of the remaining bathroom fittings were ordered last week so on Friday we had a flurry of activity as things arrived - 2 baths, 4 stone resin shower trays, 2 showers, a basin, a cistern and frame and a myriad of taps and wastes to go with the other things we already have stored in the shed.

As the main items are now all in the house (apart from our possessions in storage) and the entrance door and frame were ready to install I decided to have a go at installing this myself as it didn't look overcomplicated, with a view to installing the internal doors myself too if it worked out ok. They are all pre-hung in their frames so it should (in theory!) be quite straightforward.

Here is the door and frame being installed.

And here is the finished article complete with letterbox. OK, so it's not quite finished as we still have some stonework to attend to and we need to order the glass that goes in the side and top panels, and put in the proper steps / ramp to the house but you get the general idea! The postman should be pleased that he finally has a letterbox to deliver to, and the good news is that is all worked out ok so we didn't have to pay someone to install it.

The plumber also finally turned up this week so the boiler and thermal store are being plumbed in. Unfortunately the company that specified and sold us the thermal store missed off a component costing £399. All credit to them however as they have sent it to us free of charge. We have also bought a scale reduction system that should reduce the amount of scale and sediment and provide clearer water. These have been installed in the boiler room too.

Boiler

Scale reduction system.

Hopefully things are starting to come on now. As Karen keeps reminding me she has until 2nd May in her rental flat so things had better be ready by then!

March 2010 - Final Delivery from Scotframe

2010-03-07T11:22:00.007Z

On Friday we had the final delivery from Scotframe of the '2nd Fix' materials. This consisted of internal doors, staircase, skirting boards, window cills and other internal woodwork. The wardrobe doors will arrive direct from the manufacturer and these should come next week some time. The lorry arrived on time at 11am and I asked one of the local farms if we could hire their forklift to offload the pallets. Then came the task of lugging it all inside. Luckily it was a nice day so we didn't have to worry about anything getting wet. It's been dry for a week now - long may it continue!

Lorry arrived from Inverurie

Forklift and driver

Carrying everything inside (and thanks to next door neighbour Barry!)

Internal Doors in their frame ready to hang

More internal doors

Internal double doors with opaque glass (hopefully this won't show the dirt as much as clear!)

Double doors for the cupboards either side of the entrance

Main part of the oak staircase

Rest of the staircase parts

More internal wood - window cills, skirting etc.

March 2010 - Ground Floor Screeding

2010-03-05T18:18:00.001Z

On Monday the ground floor screeding was finally done. Luckily it was a nice day (as there was an outside bit to do) and the last few days have also been sunny and dry which has helped to dry the screed out. Unfortunately it's still not going to be ready to start tiling on Monday so we have put the tilers back 3 - 4 weeks but there are still other jobs to be getting on with. The screed was delivered in 2 loads and unfortunately there was a long wait between loads. The first load had already started to dry out so there is a noticeable join in the middle of the kitchen and the screeding company are going to have to come up again to smooth this out.

Here are some photos of the screeding being done and the dried out floor a couple of days later.

Screed being laid in the kitchen

Wet screed in the family room

Dry Screed in the kitchen (see the join where the second batch started that will have to be smoothed out)

Dry Screed in the dining room

Downstairs wet room showing where the wet room tray will go and the floor drain

February 2010 - Underfloor Heating, oh and a year since we bought the plot ......

2010-02-28T18:25:00.006Z

The weather has been pretty grim these last few days. It starting raining last Thursday pm and didn't stop raining until Saturday pm so the ground is like a swamp. Living in a caravan in this weather and having 7 soggy dogs to deal with is pretty grim I can tell you!

Work started a couple of weeks ago on the underfloor heating and below are some photos of the work completed. Firstly the entire ground floor had to be cleared and hoovered, and then Celotex insulation boards have been laid throughout the ground floor. Then a damp proof membrane was laid on top, and the underfloor heating pipes laid as per the heating company's detailed drawings. Doesn't sound a lot but it was quite time consuming work with just me doing it.

I finally finished the inside last Friday and today, after the rain finally stopped I completed the heating for the eventual breakfast room that is outside currently. It wasn't worth trying to lay the heating for this room later on when we do the breakfast room so this has been done now.

I've just started checking that there are no leaks in the system! In theory there should not be as none of the pipework has been damaged to my knowledge but sod's law there will be something wrong if it's left to chance.

Below are some photos of the different stages.

