Brand new house built in 12 weeks
Discussion
More ground works and fencing put up.
And the house is fast approaching becoming a home now...
And the kitchen is finally going in. I mentioned earlier, the house was almost built faster than the time it took to make the kitchen!
Belfast sink as they are called over here
Close up to show the painted wood. I like the fact we can change colour down the line if we decide on new decor.
Looking into sunroom, island on the right
From sunroom looking back. The far central wall cabinets are for a nice framed fridge set up.
Utility room. Saved some money here by going for cheaper units.
Lounge area looking into kitchen. Open plan but with angled stove wall to define it's own space.
Other side of island, for informal dining
Sunroom window seating, and doubling up as extra storage space too.
Plan is to have a dining table here and then get some custom made seat cushions to sit on...
This should have been one of the best days of the build, kitchen going in, plan coming together etc.....but we had some major legal issues at this point. The missus is nearly in tears, I walk in to see the kitchen fitter and I couldn't even break a smile. We had invested so much money at this point and it looked like the whole thing was going to blow up in our face. It didn't, I turned into an part time conveyancer for a week and we got through all the legal stuff eventually. Was a nightmare though
And the house is fast approaching becoming a home now...
And the kitchen is finally going in. I mentioned earlier, the house was almost built faster than the time it took to make the kitchen!
Belfast sink as they are called over here
Close up to show the painted wood. I like the fact we can change colour down the line if we decide on new decor.
Looking into sunroom, island on the right
From sunroom looking back. The far central wall cabinets are for a nice framed fridge set up.
Utility room. Saved some money here by going for cheaper units.
Lounge area looking into kitchen. Open plan but with angled stove wall to define it's own space.
Other side of island, for informal dining
Sunroom window seating, and doubling up as extra storage space too.
Plan is to have a dining table here and then get some custom made seat cushions to sit on...
This should have been one of the best days of the build, kitchen going in, plan coming together etc.....but we had some major legal issues at this point. The missus is nearly in tears, I walk in to see the kitchen fitter and I couldn't even break a smile. We had invested so much money at this point and it looked like the whole thing was going to blow up in our face. It didn't, I turned into an part time conveyancer for a week and we got through all the legal stuff eventually. Was a nightmare though
outnumbered said:
We all want to hear about the legal nightmare too, please 
How long have you got My fingers will get sore so I'll keep it short. My solicitor was a knob. In his 60's, his office was like a library, antique desk, he wore a waistcoat and a monacle eye piece, his receptionist called him 'sir' or 'mister' . Like someone out of a period drama. Pure weirdo, eccentric chap.
Builder wanted money, my solicitor wouldn't give him any. He found an issue in the title deeds of the land, which was unmapped rights which couldn't be explained. I told him he was working for me (bad move saying that)
He removed the monacle, sat it purposefully down on his desk, looked me square in the eye, and said 'thats not how this works young man' Let me tell you, I'm also working for the bank, and I've a duty to the bank that you and you're house are a safe loan, but right now, that's not the case. There are unmapped rights on your land and you need to establish what they are.
Wtf!?! That's your job, how the f
k should I know?!?Relationship turned sour very quickly. Builder was getting frustrated too, where is my money for God sake! Solicitor not answering calls, emails, receptionist told me he was in court if I called at his office. Builders solicitor freaking out too, threats of pulling the plug, huge sums invested blah blah...
I got in touch with a good solicitor and he gave me some advice. Told me how land registry works, who to talk to, what to say.
Cue me going to land registry, getting info. Ended up digging out archives from 2 centuries ago, written in calligraphy with all that weird language they used in those days. Land registry were like, you can have that document next week, and I'm like, I need it now. Ok, it's £50 for an express copy. We send a courier over the other side of the city on a bicycle and he returns with a copy. No problem I say, I'll give him a piggy back if you want?
So I find some unmapped rights. Sweet, put them into the letterbox of solicitor office and send him an email. 2 days later, thanks, what about the other adjoining land?
