Our Victorian/industrial/canalside new build thread...
Discussion
chrisga said:
It all looks really good. Reckon you'll be finished before us and you started with a field! Nice one. Sailing next Wednesday or too busy?
Yeah, but you did yours yourself! And although we'll be moving in, there will still be an awful lot to do, the house will be an empty "blank canvas" and the garden still looks like The Somme. Sailing...no...in Ireland with work.tuffer said:
Do you have a drain between the patio and the bifolds? It is surprising how quickly water can build up during a downpour and it could swamp over that sill. I appreciate the doors will be closed when its raining but they may not be water tight.
No, there is no drain, but there is a reasonable sill. There's also a slope left to right as you look at the pic, as there's another bifold into the kitchen on the left of the patio (just out of shot). The patio drains onto a lower level path made of the same stuff, which does have a drain. But I'll keep my eye on it just in case.grf500 said:
Do you mind my asking what stone/paving you used for the patio? I'm abou tto start my own and thought yours looks great (as does the rest of the house!) - right mix of warm browns and greys.
I'm 99% sure it's a range of Indian natural stone from Travis Perkins. The packs come with three different sizes of stones for you to Tetris together at your leisure...Well, as we've been living in the house for 7 months now it's probably time for an update!
It's been quite a journey, but one that I'm so glad we went on. Chucking time, money and energy at the planning process not knowing if we would ever get it (having had one refusal) was probably the worst bit. And our little one turning up last December, whilst we were still in a very small bungalow (about 10sqm bigger than our new garage) was fantastic but testing...working from home and trying to keep the place tidy enough to sell was a challenge! But it all seems like a long time ago now and we are pretty damned chuffed with what we've done. Seems strange being sat on the sofa and thinking "a year ago I was mowing right here!"
Certainly learned a lot along the way...it's great knowing every single piece of the house, in terms of what services are running where, and how the thing is put together. Biggest regrets/lessons learned are not having downlighters downstairs (budget was under pressure and it was going to add a fair chunk...or so it seemed at the time) and surprise surprise not enough plug sockets in the kitchen. Both are easily rectified I guess.
So here's some shots of the semi-finished article. Obviously due to the surrounding area, it had to look old, and we think that aspect works really well, lots of people think it's a refurb, not a new build. As such, the inside of the house kinds matches the outside, nothing too modern or "out there". I appreciate it's all a bit cream and bland right now, however the plan is go with that for a year, understand what it's like to live here, see where the light is etc, and then it might be time for the odd feature wall or a bit more colour rather than going mad on day 1 and going "oops".
Front view from the corner of the plot...
Front view...really pleased with the chunky porch...
Side view...grass is a bit thin as it was only sown in October!
From the end of the back garden...
Patio from the back garden...
Patio from the juliet balcony in the master bedroom. Thick grass was turfed for the housewarming, the rest was a mess! The tumbledown barn in shot is ours, and at some point I'd like to rebuild it to make a garden room and garden machinery store.
Part of the old canal feeder infrastructure at the bottom of the garden. Probably a couple of hundred years old, we got it rebuilt...it's a great little feature and is floodlight (solar) at night.
Living room (picture from roughly ceiling level!)
One end of the living room. Bifolds work brilliantly and it's a real sun trap. Sorry but I don't "do" wall hung TVs. Don't understand why you want to be looking upwards rather than at eye level, and we can also rotate the stand round, and watch the TV from the patio on a summer evening!
Detail of the hearth and woodburner. TBH the woodburner is a joke...with mega insulation and wet UFH you almost need to sneak a window open to make it bearable temperature wise!
Master bedroom with door to ensuite...
It was time for some chunky new furniture...we have a matching wardrobe too.
Landing...
Hallway from the kitchen. The door next to the glazed panel goes out to the entrance "indside" porch, and the on to the front door and outside porch, so you do have an "airlock".
Kitchen. Really pleased with this. Sinks are granite, and the food waste disposal system on the sink is really useful.
I'm not keen on "eye level" cookers, I much prefer a range cooker as a focal point for the kitchen. This one is a Smeg dual fuel.
