Cobbins Self-Build Blog

We’re in! And it feels great! We moved our furniture in over a few days – and when we had our first night in our new home it felt as if the last, hectic ten months of getting funding, planning permission and building hadn’t happened at all.

Everything is right. With our last build, we made a few rushed decisions which we regretted later on, but we took our time getting everything right with this place and it’s perfect for us. Everything flows, just how it should do. It’s spot on.

Amanda Lamb came to see the finished house for her programme, My Flat Pack Home.  She hadn’t seen it since the start of the build and it was interesting to get her opinion on it – she said it was really great, of course!

The build took six months, even with all the bad weather, so I’m pleased with that.  In total, the land cost £100,000 and the build cost £220,000. I’ve just had the house valued and it’s worth £400,000, so we’ve made £80,000 straight away.

Although this is the house we hope to spend a long time in, I would consider another self build project.  To be honest, we didn’t do any hands on construction, just project managed it, which I found quite easy.  Potton were fantastic, so were the tradespeople; they did what they said they were going to do, turned up when they said they would, and that made the process pretty pain free, so I would definitely think about taking on another project to sell on for profit.

Right now, though, we’re just going to relax in our fantastic new Potton home.

A page has been created showing the house in its finished state – click photos (top right of page).

The carpenters, plumbers and electricians were here for a couple of weeks. Once they’d finished, the drains were finished and approved by the council, the electricity was hooked up and the water was connected. We had power, water and working drains. That was a real milestone.

The kitchen was delivered, and we started to get measured up for curtains and blinds and so on. The painters have still been hard at work, and on the outside, we’ve started the patio and paths, built a retaining wall because our garden’s on a slope, and finished the fence.

Nearly there. We just can’t wait to get in!

This next stage of the build has been really busy – a total contrast to the relative inactivity we experienced while waiting for the screed to dry.

We’ve had the plumbers, carpenters and electricians in to do their second fixes.The first fix was everything they had to do before the plasterboard went up and the screed went down such as wiring and pipes. This time round the carpenters were fitting the doors, skirting boards and so on, the plumbers were putting in all the sanitary ware and the electrician was working on the sockets and switches and so on.

We also had the painters in, and they’ll be there some time as they’re working round the tradesmen. Some of the floor finishes are down too – the tiler came in and has tiled the bathroom and we’ve got the wooden floor down in the hallway. You can actually see how the rooms are going to be now, which is fantastic.

There’s still a lot more to do though as we push towards the end of the build. But we’re getting there.

The concrete screed has gone down over the entire downstairs floor. This means no-one can get in – you wouldn’t sink in it but if you walk on it, the screed becomes very rough, almost as if it’s got a load of concrete marbles scattered across it, so I’m told. So it’s a little frustrating, because there’s still a lot to do and we want to get on!

In the meantime though, we’ve been working on the outside, putting up the guttering, sorting out the drainage and putting up the fence. Once the screed’s dry, it’s all hands on deck as the plumbers, carpenters and electricians come back to do their second fixes.

Now the plasterboards are up, we’ve had them skimmed over with plaster. You don’t have to do this; you could just tape over the joints and put slurry over it but plastering over the boards gives a better finish for decorating, so that’s what we’ve gone for.

We’ve started work on the downstairs underfloor heating – the plumber has laid the heating pipes, then we’ll be putting a concrete screed over the top. No-one will be able to go on it for ten days, then once it’s set, the plumber will come back and do the rest.

The house was insulated and soundproofed before the plasterboard went up – you just use standard insulating material for that, and now the plasterboard is up you can really see what the rooms look like.

The glass arrived and the windows went in – and we reached a really major milestone when the scaffolding came down.

The house looks great and we’re really pleased with it.

Next week, we’ll be doing more work on the interior.

This week’s seen some pretty intense work on the interior of the house.

The first fix electrics went in, so we had the electrician putting the wires in that will go underneath the beams and stud work so they’ll be invisible when the plasterboard goes up.

The plumber’s done the same thing with the first fix plumbing, and the carpenter has been working on the windowsills and fitting the external doors.

Next week, we’re looking forward to the windows going in, the plasterboards going up and the scaffolding coming down!

The bricklayers have been finishing the chimney and inglenook and the tiler is still hard at work on the roof, so everything is still covered in scaffolding.

On Tuesday, the renderer started work, we’ve got brick until the bottom of the windows, then render all the way up to the roof and on the dormer window. Once he’s finished, that will be most of the exterior work done.The next stage is the interior work, and that will start shortly.

I’ve got the glass ordered and selected the plumber and the painter and decorator. We’re going to have a woodburning stove in the fireplace so we’ve been looking at various models – next Christmas it will look great with the tree nearby – just what Sharon always wanted.

We’ve had the bricklayers in this week, working on the chimney and inglenook.

We chose the same bricklayers who worked on the Potton showhome at St Neots, Cambridgeshire. The brickwork there is fantastic and I wanted the same builders to do it. They’ve done a great job for us and I’m very happy with it.

We’ve also had the tiler hard at work on the roof. We could have had it easy and gone for normal concrete tiles, but we’ve chosen much smaller, plain clay tiles. The normal tiles would have been cheaper – and less work for the roofer – but Sharon didn’t want anything that looked orange on the roof and so we picked a darker tile, which is already blending in with the roofs on neighbouring houses really well.

The scaffolding’s still up and will be there until the roofer’s finished. Meanwhile I’ve been busy getting quotes and people organised for later on in the build.

Next week, we’ll be finishing the chimney, continuing work on the roof and having the rendererers in.