A list of suppliers and trades that contributed towards our Selfbuild

A little after it was intended, but here is a list of the suppliers and trades we used during our self-build. Some of these supply nationwide, but lots are based locally in our beautiful county of Herefordshire.

The list in no particular order (hopefully including everyone who contributed towards our self-build), with an outline description of what they did/had input towards towards are:

Mark Littleworth of MGL Building, Leominster (Base, General Building, Brick/Block Work) 07971850680

Neil Smillie, Bromyard (General Carpentry, 1st & 2nd Fix) 07977093162

Border Oak, Kingsland (Oak frame, timber framed shell, roof, doors & windows) 01568708733

Neil Littleworth, Plumbing & Heating (Plumbing & underfloor heating) 07889093188

Sid Littleworth @ Courtyard Designs, Risbury (Oak Stairs, Oak Window Boards) 07710156095

Stuart Carter Furniture, Tenbury (Custom made wardrobe, softwood cupboard doors, ledge and brace doors) 07971325921

Gareth @ GRM Electrical, Tenbury (1st & 2nd Fix electrics) 0751763961

Travis Perkins Leominster (General Materials & Tools throughout the build) 01568612531

Eclisse (Pocket Door) 01476565497

Powell & Co Timber Merchants, Kingsland (Timber cladding & general timber for internal stud walling etc) 01568708819

Goode Brothers Timber Merchants, Mortimers Cross (Oak Doors, Oak Door Linings, Oak Skirting Boards, Oak Architrave) 01568708382

Dave Goodfield Decorating & Plumbing, Leominster (Tiling / Decorating) 07974284041

Stan Stones, Hereford (Stone floor tiling, wall tiling)  07912938850

Balustrade UK, Dudley (Glass Balustrade for stairs/landing) 01384252342

Aella @ Boyd Scaffolding, Craven Arms 07525772696

Devant Designs, Hereford (Floor & Wall Tiles) 01432355377

Discovery Tool Hire, Leominster 01568613188

Ian Godding @ Hitrees Building & Landscaping, Bicton 07885839348

Owen Hicks Architects, Hereford (Building Regs Drawings & Architects Certificate) 01432261152

Tony Jarman, Leominster (General building) 07802422571

Garry @ Herefordshire Drylining (Plaster boarding, tape and jointing) 07831121459

Kingspan Insulation, Pembridge 01544388601

Fontura Worktops, Leominster (Kitchen Worktops) 07738934354

Crown Decorating Centre, Hereford (Paints internal / external) 01432276254

Leominster Pest Control 01568615249

Shaun @ Acorn Construction (Flowing floor screed) 07971116817

Stuart Rye, Ironbridge (Building air test) 07976372271

B & Q Hereford, Kitchen & Bathroom 01432277630

Bill Sommers Mortgages, Leominster 01568614477

Rowlands Roofing, Hereford 01981251590

Kai Stevens (Stone scalpings, aggregates etc) 07966083181

Bromfields Sand & Gravel 01584856258

Wills Engineering, Leominster (steel for our table) 01568616303

Hyde Brothers, Wooferton (Plumbing Supplies, Septic Tank) 01584711713

Howdens Leominster 01568614904

Beryl Beaumont (Curtains & roman blinds) 07870329469

Apologies if I have forgotten anyone, if you want to be added to this list please contact me.

Best regards, Tim

Finally we're ont'elly... how did that happen?

11 months from when we first put a hole in the ground to start the foundations, we managed to move in and along the way build our dream home with the help and skills of some fantastic, friends, family and trades. We managed to do quite a bit of the work ourselves, found skills we didn't know we had, build it on budget (which was good, because we didn't have an extra few million to cover an over spend) and on time - not bad for someone who fixes cars!

Over the last few weeks I have contemplated what we have achieved (with the help of a quite few others) and it feels amazing to finally be living in our house. We poured our hearts and souls into the build and with the exception of the garden there isn't that much left to sort out. On the whole, I think we managed to stay pretty positive throughout the build with the relatively small issues experienced paling into insignificance when we look at what we've managed to do. Managing the build alongside working has been very challenging, emotional, sometimes frustrating, really exciting, great fun and at times very tiring, but extremely rewarding. Every success and imperfection we've had a significant part in. Not many people are lucky enough to build their own house and we feel very privileged to have done so. If anyone gets the chance, is prepared to make sacrifices and put in some hard work they should jump at the opportunity!

