RootsBooster Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 The Hobbit house that Ruby linked to reminded me of a conversation I had a few months ago with a friend who's daughter is an archaeologist (deals with historic buildings mostly). He was telling me about an old straw bale house. We got talking about it and it turns out that straw bales are still in use today for construction. My friend reckons they are a good building material for houses, why aren't they used more often then? I just found this & this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernStar Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 That doesn't look too excessive to be honest, apart from the bricks. If you replace the brick layer with the wood layer, that's more or less what I already had in mind. Go for it then, I'd personally design it from a fresh as opposed to limit myself to a bought cabin unless the cabin was initially designed as a dwelling. I'm all for timber framed buildings but be aware there's a heck of a lot of stuff you'd need to be mindful of, but its all doable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubydazzler Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 The Hobbit house that Ruby linked to reminded me of a conversation I had a few months ago with a friend who's daughter is an archaeologist (deals with historic buildings mostly). He was telling me about an old straw bale house. We got talking about it and it turns out that straw bales are still in use today for construction. My friend reckons they are a good building material for houses, why aren't they used more often then? I just found this & this That's ok until the big bad wolf comes along and blows your house down? I thought straw bales for insulation were pretty commonplace now? I'd like to build the hobbit house into the bank in my garden if I had any strength or DIY skills whatsoever, live in it and rent the actual house out. They were allowed to do it, so it must be legal. And I'm small enough to be a hobbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyofborg Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 You could also have a look at an old grand designs. Old wobbly head mccleud went to some protected woodland with this hippy lumberjack (who previously was living in a tent if I recall) and built his house from scratch with wood, mud, bits of string and anything else he had lying about. Has since extended and raised a family in it and said house is now a tourist attraction. This bloke had to jump through some massive hoops with regards to planning permission and I think after a certain amount of time he has to knock the lot down, but it can be done. I'll see if I can find a link. EDIT : http://www.Ben-law.co.uk , he's the chap. If we are recalling the same program then the most of the planning hoops related to the fact that the woodland was protected rather than anything related to the actual building. Should he ever want to move then he has to demolish the building. As far as the OP goes then quite a lot of the grand designs programs seem to feature timber buildings so getting them to comply with building regs can't be that hard and as others have said much of the cost will be the land and either getting connected to services or providing your own suitable alternatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 Go for it then, I'd personally design it from a fresh as opposed to limit myself to a bought cabin unless the cabin was initially designed as a dwelling. I'm all for timber framed buildings but be aware there's a heck of a lot of stuff you'd need to be mindful of, but its all doable. NO! It was just a thought! I can't see me ever really doing it, I have too many commitments (family and business-wise). It'd be nice to know whether or not it's an option though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernStar Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 NO! It was just a thought! I can't see me ever really doing it, I have too many commitments (family and business-wise). It'd be nice to know whether or not it's an option though. Go on, go for it don't be soft:hihi: Its deffo an option but not as cheap and easy as it looks like on the face of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happ Hazzard Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 This country is massively overregulated. We should be free like people in the pioneer days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 This country is massively overregulated. We should be free like people in the pioneer days. Silly goose, we haven't got the room ! In the states and probably Canada there will be a far lighter touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyofborg Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 This country is massively overregulated. We should be free like people in the pioneer days. there were never any pioneer days in this country Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 I'd like to build the hobbit house into the bank in my garden if I had any strength or DIY skills whatsoever, live in it and rent the actual house out. They were allowed to do it, so it must be legal. And I'm small enough to be a hobbit. Were they allowed to do it or did they just do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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