Now that the exterior of the house is mainly complete, the builders will be finishing on site and handing over to us to make a start on the interior.
We had originally planned for the builders to do everything, but cost estimates quickly became prohibitive once they’d been discussed and confirmed. The build costs rose over 30% above the architects calculation estimates, leaving us with no alternative but to complete the house ourselves. We’d allocated some contingency, but the magnitude of this was beyond what we could absorb.
We are moving up and into the static in a few weeks time so that we can work full time on the build. As two IT people rather than builders, this is going to be a challenge!
The first week will be busy connecting water and power to the caravan and hooking up the gas bottles for heat and cooking so that we’ve got the basics in place. We also need to build steps for easier access, replace some of the flooring, fit a new boiler and give it a quick lick of paint. This will be our home for the forseeable few months and we need it to be warm, dry and comfortable. Only then can we make a start on the house itself.
Then we start with the foil membrane on the inside of the walls for heat retention and moisture control. There is already protective waterproof membrane on the outer walls underneath the cladding, but to ensure that the house is as sealed as possible we need to wrap the inside of the walls too before plasterboarding.
After that, the underfloor heating, screed and MVHR ducting. There’s something that gives me infantile pleasure as part of the generation that grew up with Alien to have ducting in the house… 🙂.
It’s certainly going to be different to our current lives, and I’m just so damned grateful that husband is a practical man who doesn’t seem daunted by what seems to me to be a whole mountain of challenges…
Ravencroft Skye 
How exciting. How long are you projecting that this work will take until you can move in?
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Husband thinks six months. I think probably nine months as things always take twice as long on the island 🙂
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Is that to full completion?
And remember to pace yourselves. We found that keeping weekends and days off was important, because it’s super easy to burn out and then things take longer and you pay less attention to detail.
We look forward to seeing progress updates, particularly the ASHP when it’s installed.
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Yes, that’s the estimate to being able to move into the house. We will still probably have decking to build and maybe some external works like gravelling to do, but the house should be fully operational.
Good advice on the pacing it. We are planning to keep weekends as down time as far as is possible đź‘Ť
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I hope Skye time is not like Hebridean time, but be prepared to be flexible as the wait time on the missing wotsit will amaze you. If you have the skills, completing the interior may give you a superior finish! Do enjoy it, you will find all the hard work, frustration, despair and grumpy days will be worth it.
If you need any advice, you know where to find us.
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Thank you. We have been warned that Skye Time is exactly like Hebridean Time, so we are prepared. Luckily beyond frustration there are no real limits to how long we can take to finish the build, although obviously we are keen to be in. Husband isn’t an expert but is meticulous, and and we will be doing most of the rest of the internal work ourselves đź‘Ť
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