We were lucky enough to have our build recorded by the talented (not just with the camera) and generally nice fellow Lee Chapman. Thanks to Lee's filming along with the input from the rest of the True North Production team our house build will be visually documented forever. Lee who was on site with us regularly throughout -  helped us to adapt to being filmed with a massive lense in our little faces, keeping it relaxed and interesting and without impacting on progress. It is nice to think we have made a friend through one of the most significant 12 months of our lives and I am sure we will keep in contact in the future. Charlie, Christian, Stokey, Sally, Hayley among others at True North made our self-build journey fun, kept us (and some of the trades) on focus and on time along with providing us with some fantastic improvements to our home, which we wouldn't have thought possible and/or affordable - thanks for that Charlie, we didn't see it initially but in most cases you (and Fliss) were right.

While building, Fliss also managed to plan our wedding and while I moaned and groaned about help with the house on times, she managed to pull off a perfect day and the start of the next (hopefully slightly more relaxed) chapter of our lives together.

A massive thank you to everyone at True North and the friends, family, work colleagues, companies and trades who made it all possible. Here are some sneaky pics of our house which will be on later today, Tuesday 21st October 2014 - 9pm on More4 "Building the Dream."

 House designed, frame and shell erected by Border Oak with design drawings tweaks by Owen Hicks Architecture 

Open plan living space

Oak stairs made by Courtyard Designs, brushed Nickel handrail from Ironmongery direct and glass  from Balustrade UK

Liv's wardrobe handmade by Stuart Carter Furniture and painted by us

 Josh's bedroom not too messy yet

Bathroom tiles from Devant Designs, Hereford, Bathroom suit etc mixed and matched from various suppliers including reclaimed.

We love our new home. I hope you enjoy the programme as much as we enjoyed being part of it...

I will compile a list in a future blog with links where possible of the trades, companies and suppliers who we used along the way. Bye for now...

Filling in the blanks... part due

July 2014, we were now frantically getting ready to move in. All the major works on the house were completed but it is amazing how much time the finishing (and preparing to finish) takes. July seemed to be a really good month for progress, with very visible things happening. 

Starting with the upstairs bathroom. After watching the dry lining being done I decided that I would have a go myself in the upstairs bathroom and made the frame, fixed the plasterboard and tape and jointed. At best it would look alright and at worst it was in the back of the bathroom so wouldn't matter anyway! I don't think it ended up too bad and we have another useful little storage box. 

A bit messy but looks OK, pipe work boxed in

Bathroom floor down ready for painting and tiling

Oak shelf, cut, fitted, oiled and ready for the bathroom suite and radiator 

Tiling taking shape

Reclaimed toiled and sink plumbed in and fitted. Radiator sat on the oak shelf.

Bathroom feature wall

Josh's room all cleaned up and ready for underlay and floorboards to go down.

Nearly there, last couple of boards and Josh room floor will be done

Engineered oak flooring in Olivias room , starting to look like a home upstairs

We've put the same engineered flooring through the upstairs rooms 

While the upstairs progressed, downstairs the Oak architrave and skirting boards also were being fitted. The oak was sourced from a local timber yard just down the road in Mortimers Cross (Good Brothers). We used them for quite a bit of the internal oak finishes as I found them very helpful and the timescales they were able to turn around orders also suited our build. I also hadn't forgotten how they managed to turn around the door linings within a couple of days earlier in the build, which meant the plaster boarding wasn't delayed. 

Oak architrave and skirting boards downstairs

Mitred joints and screw and plug fixing

Caps ready to fill the holes in the oak

Oak ledge doors hung

The quartze worktop supplied and installed by Fontoura in Leominster. Just 7 days from the templating the worktop was installed and the kitchen started to feel like a useable space. 

While the inside progressed a lot was happening on the outside as well.

The sceptic tank - we now have somewhere for the waste to go, which is the last thing that would enable us to move in. 

 Lighting up the oak and sitting area outside the french doors. When we have time for BBQs!

Outside lights by the front and rear doors. A bargain of the interweb. 

Really happy with the Lindab galvanised steel guttering, especially against the roof tiles and grey timber cladding. 

