self build November

Written by Abigail Callaghan Wednesday, 30 November 2011 21:36

We have a house! Albeit one with large open holes for windows and doors, and a ribcage of roofing gluelams waiting for the roofing zinc to arrive, but one none the less. We can take friends up to the plot, welcome them through the front door (space) and show them into our lounge. With a squint of the eyes, and a good dose of imagination, we can see how our house will look this time next year.

The best part of it all so far, is most definitely the view we have from the lounge and the bedroom upstairs. We can see over Exminster towards the estuary and almost as far as Exmouth. We can watch the tractors on the hills and the huge expanse of sky which attracted us in the first place, tracking the weather as it sweeps in from the coast. From the front of the house, the views are gentler, over the hedge into the field, with it's resident Cirl Buntings. We can see how the sun will hit the house during the winter now, and the large kitchen window will be full of light in the afternoons. Sadly one of the costs we had to cut was the size of our windows, and now the south facing large windows we wanted have been shrunk so much, that I worry our plan to use solar thermal heating will not work. As we have taken the plunge in having no heating at all, apart from the small woodburner in the lounge, the windows are an important part of heating the house, so we shall watch next winter's forecasts with interest.

As always, we are still crossing bridges to get to the next stage. Another site visit from the mortgage surveyor has gained us the next payment, so we can pay our bills, but we will have to go through all that anxiety again soon to be able to afford to finish the house. We still have no electricity, the builders rely on a small generator to gain power, and we still need to connect to the water main in Deepway lane. It does feel as if building a house is a series of challenges to be met and overcome. At the moment, we both feel that we will never move from this house, as we are too exhausted to ever want to do this again, but I am sure that soon the hardships will be forgotten. Being in a beautiful house that meets our needs as a family, will erase the angst of the build.

Now we have to source the interesting stuff (in my opinion). Woodburners, railings, floorings, kitchens and bathrooms. One upside of the slow build is that we can make the most of the sales in a months time, and grab those bargains! Next update should include a date of when we can realistically plan to move in (and maybe an open house date, for anyone who wants to nosy around our new home).