[Pond]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

35tons in total, £70k including installation.

HOW MUCH?
Feck me I built a 3,000 ft2 house for just over that. Including a detached double garage and demolition of the old house. Finished, decorated and with quite a bit of steel. I had four big RSJs and a square section post in the external wall. I think they cost around £3,000 fitted. It was only a few years ago!

I sacked our original structural engineers, as they were over-complicating the steels. So much so that the fabricators couldn't understand what was required to be made. Got another SE for about £400. He saved me a fortune in fabrication and steel costs and he wrote it all down on one A4 bit of paper.

As you say, it had better be good!

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by Pond

He saved me a fortune in fabrication and steel costs and he wrote it all down on one A4 bit of paper.
!

We have around 170 pages of this, neither me, the builder, nor the steel fabricators are going to disagree with the engineers

[NotGotABimmer23]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

We have around 170 pages of this, neither me, the builder, nor the steel fabricators are going to disagree with the engineers

Lots of glass and vaulted ceilings throughout? Otherwise its a steel framed house with decorative brickwork...

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by SpeedyPro

Lots of glass and vaulted ceilings throughout? Otherwise its a steel framed house with decorative brickwork...

This is the reason. Essentially there is NO internal supporting wall throughout the entire house on the inside to enable glazing to be put front/back to get light into every aspect of the house regardless of facing. Therefore it all needs to be supported by a steel exoskeleton, which will also enable effectively a full length open corridor to run through 1st floor of the house.

I hadn't appreciated the amount of steels shown in the drawings till now, the longest section of steel on site at the moment must be 10 meters in length, and we need 2-3 of those to be bolted onto the steel gables that are being erected.

The maddest bit is on paper we are going from a 4 bed bungalow with large family bathroom to a 4 bed bungalow with a much smaller downstairs WC - Yeaph we are LOSSING usable inside .

No property developer in their right mind would have signed off on the design/commission, but you only live once, and if you are going to build something, might as well make it really special .

[MashinBenzin]

Are you recreating the much loved Model X windscreen in house form?

And Elon proclaimed 'let there be light'....

[gangzoom]

^Making everything in life more complicated just for the sake of it….You would think I’m overcompensating for something

Just double checked the steels construction plans, I recon there is easily over 60% of the steel insulation still to go. Zero chance it’ll be done before Xmas 2023.

[NotGotABimmer23]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

^Making everything in life more complicated just for the sake of it….You would think I’m overcompensating for something

Just double checked the steels construction plans, I recon there is easily over 60% of the steel insulation still to go. Zero chance it’ll be done before Xmas 2023.

Going to be cold if you're insulating it with steel as well! Explains the 70k....

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by SpeedyPro

Going to be cold if you're insulating it with steel as well! Explains the 70k....

Was on site today, and frankly I’m amazed the cost for the build isn’t higher. The builder openly admits he didn’t realise the complexity of construction when quoted but hasn’t upped his price and is simply getting on with it.

They’ve had a crane onsite three times now to lift some of the beams into position, probably need another 3-4 days of crane lifts. Windows chap also reckons we’ll need cranes for the front gable window install - 4.5meter x 4meter opening to glaze. But I honestly have no idea when the glazing will be done given we need the opening to be all formed even before measuring and ordering.

We are pretty much getting a new house, confirmed today we’ll be going for underfloor heating for most of the ground floor now as well given essentially there is no original floor board/foundations left.

For something that started as ‘lets make the attic room a bit bigger’, this project has grown in size/scale just a bit .

[Pond]

I have seen many, many, many plan drawings in my working life of many, many different types of constructions and I have to say that drawing above is THE most complicated I have ever seen!

Are you sure they haven't got their projects mixed up?

I thought it was a house extension!

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by Pond

I thought it was a house extension!

Pretty much what every trades involved is saying, the complexity is something they haven't seen in any domestic property.

Why build something simple when you can go for 'design' .

Quietly I'm quite excited by the complexity. I always dreamed of doing a proper 'grand design' type project versus a 'normal' kitchen extension etc, and though on paper this is still just an 'upstairs extension with stair case move' the scale is big enough for me to tick another thing off the bucket list......still haven't owned a Porsche though, but I'm an old man yet .