Huh. So I end up getting the title deeds for every piece of f
king land in the area - here you go you fking knob!!!And you know all it was?
The unmapped rights were the right of any neighbours to reasonable access to my property to make good their own. Ie, if they wanted to fix a fence, they were allowed to step into my property to make it good.
This is so so common it's unreal, probably 90% of UK properties will have something like this in it. Unmapped rights are nothing. Mapped rights are different....eg, if a neighbouring house has their waste pipes running through my property then it'll be on the title deeds, shown on a map.
So the solicitor got all these title deeds to satisfy his own curiousity or whatever and then the green light was on and we were back on track. It took about a week to sort, several trips to land registry, some dude on a bike going back and forward to archives at £50 a go but we got there in the end!!!!
TooMany2cvs said:
Problems come when the unmapped rights turn out to be something more than that...
I'm just surprised the vendor's solicitor didn't wave a hundred quid's worth of indemnity policy as a solution.
I do remember looking into indemnity insuarance at the time but I can't remember why we didn't go that route. It may have been timescales, I'm not quite sure - but you're right - indemnity insurance isn't very much in the grand scheme of things.I'm just surprised the vendor's solicitor didn't wave a hundred quid's worth of indemnity policy as a solution.
The groundworks moved on quickly and wasn't long before grass was layed. We wanted to do a nice artificial grass here but had to pull the plug due to overspending in other areas.
My dad helping me out here too.
A few stoned areas to help get things looking finished.
Making sure I had some power outside for convenience.
Just tarmac to finish outside the garage.
Inside is coming along nicely too, appliances arrived.
And I got to pick this awesome fridge
Double door for fridge and freezer below, rather than side by side.
There is a full width tray section which has its own temperature control. It's supposed to be for cooked meats etc but I claimed it for beer storage only. I always have it at zero degrees so I have ice cold beer all the time. Such a great feature.
Insert beer here...
Such a great design too. This shelf on the right slides back...
And creates some room for storing tall items...
Freezer has excellent design too. Full width storage here..
And the top tray slides back to access more storage space below. This overall design means nothing gets buried, lots of room, and everything is easily accessible. I just love this fridge
Pretty cool, huh? Pun intended
My dad helping me out here too.
A few stoned areas to help get things looking finished.
Making sure I had some power outside for convenience.
Just tarmac to finish outside the garage.
Inside is coming along nicely too, appliances arrived.
And I got to pick this awesome fridge
Double door for fridge and freezer below, rather than side by side.
There is a full width tray section which has its own temperature control. It's supposed to be for cooked meats etc but I claimed it for beer storage only. I always have it at zero degrees so I have ice cold beer all the time. Such a great feature.
Insert beer here...
Such a great design too. This shelf on the right slides back...
And creates some room for storing tall items...
Freezer has excellent design too. Full width storage here..
And the top tray slides back to access more storage space below. This overall design means nothing gets buried, lots of room, and everything is easily accessible. I just love this fridge
Pretty cool, huh? Pun intended
Edited by soupdragon1 on Sunday 24th September 09:34
At this point we are finally moved in. The house was move in ready after 12 weeks as planned, however the kitchen wasn't ready so it was more like 14 weeks. We actually moved in with pieces of chipboard for the work tops because the stone people wouldn't cut the stone until the kitchen was fully installed. It took another week to get the quartz work tops fitted but in the grand scheme of things, we were happy enough with those small delays.
Example pic of the stone installed with upstands and windowsill finished the same as work tops.
Movie room got a vinyl floor but plan is now to change it to carpet as that's better for acoustics. Just some random old furniture chucked in to begin with while we waited for sofa to be built.
React sesame screen on the floor, 104 inches with a special contrast enhancement feature which gives better contrast in a lounge environment.
And we're up and running, albeit with random furniture, projector not mounted (Sony hw50 initially before I later changed to Jvc) but at least it was functional at this point.
And it wasn't too long before the new sofa arrived, with cinema style headrests.
This sofa didn't last too long though, as it wasn't big enough in hindsight.
