Practical Advice
Building your own home, can seem a daunting task, but so is many other things in life that we haven’t done before. Whether you are a self builder, and looking for a Timber Frame house kit to make life easier, or you are seeking a full build ‘turnkey’ option, we believe that at LC Ecohomes Ltd, we can provide you with some practical easy to understand advice.
There are a wide choice of construction formats to choose from – Timber Frame Kits; Post & Beam style; Log homes; Timber Clad homes and of course masonry structured. One piece of advice we would state now, is do not choose a design and “make” it work for a plot you may have. To get the best from your site, and to create to home best for you, we would suggest that you Custom design with your very own Bespoke format.
Our advice comes from an involvement of over 30 years in land surveying, timber frame and house building. While we specialise in Timber Clad, Post & Beam, Timber Frame house kits now, it is against a long background in both Timber Frame and masonry build.
30 years ago, Timber Frame was very popular and commonplace in Scotland, but relatively unusual in England. That has changed substantially now, with many more new homes being built in timber frame, as the eco benefits, both in construction and then occupation of them, become so much better known.
Log homes have long had a reputation for robust but warm living, and it is only now through the better knowledge and availability of insulating materials, that the Timber Clad – Timber Frame homes, whether in Post & Beam or traditional roofed, have come to the fore.
We often get asked about prices to compare our Timber Clad Eco Designs, with “traditional” build. The fact is of course, that many people when they try to do this comparison, do not carry out a like-for-like comparison. Within the other sections of this tab : ‘Eco Homes‘ and ‘Sustainability’ we explain the huge eco benefits of using timber, but what we haven’t mentioned, that it is cheaper to, provided of course you are honest with your like-for-like comparison. What kind of ‘traditional’ wall construction do you think you need to achieve ‘u’ values equal to ours, together with exceptional air tightness.
But it isn’t just in the structure that we offer advice …. Heating and ventilation are now key considerations whether it is a one bed lodge, or a large family home. We can help here to. And of course, there is the various Statutory Consents required – Planning Permission ; Building Warrant/Consent ; Environmental (SEPA/Environment Agency) – are all required before you start. We can offer advice, or point you to where the best information can be obtained.
The other factor we can help you with, is that we have built homes for ourselves, so we know how it feels, and the anxiety it can cause when sometimes things happen outwith your control.
Advice is good. Practical advice is even better.
