Do you have an eco house or self build?

[Vortex2]

Do you have an eco house or self build?

If so please tell us the tale!

* How long did the dreaming, plaaning & build phases last?

* How do you manage to match up finding land, getting planning permission, finding the money etc?

* What sort of house did you end up with?

(Ours was in dream phase from nine years ago, then in failed planning permission phases for the last seven years followed by planning permission success about two years ago, then a year in project planning & trying to sell our house, followed by detailed project planning from April 2018 to start of construction in Sept 2018 and moving in at Xmas 2018. We now have a 1-bedroom 83 sq m eco house built using a big CNC ply & rockwool jigsaw puzzle designed by Wiki House. It has no garden - but is adjacent to our 11-acre smallholdlng)

[BritDownUnder]

Very interesting. I don't have one myself but have focused on making the existing house I have as 'greenish' as possible. Australia has its own set of conditions that are different to the UK.

Getting a plot of land is something that is on my radar but with work restrictions and the focus on reducing debt at present it is not the priority right now.

Please post some photos of your eco house as I for one am interested.

[Little John]

Yeah. Me too.

[clv101]

* How long did the dreaming, plaaning & build phases last?

* How do you manage to match up finding land, getting planning permission, finding the money etc?

* What sort of house did you end up with?

Dreaming/planning started around 2009 - we'd basically figured out we couldn't afford to buy a smallholding (at least not without a large/long mortgage and all that entails), so started looking for land for a new, self-build. Found land, spent all our money buying it in 2013. Split into four 5 acre plots and sold on three to others with similar ideas (for exact price we paid). Set about getting planning permission for four new smallholdings on a single planning application. Initially rejected despite recommended for approval by planning officer but we appealed and won, including winning our costs as the council ignored policy and didn't present any planning relevant reasons for their rejection.

We had enough savings from a decade working in mobile telecoms and living frugally. The house is largely local natural materials, larch and douglas timber frame, straw bale infill, lime render, clay plaster... internal footprint 8m by 12m with an additional lean-to on one end. Solar electric, wood stove for water/cooking in winter. Started foundations Feb 2017, just about finished now. It was quite a 'self' self-build, we paid a digger driver, a local workers co-op did the timber frame, plumber, electrician, stove fitter, help from a roofer... but the rest was me with help from friends and volunteers interested in natural building.

[Vortex2]

Mobile telcoms : CHECK

8m x 12m : CHECK

A couple of similarities there ..

[Vortex2]

The house is largely local natural materials, larch and douglas timber frame, straw bale infill, lime render, clay plaster... internal footprint 8m by 12m with an additional lean-to on one end.

We demand pix!

[adam2]

Here is one fairly eco-build in which I was involved, NOT mine though.

Not particularly eco in construction due to the amount of ready mix concrete used, very eco in use though as fuel consumption has been very low.

Many of the materials used would otherwise have gone into landfill.
Off grid.

http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/vie ... p+building

[kenneal - lagger]

Here's my cob ecohouse in the snow with pv and solar hot water panels covered.



The walls were made from the soil that came out of the cellar excavation. the tiles for the roof came from a factrory 5 miles away. The timber and windows came from a bit further afield. The lime for the plaster came from Wales and Somerset.

We bought agricultural land for the same reasons that Chris above stated and tried for planning permission only to have permission refused because we were living in a "bomb blast protection area" around the conventional bomb store on RAF Greenham Common. When the MOD gave up Greenham Common we got planning for this house after a 14 year wait.

[Little John]

So, those are cob walls... Nice job Ken

[Vortex2]

Brilliant house!

It must have taken AGES to build in comparison to our dinky CNC custom jigsaw puzzle!

14 years is a bit of a wait .. although fairly typical ... we took 9 years and we have heard of 5 - 10+ years more than a few times.

CLV ... do you have a photo of your place?

[clv101]

CLV ... do you have a photo of your place?

Few hints on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clv101/

[kenneal - lagger]

Brilliant house!

It must have taken AGES to build in comparison to our dinky CNC custom jigsaw puzzle! .......

Three years to build the cellar, basically the whole footprint of the house below ground, three years to get it water tight and a couple of years to get in. Most of the work on the structure was done by myself and my wife with help from a couple of friends while the plastering, floor screeding and roof timbering was done by subbies.

Things like the skirtings, architraves and fitted wardrobes are a work in progress still.

[Vortex2]

Few hints on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clv101/

I followed the Yellow Brick Road based on your hints, so I now have a clear idea of your house etc.

Your history, design goals etc are very different to ours.

You are a young whipper snapper with all the time in the world whilst we we are getting on a bit so needed a 'fast track' solution in order to have time to enjoy the site.

BTW I think we met years ago at a PO conference in London.

[Vortex2]

CLV : Quick question - were some of your beams etc CNC cut?

[clv101]

CLV : Quick question - were some of your beams etc CNC cut?

Ha! The whole frame, all joints, all notches were cut by hand. The four huge square beams were milled in the woods but that was the only fossil fuel used in frame manufacture. All erection was all done by hand, no metal in the frame at all.