Scraped

All scraped today. Got back from fixing a shed roof around dinner (noon) and it was all done. Have had it all piled at the front where a grab lorry can reach it. Unless anyone knows anyone that wants 30 tonne of topsoil?!

A couple of stumps got pulled out and there were still some branches left to get rid of so we started a bonnie. The leftover diesel (red) out of that tank I have bought off ebay helped it along! Neighbours looked pleased...

Started off sensibly

Self styled  'fire starter' gets involved

Building Control is holding me up now. Don't expect them to be back in business till after New Year, which means the plans wont be signed off till then. Footings can be set out in the meantime then it's a waiting game.

New Toy

Saw this auto levelling dumpy (Pentax  AL-200) on the internet Tue. Bit the bullet and went and picked it up that night. Gave the bloke £85 as it stood him at close to £300 3 years ago. He had set out a few extensions then went into college tutoring so the level was surplus to requirements.

Plot Photos

Some early days photos now I've finished off stripping the veg. Used a neighbours industrial Stihl grass strimmer with fixed blades, aka the animal.

Should get a machine there in the next couple of weeks to scrape the top off then set out for footings. a2 + b2 = c2 and all that business. Like being at school again.

Diary of a Self Build Bungalow

Right,

I'm about to self build my first home. A two bedroom bungalow (1 storey house for non-uk readers). As I've been preparing for this I have come across one or two self build diary's and they seemed informative, educational and helpful. I'll try to include a similar level of detail in the hope that this blog is useful to others.

The plot where I will be building is in the Midlands (England). The property will have an overall floor area of around 75m2. With neither of the bedrooms having a dimension smaller than 3.3 metres. I consider this generous for a newbuild. Others I have come across, especially built by developers have smaller bedrooms. The kitchen will also be big enough for a table and chairs to fit comfortably in. Another feature which is surprisingly lacking from newbuilds. They all seem to include lounge/dining rooms. Which generally aren't big enough for both.

I'll add photos sometime soon. All I have done up to now is cleared the vegetation ready for the site to be scraped off, then I can set out the footprint and the fun begins!

Enjoy...