Despite the slightly disfunctional decor to start with, at least I got my lovely focal speakers back singing again
The local tapestry person wasn't too long in getting our window seating made.
So at this point we are in, we're happy and it's just finishing off the decor now. Lighting had been ordered, new furniture was on order too and various other bits and pieces.
I was also taken to task around the walk in wardrobe that I had promised the missus I would DIY. We had 7 wardrobes in total to go in a U shape, about 20ft wide worth and once I put a couple together as a starting point, I quickly dawned on me that it wasn't going to be simple. All wardrobes were the same height but the sloping ceiling would prove to be a massive headache.
In the next posts, I'll be able to get to the bits where the rooms are actually finished, lighting etc.
Example pic of the stone installed with upstands and windowsill finished the same as work tops.
Movie room got a vinyl floor but plan is now to change it to carpet as that's better for acoustics. Just some random old furniture chucked in to begin with while we waited for sofa to be built.
React sesame screen on the floor, 104 inches with a special contrast enhancement feature which gives better contrast in a lounge environment.
And we're up and running, albeit with random furniture, projector not mounted (Sony hw50 initially before I later changed to Jvc) but at least it was functional at this point.
And it wasn't too long before the new sofa arrived, with cinema style headrests.
This sofa didn't last too long though, as it wasn't big enough in hindsight.
Despite the slightly disfunctional decor to start with, at least I got my lovely focal speakers back singing again
The local tapestry person wasn't too long in getting our window seating made.
So at this point we are in, we're happy and it's just finishing off the decor now. Lighting had been ordered, new furniture was on order too and various other bits and pieces.
I was also taken to task around the walk in wardrobe that I had promised the missus I would DIY. We had 7 wardrobes in total to go in a U shape, about 20ft wide worth and once I put a couple together as a starting point, I quickly dawned on me that it wasn't going to be simple. All wardrobes were the same height but the sloping ceiling would prove to be a massive headache.
In the next posts, I'll be able to get to the bits where the rooms are actually finished, lighting etc.
hyphen said:
Where did you get the screen from? As I will be looking at getting a 104-106 TAB AT, currently looking at the Grandview ones but as it will also be in the lounge, might look at these.
Also I have the same Samsung fridge as you We use that bottom draw for vegetables too as it's darker in there, and we removed the bottom left shelf, as the right once sliding back is good but we found it easier to just use the left space for tall items/stacking stuff.
I got the screen from Allan @Ideal AV. I would recommend the react screen rather than an AT one, especially if you have light coloured walls and/or difficulty removing light bleed into the room from windows etc. Unless of course you really need AT to hide your speakers.Also I have the same Samsung fridge as you
We use that bottom draw for vegetables too as it's darker in there, and we removed the bottom left shelf, as the right once sliding back is good but we found it easier to just use the left space for tall items/stacking stuff.Edited by hyphen on Tuesday 26th September 12:26
Best to try and get a demo if you can. Depending on where you are based, further south you have Ricky @ Kalibrate who can also demo the screens. He's Surrey direction if I remember correctly, off the M25. Won't be cheap though, approx £2k for the screen size you are looking at depending on the case you go for.
Good choice of fridge - I've got Guinness Draught chilling as we speak at zero degrees in the bottom tray, ready for the Champions League matches tonight and tomorrow night. Big screen, Atmos sound, freezing cold Guinness - quite a nice way to spend an evening
At this moment in time we are in and we've ordered furniture, shutters, the light fixtures etc.
It's at this point where we got that 'i love it when a plan comes together' feeling. Bearing in mind we had to design and plan everything on paper, before a brick was layed, where the sofas would go, where the Christmas tree would go, where the AV rack will go, how we'll wire everything, where we'll have spotlights, where we'll have pendants etc etc etc. All we had was imagination and visualisation to go on, and we were pleased with how it all turned out.
The main living area was always going to be the most important and getting the flow of kitchen, sunroom and lounge was key to making it all work.
This area to the right is the main living space.