Kitchen / Family Room

Celotex Insulation

Damp Proof Membrane and Underfloor Heating Pipes laid

Manifolds in what will be the cupboard under the stairs

Tomorrow the ground floor screeding will be done, and then hopefully we can start fitting out the downstairs. The final delivery (stairs, internal doors, skirting etc.) from Scotframe is due on Friday and the tilers are due to start the follow Monday so hopefully things will start to pick up now. I'm hoping the get the ground floor in a habitable state in the next 4 weeks. Maybe we'll be in for Easter! :-)

I will try to get the downstairs painted before the tilers arrive but this can be done afterwards if necessary. In view of the need to get this house finished we have decided just to paint everything magnolia for the time being and colours can then be changed later if we feel like it.

The kitchen is on order and we expect that around 18th March. As soon as the tiling is complete that will be good to start. We haven't ordered the main kitchen worktops yet as we want granite and so have decided to wait until the units have been fitted so they can be made to measure.

We already have most of the sanitary wear for the bathrooms but we need to order the shower doors and trays for upstairs, a bath for the main bathroom, 4 of the showers, and all of the taps.

January 2010 - Tiles

2010-01-30T12:58:00.004Z

We have ordered the tiles for the downstairs of the house. Everywhere will be tiled except for the lounge and the dining room, and we have ordered enough to also do the breakfast room when we get round to adding that room. The breakfast room is the bit at the back that steps in and initially we asked the planning office if we could just add it to the plans but they said that it would require a whole new planning application, not just an amendment. As we didn't want to wait another age to get new plans passed we decided to just build the original house and add the room on later. We have the same issue with the garage as it was not on the original planning application (we bought the plot with full planning permission). Ironically as soon as the house is signed off by the council we can just add these things without permission as they are under the size for which planning permission is required. We've had the foundations laid anyway and they are doubling up as a patio and a dog run for the time being!

Back to the tiles. Our requirements were for a neutral tile that wasn't too dark, wasn't too slippery (because of the dogs), and wouldn't show the dirt horrendously. Oh, and was in budget as there were lots that our budget wouldn't stretch to for such a big area. We liked the look of natural Travertine tiles but were put off by the sealing that was required and we weren't too sure about how these would cope with the inevitable constant washing down that is the norm when you have lots of dogs. So we have gone for a Travertine lookalike from Topps Tiles. When we put one of these tiles next to the display of Travertine it was difficult to tell them apart actually. So we now have 2 pallet loads of tiles on site ready to lay and another 2 pallets in their warehouse awaiting collection. As well as the downstairs floors these tiles will also be used for the walls in the downstairs wet room but we may add a border or some mosaic tiles to the walls too to break it up a bit. Haven't decided on that bit just yet.

Here are some photos from the website:

We're not having the tiles with the silver inlay as we were warned that the tiles with the inlay cut into it could be substantially different in shade to the plain ones on order and we didn't want to take the risk of such a large shade variation. I dare say we'll easily find a border tile or mosaics that blend in with the plain ones quite well.

January 2010 - Naked!

2010-01-30T10:54:00.005Z

The scaffolding is down and the house is now naked. It all happened a bit more quickly than planned (let's just say that there is a bit of a dispute with the scaffolding company) so it was a major rush to try to get the jobs finished for which I needed the scaffolding the main one being getting the top of the house painted. The weather put paid to this activity for 2 weeks before so the heat was on (well not literally as it's still freezing outside!) to try to get this task completed in 2 days. The super duper heavy duty paint sprayer that was purchased to speed things up packed up after 4 hours use so I was left with a paint roller and 2 days to finish the job. The paint sprayer is now winging its way back to the retailer for a refund (hopefully). Working from dawn until dusk I managed to get the painting done before the scaffolding came down the following morning.

The paint doesn't show up too well in the photos as the colour is not dissimilar to the colour of the render but you can just about see the line where the top half is painted and the bottom half is not. The house looks quite big now that the scaffolding is down.

Other than the painting I had planned to start the underfloor heating but it took an age to get the right floor insulation as the builders merchant delivered the wrong stuff initially. Now that it's finally come I hope to make a start this week. I hope that I can get the ground floor habitable in the next 8 weeks. Once the underfloor heating is in the finishing off can begin - painting, internal doors, skirting, flooring, fitting of the sanitary wear and kitchen.

January 2010 - Snow, Snow, Snow

2010-01-16T15:40:00.006Z

The weekend before Christmas the snow started in earnest and only really stopped a couple of days ago.

I had intended to get quite a lot done over the Christmas and New Year period but moving out of our Kent house unexpectedly the week before Christmas, and going to a wedding during Christmas week put us about 7 days behind and then because the builders merchants all close down for 2 weeks over Christmas I couldn't get hold of the materials I needed until the New Year.

The 2 most urgent jobs are painting the outside of the house so that the scaffolding can come down, and getting the floor insulation and underfloor heating put down so that the ground floor can be screeded and the finishing off can begin and then there might be some danger of actually predicting a moving in date!