Thats it for now, thanks for looking! Tim 

Filling in the blanks... part uno

I am going to use the next couple of blogs to fill in some of the blanks I missed to write about when we were in the throws of the finishing the house off. We simply didn't have enough time to write properly, but I made some notes and took some photos along the way so I could come back to it later (well now really).

The first of the missing blogs is June 2014. We started to make some progress downstairs that made it feel more like a house than a shell. With the electrics and plumbing first fix sorted, the tiles on the floor we were able to fit the kitchen and the delay in the floor tiles meant that we were able to use the time for Stan Stones to tile the shower room. I fitted most of the kitchen myself, very therapeutic when it goes to plan...

The kitchen has finally been moved into the right part of the house, while we start to assemble units before moving them out of the way to start fitting the units.

 The first and most difficult unit on the who kitchen is put into position and fixed

 Washing machine & dishwasher spaced as the other units go in

We have the bare bones of a kitchen

 The shower room tiling is well under way, with the glass tiles forming the back wall of the shower

Holes in the wall, sealed and tiled

Tiles grouted and ready for the shower, screen, toilet and sink

While the downstairs moves on, Fliss and Mum wallpapered Josh' bedroom

Thanks, for reading the next blog will be soon!

Filming a nosey around another house...

We've had a hectic week on the build and filming! Neil Littleworth has been and done the first fix plumbing and GRM Electrical Services have made a start on the first fix electrics. We've had two lots of filming including a presenter catch up with Charlie Luxton (i'll cover the Charlie catch up in the next blog).

As part of "Building the Dream" we had the opportunity to have a nosey around another self built home that is going to be similar in construction to ours. The house is quite a bit bigger than ours will be, with a lot more oak throughout but it is finished in weatherboard and it has given us feel for what ours will be like at the end. Emma showed us around her home, which felt very warm and homely with a country cottage feel throughout. They have used flooring to make the house flow from the entrance into the kitchen/diner/snug looking and this is something we will look at carefully as we decide on the flooring. 

Holly Cottage, New Radnor

Although ours isn't going be a country cottage style, there were some nice features that either reinforced decisions we had made (like galvanised steel guttering) or gave us something to think about. We had been considering oak ledge and brace doors and these look great with pewter iron mongery (although it might not be what we end up with, but i'll talk about that next blog). They also had solid flooring throughout including bedrooms and seeing this in reality, made me realise that maybe Fliss wasn't wrong with the fact that this can work... We are also (after seeing the stone floor tiles) going to look again at tiles in the main living space, because polished concrete is looking too cost prohibitive at the moment. Another potential cost saving option is to use white skirting and architrave? It is something we were looking at, but seeing how they did theirs works quite well against oak.

Following advice of the plumber we decided to do first fix plumbing in a couple of stages so we can progress along with other works. 

 Copper pipes for the bath run through the stud wall timbers to keep them hidden.

 We'll need to box in this section in afterwards

The soil pipe is left part in place to allow clean cuts for plasterboarding

In the next blog I am going tell you about our day with Charlie Luxton and some more ideas along with giving you more of a look at the inside of the house, our plans and some of the changes made.

First delays... a new experience for our build

The build has been moving along so well, in terms of timing and things being done as expected, but this week we have seen our first real setback.

We were due to have our windows and doors fitted next week, but due to flooding in the factory there has been a delay that is likely to mean we will fall several weeks behind where we thought we would be on the external side of the build. I realise it isn't anyones fault, but that doesn't mask the disappointment Fliss and I felt on Monday when we found out. We'd been really looking forwards to getting the windows fitted! It's the first date on the build that hasn't been met, which is a new experience for us.

The consequence of the delay will impact on other work, we had scheduled the remaining brick work to be completed this week (which is still on track), following on with windows and doors next week and then first week in February the external weather boarding to be done - which would have meant by mid February the house would be completely water tight... hopefully the delay won't push us too far back into worse weather.

The scaffolding is now completely down internally and externally, which revealed the house more fully on the outside and gave a sense of the space inside. We are both delighted with how it is taking shape and pleased with the colour we've been painting on the exposed softwood timbers. As well as Fliss and I painting weather board (52 down, just another 32 to go), I've been quietly carrying on with the insulation in the roof over the last week or so. It's coming along but is a slow process when your are doing it around a normal working day. I had Dad helping again last Saturday, which has made a big difference.

