If you were to build (/have built) your perfect home...

[Streetrod]

briSk said:

Dibby said:

That would be the dream to get it as energy efficient as you can, a bloke round here has panels, turbines, ground source heat pump, fresh water spring, the only bills he pays is to have the cess pit emptied.

Not into the eco-hippy save the planet maaaan ideas, want to do it to not have to pay bills, don't mind an outlay up front but choosing energy suppliers, comparing prices websites can all be left behind

that's my idea too. i'd almost deliberately build it all out of concrete to not be 'sustainable' ( ) - but have low future consumption.. i would never have a something that aimed to be 'eco' but i'd have something that aimed to be 'low consumption'... because spending money on boring stuff is boring.

I am thinking the same way, I'm not that green but I like low bills and and cool technology. So as mentioned earlier we were going to build a Huf-Haus but are now building a custom house. But we are steeling the Huf-Haus energy and heating systems that has been intergrated into our design. We have a huge roof area that will be covered with panels but intergrated so as to be part of the design. If you look at this video it will explain how the system is going to work. In theory we will be selling electricity back to the grid

Its not cheap, but I am only going to do it once

http://www.huf-haus.com/images/video_art9/art9_gb....

[Dibby]

Good luck to you, as you say, you only do it once so make the most of it or you'll regret it later

[satans worm]

Its all very well talking about saving cash on running costs by being green, but ultimatly you need to factor in the repay time, ie how long will it take to recoup the cost of the product, and what about maintance and life span of said products?
Just dont go charging in thinking if its green it will save me money, it's just not the case in many ways.

[drgav2005]

I completed my own home house build in November 2008. We started founds in April 08, so a 7 month build - not bad for a first timer! I was on site every day cleaning up, shifting materials about, doing all the project management and ended up working as the joiner's mate. Bloody hard work and brilliant fun. Would do it again in a heart-beat!

We bought the plot with full planning permission and kept outside changes to a minimum since there had been a number of objections to the original plans. We changed the interior layout to our plans and ended up with something we love. Must admit, I'd have probably gone more contemporary and my wife would have gone more traditional so it was probably just as well the design came with the site!

I was lucky and managed to find some excellent tradesmen, many of whom are now good friends - make sure you pick your builders carefully!!

Started off with this:



And it now looks like this...

[briSk]

satans worm said:

Its all very well talking about saving cash on running costs by being green, but ultimatly you need to factor in the repay time, ie how long will it take to recoup the cost of the product, and what about maintance and life span of said products?
Just dont go charging in thinking if its green it will save me money, it's just not the case in many ways.

quite right. BUT(!) i think if you work on the basis that gas/oil will cost a fortune it helps justify it!

they still reckon if you;re on mains gas it makes more sense because amortised the ground source still costs too much... but it won;t be long.

the key thing is trying to get enough of your own power to power the ground source heat pump.. if you can do that with a stream or whatever then jobsagooden.. set for when the evil ruskies up the price of energy..!

[Streetrod]

drgav2005 said:

I completed my own home house build in November 2008. We started founds in April 08, so a 7 month build - not bad for a first timer! I was on site every day cleaning up, shifting materials about, doing all the project management and ended up working as the joiner's mate. Bloody hard work and brilliant fun. Would do it again in a heart-beat!

We bought the plot with full planning permission and kept outside changes to a minimum since there had been a number of objections to the original plans. We changed the interior layout to our plans and ended up with something we love. Must admit, I'd have probably gone more contemporary and my wife would have gone more traditional so it was probably just as well the design came with the site!

I was lucky and managed to find some excellent tradesmen, many of whom are now good friends - make sure you pick your builders carefully!!

Started off with this:



And it now looks like this...

Not my style but very nice all the same. Well done. Can I ask how much you plot and build costs were up in Glasgow as it would interesting to compare to my costs down here in Surrey?

Also what is that red stone you have used, I like that?

Edited by Streetrod on Friday 26th February 15:25

[Streetrod]

satans worm said:

Its all very well talking about saving cash on running costs by being green, but ultimatly you need to factor in the repay time, ie how long will it take to recoup the cost of the product, and what about maintance and life span of said products?
Just dont go charging in thinking if its green it will save me money, it's just not the case in many ways.

The way I look it was if I am going to worry about repay times then I may as not even bother to start. Some of the pain is going to be taken away by local and government grants and the fact the grid will be paying me for my excess electricity. Also we are trying to future proof as much as possible.

This is probably going to be the last house I ever live in so I am not worry about resale value at this time. This project has been a dream for the last 15 years and I want it to have all the bells and whistles I have always wanted. Also I am hoping that that the design will have a timeless quality so in 20 years time it will still look good

[briSk]

i'd be interested to know people's experiences on a £1000psm basis.

[Jonny671]

drgav2005 said:

I completed my own home house build in November 2008. We started founds in April 08, so a 7 month build - not bad for a first timer! I was on site every day cleaning up, shifting materials about, doing all the project management and ended up working as the joiner's mate. Bloody hard work and brilliant fun. Would do it again in a heart-beat!

We bought the plot with full planning permission and kept outside changes to a minimum since there had been a number of objections to the original plans. We changed the interior layout to our plans and ended up with something we love. Must admit, I'd have probably gone more contemporary and my wife would have gone more traditional so it was probably just as well the design came with the site!

I was lucky and managed to find some excellent tradesmen, many of whom are now good friends - make sure you pick your builders carefully!!