Smeg fridge freezer with built in "Prosecco flap"! Had to be done. Red and wine storage behind. Sometimes holding some of Aldi's finest...
Other end of kitchen. Island "zones" the kitchen really nicely.
Utility room. 'Scuse the mess. And the 17 year old cat.
Part of the bathroom. The bath is 1800mm long, really deep, and is really rather marvelous.
Plenty room in the garage!
Well, I guess that's it for now. Obviously I've not included shots of all the rooms...other bedrooms, bathrooms, and the dining room which is still full of moving in boxes! If anyone particularly wants to see them, let me know. I'll update it again when the garden is a bit more established. In the meantime, this was a moving in present, and hangs in the hallway in pride of place. Seems bloody weird when all we had was this plan and the land, and now we're living there.
It's been quite a journey, but one that I'm so glad we went on. Chucking time, money and energy at the planning process not knowing if we would ever get it (having had one refusal) was probably the worst bit. And our little one turning up last December, whilst we were still in a very small bungalow (about 10sqm bigger than our new garage) was fantastic but testing...working from home and trying to keep the place tidy enough to sell was a challenge! But it all seems like a long time ago now and we are pretty damned chuffed with what we've done. Seems strange being sat on the sofa and thinking "a year ago I was mowing right here!"
Certainly learned a lot along the way...it's great knowing every single piece of the house, in terms of what services are running where, and how the thing is put together. Biggest regrets/lessons learned are not having downlighters downstairs (budget was under pressure and it was going to add a fair chunk...or so it seemed at the time) and surprise surprise not enough plug sockets in the kitchen. Both are easily rectified I guess.
So here's some shots of the semi-finished article. Obviously due to the surrounding area, it had to look old, and we think that aspect works really well, lots of people think it's a refurb, not a new build. As such, the inside of the house kinds matches the outside, nothing too modern or "out there". I appreciate it's all a bit cream and bland right now, however the plan is go with that for a year, understand what it's like to live here, see where the light is etc, and then it might be time for the odd feature wall or a bit more colour rather than going mad on day 1 and going "oops".
Front view from the corner of the plot...
Front view...really pleased with the chunky porch...
Side view...grass is a bit thin as it was only sown in October!
From the end of the back garden...
Patio from the back garden...
Patio from the juliet balcony in the master bedroom. Thick grass was turfed for the housewarming, the rest was a mess! The tumbledown barn in shot is ours, and at some point I'd like to rebuild it to make a garden room and garden machinery store.
Part of the old canal feeder infrastructure at the bottom of the garden. Probably a couple of hundred years old, we got it rebuilt...it's a great little feature and is floodlight (solar) at night.
Living room (picture from roughly ceiling level!)
One end of the living room. Bifolds work brilliantly and it's a real sun trap. Sorry but I don't "do" wall hung TVs. Don't understand why you want to be looking upwards rather than at eye level, and we can also rotate the stand round, and watch the TV from the patio on a summer evening!
Detail of the hearth and woodburner. TBH the woodburner is a joke...with mega insulation and wet UFH you almost need to sneak a window open to make it bearable temperature wise!
Master bedroom with door to ensuite...
It was time for some chunky new furniture...we have a matching wardrobe too.
Landing...
Hallway from the kitchen. The door next to the glazed panel goes out to the entrance "indside" porch, and the on to the front door and outside porch, so you do have an "airlock".
Kitchen. Really pleased with this. Sinks are granite, and the food waste disposal system on the sink is really useful.
I'm not keen on "eye level" cookers, I much prefer a range cooker as a focal point for the kitchen. This one is a Smeg dual fuel.
Smeg fridge freezer with built in "Prosecco flap"! Had to be done. Red and wine storage behind. Sometimes holding some of Aldi's finest...
Other end of kitchen. Island "zones" the kitchen really nicely.
Utility room. 'Scuse the mess. And the 17 year old cat.
Part of the bathroom. The bath is 1800mm long, really deep, and is really rather marvelous.
Plenty room in the garage!
Well, I guess that's it for now. Obviously I've not included shots of all the rooms...other bedrooms, bathrooms, and the dining room which is still full of moving in boxes! If anyone particularly wants to see them, let me know. I'll update it again when the garden is a bit more established. In the meantime, this was a moving in present, and hangs in the hallway in pride of place. Seems bloody weird when all we had was this plan and the land, and now we're living there.