The week the builders merchants reopened after New Year the snow was quite heavy and prevented the lorries from delivering materials so I only really got going again during the second week in January. As the temperatures are below freezing currently and I need to get the house painted as a matter of urgency so that we can get rid of the scaffolding we have had to order oil based masonery paint (piolite) as water based paint cannot be used in these freezing conditions. The paint turned up during lthis week but the weather was pretty dire so not much progress has been made. Putting the paint on with the spray gun I already wasn't successful as the paint gun wasn't up to the job so I have just purchased a heavy duty paint sprayer and I hope it will speed everything up and also be used to paint the inside of the house. If it does the job promised it will be £300 well spent. Just waiting for a dry day now so that I can get going!

The floor insulation was also delivered this week in driving rain and after lugging it all into the house it appears that they have delivered the wrong one so it might all need to be carried back out again!

Other jobs to do currently include fitting the thermal store for our heating system and getting the shower tray / drain sorted out for the downstairs wet room. I'm doing most of these jobs myself so it's going to take a while. So much to do, so little time!

Now that the snow has melted the site is like a swamp and the dogs get plastered in mud. That's pretty much the worse thing about this build at this time of year.

Some snowy photos from last week:

December 2009 - A bit of snow

2009-12-20T20:15:00.007Z

We've had a bit of snow here in recent days (although not as much as in Kent!) and these photos were taken today when I took the dogs for a run in the field opposite our house.

Bliss

Skye

Ari

Ski

Flo

Star

Dot

And some group photos

December 2009 - Moving Out!

2009-12-15T20:52:00.000Z

The house in Kent has been on the market for quite a while but we finally got it sold and this week we drove to Kent to move our possessions into storage as the completion date is next week (22nd December). The other good thing about this is that it frees up the equity from the house so we can complete the build without worrying about getting a loan.

Hopefully we'll see our possessions again in about 3 months when the house is complete (fingers crossed!)

December 2009 - A Few Photos

2009-12-13T11:05:00.012Z

Progress

Here are a few photos of some of the work that has been completed over the last few weeks. Everything looks like a bit of a mess at the moment but hopefully these photos will be the benchmark for the work to come where things will start to take shape and get a bit better!

Here are some photos of the outside of the house. The blockwork and stonework is complete, and the rendering is in progress.

Side of the house

Front of the house

Other side of the house showing the quoins at the corner

Front of the house with a better view of the stonework

Close up view of the stonework

Kitchen / Family Room

This is the kitchen / family room that will be our main living area. The first photo is the view towards the kitchen with door to the utility room at the back, and 3 windows to the side (where the sink will go). We plan to have 2 tall units (one containing the oven and microwave) to the right of the utility room door followed by worktop containing the induction hob with wall cupboards above before turning the corner to the long stretch of units under the windows containing the sink and dishwasher.

On the left hand side of the kitchen there is a recess (you can just about see this in the second photo looking the other way towards the family room just past the door to the hallway) where we are going to have 2 fridge freezers and another tall cupboard. We are also going to have an island with a seating area, additional worktop and a 'drawer' fridge.

We already have all of the kitchen appliances bought in a sale earlier in the year.

Looking towards the kitchen and utility room

The family room (both rooms are full of junk at the moment!)

Another shot of the family room showing windows to the front of the house and the door frame for the front door on the left which is still to be fitted.

Lounge

Door to the hall and slight view of the door to the dining room (currently boarded up)

Windows to the front

Dining Room

Windows to the rear (and cistern and frame for the downstairs loo in the corner!)

French doors out to the garden

Doorway to the lounge (currently boarded up as the intention is to get this room draft proof and ready to use in advance of completing the rest of the house)

Hallway

Entrance currently boarded up before the door is fitted. We have 2 cupboards for coats to the right and left of the entrance, and a double door into the hall.

Stairwell - the ladder will eventually be replaced by the proper staircase which will be fitted during the 2nd fix

Upstairs Sitting Area

This is the upstairs sitting area. On the original plans this is a 5th bedroom but as we have no need of 5 bedrooms we have turned it into an upstairs sitting area. The 5th bedroom can be restored quite easily by adding a stud wall at a later date if anyone wants the 5th bedroom.

This photo shows the loft access, the window to the front and where the staircase will be.

Rear of the upstairs sitting area showing the entrance to the main bathroom and the upstairs laundry cupboard where we will have a washing machine and tumble dryer, leaving the downstairs one for washing the dog beds / muddy clothes.

View from the other side of the room with entrances to the master bedroom and bedroom 3.

Master Bedroom

Plastering and coving is complete in the master bedroom. This photo shows the main wall where the bed will go and the windows to the front.

