Getting House Plans

The next stage after you've completed on your plot is getting house plans decided on and drawn up.

There are a lot of 'kit house' manufacturers in Scotland and the Highlands, some of which are used a lot in the Outer Hebrides. It's a good idea to first get an idea of how large a house you need, what sort of layout and the layout of the land and so forth. We trawled through many websites not only with kit manufacturers, who have 'off the peg' designs, but also house plan websites. We changed our minds many times! We had even contacted an architect to see if it was worth renovating the derelict houses - he gave us a quote of £150,000 for the build cost PLUS he wanted 13.5% of that build cost for his fee. It would take too long and too expensive for what we could realistically do - and the new build regulations make it more difficult to renovate old places satifactorily (such as environmental/energy saving, wheelchair access etc).

We went to speak with a builder on the island called Cal Max Construction Ltd. to get advice on what to do, as well as discuss site/foundation preparation. Mr Maclean, one of the directors, advised us on a particular company called GM Timber Systems that could help us with getting plans drawn up to our own spec as well as having reasonably priced kits of good quality. We contacted Len Sharp of GM Timber in Aberdeenshire and he was very helpful.

We wanted not only a particular layout, but also we were wanting it to be eco-friendly with a solid fuel stove to heat the water and central heating. The central heating we were wanting to underfloor heating as it not only saves energy, but space as well. Instead of the usual block with wet dash exterior finish, we were wanting Scottish grown larch-lap cladding. This not only saves time, but money as it doesn't require a bricklayer to put up.

Within a couple of weeks, we had a draft of our design drawn up by their architect. We then made any changes and sent the draft back. In order to secure planning permission, you need at least 10 copies of both foundation and construction plans. To get plans done up like this was about £1200 as at a year ago. When we've got the go ahead from Planning, then we can order the kit from GM.

A few things to consider when making designs about your house in the Outer Hebrides, the wind direction being the major factor:

1. PVC windows are much more weather-proof than wooden frames. Not just in low maintenance, but also keeping the water out. Our current house has a huge patio door facing south in our living room. Every time there is a substantial south-westerly gale, it forces water through the double-glazing resulting in a wet living room floor. Wood expands and contracts with wet and dry periods and is liable to cracking. We keep re-sealing and varnishing to no avail.

2. aspect - the prevailing winds are west to south-westerly (look at what trees there are, they face towards the east with the west side of the tree having no leaves). If you want an entrance porch, consider, if possible, having the entrance neither west or south, but east or north. The same goes for conservatory doors.

3. Windows that aren't too large. It's great trying to get as much light as possible in the house, but again, the smaller the window, the less the problem is with water ingress.

4. Roof types. Flat roofs on porches or extensions are a very bad idea here. Again, the wind and water causing damage over a short period of time. Some people have fibre-glassed their flat roofs, but you will have a long wait to get it done due to the busy-ness of the roofers as well as needing a substantial dry period to do it in.

Next step - Outline Planning Permission!

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