Edited by Hard-Drive on Sunday 13th November 21:33
Edited by Hard-Drive on Sunday 13th November 21:35
Thanks for all of the positive comments both on the thread and the house guys. Much appreciated.
Thunderguts...yes, I plan on repainting the bathrooms over Christmas...but need to decide on the colour, and this time get some test pots!
BenWRXSEi...no, not Indigo, it was Bespoke Rustic Furniture off eBay. Really pleased with the look (the wardrobe, out of shot, is a monster!) and it's very reasonably priced too.
ndg...kitchen was from Benchmarx, which is Travis Perkins. I think it's trade only technically, but they seem more than happy to sign you up for a trade card no questions asked! Our cabinets are Parma Gloss Cream. Worktops are solid oak, but a word of warning that they are much higher maintenance than granite or formica jobbies. You do need to be careful with staining spills and keep on top of the oiling. Sinks are Luisina granite. Appliances are Smeg, with a Beko tumble dryer (for some reason Smeg don't do a s/s tumble dryer). The washing machine came with us from our old place and is a washer dryer, although with a 10 month old both machines are often running! Wine cooler is Benchmarx as are the taps. Flooring is engineered oak (oiled)
Joestiff...yes, the one big thing that will annoy me forever is the footprint of the house. The council made us scale it back a bit, but strangely the front aspect was fine, what they insisted on was making the "L" bit shorter. In this shot you can see it between the main house and the garage. Now, if it had reached even 2-3 metres further into our back garden, it would have meant that we could have had a walk in wardrobe and a wider bathroom upstairs, and downstairs the loo could have been a wetroom. I don't really see what difference it would have made being bigger from a planning perspective, as to be honest you can only really see it if you stand in our garden. Just seems daft but there you go.
Another inch of height on the garage doors would have been good too. In the previous pics, where the Defender and the Porsche are in the garage together, the Defender is just about OK on that side, however where it's masked up for a bit of spray painting on the other side, it actually scrapes the top of the door frame! Gah! However it's a really early 110 so has the "runners" on the roof...I plan to rebuild it one day with the smooth roof which will cure that (very first world) problem. I didn't have the Defender when I started and if it was on standard tyres it would probably have been OK anyway.
Four other things...somehow with all the pressures of juggling life and a new baby, I forgot to run any Cat6 to the garage. It would be good to have a connection and an AP in there for perhaps looking at how-to videos on car mechanics. Easily sorted with a wirleline repeater I guess. Also, I forgot to get a TV cable run into the bedroom. Not that I've ever had a bedroom TV, but a bit annoying all the same. Thirdly, the light switch for the ensuite is in the bedroom. So basically you end up flooding the bedroom with light if you want to use it in the middle of the night. A pull cord inside the ensuite would have been far better to keep things dark. And lastly, having to buy a few tons of topsoil for the landscapers after having paid for it to be carted and tipped was a bit annoying! The topsoil should have been piled up but it looks like some went. Minor niggles though, let's be honest!
Thunderguts...yes, I plan on repainting the bathrooms over Christmas...but need to decide on the colour, and this time get some test pots!
BenWRXSEi...no, not Indigo, it was Bespoke Rustic Furniture off eBay. Really pleased with the look (the wardrobe, out of shot, is a monster!) and it's very reasonably priced too.
ndg...kitchen was from Benchmarx, which is Travis Perkins. I think it's trade only technically, but they seem more than happy to sign you up for a trade card no questions asked! Our cabinets are Parma Gloss Cream. Worktops are solid oak, but a word of warning that they are much higher maintenance than granite or formica jobbies. You do need to be careful with staining spills and keep on top of the oiling. Sinks are Luisina granite. Appliances are Smeg, with a Beko tumble dryer (for some reason Smeg don't do a s/s tumble dryer). The washing machine came with us from our old place and is a washer dryer, although with a 10 month old both machines are often running! Wine cooler is Benchmarx as are the taps. Flooring is engineered oak (oiled)
Joestiff...yes, the one big thing that will annoy me forever is the footprint of the house. The council made us scale it back a bit, but strangely the front aspect was fine, what they insisted on was making the "L" bit shorter. In this shot you can see it between the main house and the garage. Now, if it had reached even 2-3 metres further into our back garden, it would have meant that we could have had a walk in wardrobe and a wider bathroom upstairs, and downstairs the loo could have been a wetroom. I don't really see what difference it would have made being bigger from a planning perspective, as to be honest you can only really see it if you stand in our garden. Just seems daft but there you go.