This photo shows the entrance to the room, off the landing / upstairs sitting area. Ladder where staircase will eventually be. Door to the dressing room is also shown here.

Master Bedroom's dressing room. Wardrobes will be fitted to the left and at the rear.

Master Bedroom's Ensuite bathroom.

Bedroom 4

Plastering and coving complete in bedroom 4 plus ensuite.

December 2009 - Progress But It's Been Cold and Wet!

2009-12-04T14:03:00.005Z

It's been ages since I updated the blog but working on the build 7 days a week and the pretty dire weather we've had has meant that I haven't had too much time (or photos) to put up.

We have made some progress. The blockwork and stone was completed today after a few abandoned attempts at completing where they either had to give up due to being almost blown off the scaffolding, or torrential (and I mean torrential!) rain stopped play. Anyway, today the sun has shone and the stonework at the front of the house is finally completed. The blocks went up really quickly but the stone took far longer. Just as well we are only having a little bit of stone!

The plasterers have started rendering the outside and have the scratch coat on most of the walls now, and the top coat on 1 wall. They hope to complete the outside in the next few days, weather permitting. They have also been busy plastering the inside of the house. The plastering and coving upstairs is complete and most of the downstairs but there are a few bits still to be completed where there is still a bit of plasterboard to put up.

I have painted the soffits and started to fit the guttering and once that's all completed and the plasterers have gone I can paint the outside of the house. Then we can finally get the scaffolding down that has been the bane of this build. I can't go into that at the moment but once everything is sorted I might tell the sorry tale.

So, apart from the outside jobs what's next to do? Inside the first fix electrics are nigh on complete with just one or 2 bits and pieces to sort out and the next job will be to insulate the ground floor and fit the pipework for the underfloor heating and I'm going to do that myself. The underfloor heating kit is all present and correct awaiting fitting. The floor then needs to be screeded (quotes being gathered) before we look at doing all the fitting out such as painting, and fitting the flooring on the ground floor. It's going to be tiles in the 'dog' areas - hall, kitchen, family room, utility room and the downstairs shower room, and engineered wood in the dining room and lounge where the dogs won't be making an appearance. Makes and models still open to debate! Upstairs we intend to have engineered wood in the bedrooms, hall and upstairs sitting area, and tiles in the bathrooms. Looks like we'll be ordering all of the tiles in the January sales. At least with a new build we won't be hit with the vat increase too much as we will be able to claim the vat back.

We have started ordering the sanitary wear for the bathrooms and have all of the WCs, basins, cisterns and frames (we're having wall hung loos) stored in the shed. We also have a bath on order for the main ensuite but still need to sort out a bath for the main bathroom and all of the shower cubicles and showers. We've managed to source some pretty good deals on the net that helps with the budget.

We also have all of the integrated kitchen appliances as there was a sale on that was too good to miss. The 2 fridge freezers are being stored in the shed at the moment, and the rest has been delivered to Karen's rented apartment in Edinburgh and will need to be moved later.

The kitchen still needs to be ordered but we've decided on the make and model (I think!). We won't be ordering the kitchen until we have somewhere to store it as until the floor is screeded we're struggling for storage space.

So there is still quite a lot to do but we're pretty much on budget at the moment (£500 over) which out of a 220k build budget is pretty good going I think.

Just 1 or 2 pictures to post this time, and I'll try to get some more photos when I get 5 minutes!

These photos are from a week ago when the blockwork was complete but the stonework on the front still had to be finished

Here are some photos of the dogs in the field directly opposite our house. Brilliantly convenient for a quick run!

And here is Karen's Edinburgh apartment where she lives during the week while I freeze to death in the caravan!

October 2009 - Bricklayers Start

2009-10-17T13:00:00.003+01:00

The bricklayers started this morning and here are the first few blocks being laid. The large diesel mixer we hired from Jewsons is not working well. We had similar problems with the tile hoist that we hired from Jewsons. We had various engineers out to look at the tile hoist and it ended up being swapped for another one eventually that still didn't work brilliantly.

October 2009 - Upstairs Starts To Take Shape

2009-10-17T09:32:00.001+01:00

The upstairs rooms and the plasterboarding have started to take shape now.

Main Bathroom

Main bathroom with plasterboard and small corner cupboard fitted

Octber 2009 - Glass Arrives

2009-10-16T17:25:00.003+01:00

An early start this morning to drive to Leeds to pick up the double gazing units complete with Uniblinds. Glass is (hopefully!) being fitted on Sunday.

October 2009 - Dogs in the Sea

2009-10-15T11:41:00.001+01:00

More photos of the dogs having fun in the sea. October is turning out to be quite dry here (long may it continue).

