24 Jul 2025 13:26
Wednesday 16th July was a big day for us - after a lot of hard work and six truck loads of eco-cement (more on that below) we are now officially "out of the ground". The day started well, no rain forecast and the temperature was ideal - around 18C at 8am. The pump lorry arrived on time and was in position to pump the cement across our foundation footprint BUT where were the trucks which were promised to arrive from 8:45?!
22 Jun 2025 11:04
We finally broke ground on Monday 16th June and a hot dry week has allowed progress to be rapid (at least through the eyes of novices who have never seen a house being built before!) We have a great team on the groundworks, skilful and hard working. It’s amazing what Graham our digger driver can do with his multi-tonne digger - sprinkling a one stone layer of chippings to raise the sub-base level by 25mm is a sight to behold.
30 May 2025 11:47
As a child growing up in the sixties we didn't watch much TV but there was BBC's Play School (look it up if you're under 45!) and a part of each programme was to "go through" one of the three windows (arch, circle and square) and hear a story or watch a short film about the "real world". My favourite episodes were when the film was about visiting a factory and earlier this week I recaptured that excited childhood feeling when we visited the factory in Merseyside where our SIPs (Structural Integrated Panels) are being manufactured.
19 Jan 2025 20:30
I imagine most people who have decided to undertake a self-build will have some concept of what house they want to build but are likely to be scant on a lot of the detail. For us, the main driver for the design of our house is its eco-credentials - we firmly believe that all new houses should aim to be carbon neutral if not carbon negative. Our other main design goal is to have a modern space to live in, scaling down from our current five bedroom 17th century home.