Another inch of height on the garage doors would have been good too. In the previous pics, where the Defender and the Porsche are in the garage together, the Defender is just about OK on that side, however where it's masked up for a bit of spray painting on the other side, it actually scrapes the top of the door frame! Gah! However it's a really early 110 so has the "runners" on the roof...I plan to rebuild it one day with the smooth roof which will cure that (very first world) problem. I didn't have the Defender when I started and if it was on standard tyres it would probably have been OK anyway.
Four other things...somehow with all the pressures of juggling life and a new baby, I forgot to run any Cat6 to the garage. It would be good to have a connection and an AP in there for perhaps looking at how-to videos on car mechanics. Easily sorted with a wirleline repeater I guess. Also, I forgot to get a TV cable run into the bedroom. Not that I've ever had a bedroom TV, but a bit annoying all the same. Thirdly, the light switch for the ensuite is in the bedroom. So basically you end up flooding the bedroom with light if you want to use it in the middle of the night. A pull cord inside the ensuite would have been far better to keep things dark. And lastly, having to buy a few tons of topsoil for the landscapers after having paid for it to be carted and tipped was a bit annoying! The topsoil should have been piled up but it looks like some went. Minor niggles though, let's be honest!
Edited by Hard-Drive on Monday 14th November 17:36
Pamoothican said:
That's a lovely house. Excellent post too.
I will build my own house one day, but for now maybe just an extension.
Oh, any pictures of the pipe/tunnel with the lights on?
'Fraid not, and I suspect my iPhone would be a bit pants at taking the night photo too. TBH at this time of year it's less impressive, as the solar panel is getting a lot less sunlight, however in the summer I was genuinely gobsmacked how well it works for a cheapo Amazon special.I will build my own house one day, but for now maybe just an extension.
Oh, any pictures of the pipe/tunnel with the lights on?
Pamoothican said:
That's a lovely house. Excellent post too.
I will build my own house one day, but for now maybe just an extension.
Oh, any pictures of the pipe/tunnel with the lights on?
Here you go. Now the longer days are here the solar battery gets a good charge and does the job well. Pic is just an old iPhone 5, no flash.I will build my own house one day, but for now maybe just an extension.
Oh, any pictures of the pipe/tunnel with the lights on?
Due to a rather sad change in circumstances (end of relationship) this property is now for sale. Sometimes life just doesn't turn out as expected so it's time for someone else to enjoy the effort that went into this.
I won't post a direct link as it might fall foul of moderation rules but the location is Hillmorton, Rugby, and the agent has been briefed to qualify buyers hard as I'm very keen to avoid viewings by people who have no intention/means of buying...trust me it's painful enough as is without timewasters, especially as I work from home too.
I guess it's a legacy and will still stand long after I've gone, so on the positive side it's good to have left a small mark on the world, and perhaps when things are back on an even keel I'd do the same thing again, having learned a lot about the self build process on this one! I won't go into any further details here but if anyone is looking for a PH-worthy house with a monster garage/man cave, this might just be it!
I won't post a direct link as it might fall foul of moderation rules but the location is Hillmorton, Rugby, and the agent has been briefed to qualify buyers hard as I'm very keen to avoid viewings by people who have no intention/means of buying...trust me it's painful enough as is without timewasters, especially as I work from home too.
I guess it's a legacy and will still stand long after I've gone, so on the positive side it's good to have left a small mark on the world, and perhaps when things are back on an even keel I'd do the same thing again, having learned a lot about the self build process on this one! I won't go into any further details here but if anyone is looking for a PH-worthy house with a monster garage/man cave, this might just be it!
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