Extension week 1

We have finally started the extension.  Week one is over and we've already encountered two pretty major problems... but I'll start at the beginning.

The first picture is of the house from the back before we started the work.

First we sold the conservatory.  That was a task in itself as the first buyers on eBay went AWOL and then pulled out.  But we found some better buyers and they even took it down themselves. 

Monday the electrician removed all the electrics in the single storey part of the kitchen that was to be knocked down.

Tuesday the groundworkers started, but uncovered a wooden lintel at the back of the original house that was proped up by, well, air! New steel to be put in - watch this space.  Then we discovered the quarry ties in the back room were laid on earth and were sinking.  So up come the tiles and next week down goes some more concrete - all eating into our contingency fund!

By the end of week one we have foundations in

Border Oak

In this month's issue of Home Building Renovating magazine there is an article about a gorgeous oak framed house.  I have always loved these sorts of houses so I thought I'd do a little blogging about one of my favourite oak framers - Border Oak.






They have all sorts of different types of designs, farmhouses, barns, cottages, manor houses, outbuildings, single storey and extensions. 










A key feature of some of the designs is the brick chimney, which I in particular would definitely want including in any oak framed house we have!








If you go to their website http://www.borderoak.com you will be able to see floor plans, photos and lots of info.  They have a facebook page too :)

Dissertation!

Well this blog isn't quite about property and interiors in the usual sense, this is all about my husband Tom's dissertation.  He is focusing on timber frame eco/green self builds and needs some very nice people to answer some questions.  Whether they are in the business or have built their own houses I don't think it matters, but the more info he can gather the better!

So I'm trying to help. I've just been bombarding people on Twitter asking if they know of anyone that would be happy to answer questions, so thought I'd just summarise here what exactly it is that he wants so that I can point all you helpful people here:

Aim: To assess why people in Britain choose to build using timber frame for a green/sustainable/eco self build

Sub questions:

What are the positives and negatives for building in timber frame?

Why do people choose to self build?

Why do people choose to build eco/green houses?

If anyone has any info that they think might help, please email tpw1blt@bolton.ac.uk 

Thanks all! :)

Designing an extension




So we are now onto a new project - our detached 1930s 2 bed house. This is the front elevation and we're not changing this apart from hopefully replacing the windows to be white aluminium (as the glazed areas will be bigger and therefore the rooms inside will get more light) and the front door will be replaced with something more inkeeping with the syle of the house. The neighbouring houses all have wooden stained glass doors so the plan is to do something similar. Watch this space for door ideas!

This is the back elevation of the house. As you can see there is a mish-mash of single storey extensions. One being a small addition to the kitchen, and the other a large conservatory.  The only reason we bought the house was because this conservatory would house our very large oak dining table, however the conservatory has to go as the roof is leaking and the floors are sloping.  These two extensions will be removed to make way for a two storey extension, which will consist of extra bedroom space on the first floor and an open plan kitchen diner on the ground floor with doors to the garden.

This is the existing floor plan. we currently have two double bedrooms upstairs, but bedroom two will be reduced in size to create a corridor into the new extension. The main bedroom and bathroom will remain the same size.  The bathroom however will be replaced as the suite is cream and very old!








This is the proposed floor plan.  There is an extra ensuite upstairs to the new master bedroom.  We plan to get everything matching for the bathrooms to save on cost. 


We thought long and hard about the layout of the upstairs. We have decided to go with this layout due the roof structure.  We will end up with a double peak roof at the rear of the house and the valley in between will meet at the top of the partition between the master bedroom and the small bedroom/ensuite.

This is the proposed rear elevation, which shows the double peak.  We also plan to have large double doors from the kitchen out onto the garden (we can't decide between sliding doors and french doors! I think it will come down to the cost!) 

The planning drawings are all finished now, so wish us luck with our application, hopefully we will be submitting it any day now :)