Dot and Star

Dot

Ari and Flo

Bliss

Skye, Ski and Dot

Skye

Ari and Flo

October 2009 - 1st Fix Wiring

2009-10-14T12:53:00.002+01:00

The 1st fix wiring is now well underway and the pipes for the central vacuum system and ducts for the MHRV system have been fitted.

The photos aren't very good, but still, you get the general idea!

October 2009 - Toilet Tent Bites the Dust

2009-10-10T09:26:00.002+01:00

Very high winds overnight totally destroyed the tent erected round the outside toilet. There have been a few mini collapses of this tent before but this time round it's terminal! However, as the house is in a better shape now the toilet has been moved to a new home in the downstairs shower room. This will stay there until we order and fit the bathroom suites.

October 2009 - Blocks Delivered

2009-10-09T12:12:00.001+01:00

The blocks were delivered this morning. In the second photo you can also see the completed roof and window frames. The hardwood front door and frame has also arrived but we're not going to fit this at the moment as that it the only large access into the house and there is quite a lot of stuff still to arrive so we will leave the large access for the moment.

October 2009 - Roof Is Complete And Window Frames Fitted

2009-10-08T16:03:00.001+01:00

The roof is now complete and the window frames have been fitted (minus the glass). The glass is now ready to be collected from Leeds so a trip will need to be made to pick that up.

Here are some photos showing the stages of the roof tiling.

September 2009 - Credit Card Woes

2009-09-25T17:07:00.012+01:00

We had a lot of stuff to order this week and using the credit cards has turned into a nightmare.

Both cards ended up being blocked this week due to 'suspicious activity' (actually just us trying to order things). Started last Monday with an on-line Screwfix order where payment was refused on the Egg Money card. Rang Screwfix and sorted it out by using the Citibank card instead. On Tuesday the central vacuum retailer called and said that payment had been refused on the Citibank card that had been working the day before. Call Citibank. So why is it that you have to key in the 16 digit card number, 6 digit date of birth, 4 digit expiry date and a pin and still get asked for the same information when you finally get through to the Indian call centre. Am told that the card is blocked for security reasons. Put through to their fraud department and answer a few questions and apparently we're good to go. Ring the retailer back, still no joy. Ring Citibank back (same long winded rigmarole before we get to speak to someone), told by the Indian call centre that there is no problem their end and to get the retailer to put the transaction through manually. Call back the retailer and give her the information. She calls back to say no joy. Call back Citibank (getting very tiresome now). Losing the will to live with the keypad entry and security questions. Still told that there is definitely no problem their end and it must be a problem at the retailer's end. Call the retailer back. She tries again but still not accepted. She has put through at least a dozen transactions this morning already and all have been accepted but this one. Very embarrassed now so give her the debit card details clearing out the current account apart from £24 until more money can be paid into it from a savings account.

10 minutes later tried to log onto the Egg statement to check the transactions that have been going through. They have disabled the logon to that too! Oh bloody fantastic! Very handy when we're spending money like it's going out of fashion and need to keep a check on the card and account balances almost daily. Call them, and just to make a change it's a voice recognition system instead of telephone keypad entry. At least it's not an Indian call centre when finally we get through, and at least we didn't get asked the same questions that the voice recognition system had asked for. Put through to their fraud department, get asked some questions and told that everything is sorted out. Logon to the statement and access is restored. Eureka!

So that's everything sorted (we hope) until this morning the payment for another Screwfix order was rejected by Egg. WTF!!! Ring up Screwfix who check the card details, try again, but it's definitely a rejected payment. Ring up Egg, voice recognition gets us through to a customer services assistant who tells us that the fraud department hasn't removed the card block properly. Assured that she has taken care of this and it's now all sorted. Call Screwfix who say that the payment still won't authorise. Call Egg back. Apparently within the last 10 minutes Karen's voice has altered because now the voice recognition can't recognise her voice. Same phone, same accent (as far as we know!). Listen to music for a while before getting through to someone who has to go through all of the security questions over the phone again. Told that he has no idea why we've been told that the card is now ok because the previous operator does not have the authority to remove the block! FFS!!! Told that everything is ok now. Tentatively call Screwfix and ask them to try again. At least it's been 3 different people on the line, not the same person thinking we're some sort of fraudsters. Payment accepted this time. Goods should arrive Monday.

Now of course the credit card companies need to be careful but this is turning out to be a bit of a farce! So for the moment both cards seem to be working (but watch this space ...........)

September 2009 - Central Vacuum and Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation Systems Arrive

2009-09-24T14:44:00.002+01:00

Today the central vacuum and mechanical heat recovery ventilation systems that we ordered last weekend arrived. Both units were bought from Regavent. The Central Vacuum came in at just under £1000 and the Heat Recovery System at just under £2500.