This is the kitchen looking into the lounge. The way the wall part closes the entrance into the lounge helps define it as it's own area but also keeps a nice sight line into the kitchen.
And from the other side, and you can see from this direction you get the angled stove wall to break up the view a little.
The TV was later replaced and sound system got installed later too, this pic is from not long after moving in.
And looking into the sunroom where we put a table and chairs around the window seating area.
Closer look at the informal dining area
And looking back into the kitchen. You can see the pendants over the island combining with spotlights in the kitchen area. We purposely had no spotlights anywhere else as its another element of the design which helps define the kitchen as it's own space. The vaulted ceiling defines the sunroom as it's own area too.
You'll also see in the pic above how the tiling is the same everywhere, which is the key element which ties it all together. There isn't much colour around, it's all white and greys with oak accents. (We would later add some green and darker browns)
This pic below shows the lounge design. Very minimalistic at this point and the shutter install supports that look. We would later bring a little more colour in here to soften it up.
A closer look at the actual kitchen worktops and sink area.
As mentioned above, it really felt like a plan had come together. And it made the beers in my zero degrees fridge area taste all the better!
Delicious
I know the style won't be to everyone's taste, it's a bit clinical/cold looking in some respects, with hints of Scandinavian minimalistic decor, but we really like it. And it's turned out to be a wonderful family home. The area is incredibly useable and works very well from a social aspects. For example, if the mother in law calls round, and sits having a cup of tea at the island, I can move into the lounge, watch a bit of football, listen to the conversation and it doesn't seem rude that I'm sitting in front of the telly. She's only a few feet away after all, so it still seems like we're all sitting together. Perfect
It's at this point where we got that 'i love it when a plan comes together' feeling. Bearing in mind we had to design and plan everything on paper, before a brick was layed, where the sofas would go, where the Christmas tree would go, where the AV rack will go, how we'll wire everything, where we'll have spotlights, where we'll have pendants etc etc etc. All we had was imagination and visualisation to go on, and we were pleased with how it all turned out.
The main living area was always going to be the most important and getting the flow of kitchen, sunroom and lounge was key to making it all work.
This area to the right is the main living space.
This is the kitchen looking into the lounge. The way the wall part closes the entrance into the lounge helps define it as it's own area but also keeps a nice sight line into the kitchen.
And from the other side, and you can see from this direction you get the angled stove wall to break up the view a little.
The TV was later replaced and sound system got installed later too, this pic is from not long after moving in.
And looking into the sunroom where we put a table and chairs around the window seating area.
Closer look at the informal dining area
And looking back into the kitchen. You can see the pendants over the island combining with spotlights in the kitchen area. We purposely had no spotlights anywhere else as its another element of the design which helps define the kitchen as it's own space. The vaulted ceiling defines the sunroom as it's own area too.
You'll also see in the pic above how the tiling is the same everywhere, which is the key element which ties it all together. There isn't much colour around, it's all white and greys with oak accents. (We would later add some green and darker browns)
This pic below shows the lounge design. Very minimalistic at this point and the shutter install supports that look. We would later bring a little more colour in here to soften it up.
A closer look at the actual kitchen worktops and sink area.
As mentioned above, it really felt like a plan had come together. And it made the beers in my zero degrees fridge area taste all the better!
Delicious
I know the style won't be to everyone's taste, it's a bit clinical/cold looking in some respects, with hints of Scandinavian minimalistic decor, but we really like it. And it's turned out to be a wonderful family home. The area is incredibly useable and works very well from a social aspects. For example, if the mother in law calls round, and sits having a cup of tea at the island, I can move into the lounge, watch a bit of football, listen to the conversation and it doesn't seem rude that I'm sitting in front of the telly. She's only a few feet away after all, so it still seems like we're all sitting together. Perfect
RC1807 said:
I think it looks great!
Our new build house is rather minimal inside too, and that's the way we like it. Plain, light walls, ceramic tiled floors throughout.