Started off with this:



And it now looks like this...

I think if I had to build my perfect home, that'd be it.. Its lovely!

I'd like the inside modern and light too.

[satans worm]

briSk said:

i'd be interested to know people's experiences on a £1000psm basis.

our 150m bungalow has exceeded GBP200,000 ! That said, we had to pile the foundations, Have a hand cut vaulted roof, have expensive villeroy and boch bathrooms, walnut and marble floor and expensive kitchen
as with anything it can cost what you want it to, it's all about compromise(something I'm not good at!)
the other real factor is your input and how many ' handy friends' you have!
In short, it is a good guide, and I'm sure you can do it slot cheaper, but if you want perfection it will not be adequet!

Edited by satans worm on Friday 26th February 16:34

[Tuna]

Ours would look a lot like this:







Still working on it - hope to be in sometime in Spring.

Once you've built a house to your own spec, you realise that there are so many decisions and compromises, that you could build another, and another, and another - and they'd come out different each time. We are very, very pleased with the one we've built but it is fantastically hard work.

Edited by Tuna on Friday 26th February 16:06

[Jonny671]

Tuna, will you be doing it again?

[briSk]

Tuna said:

i like the style of kitchen and doors. i know they're fairly 'normal' but that's the sort of 'look' i like.

those door handles in the kitchen. i am sick of seeing them! so far we've taken off and replaced about 55 dodgy wooden handles with those ones...although now i am quite quick at it i could do with 2 drills - one with a 5/6mm bit for the bolts and one with a bit big to countersink the holes on the back to be able to get the bolt through..!
____

i want to see the other houses but it's verboten at work so i'll have to wait til tomorrow...

[drgav2005]

Streetrod said:

Not my style but very nice all the same. Well done. Can I ask how much you plot and build costs were up in Glasgow as it would interesting to compare to my costs down here in Surrey?

Also what is that red stone you have used, I like that?

Edited by Streetrod on Friday 26th February 15:25

Thanks! To be honest we couldn't deviate much from this look since we're in a conservation area

Land was very expensive for the 0.25 acres but we're in a conservation area and land with planning permission is as rare as rocking horse poo, build cost worked out at approx £475k - or about £1400 per m2 (including all the landscaping for gardens and driveways), local estate agent reckoned our home was worth between 25-30% more than our total cost, even in the current housing gloom, so we did pretty well - although NO plans to move

The red stone at the front is Locharbriggs red sandstone (based in Dumfries, a Marshalls Group company) - this, together with the labour of the stonemasons to put it up, ended up costing about 20% of the entire build!!! Flippin' expensive stuff!

[drgav2005]

Jonny671 said:

I think if I had to build my perfect home, that'd be it.. Its lovely!

I'd like the inside modern and light too.

Thanks Jonny!

Piccies of inside for you… bit more modern than the outside design:

Kitchen / family room - most used room in the house!






Large cupola over stairwell which lets in tons of light (when it's not raining!!!)


Natural slate 'hides' plasma on the wall - got away with a much bigger telly that way


We're lucky enough to back onto a private tennis club too and got life membership(!) when we bought the plot

[drgav2005]

Tuna said:

Ours would look a lot like this:

Loving the kitchen!! Good luck with the rest of the build - it will definitely be worth all the hard work in the end! Still remember our first meal in the house - fish and chips from the local take-away (yum!) washed down with a bottle of champagne!

[drgav2005]

euroboy said:

Some one asked the question earlier about radiator/floor heating combo;

Im not sure about the practicalities/specs of doing such a thing, but its certainly possible as we just moved into a place that has this combo.

Muchos respect to the people that build their own place - im not sure I could ever do it, too much stress and time needed. Ill give you an example of our place, the previous owners were very helpful in that they managed to build our dream house!

Originally built in the late 60's, this is how it looked in 2004:





They must have had a LOT of vision at the start of the project, theres still some of the old house remaining on the ground floor, but not a lot!

Looks a really great home - but why did they get rid of the original kitchen tiles ?!!

[Tuna]

drgav2005 said:

Loving the kitchen!! Good luck with the rest of the build - it will definitely be worth all the hard work in the end! Still remember our first meal in the house - fish and chips from the local take-away (yum!) washed down with a bottle of champagne!

We've already had Christmas dinner in it - 14 people, and a full three course meal. Bare plaster walls, no carpets or curtains, and if anyone needed the toilet, they had to go outside and use the one in the caravan! Since then, we've had to get back to finish it off. Looking forward to sitting still for a bit.

[Jonny671]

drgav2005 said:

Jonny671 said:

I think if I had to build my perfect home, that'd be it.. Its lovely!

I'd like the inside modern and light too.

Thanks Jonny!

Piccies of inside for you… bit more modern than the outside design:

Kitchen / family room - most used room in the house!






Large cupola over stairwell which lets in tons of light (when it's not raining!!!)


Natural slate 'hides' plasma on the wall - got away with a much bigger telly that way


We're lucky enough to back onto a private tennis club too and got life membership(!) when we bought the plot

Thats stunning! Thanks for the pictures.

Good idea with the TV! And love that staircase.

Is that a garage on the right of the drive?

[Pothole]

SwanJack said:

I like the idea of these http://www.huf-haus.com/gb/intro.html not sure on the day to day practicalities though.

Edited by SwanJack on Thursday 25th February 15:03

I love these...was one of my favourite episodes of Grand Designs when they built one. The building team were mustard!