Central Vacuum System

We wanted the central vacuum system because of the number of dogs we have and the dust / hair that they can generate. The main vacuum unit containing the motor and the fan is located away from the main living areas and in our house will be in the boiler room. There are plug in sockets within the walls of the house where the vacuum hose is connected when needed. Ducts within the walls then carry the dust and dirt to the main unit back in the boiler room.

Supposedly (if the marketing literature is to be believed) a central vaccum system is:

quieter than a normal vacuum because the main unit lives in the boiler room
cleaner, because the dust is completely removed from the room and can't be recirculated
lighter, because you don't have to drag the main unit containing the motor and fan round with you as with a normal vacuum cleaner
more powerful, because the unit is much larger than a normal vacuum as you don't have to drag it round with you

The Univac Millennium Central Vacuum System

Oh, and the installation instructions that came with it are in Swedish ..........

Så här monterar du

which the online translator translates as "So here am installing yous"! Sounds like fun already ......

Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation System

The other thing we puchased was the Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation system. The idea behind this type of system is that it extracts the stale air from the house through a serious of ducts to a central unit in the loft. The heat exchanger within this central unit then removes the unwanted air whilst retaining about 70% of the heat. At the same time fresh air is drawn from the outside where it is then warmed by the heat retained and the pre warmed air is then ducted to the living areas.

We decided to go for this type of unit because the house we are building should be very well insulated which could lead to more stale air being retained than normal and possible moisture build up. This unit looks to deal those issues whilst not losing the 'good' heat within the house.

Theory sounds good anyway! Can't report on practice until the house is complete.

A diagram showing the theory (not our house) is below

September 2009 - Roof Tiling Starts

2009-09-24T14:34:00.001+01:00

Once the battens were in place the lead was then fitted. Now the tiling can commence. We have hired a tile hoist to lift the tiles up onto the roof and here are some photos of the first few being lifted up.

Tile hoist in front of the house

Tiles loaded up onto the roof ready for fixing

September 2009 - Garage Base Come Temporary Dog Run

2009-09-23T14:24:00.001+01:00

Here is a view of what will be the garage taken from the roof. For the time being it is being used as a temporary dog run (as you can see!)

You can just about see the dogs in this photo

And here is a photo of Ski lying in the caravan awning with her foot in her mouth - stupid dog!

September 2009 - John Muir Country Park

2009-09-22T18:18:00.001+01:00

Here are some photos of the fabulous John Muir Country Park in Dunbar. Our dogs are in 2 of these photos (if you can spot them). This wonderful park has an endless stretch of mostly completely deserted sandy beach.

September 2009 - Roof Battens

2009-09-22T11:41:00.001+01:00

The roofers started on site on 19th September and started to fix the battens. Here are some photos of the roof battens being fitted plus some photos of the finished battens.

September 2009 - Window Frames Arrive

2009-09-19T13:28:00.002+01:00

On 19th September I drove down to Alpine Windows in Leeds to collect the window and door frames. The glass is not yet ready as we are waiting for the integrated blinds to arrive but we need the frames to be fitted so that we can get on with laying the blocks on the outside of the house. We checked the frames against the order and everything is present and correct so that's a good start!

The front door is coming from elsewhere and is due to arrive this coming Thursday.

French doors outside the house. We couldn't get this frame into the house as the scaffolding is in the way so it's resting outside for the time being!

Back door. this will be filled with solid panels rather than glass. There will just be a small window fitted into the square in the middle of the top half of the door.

Frames being stored in the new lounge

September 2009 - Roof Sarking

2009-09-11T11:52:00.003+01:00

Now the trusses are on the sarking starts. This involves covering the trusses with wooden boards. This is common practice in Scotland but it's something we're not used to seeing in England. It's apparently done to provide a strong weather resistant roof.

Sarking starts.

More sarking

View from inside the house

Another view from inside the house.

September 2009 - Roof Trusses

2009-09-09T13:17:00.001+01:00

The roof trusses eventually arrived after 6pm on the day of the second delivery (2nd September). this was a complete pain as we had to hire the crane for an additional day due to the late arrival. Anyway, on 3rd September the work to fit the trusses started and took a number of days to complete as it is quite a large and complicated roof. These photos show the stages during the completion.

2nd September - roof trusses arrive on site (late!)

Internal view

External view

September 2009 - More dog photos

2009-09-05T11:15:00.005+01:00

More dog photos. The dogs love the beaches round here.

Ski

Dot

Ari and Flo

Ari

September 2009 - Sycamore Tree Bites the Dust

2009-09-02T10:56:00.002+01:00

2nd September - sycamore tree bites the dust. This is the tree that was growing across the entrance to the drive. It was growing like a weed, and had some sort of disease on its leaves so we decided that it had to go.