We'd like some shutters/blinds up, but the windows tilt and open inwards and we cannot drill the frames (impact on the A energy certification), so we're still investigating options. Weather's been much cooler recently, but inside the house it remains at least 23C.
Thanks!Our new build house is rather minimal inside too, and that's the way we like it. Plain, light walls, ceramic tiled floors throughout.
We'd like some shutters/blinds up, but the windows tilt and open inwards and we cannot drill the frames (impact on the A energy certification), so we're still investigating options. Weather's been much cooler recently, but inside the house it remains at least 23C.
The way we installed our shutters, they are on the outer rim of the window recess so no screwing into the actual frames. I posted some pics a few posts back of my DIY shutter install and you can see how they were attached.
Nice going on the A energy certification, that'll save you a few bob on energy bills, thats for sure!
Have you a thread of your own new build?
joestifff said:
This is all very familiar. I have read this before, and enjoyed it last time as well.
Was this on AVforums?
Sure was, started it about 3 years ago when the house was being built and updated it as I went along, whereas now, this is more looking back.Was this on AVforums?
<< no peeking on that AVF thread everyone else
>>RC1807 said:
I saw your posts with the shutters, but we're thinking more (roller) blinds than shutters, since we already have external horizontal louvres, and looking for something to block out a little more street light at night.
Yes, we have a build thread, listed in the Build Wiki ... I used to be 5potTurbo
Energy bills, not as low as you'd hope or expect, to be honest. Still, it remains warm inside.
Nice one, I'll take a look. I've seen a few of them on the wiki link so will take a look at yours later tonight - I always like reading build type threads.Yes, we have a build thread, listed in the Build Wiki ... I used to be 5potTurbo
Energy bills, not as low as you'd hope or expect, to be honest. Still, it remains warm inside.
RC1807 said:
I saw your posts with the shutters, but we're thinking more (roller) blinds than shutters, since we already have external horizontal louvres, and looking for something to block out a little more street light at night.
Yes, we have a build thread, listed in the Build Wiki ... I used to be 5potTurbo
Energy bills, not as low as you'd hope or expect, to be honest. Still, it remains warm inside.
Just read your build thread, what a fabulous house you built, very nice indeed! Yes, we have a build thread, listed in the Build Wiki ... I used to be 5potTurbo
Energy bills, not as low as you'd hope or expect, to be honest. Still, it remains warm inside.
Before we get to the other rooms, an update on the general lighting designs we went for.
As mentioned previously, spotlights, pendants over island and large light in the sunroom.
This thing weighs an absolute ton!
And it was Christmas by the time we got the lounge light installed.
Close up. Some nice features like the wooden ceiling rose and the antlers. These are cast from actual deer antlers, and once set, hand painted for a nice look.
While in here, may as well touch on the AV set up. At this point, it was a not too expensive passive LCR speaker and my old TV. These are later replaced by an atmos system using monitor audio radius in white colour and tv is upgraded to a 4k Panasonic.
These were the surrounds at the time
Anyway, back to the lighting. When constructing the hall from its original bland state, you can see here where we had a cutaway where the upstairs landing should be.
Cutaway leaves an 18ft open space to the ceiling.
Which meant we could install this nice swirly light
And the hallway from below. You'll see the led lights flanking the stairs along with pendant lanterns. Part of the beauty of going for 9ft ceilings is that you have more lighting options, as you've extra height available for hanging lights.
The staircase is an oak tread to match the doors and white ballustrades to match the white skirting.
Hall pendants close up.
If I under expose the photo, you can see the filament which is what you actually see in real life. Something nice about these bulbs.
And into the master bedroom. Before a brick was laid, we had already decided where the bed was going, had sockets either side so that the bedside lamps could be positioned without wires trailing across from a distant socket.
Really like the warm glow off these...
I'll do a separate post for the actual master suite design, where we have the bedroom going to ensuite and then onwards to the dressing room. It's basically one full side of the house, 33ft long, all for us!