[gangzoom]

Slow but steady progress, bricklayers have pretty much done all they can now, waiting for rest of the steels to be installed next week so the roof can be started. Front entrance is starting to take shape, cannot wait for the remaining retaining wall to come down and the whole space at the front is opened up .

[isleaiw1]

I'm enjoying the updates but intrigued who is cutting the grass and keeping the garden so nice during the build!

And given you cant be living in it, presume you are renting whilst the build takes place, which in the current market has its own challenges!

[JustChris]

Pointless

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

I'm enjoying the updates but intrigued who is cutting the grass and keeping the garden so nice during the build!

The gardener has being looking after the plot for 10 years+, and seen 3 different owners of the house, and everyone have added to it!

His keeping us updated on what the builders are upto.

[gangzoom]

More steels have gone in now, and you can start to see the shape of the atrium over the kitchen and the spine of the stairway that's going to connect the two upstairs gables.





This will be double height atrium in the kitchen that joins with the atrium/gable at the front of the house. Getting quite exciting to see the 3D space take shape.



Kitchen design is also now done, deposit paid. The rendering doesn't show the double height atrium, so I've added my own 'preview' of what the glazing will look like above the island.

[agentorange]

I have to ask, but is somebody in your household severely claustrophobic? This build is similar to one I've seen in Vegas where the lady of the house gets sweaty at the sight of a nine foot ceiling. Also, what sort of glass is going in? With the way the weather has been going in the UK with strange, long periods of sunshine, I'm sweating thinking of the potential heat gain with all that glass.

[gangzoom]

^I like glazing, of all kinds, if I had my way I wanted the whole side wall of the main corridor glazed, but the architect said it was a ridiculous idea and didn't even attempt to draw out a mock image.

I also blame the car, cannot be in a situation where the car offers a better view of the world than the house!

[agentorange]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

^I like glazing, of all kinds, if I had my way I wanted the whole side wall of the main corridor glazed, but the architect said it was a ridiculous idea and didn't even attempt to draw out a mock image.

I also blame the car, cannot be in a situation where the car offers a better view of the world than the house!

You're far from being the only one. I recall a couple of people recoiling in horror when they first saw my XKR Coupe did not have a sunroof. Maybe I was a tank driver in a former life. Cannot abide that much sky in my view when driving. The default position for sunvisors in a car I'm driving is down.

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

^I like glazing, of all kinds, if I had my way I wanted the whole side wall of the main corridor glazed, but the architect said it was a ridiculous idea and didn't even attempt to draw out a mock image.

I also blame the car, cannot be in a situation where the car offers a better view of the world than the house!

I'm with you, I love lots of glass in a house, especially if you've got a large and mature garden to look out on as you have, or preferably mountains and sky. I'd be less sold on adding lots more glass to my current house! The same goes for cars, and why I really don't like many of the modern ones with high windowlines (but made up for in part by pano roofs, that's the one thing I'll miss when my F31 goes).

[gangzoom]

We've had this thing onsite this week.



The superstructure is finally taking shape, along with a preview of the view all this work has being for originally!!





Next few weeks hopefully will see the new part of the house 'join' with the existing block. Still loads work left, builder originally projected 6 months to getting the thing water tight, if we get the glazing in before winter hits I'll be happy!

[AlanQS]

I would assume that you are unlikely to get the spend back on the valuation of the finished house, but, who cares if you are living in the house that you want!

[gangzoom]

Honestly I have no idea on accurate valuations. A plot next to us with a similar extended bungalow but with an out door poor has a valuation of just over £1million, which is roughly the cost of the build + purchase price.

A nearby DW development seem to be selling their 5 bed detached with a plot size of 0.1acre (vs 0.5 on our plot), for £540k without much trouble even in the current market, so a 7 figure valuation on the plot once the build done probably isn't far off.

Though clearly we aren't doing this project for valuation or money. 35tons and steels that's taking literally months to install is testament to that!