I've got a day off on Friday to help start to do the downstairs stud walling and a bit more on Saturday so we are ready for first fix plumbing  last week in January and then moving on to electrics.

So, by the end of this month we should have all the house external brick work completed, all the internal stud walling in place and the first fix plumbing done. We will also have done a bit more filming for our mentor visit to another house!

Finally I just wanted to thank you for reading, since the blog started we've now had over 4000 views!

Weather dodging into the new year...

As the first blog post of the year, I'd like to start by wishing you all the best for the New Year. This is one of the most important years of our lives to date. Somewhere towards the middle of it we will be moving into our new home and in September we'll be getting married. Nothing like cramming a couple of major life events in, in a few months!

We've had some pretty awful weather over the last 2 weeks, when it's rained its really RAINED, it's been windy - VERY WINDY, but we've actually had quite a few dry days or afternoons complete with blue sky and the upshot of that is that we've managed to dodge the weather to do some work on the outside of the house that we weren't necessarily expecting to be able to do.

So it's been all hands on deck over the Christmas break, with no trades on site we've been busy ourselves and have had some help from my Mum & Dad and also the kids when they were up with us.

With the weather being kind in patches we've painted both the gable ends of the house (3 coats of paint, so that's finished), the front of the house under the eves, with 2 coats and the rear of the house 1 coat. Considering the time of year that's pretty good going! We've also managed when dry to move 85 x 6meter feather edge boards inside the house to dry and shifted most of the Kingspan K7 Kooltherm Roof Insulation upstairs, in the dry. Maneuvering around the scaffolding proved tricky, but we managed to do it. Keeping as much of the materials as possible dry at this time of year is critical to being able to get on to the next stage...

Kingspan K7 Kooltherm in the dry

75mm & 100mm K7 Boards laid out for easy access to cut and install

85 x 6 meter Larch Feather Edge Boards inside, laid out for painting or drying

I sourced 6 meter Baltic grown, Larch Feather Edged Boards from local Kingsland timber merchants Powell & Co. Excellent service and very helpful staff and being just 5 mins down the road from our home very handy! Once we'd moved all of the feather edged boards inside, we set about giving them a coat of paint. We had plans on doing them all, but due to a technical issue (um I spilt a tin of paint and when I tried to replenish it found out that the supplier was closed until January 2nd) we only managed to get a third of them painted and dried. Josh & Liv spent a day over Christmas mucking in and helping us paint a few of the boards. Giving them a coat of paint (or 2) now means that if and when they shrink on the outside of the building we won't be left with unpainted wood showing through (that tip was from John at Border Oak). We've now got more paint though so can crack on with those over the coming weeks. Our deadline for getting this done is the end of January. Weather permitting, the external timber cladding is scheduled to be fitted early February.

The first piece of Kingspan K7 Kooltherm insulation in place - quite a few more left to do!

We managed to get started on insulating the roof, but from what I've seen so far it's going to be a long process! Dad and Mum helped out and we've managed to make a good start, but with 175mm of insulation going into the roof (between the rafters), before the plasterboard on top - it means cutting every section twice. Something I've learnt from speaking various insulation buffs is that the aim of the game with insulation is to keep it continuous and free from gaps. Any joints between the front boards and the rear shouldn't be the same, overlapping and taping joints. The big and straight sections aren't too difficult, but the small intricate sections are time consuming and tricky.

Insulation taking shape.

If anyone else reading this is planning on Self Building, I'd say that you need to be flexible with your approach to the jobs you plan to do yourself - when it's dry, do as much of the outside work as you can, because once you've got the house in the dry you can always revert back inside.

Over the next week, we'll be carrying on with insulation, painting more boards and Boyd Scaffolding will be on site to take down the scaffolding - so we'll be able to see the house properly!

Thanks for reading this blog!

Tim 

The roof is coming...

After week 2 of the frame work, we were up to the wall plates, with scaffolding erected around the house and the internal bird cage - now the roof carpentry has started!

Scaffolding up, ready for the roof works to start.