That's the benefit of building a house to your own needs so we feel very lucky to have had the opportunity
Oh, and even the lowly downstairs loo got its own lighting feature. When you turn on the main light, these wall lights also come on. We really did try and think of every little feature while in the design process.
As mentioned previously, spotlights, pendants over island and large light in the sunroom.
This thing weighs an absolute ton!
And it was Christmas by the time we got the lounge light installed.
Close up. Some nice features like the wooden ceiling rose and the antlers. These are cast from actual deer antlers, and once set, hand painted for a nice look.
While in here, may as well touch on the AV set up. At this point, it was a not too expensive passive LCR speaker and my old TV. These are later replaced by an atmos system using monitor audio radius in white colour and tv is upgraded to a 4k Panasonic.
These were the surrounds at the time
Anyway, back to the lighting. When constructing the hall from its original bland state, you can see here where we had a cutaway where the upstairs landing should be.
Cutaway leaves an 18ft open space to the ceiling.
Which meant we could install this nice swirly light
And the hallway from below. You'll see the led lights flanking the stairs along with pendant lanterns. Part of the beauty of going for 9ft ceilings is that you have more lighting options, as you've extra height available for hanging lights.
The staircase is an oak tread to match the doors and white ballustrades to match the white skirting.
Hall pendants close up.
If I under expose the photo, you can see the filament which is what you actually see in real life. Something nice about these bulbs.
And into the master bedroom. Before a brick was laid, we had already decided where the bed was going, had sockets either side so that the bedside lamps could be positioned without wires trailing across from a distant socket.
Really like the warm glow off these...
I'll do a separate post for the actual master suite design, where we have the bedroom going to ensuite and then onwards to the dressing room. It's basically one full side of the house, 33ft long, all for us!
That's the benefit of building a house to your own needs so we feel very lucky to have had the opportunity
Oh, and even the lowly downstairs loo got its own lighting feature. When you turn on the main light, these wall lights also come on. We really did try and think of every little feature while in the design process.
Next up is the master suite. The missus and I decided that we would take ownership of one full side of the house, a 33ft run encompassing master bedroom, ensuite and walk in wardrobe.
We also had an eye on the future and the way we've designed it, with the ensuite in the middle, the dressing room can easily be made back into a bedroom with Jack and Jill ensuite.
As shown earlier, the master bedroom. Ensuite access is over to the left.
Ensuite under construction. The wash hand basin needed a bespoke table top so we got the kitchen worktop supplier to cut us a piece of granite to fit.
The tiles are a split face which were very difficult to cut, thank God I didn't have to do this myself with my DIY tools. These things needed a heavy duty water saw.
We both really liked this up and over freestanding waterfall style tap.
So many cuts on the tiles, the look on the tilers face as he went up and down the stairs to make the cuts, I don't think it was a fun job!!!
Nearing completion
This bit, I actually did myself, a removable boxed in finish so that access isn't to big an issue should we have a plumbing issue.
The shower and shower panels.
Then shower door installed.
Next bit was the DIY walk in wardrobe. This wasn't easy due to the slope in the ceiling. It's all from IKEA, 7 units in a u shape, about 20ft of wardrobe width wise.
You can see what I had to deal with here.
I just wasn't happy at all with the finish at the joins etc.
Eventually found this idea, use skirting to finish it. Because the rest of the house is oak doors with white architrave, it made sense for the oak coloured wardrobes to have white skirting.
So off I went, no scribing here (I don't have that skill) and filled in the joins with caulk.
You'll also notice the deep pile carpet choice here, same carpet as the master.
And view as you enter from the ensuite. We've 3 units to the left, 3 in the middle and one to the right hand side.
I think the missus was quite happy with the overall result. The centre section has automatic motion sensing led lights and she keeps her make up and stuff in the open section with 3 drawers for all her nic naks.
A bespoke design would have cost an arm and a leg but I did this 20ft u section for approx £1k which was pretty good I thought.
We also had an eye on the future and the way we've designed it, with the ensuite in the middle, the dressing room can easily be made back into a bedroom with Jack and Jill ensuite.
