‘Walk-Through’ This Way

Just when we thought it was safe………………………

Following the June posting when I wrote at length about Rod’s efforts to render invisible the somewhat ugly (in our view) overhead electricity cables, we were somewhat startled to receive the following email message from a friend in North Devon:

“It won’t surprise you to know that my sister is a member of the pylon appreciation society (yes, really) whose mission is to embrace and celebrate the presence of cables across the UK skyline.  She will be launching a campaign to have your cables reinstated if she finds out what you’ve done!!”

The extraordinarily wide variety of interests and causes in this country must be one of the primary reasons why it is such a fascinating place in which to live. Having had the pleasure of meeting the afore mentioned sister, we fully appreciate that she would take such a topic very seriously indeed. So we are very relieved that she lives in the far north of Scotland, rarely venturing south of the border. However, we are also acutely conscious that ‘Big Sister’ could be watching us at any time………………………..

Show Home SleepOver

Having decided a number of years ago that an oak framed house was our construction of choice, we took our time to identify the right provider for us. From our first encounter with them, we felt the chemistry was right with the Oakwrights team (and also with Oakland Vale, their architectural design partner). Oakwrights is based in Swainshill (on the outskirts of Hereford, rich in the tradition of wooden framed houses) and specialises in the design and construction of all styles of oak framed homes, combining progressive state of the art technology with traditional craftsmanship.  

We had already visited the ‘nerve centre’ some months ago (and before we had finally secured planning permission), when we met the design team and viewed 3D models of the houses being worked on at the time. But the highlight of the visit was undoubtedly the tour of the workshop and the K2 Hundegger automated cutting machine to see how intricate the process can be even when working with large pieces of oak.  It was absolutely mesmerising to see how the saws appeared to cut through the timber like butter. It was fascinating to observe how beams in their raw state are turned into a self-supporting, structurally sound frame held together only with oak pegs. Once the frame has all been cut, it is constructed on site (to make sure it all fits together) before being sent to its final resting place on the new owner’s plot.

When we were almost at the stage of ‘signing off’ the plans, we received an invitation to stay the night in the show home before our model review meeting. Located in Kenchester, just five minutes drive from the offices, and overlooking an idyllic pastoral scene, ‘The Woodhouse’ show home (built in 2008) is a ‘Post & Beam’ country house described as ‘Country Contemporary’ in style. Our new house will share many similarities with the external elements shown here.

We must confess to musing whether some help may be required here with regard to incurring the wrath of the pylon appreciation police………………..?

Primarily open plan, the frames themselves divide the room space downstairs.

‘Someone’ (no one was admitting responsibility) had forgotten to bring a tape measure and so we embarked on an emergency run to the local B&Q – my husband certainly knows how to give his wife a good time! Once suitably equipped, we happily measured everything in sight to compare with our own house plans.

And so, to bed – after much debate, we chose the bedroom with the white mirror.

 

Model Walk-Through

It took us some time to get to sleep that night as so many thoughts were buzzing around. But, many of the features (especially the sophisticated lighting system) provided us with welcome inspiration and we consolidated other ideas about flooring and tiling.

The following morning, after a large injection of caffeine, we were ready for the review meeting on the first floor of the show home. Those in attendance were Rod and Nicola Edge;  Julian Pilkington, Matt Michael, James Carden Dare, and Emma Irvine (Oakwrights); Greville Thomas (Oakland Vale).

 

It was fascinating to see our house come to life on the screen and from so many different angles.  Julian had also included some furniture within the model to give us a ‘feel’ for how the rooms would look. (I have resisted the urge to include too many photographs!)

 

Brief Summary of Meeting Notes:

1. Exterior

Balconies/canopies – talked through the benefits and disadvantages of the various scenarios of each gable arrangement; re-iterated the need to be able carry loads successfully long term, without sagging and waterproofing issues.

2. Interior – Ground Floor

a. Front door – to be 1200 wide.

b. Living area/hall – talked through the reason to have post and no flitch;  hall partition walls to be built in frame lines rather than alongside; hall gable balcony – single door (and landing too) to be widened.

c. Utility – wall between PHS 1 and 2 to have external insulation and battens, so first utility frame to be moved +150mm to allow; double door on end wall to be full length and 1200 wide.

d. Study lounge – wall between PHS 1 and 2 to have external insulation and battens, so first study frame to be moved +150mm to allow; 2x windows to be centred on new frame position internally; flue burner discussions and agreed to leave as drawn.

e. Stairs – can now re-position the stair supporting beam back, allowing more room for the stairs under the valley line;  mid height beam can then be removed and large braces high up added; agreed to move stair beam back 50mm more; window at bottom of stairs is to be centred on oak bay; stairs can now move over and be wider/grander, so the area will be improved massively.

3. Interior – Top floor

a. Landing – floor to be extended to cantilever 800mm from oak beam. Floor to wrap around main post, balustrading also as modelled.

b. All doors – to be outward opening.

c. Under Floor Heating – agreed on a lighter weight UFH system to avoid increasing floor loads, oak beam upsizing and adding additional depth to floor.

d. Master bedroom – velux window to be added to east elevation roof; discussed that dividing wall between bedroom and ensuite may well be glass in upper level.

e. Bedroom 2 – balcony oak rafters extended at eaves to match main house eaves detail (for consistency the same extended overhang is carried through to Master bed balcony); discussed possibility of ceiling line following rafter line if required.

The business of building a house must rate highly among the most stressful things you can do, so it is not surprising that apparently many couples have heated exchanges during these review meetings – some even have to be separated to ‘cool off’. I am pleased to report that Rod and I were on our very best behaviour that morning, although we must admit to some lively discussions in private during the many months/years of planning and revision when trying to resolve our not inconsiderable differences of opinion.

This exercise was so useful that we cannot understand why many Oakwrights clients elect not to have such a walk-though. I expect you will not be surprised to hear that these are invariably the same people who complain much further down the line that some important aspects of the new build are not to their liking, with the inevitable increase in cost and delay if they insist on changes.

In conclusion, we found this to be a really productive and rewarding experience that ironed out the major issues and moved our project forward in an exciting way. Once the revised drawings have been signed off, the engineer will calculate the loads to inform the piling and foundation ground works (due to start in August).

NEXT BLOG POSTING:

Three guest editors will be sharing their varied thoughts on the project.