Foolow us on our Oak frame Self build

Things have been a little quiet over the last few days hence I have not had much to say here, the plans have been submitted and we are eagerly waiting for their approval. We can not wait to get stuck in to the self build proper.

In the meantime I have turned my attention to the garden and have decided that I really need to get the back field sorted, it is very overgrown with huge brambles, very uneven with lot’s of tree stumps dotted all over the place and there is still two huge piles of trees, all in all much to much work to do by hand.

As my little John Deere ride on tractor cannot cope with the garden lawn let alone the field I have decided to take the plunge and get a tractor.

I have looked at loads and I have decided on a second hand Kubota st30 compact tractor, this particular Kubota comes with a front loader and backhoe so whilst I am not even contemplating tackling the main house footings there is masses of other work for it including the footings for the front wall, trenches for the drains and cables, dig out the drive and soak away etc etc.

I am also being reminded by the kids that a few jumps for their motocross bikes will make the back field area even more interesting.

Good to see plenty of regular visitors but it would be great to have some contributions for some of you!

Until next time!!

Untitled DocumentToday we met with Roy; who because of his local knowledge we have instructed as a planning consultant. Although the plans welsh oak frame have drawn up are detailed enough to submit for planning Roy has already met with the planning officer on our behalf on a couple of occasions and we felt that relationship that he has already established is worth the extra expense we shall incur.

Roy is confident we are working within the council guide lines and with the type of build we are proposing, planning should be granted without to much objection, we should know by the end of June.

We also have being talking to brick suppliers; we are keen to keep the building looking as original as possible. With this in mind we have been looking at mixed colours and particularly like a farm house brick from www.hoskinsbrick.co.uk but they are not the cheapest I have seen so I have an open mind at the moment.

Still, all that is going on at the moment it really feels that we are moving forward. I am confident that we have some real professional’s around us for the first time in the last 3 years.

Only time will tell!

Today we received our revised design proposals from Welsh Oak Frame; they look superb. Working closely with John Edmunds their design director we have come up with a fantastic Wealden Hall home, the main feature is in the dinning hall which has a rafter’s high void with a galleried landing on 3 sides and a huge brick chimney rising through the centre of the roof.

The remainder of the downstairs comprises of a sitting room/play room, lounge, study and utility room; John has also come up with unusual octagonal Oak and glass breakfast room running of a good sized family kitchen. The breakfast room was high on Angela’s wish list and gives the roof some character sloping all the way down to the first floor on that side.

Upstairs there are 5 bedrooms, 4 are doubles and 2 have on suite bathrooms. The master bedroom has a walk in dressing room with built in wardrobes there is also a family bathroom.

The house will have the Oak frame exposed throughout with feature fireplaces oak and stone floors, oak windows. If anyone is thinking about an Oak frame build then so far I can thoroughly recommend John and his team, I just hope the finished product is as good!

It has been a boost for us to see the progress after the last very slooooooow three years!