As shown earlier, the master bedroom. Ensuite access is over to the left.
Ensuite under construction. The wash hand basin needed a bespoke table top so we got the kitchen worktop supplier to cut us a piece of granite to fit.
The tiles are a split face which were very difficult to cut, thank God I didn't have to do this myself with my DIY tools. These things needed a heavy duty water saw.
We both really liked this up and over freestanding waterfall style tap.
So many cuts on the tiles, the look on the tilers face as he went up and down the stairs to make the cuts, I don't think it was a fun job!!!
Nearing completion
This bit, I actually did myself, a removable boxed in finish so that access isn't to big an issue should we have a plumbing issue.
The shower and shower panels.
Then shower door installed.
Next bit was the DIY walk in wardrobe. This wasn't easy due to the slope in the ceiling. It's all from IKEA, 7 units in a u shape, about 20ft of wardrobe width wise.
You can see what I had to deal with here.
I just wasn't happy at all with the finish at the joins etc.
Eventually found this idea, use skirting to finish it. Because the rest of the house is oak doors with white architrave, it made sense for the oak coloured wardrobes to have white skirting.
So off I went, no scribing here (I don't have that skill) and filled in the joins with caulk.
You'll also notice the deep pile carpet choice here, same carpet as the master.
And view as you enter from the ensuite. We've 3 units to the left, 3 in the middle and one to the right hand side.
I think the missus was quite happy with the overall result. The centre section has automatic motion sensing led lights and she keeps her make up and stuff in the open section with 3 drawers for all her nic naks.
A bespoke design would have cost an arm and a leg but I did this 20ft u section for approx £1k which was pretty good I thought.
As mentioned, the walk in wardrobe can be turned into another bedroom which is why this door on the far right is there. The handle is removed from the other side so you can't actually open it (wardrobes are behind it anyway) but it'll make it easy to reconfigure should we ever decide to sell the house.
soupdragon1 said:
Muncher said:
Looks good, why didn't you go for underfloor heating?
Its a good question. Not sure if there is a thread on here or not but something like underfloor heating would be a good separate thread as there are pro's and con's.I like the idea of no visible radiators taking up space, thats a key benefit, along with nice warm floors when using tiles.
For us, we decided with radiators for a few reasons.
The main one was because of the time we actually spend in the house. Having the heating running when we are not there seems like a bit of a waste. The benefit of radiators is that they warm the house quickly. With our house being timber frame construction, in the winter, we can go from cold to warm in 10 or 15 mins. You can't do this with underfloor heating - especially if you want your house to go into 'sauna mode' - ie, the missus knocks it up to 30 sometimes where I'm literally sweating when wearing a tee shirt.
My sister got a high end underfloor system in her house a year or so before we built ours and she said that she missed the ability to get a nice 'high temperature' in the winter - aka - 'sauna mode'. In the end, she had to install a stove in her kitchen/dining/lounge open plan area so that she could get that 'toasty warm' feeling.
We run our heating timed around when we are in and out and our lives are pretty structured time wise, so we only spend oil money when we actually need it, and we get the benefit of having the heat exactly when we need it -ie, coming in from work and the house will have just been heated to the required temperature.
We don't use the dining room very often so, take that out, we're looking at heating around 2000sqft of house with higher ceiling for about 1200 litres per annum. I don’t know how that would compare to underfloor heating to be fair as I’m not well versed in it at all, but our bills are low enough for us to think it was the right decision for us. There may be other benefits to under floor heating that I'm not aware of, as I know its a very popular choice these days.
Evanivitch said:
OP, love the small details on the house, and the external power (I'll add it to the electricians job next time he inevitability visits).
I feel so gutted for you that the external appearance was so driven by planning conditions though, you could have done so much more with it!
Thanks!I feel so gutted for you that the external appearance was so driven by planning conditions though, you could have done so much more with it!
Yes, the external is not going to win any beauty contests
But at the same time, it's also easy on the wallet, and that was one of the reasons we did this. It leads in nicely to the backstory of why we actually moved though.
