Well wife and I sold up in B'ham and moved to NI. We bought a field and planned to build a home. That started 3 yrs ago and the building has recently started.

Would anyone be interested if I posted every so often with pics and updates ?????

would be interested to know the cost involved rather than buying one already made

Ye be nice to see how a fellow Brummie gets on "abroad" ;)

Certainly would, get some pics up!

Yep - get 'em posted

Definitely, post away

most definitely mate, stick em all on. im into that sort of thing watch it on tv all the time

good luck :)

subscribed :D :D

Ok here goes.... a bit of background first I'll keep it brief....

Myself and the wife both lived around Bham all our lives although both sets of parents from different parts of Ireland. Never intened to move but August 04 we stopped at Wife's sisters in NI to lokk after their Mum as sister in law and family off to Spain for hols.

While there saw this field for sale in same rd as Sister in law lives but thought nothing of it. Went back home back to work to a job I really didn't like and the same old same old. One afternoon at my desk it hit me :idea: why not buy that land and move there etc etc.


We got the land at a silly price - outline planning included - and set about selling up. Just as property sales were starting to decline over there. So three years later and 20K less than hoped for we sold.
Both packed in our jobs moved here to a rented house but no jobs.

Included in the move was our 4 yr old and my Mum who decided she'd like to live in NI.

Anyhow first couple of pics are the field we got it's about 3/4 acre it's got a fence part way but we own both front and back fields.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P8280022.jpg


http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P8280019.jpg

I'm standind about half way and took pics facing up and down the field.

bloody hell thats massive. even if you didnt use up all the space you could still sell sections of it

We started on the long task of getting final planning permission but changed from a small 3 bed single storey to a larger 3 bed with granny flat and potential for a loft conversion ( after it's rated so rates will be lot less).

Loads of time and money later we got plans passed:luxhello: So a few weeks ago building started.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5080045.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5080044.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5080043.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5080042.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5080041.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5080040.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5080039.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5080038.jpg

Ok ok so I sneaked some pics of the car in :) Was driving an 02 WRX but sold it in April and went back to England and got this STI with PPP, Prodrive springs, Prodrive quickshift kit, Prodrive wheels and a Performance Friction brake upgrade.

Anyhow as you can see work started about 4 weeks ago. I'm off to bed now but will post more up to date pics tomorrow.

always interesting to see self-builds come together.

i have 13 years development management (cradle to grave), so would be pleased to help if i can [without leaving my desk of course :p ]. you will also find there are loads of people on here who have experience with technology in homes (alistair) and design issues of all sorts (didn't steve/boxst build a house in n ireland??)

btw, how do you reach the pedals in your car? and i like your hat :thumb:

lol :)

richard did u go to uni at all or is it all self experience?? im off to uni next sept to do either chartered surveying, or civil engineering, but i really want to do this sort of thing after uni (development) what course would u recommend?

degree in estate management (a very general surveying degree) followed by diary, cpd and RICS interview, so I'm a chartered surveyor.

a degree should give you more options, although it's the experience that really counts. if you choose the right degree course, you are then exempt from RICS exams (as you will have covered what you'd need to for the exams in any case). if you want to start with an HND, you can go to yr 2 of a degree course afterwards, but that's the long way round

i would suggest you have a think about what part of the development process you want to be involved in (or whether you want to be involved in all of it) and take it from there. i notice that there is quite a demand for quantity surveyors at the moment...

you're welcome to PM me if you have any questions

Hi thats Thomas in the pics he's five and my son. I'm sure I will ask for some help / advice along the way. I am doing a home cinema and multi room sound set up but it's all Bose kit and their guy is doing first and second fix for it:thumb:

Looking to plumb in some cat5 cabling but am a bit unsure about it so might have some questions.

I'm using a contractor for all but exterior doors and windows, kitchens, tiling,bathrooms/ utility. I'm just negotiating with him to complete some ground work also.

More pics to follow a little later but I've just got to put Thomas to bed now.

home cinema.....sounds wicked

i have cat5e all over the place. all self-taught but originally inspired by specifications i was writing at the time when this sort of technology started becoming more widely available to house builders. i made a few visits to hellermann tyton in northampton and to smarthouse uk (now changed their name i think [mitech??] but i went to silverstone to their "suite" next to the brdc stand quite a few times), smart-e and various others to check out what was available for our end purchasers and whether or not we could use what was available as deal sweeteners when selling new homes

i've made baluns for getting my surround sound to the right parts of the lounge, and i use the network for telephones, sound and computers at the mo.

all very interesting stuff and i'm glad i did it. there are others on here who have done the same as well

Well I might be picking your brain for advice and help if thats ok ???

O k some more pics - I am rushing a bit here as we've moved on fairly quickly with the build so I'm not showing all pics just trying to get to the current.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5180005.jpg


http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5180009.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5240011.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P5240019.jpg

Again more to follow

Ok then some with the walls starting to go up


http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6010028.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6010029.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6010031.jpg

looking good

more progress

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6140032.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6140035.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6140036.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6140037.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6220075.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6220076.jpg

below our lads room
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6220078.jpg

our bed room
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6220079.jpg

bathroom
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6220081.jpg

lounge from hall showing opening for double doors
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6220082.jpg

kitchen showing french doors
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6220083.jpg

utility
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6220085.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/daddyscoob/P6220089.jpg


more to follow but need to go to bed

taking shape. the proportions on the front door elevation will look very effective - are you rendering? what's your roof covering going to be...slate?

I take it its all going to be a one-level property...whats the area of the actual house?

My friends dad has a one level house on a big estate the same as yours and it works really well especially after driveways and entrances have been designed and put into place

taking shape. the proportions on the front door elevation will look very effective - are you rendering? what's your roof covering going to be...slate?

Yep it will be rendered. It's probably the most popular finish over here. Front door should be good but in hindsight a slightly taller arch would have been better but I'm sure it will be fine.

Roof will be a flat black tile. I'd love slate but can't run to the extra cost.

I take it its all going to be a one-level property...whats the area of the actual house?

My friends dad has a one level house on a big estate the same as yours and it works really well especially after driveways and entrances have been designed and put into place

Yep single storey for now. However if you look at the gable walls I've put windows in each end and there will also be velux windows going in. The roof trusses are attic typpe so will give me enough space upstairs for a room 5.5m x 4.5m a bathroom and a second room 4.5m x 4.5m. That conversion is a little way off yet though.

The ground floor level comes in at 2500 sq feet.

it might be me or the camera angle but it looks to have a fair lean on to the right in the last pic!

it's deceptive look at the ground it slopes away to the left.

I'll post up some more stuff soon including details of the fact I need to find approx 40 lorry loads of fill - rubble and clay

Yep single storey for now. However if you look at the gable walls I've put windows in each end and there will also be velux windows going in. The roof trusses are attic typpe so will give me enough space upstairs for a room 5.5m x 4.5m a bathroom and a second room 4.5m x 4.5m. That conversion is a little way off yet though.

The ground floor level comes in at 2500 sq feet.


when you have the ceiling fixed, fan your plasterboard out at the bottom of the reveals. some building contractors would just go for the 'straight down' solution, but if you fan the plasterboard for the reveals all the way round (ie so the bottom of the aperture is larger than the window), it will have quite an effect on the way the light coming through is 'distributed'. the general effect will be that it's lighter and that the window looks slightly futher away - like a funnel (i'm assuming the ceilings will be white :) )