There have been a few small complications with the frame, but this has been resolved and it was all fixed together ready for the roof. One the benefits of using a local company is that we didn't have to wait very long for it to be resolved and it didn't cause a delay to the project..

Last week felt quite a stressful week with lots to organise and arrange, but piece by piece it is getting closer to our finished home. I've learnt a lot this last week while discussing various facets of the building works, materials and more. Fortunately I have a lot of people to talk through most areas of the build and finishing. Utilising expertise from trades qualified and skilled in what they do is a key part of the building process, but I feel you shouldn't lose sight of the fact that at the end of it, it is our project and it will culminate in our dream home being developed.

After a bit of a mix up with the arrangement of the scaffolding supplier, I chose to arrange my own supplier. There were a few factors that influenced this, firstly they came highly recommended by several people I know and trust. Secondly they were competitively priced and finally I have had a relationship with them as a customer and have always found them straightforward to deal with. After being put back by a day, Boyd Scaffolding arrived on Thursday as agreed. They talked me through what they were going to do on site; and the scaffolding was up in 2 days. I wasn't on site while it went up, but they kept me up to date with information on progress and any queries they had.

Raised scaffolding at the gable ends

At the end of last week it was great to get up on the scaffolding to have a look at what the upstairs space might be like and of course the views we will get once the caravan moves! The kids were up this weekend and they hadn't seen it since it was just a base. A lot has happened in two weeks and they were quite excited by it all. 

Internal bird cage scaffolding inside the house.

Attic trusses being unloaded #ruraltrafficjamcaused

The roof carpentry has started this week, along with a spot of filming tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, Tim

Frame part erected, stroking the oak and a parrot named Dave...

I delayed writing this blog by a couple of days because this week promised to be really exciting for us, and we haven't been disappointed!

On Monday the main structure of our house arrived! I stayed on site for the morning to see what was going to happen, meet the Border Oak site team who will be putting our frame up and project manager. The Oak Frame arrived first followed by 2 packs of our softwood panels that will make up the ground floor all ready to be erected!

Border Oak Frame being delivered

Oak frame ready to be unpacked and assembled

2nd delivery of Monday, 2 packs of softwood panels

It's surprising how small it looks on the back of a delivery lorry, but as it is unpacked and starts to go up you really get a sense of how it will come together. Bit by bit, piece by piece. Like a big jigsaw, with very heavy pieces! 

Miserable weather, but the first part of the frame is assembled prior to being put together. This is the glazed section above the french doors on the front of the house

Shortly after this I left site for the rest of the day, but we returned at the end of the day to a pleasant surprise - the first part of the oak frame was up and in position. The only problem was it was dark so we couldn't have a proper look. Needless to say I woke VERY early and took the following snap just before 7am... I had waited until there was enough light to get a reasonable pic.

Main section of the Oak Frame in position at the end of Day 1 for Border Oak on Site

We knew today was going to be full on! Not only were we filming for Building the Dream with Lee from True North, but also we were hoping that a large part of the frame would be put up and we would be around to see it happen. We also had a meeting to finalise some choices on the colour of the windows and doors, door furniture and roof tiles. To start the day off the weather was fantastic, sunshine and blue sky - in November! 

The rear porch being hoisted into position and yes that is blue sky in November!

Lee photo bombing, albeit he probably didn't know!

When Lee arrived we presented him with his chamois (left from last visit) and a Parrot. Not a live one of course, but we felt it a vital addition to help us with concentration...Today's filming was good fun and we both felt much more relaxed with the camera around. I'm sure Dave helped with that. 

Everything seemed to be moving forwards quite swiftly, but while the Oak frame was being put into position we came across a slight problem with the positioning of one of the beams on the front bay window section. It was causing a slight problem with the rear of the frame being lined up, but after a bit of re-measuring and discussion it was easily resolved onsite without too much of an issue; so onwards we moved.  

The Oak Frame up in it's full form.

View from the front

We wrapped up the filming for the day after around 4 hours on site - it seemed to fly by. It's great to see the house taking shape, with a real feel for size and volume (thanks for that word Merry). The Oak looks very substantial and sturdy and is a very tactile product and I couldn't resist having a stroke. 

To finish our day off, I've confirmed details and booked Boyd Scaffolding for next week in preparation for the roof joinery the week after next. 

Thanks for reading! 

Tim