In 2009 we bought our forever home. The type you always dream about. We fell in love with this exterior. Lovely brick work, sash windows and even the guttering had a nice little classic feature.
Down a little lane...
Overlooking the countryside and a conservation area to the left (filmed a lot of game of thrones over there)
It was just a mile from town, but right at the edge of the greenbelt zone. Town living with country view.
It was a 4 house project by a small but award winning local building firm (specialising in country cottage type housing), and it was one of the most saught after houses in the area. They started just at the start of the property crash in 2008 and when we got a low ball offer on our other house, we took it just to ensure we bagged one of these 4 houses.
No expense spared on the inside either, with lots of nice features.
Kitchen was hand built in the house by 1 man, a local cabinet maker.
It had an upstairs bedroom converted into a cinema room, with wall to wall, floor to ceiling screen and was featured in home cinema choice magazine.
This pic during construction gives an idea of scale, over 60 sq foot screensize.
I also had a bespoke golf simulator in the garage (pictured earlier in this thread)
Considering what we already had, most people would consider it a dream home. At the time, I was mid thirties, beautiful home, young family and you think you've made it. It was our dream home for a while to be fair, but it had some shortfalls. The layout was frustrating. Large kitchen and diner but the proportions weren't quite right. Eg, at the kitchen table, if someone wanted to sit beside you, you had to shimmy your chair to let them past.
The cinema was great, but it was 2 floors up so nobody wanted to use it with me. If I had friends round in the eve, we were up and down the stairs, past the kids bedrooms to go outside for a smoke.
The sash windows at the front were very very draughty, and needed replaced. The blinds inside moved if it was windy outside.
We looked into an extension to fix the layout issues but it was a considerable sum. It was affordable, but would have been a bit of a strain. Would have had to sacrifice nice family holidays for a while.
We entertained the idea of moving and talked to an estate agent. He came round and basically said name your price. He had at least 3 people that wished for this house and said he could have it sold in a week. So we named a price, and true to his word, the estate agent had it sold to the first person. As it turned out, one man got very angry that he never had a chance to bid. We may have got even more for it... we'll never know now though!
We just needed to find a new house and this thread is that house. As a result of the move, we knocked 10 years off our mortgage and still had reduced monthly payments that was enough for 2 nice holidays a year. This year we went to the canaries in mid term, 5 star hotel, went to Disney Florida with a villa for 2 weeks and now in December, we're for Disneyland Paris staying in the 5 star Disney hotel.....on the other hand, we could have been paying the bills for an extension.
So we're much better off now, family has better holidays, we can retire earlier (I'm still only 40 so a bit to go yet!!!) and to top it all off, we're in a better house.
From the outside, 99% of people will go for our old house but the way we've designed this new house, it's much more functional. Last house was 2500 sqft over 3 floors and this one is just a fraction smaller. The key though, is we've an extra 3 or 400 sqft on the ground floor in the new house, and its so so much more useable as a home. Sure, it's not as attractive from the outside, but who cares about that really? The inside is what's it's all about.
And we're still 1 mile from town, just a different part, and back at the edge of the greenbelt again. Not quite as nice a view but still looking at fields and trees just past my front lawn.
It was a bit of a life lesson for me, and I guess the whole family as well. Looks aren't that important. We had a 'trophy' house, but as a family home, it was a 6/10 due to layout. This new house is a 10/10 for family home. We'll use the cinema room together and have regular movie nights. The dining issues of the other house have been replaced with no less than 3 dining options. Informal dining on the island, semi formal dining with window seating in the sunroom, along with a separate formal dining room on its own. And that's the beauty of a better designed layout.
Upstairs, we gain a large master suite which the other house didn't have. When all added up, it's actually a better house and despite this, the other house will still be valued higher no doubt....which tells a bit of a story in my opinion. After location, the layout of any home is the most important factor. The other house looks better from a photographic point of view, but this new house beats it in just about everything else.
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