Jan and Mike sitting pretty after building dream home
J an and Mike Davies are the owners of a pretty, energy- efficient oak frame cottage in Notts, which they built themselves. But what prompted them to take the plunge into house building?
Jan and Mike were approaching retirement when they built the home of their dreams in the garden of their former house.
The couple first moved into their picturesque village in Nottinghamshire in 1991, when they fell in love with their character cottage in a Conservation Area.
However, it needed constant maintenance, which was both time consuming and expensive, so for some years they had been considering the self-build option.
This idea became a serious plan when Jan was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years away from retirement.
After undergoing treatment, she was given the all-clear but this experience gave them both a very different perspective on life.
Determined to stay in their unspoilt village and be as close as possible to friends and local amenities, Jan and Mike decided to divide off a part of their large garden to create a plot on which they could build their new home.
To choose the most suitable building method for their needs, the couple did a good deal of research visiting several exhibitions including the National Homebuilding and Renovating Show in Birmingham.
Then they saw oak frame construction company Border Oak's Ben and Merry Albright setting up their own home on TV and decided to select an oak frame structure.
The firm is a family business, which specialises in the design and construction of green oak framed structures.
Jan said: "Border Oak were very flexible and understood our needs from the beginning, which made us feel secure working with them."
Planning permission was granted in February on Valentine's Day, but with a restriction that no vegetation could be removed between March and September due to nesting birds.
However, they were able to start removing the 23 mature conifers which were on site.
Mike and Jan were keen not to waste the wood – this has been used to help form a barn style structure used as a carport.
The rest was burned over time in their woodburners.
The couple said: "The main difficulty during the construction works was to establish the foundations for the new build as the ground had been disturbed by removing the trees. "
As the soil was clay, the trees had sucked the water out of the clay and removing them had caused the clay to heave.
Jan and Mike had to build on piled foundations – 30 in all, some as deep as five metres – which cost an extra £16,000.
In September 2006, the oak frame arrived by lorry on site and two men managed to set the frame up in just two weeks.
This was then to be clad in bricks and infilled with energy-efficient structural insulted panels (SIPs).
Over the following months Border Oak's subcontractors completed the shell – including the brickwork, roofing and plastering.
Throughout the build the couple were close by. Mike said: "We lived in a rented house across the street. Some days we were on site from 8am to 8pm."
Jan and Mike completed the floor themselves – they laid their own underfloor heating and a contractor pumped the screed on top. Mike laid the ceramic tiles over most of the ground floor.
The result is a highly insulated and low-energy house, with SIPs forming an airtight shell around the oak frame and masses of Kingspan Styrozone insulation in the floor and roof.
Baker Street fitted an oak farmhouse kitchen, which is open plan to the family room.
Different ceiling heights define the two zones, with a dramatic vaulted ceiling in the family area. The space leads outside onto the patio; as does the separate sitting room on the other side of the hallway.
By the end of 2007 the house was finished.
Today, Jan and Mike are totally at home in their new build and are happy with the final result. "We are delighted with the house and are mortgage-free, which was one of our original aims," comments Jan.
"Another priority was that we wanted the house to feel like it has been here forever – and we have achieved that."
Jan said: "We would love to build again, it's just that we have everything we want with this house! Perhaps it's time to enjoy that well-earned rest."
Words: Melanie Griffiths.
Images: Jeremy Philips
Jan and Mike were approaching retirement when they built the home of their dreams in the garden of their former house.
However, it needed constant maintenance, which was both time consuming and expensive, so for some years they had been considering the self-build option.
This idea became a serious plan when Jan was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years away from retirement.
After undergoing treatment, she was given the all-clear but this experience gave them both a very different perspective on life.
Determined to stay in their unspoilt village and be as close as possible to friends and local amenities, Jan and Mike decided to divide off a part of their large garden to create a plot on which they could build their new home.
To choose the most suitable building method for their needs, the couple did a good deal of research visiting several exhibitions including the National Homebuilding and Renovating Show in Birmingham.
Then they saw oak frame construction company Border Oak's Ben and Merry Albright setting up their own home on TV and decided to select an oak frame structure.
The firm is a family business, which specialises in the design and construction of green oak framed structures.
Jan said: "Border Oak were very flexible and understood our needs from the beginning, which made us feel secure working with them."
Planning permission was granted in February on Valentine's Day, but with a restriction that no vegetation could be removed between March and September due to nesting birds.
However, they were able to start removing the 23 mature conifers which were on site.
Mike and Jan were keen not to waste the wood – this has been used to help form a barn style structure used as a carport.
The rest was burned over time in their woodburners.
The couple said: "The main difficulty during the construction works was to establish the foundations for the new build as the ground had been disturbed by removing the trees. "
As the soil was clay, the trees had sucked the water out of the clay and removing them had caused the clay to heave.
Jan and Mike had to build on piled foundations – 30 in all, some as deep as five metres – which cost an extra £16,000.
In September 2006, the oak frame arrived by lorry on site and two men managed to set the frame up in just two weeks.
This was then to be clad in bricks and infilled with energy-efficient structural insulted panels (SIPs).
Over the following months Border Oak's subcontractors completed the shell – including the brickwork, roofing and plastering.
Throughout the build the couple were close by. Mike said: "We lived in a rented house across the street. Some days we were on site from 8am to 8pm."
Jan and Mike completed the floor themselves – they laid their own underfloor heating and a contractor pumped the screed on top. Mike laid the ceramic tiles over most of the ground floor.
The result is a highly insulated and low-energy house, with SIPs forming an airtight shell around the oak frame and masses of Kingspan Styrozone insulation in the floor and roof.
Baker Street fitted an oak farmhouse kitchen, which is open plan to the family room.
Different ceiling heights define the two zones, with a dramatic vaulted ceiling in the family area. The space leads outside onto the patio; as does the separate sitting room on the other side of the hallway.
By the end of 2007 the house was finished.
Today, Jan and Mike are totally at home in their new build and are happy with the final result. "We are delighted with the house and are mortgage-free, which was one of our original aims," comments Jan.
"Another priority was that we wanted the house to feel like it has been here forever – and we have achieved that."
Jan said: "We would love to build again, it's just that we have everything we want with this house! Perhaps it's time to enjoy that well-earned rest."
Words: Melanie Griffiths.
Images: Jeremy Philips
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