I chopped the main branches down last week but the trunk remained so while the crane was here we used the crane to pull it out and the bottom photo is the end result.

The tree as it was

And here it is cut down and with the crane pulling it out!

September 2009 - Walls are complete

2009-09-02T09:44:00.001+01:00

2nd September - here is the finished article (in terms of the Supawall panels being fixed in place). It's now starting to look more like a house than a slab of concrete. It's nice to see something physical for the money that has been spent so far. We have spent 77k of our original budget of 220k and at the moment are pretty much on track, although some of the quotes we're about to get might be a bit more than we originally budgeted for so we will see.

It's been a busy week in terms of people coming round to quote for different jobs with quotes coming in for roofing, blockwork and plumbing and we're pricing the materials with quotes from local builders merchants.

Front of the house

Rear view

September 2009 - First Floor Panels

2009-09-02T08:52:00.003+01:00

2nd September - The second delivery, containing the first floor panels, arrived from Scotframe. As you will see the first floor went up pretty easily. Unfortunately the roof trusses didn't arrive on schedule which was a pain as we only had the crane on hire for 1 day.

Crane arrives and prepares to lift the panels off the lorry

Panels are lifted off the lorry

First floor panels start to be fixed into place

Panels at the front of the first floor are erected

Panels at the rear are erected

September 2009 - First Floor arrives

2009-09-02T08:47:00.001+01:00

2nd September - First floor delivery arrives

August 2009 - First Floor Joists

2009-08-31T15:02:00.001+01:00

First floor joists in place ready for the delivery of the first floor

August 2009 - Internal Walls

2009-08-28T17:02:00.000+01:00

Once the Supawall panels were in place the internal layout commenced. The joists for the first floor were also fitted. All of this work including the erection of the Supawall panels was completed in 1 day by 3 joiners and a crane driver!

First floor delivery scheduled for Wednesday 2nd September.

August 2009 - Ground Floor Supawall Panels

2009-08-28T14:37:00.000+01:00

On 28th August 2009 the main build started with the erection of the ground floor Supawall panels.

First Supawall panel fixed in place. Rear view at the back of the family room.

One side complete

First front panel lifted into place

Kitchen / Dining side complete

Front of house complete

August 2009 - Timber Frame Kit Arrives!

2009-08-28T11:27:00.000+01:00

On 28th August the first delivery of the timber frame kit arrived from Inverurie! Here are some photos of the lorry (arrived early) waiting for the arrival of the crane to lift the panels into position, the arrival of the crane and lifting the panels off the lorry.

August 2009 - Day before the timber frame kit arrives and some dog photos

2009-08-27T11:08:00.001+01:00

This post shows the foundations the day before the timber frame kit arrives with our dogs sitting in the future hallway. Whilst on the subject of dogs here is a photo of our dogs on the local beach. Beaches like this were one of the reasons why we were sold on this location.

August 2009 - Mains Toilet on Site

2009-08-25T11:24:00.000+01:00

The only loo we had on site was the chemical one in the caravan so we bought a toilet from Homebase and plumbed it into the mains drains. The builders now have a loo to use. The photo shows it al fresco but it does actually have a tent erected around it now so there won't be any builders bums on show here (maybe).

August 2009 - Sole Plate

2009-08-25T11:20:00.001+01:00

The sole plate was supplied prior to the main kit arriving and this is a photo of it being put in place.

August 2009 - Entrance Door ordered

2009-08-20T09:09:00.000+01:00

We ordered this Oak door from Distinctive Doors because its style compliments the internal doors we have ordered through the timber frame company. We have a large entrance so we will also have 2 obscure glazed sidelights and a fanlight across the top. The door will arrive minus the obscure glass that we will need to order from a local glazing company once we have the exact dimensions.

August 2009 - Scaffolding

2009-08-16T11:00:00.000+01:00

While we were away for a few days the scaffolding was erected. Unfortunately it was erected too close to the foundations and had to be redone when we returned. The only saving grace with this was that Scotframe called while we were away to tell us that our timber frame kit will not be ready as planned on 19th August. Initially a blow (had to cancel the builder and the crane at short notice!) at least this mistake hasn't caused us a problem.

August 2009 - Security Camera

2009-08-12T10:56:00.000+01:00

We have installed a security camera on site and have captured some images from that. We hope to use it to provide webcam access at a later date.

August 2009 - Windows ordered

2009-08-12T10:52:00.000+01:00

We decided to have double glazed units with integral blinds (Uniblinds) throughout the house so that the blinds didn't get dusty. We have ordered these from Alpine Windows based in Leeds. Unfortunately because the blinds are supplied from Italy they won't be ready as soon as we'd like but there was a lot of faffing around over the window sizes so the order didn't go in early enough.

