of managing your own build project.

We’re toying with the idea of buying a two up two down and having it extended to the side to double it in size. It’ll become a blank sheet design wise then.

“blank sheet design wise” sounds like “massively overexpensive / underestimated costs” to me, but maybe I’m just a cynic.

Never again. 2 professionals one of whom is a civil engineer and the other who has significant project management experience. Realistic expectations and realistic budget.
Did i say never again ?
Well, never again.
Grand designs has covered it mostly.

converted a barn. Bought the site in August 09, started on site Nov 09, moved in september ’10 and half way through 4 weeks landscaping works now.

Builder mate was brains behind technical building knowlegde but I designed layout, dimensions, fixtures and fittings specs, heating system, lighting, stairs etc. Im a real estate analyst and do project appraisals for a living so doing the financial side of planning things and keeping on budget etc was relatively easy. Mrs S is an accountant too, so bookkeeping and keeping on top of supplier invoices and supplier accounts was covered.

I think I can definitely say our build was a success, under budget (-5%), ahead of schedule (-2mths), and a good quality finish. Very proud of it. third only to my two boys in terms of things Im most proud of.

Only downside is the acceptance that its a perfect house for us and there’s almost zero chance that we’ll want to sell it to have another go at a build.

Tips: research, research, research. Build it magazine, design and build magazine subscriptions. Self Build exhibition in Swindon. every night on the internet researching new technology, systems, compatabilities etc – dont underestimate how poorly tradespeople keep up to date with new developments in hardware and materials. Get a good rapport going with a local builders merchant. You should have a pick of a few. Go round each of them, talk through your plans and budget. You should get between 20% and 70% off shopfloor prices for most of what you buy. I liked to use local suppliers too for rough cut timber (i.e. not joists, but cladding and oak posts) and local joiners for windows etc so I could spend time at their workshops talking through bits and pieces rather than over the phone. My only concession was I used an “online” stair provider because they could produce fantastic value oak stairs and they were bang-on for measurement.

you can see pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/northmalvern/bakehousebarnonline and http://picasaweb.google.com/northmalvern/bakehousebarnonline2

any questions, post them in here – boring day in the office ahead so Im happy to spend it in here boring the pants off everyone 😉

Stoner,

nice boiler 😀 seriously where did you source that from, who manufactured it? I like the idea of a multi fuel for preparing for potential future fuel cost spikes.

cheers

Wow – a lot of work there. good job.

I like your built in storage.

What did you use to build it? (The boards I mean)

The boiler is an Ulma 2000 (Finnish) burner stuffed into a Jaspi Biotriplex boiler (Swedish) (burner one side, furnace the other for burning logs in). That feeds into a 700 litre Jaspi GTV thermal store. In a few weeks that will also be linked up to 5kW of solar thermal panels in the garden to do all of summer hot water and contribute to spring/autumn too.

I used a local guy as a specifier. You should be able to find a local retailer if you contact jaspi direct.

Iain – what storage?

EDIT: forgot to mention, I was on site for at least 4 days a week throughout the build, doing the building work with my mate. Staying that close to the project means you can make decisions in situ and not have to leave things to your trades to make judgment calls on – a problem my neighbour has had with his refurb job while he’s been in at work for several days at a time.

EDIT2: turin – you dont have to use a pellet burner in that boiler. There’s a n immersion heater in there for emergencies, but you can also get an oil burner if that’s what works for you. You then just use the furnace to burn logs to keep your bills down. However pellets are nearly as simple to burn as oil – the boiiler turns itself on and off as it needs to just like with oil. The only additional work is cleaning and servicing which is so simple to do I can do it in about 1hr (cleaning) and 30minutes (servicing burner). And needs doing maybe 2 or 3 times a year.

The last few photos on the second page have the whole wall as book shelves.
Just wondering if this was built by a carpenter or bought in?
And if built what raw materials were used.

ah. That was made by a friend of the family for us. He’s a cabinet maker. He makes things like that (and the boot store if it’s in one of the pics – sorry cant check as I cant see picasa albums behind the firewall in the office) out of MDF. He’s a bit of a perfectionist and not cheap but it was also a bit of a favour from us to him as his divorce was killing him for cash 😉