Status week 40 - 2005
September 26, 2005 | Leave a Comment |
As of week 40 Hughie has finished the road and cleared the building site. The next step is digging the trenches which are needed for the water connection.
Hughie created the road by digging “borrow pits” A borrow pit is pit from which he extracts rock (huge boulders for the road foundation and smaller pieces to create the road surface) which he uses to create the road. Once the road is completed, the soil taken to create the road will be used to fill up the borrow pits again. Within a 6 to 12 months, the borrow pits will all be covered with grass again.
Check the pictures below with the site plan where you can clearly see the access road running down on the right side of the plot (looking at it from the B884) and sharply turning left towards the house site.
Cut of first turf!
September 22, 2005 | Leave a Comment |
On Wednesday September 7th at 13:52 PM Hugh MacLennan’s digger put its teeth into the turf of 16 Skinidin for the first time. With this event the development works have officially started!This event was logged on a digital camcorder. Hughie and Pam made this occasion extra special by bringing along a bottle of Champagne, to celebrate afterwards. According to good British tradition, Pam saved the cork, cut it and put a coin in it for good luck. We really appreciated this a lot!!
Detailed Planning Permission has arrived
September 21, 2005 | Leave a Comment |
We received an email from Archie MacDonald - our house designer from SkyeHomes - that the formal Detailed Planning Permission finally has arrived. This means that the Highland Council has formally granted us the right to build our house.
What does this mean? Well, we can now start with all preparations of the plot like bringing in the services (water and electricity) and groundwork (access road, excavations for the foundations). All in all the total process took well over 3 months! The original request was submitted to the Highland Council on the 12th of April, which sums up to 14 weeks and 4 days… wow…. they really scrutinize your plans!
However, this is only 50% of the paperwork done. We’re also still waiting on the Building Warrant. This document states that the house design is approved on all technical matters and that it’s a sound construction, meeting all the technical building regulations and standards in the UK.
Building warrant drawings
September 21, 2005 | Leave a Comment |
The design of the house is the first step in the process of building your own house. The next step is adding information to the design so that you specify the structure of the whole thing. This process results in drawings that allow all parties further down the road to figure out what exactly must be done, and - very important - allows you to obtain a building warrant for your house, which is an approval on the technical design of the house where the planning permission is an approval for the visual [art.
The building warrant is an essential document which basically states that the structural design of the house meets all building regulations of the UK. This document is, together with your planning permission, an essential document. No building warrant… no house! Below some clippings from the drawings made by SkyeHomes.
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Latest music...
Hair (1968, Original Broadway recording). Some naughty lyrics for that time!!
An Rathad a Bhatarsaigh, by the Vatersay Boys