Alpine windows will also be supplying our back door.

July 2009 - Drains

2009-07-01T11:16:00.000+01:00

Drains and rainwater soakaways installed

Along with the additional work to the foundations one of the first main jobs we carried out once we got started on the work was to put in the drains on the plot and connect to the main sewer.

These were completed and approved by the council in July 2009.

June 2009 - Garage Foundations

2009-06-30T09:09:00.001+01:00

As well as the foundations for the future breakfast room we also laid foundations for the (eventual) garage. As with the breakfast room although the size and position of the garage will not require planning permission once the house is signed off we could not get this approved as an amendment to the planning permission. Nonetheless we decided to get all of the future foundation work completed before the main work completed so the future garage base is currently being used as a dog run for our dogs at present!

As soon as the concrete was poured there was a torrential downpour leading to the result in the second photo.

June 2009 - Foundations for the Breakfast Room

2009-06-29T19:38:00.000+01:00

The main foundations were already in place (we bought the plot from a builder who had already put the foundations in).

Here are the foundations for the new breakfast room, ready for concrete pour. This will be used as a patio initially until we get the completion certificate for the plans that have been approved by the council (minus the breakfast room).

Although under the size required for planning permission once the house is signed off we were told that this could not be considered a revision to the planning permission and a brand new application would need to be submitted. Not wanting to delay things further we will go ahead with completing the house minus the breakfast room and add this on later once we can face it!

June 2009 - Dumper Truck Turns Over!

2009-06-27T19:41:00.000+01:00

Oops - first accident on site - Tom turns the dumper truck over!

June 2009 - Electricity!

2009-06-25T19:27:00.000+01:00

Main power joint complete, we have electric !!!

We also had a phone line connected.

Water was already connected to the site and there is no mains gas in this area so that's all of the services complete.

May 2009 - Groundworks begin

2009-05-01T13:16:00.002+01:00

We finally start the development with the additional groundwork needed, that is, foundations for the future breakfast room and garage, and drains and soakaways.

April 2009 - Timber Frame Kit ordered

2009-04-15T10:38:00.001+01:00

We have ordered our timber frame kit from Scotframe. After weighing up various options we decided to go with the company that the original owner of the plot had been dealing with. Being from the south east we're more used to seeing brick and block houses as timber frame is not as popular down there but it is very popular in Scotland.

We wanted to build a well insulated house so we have gone for Scotframe's closed panel timber frame system called SupaWall that should meet future thermal performance targets. Once combined with mechanical heat recovery and solar panels we hope that this combination will keep heating costs manageable.

March 2009 - House Plans and Elevations

2009-03-25T15:39:00.000Z

House Plans & Elevations

March 2009 - Local Beaches

2009-03-01T12:50:00.001Z

One of the great things about this location are the beaches near where we live. Here are some photos of our dogs enjoying the beaches at Skateraw and the John Muir Country Park in Dunbar.

As you can see the beaches are very crowded! :)

February 2009 - More plot photos

2009-02-24T12:28:00.001Z

View of the plot showing the old Station House to the side

Another view of the front of the plot

February 2009 - Plot is ours

2009-02-23T12:36:00.005Z

This is a blog that will record our move from Kent to the Scottish Borders. When Karen's job relocated to Edinburgh one of the big decisions was where to move to with our 7 dogs. We wanted a position near the country but within a commutable distance to Edinburgh and as I wasn't totally sold on a move to Scotland the deal was that I would agree to the move if I could build my own house! And so this journey began.

We started looking in April 2008 and found this plot almost straight away. It was part of a larger plot that had been split in 2 and one half of the plot had a house already built on it with foundations in place on the other half. As the housing market was in decline the builder decided not to build the second house and offered the plot complete with foundations.

We looked around at several plots but they either weren't in the right location, weren't right for the dogs, didn't have planning permission for the sort of house we wanted or were too expensive. Whilst this plot isn't perfect (it's near to the East Coast mainline) it offered us more than others we had seen in our price range.

We had thought that buying a plot as opposed to a house would be easy but in reality there were all sorts of different issues to deal with such as transferring the building warrant, getting the foundations signed off by a structural engineer, checking on the planning permission and getting access agreed for the 2 plots.

Eventually the sale went through and we became the owners in February 2009. This is our first attempt at a self build so I'm sure there will be many challenges along the way! Our budget for the build is 220k and we hope to keep within budget as far as possible as we have no more money until the Kent house sells (which is turning out to be a long haul).

The photos show the sea views from the front of the plot, the field in front of the house and a view of the house already built (ours will be similar) from the field opposite.

The field opposite the plot

View from the top of the driveway

View from the front of the plot

View of the existing house from the front of the plot. Ours will be similar to this.