Books

We have had lots of advice on reading and, perhaps not surprisingly, many presents of books that relate directly and indirectly to building your own home. We even found one or two ourselves!

There are may many books on subjects related to building your own home. We have been to exhibitions that have whole stands dedicated to books on our subject. However key volumes that have been by our bedside throughout are:

The Not So Big House - Sarah Susanka
An American architect who sells the vision of detail, homeliness and efficient use of space. Whilst the American idea of not so big may still be 3,000 square feet this has proved a huge influence on getting what we want rather than going with the flow
Creating the Not So Big House - Sarah Susanka
Companion book to the above with more ideas and further expounding Sarah's theories on the quality rather than the quantity of space
Building your own home - David Snell
Here is a man who has not built his own home once but no less than 10 times! A practical guide on considerations when buying a plot through to insurance, mortgages and the actual build
House Building - A Do-It-Yourself Guide - R J DeCristoforo
Not for the faint hearted this is a real hands on build book for those of you who want to get your hands dirty whether in a small or big way
Oak Framed Buildings - Rupert Newman
An Evangelist for oak framed construction Rupert covers all aspects of oak framed buildings from what green oak actually is through to construction and finishing
Tall Trees & Small Woods - William Mutch
Rather specific to us and our wooded plot. We needed to understand what we were taking on and how to best manage our small but ancient piece of woodland
The New Woodburner's Handbook - Stephen Bushway
This is a must if you want to install a wood-burner or multi-fuel stove. Even if you have previous experience of using one this book covers the things you didn't even understand you needed to know!
Simply Sustainable Homes - Tim Pullen
Easy to understand and totally not 'preachy' this gives you a real insight to what works and what doesn't. From hemp to sheep's wool, from wind turbines to photo voltaic cells, Tim covers them all

Magazines

There is a huge variety of magazines for the would be home builder. I can only recommend that you try several of them and when you find one which fits in with your vision and approach stick with it.

Don't forget also the design and interiors magazines which can provide inspiration on layouts, fittings and colour.

Our favourites have been:

Home Building & Renovation
Lot's of practical advice on what you need to consider for your project including costing, project management, finance etc.
Build It + Home Improvement
Cost calculator and project management, expert advice, plot finder and readers homes. Very similar to HB&R and I found it hard to choose between them so each month chose the one with the most interesting articles!
Homes & Interiors Scotland
Our regional bias showing here! Very much a 'designer' perspective but inspirational for all that
Self Build & Design
Probably less about how to do it and more about inspiration. More about enjoying the build than doing it!
Grand Designs
I don't apologise for including the inevitable! Personally this wasn't a 'must read' each month. But it was very good to dip into and takes a wider view on materials and approaches than perhaps the first two magazines above

It also has to be said that there aren't many episodes of Grand designs that I haven't watched. From inspirational (the woodman's cottage, the waterworks) to the bizarre (the eco barge, the space pod) it has it all. Two things have struck me about many of the Grand design Projects. The more you plan before you start the more likely the project is to be on time and on budget. And order the windows as early as possible! The number of Grand design projects I have seen which have come seriously unstuck, delayed and over budget because the windows were designed and/or ordered way too late in the process.

Shows

There are may shows, both regional and national, and they vary as much as your taste. To be honest we have, so far, visited only one national show, Grand Designs at Excel in London. A good show with a variety of products and services but I would have liked to see more constructions.

Another show with a good reputation is the Homebuilding & Renovating show at various venues across the UK.

Web Sites

Despite, or perhaps because, of the fact I work entirely within the internet arena I have actually spent very little time looking at web sites for inspiration or guidance.

However one excellent resource is The House Planner's self build section. This includes several blogs from other self builders with their trials and tribulations as well as a lot of useful resources for your project.

Software

We were never going to fall into the category of the true DIY self builder. At the start of the project my base was in Suffolk whilst Sally's was already in Peebles in Scotland, so with businesses and jobs to run it really hasn't been an option.

So we always knew we would be paying the price and using experts rather than drawing our own plans. So I have nothing to offer in terms of fully loaded planning packages.

However we did find we wanted to get very involved in the detail of kitchens, bathrooms and the like. So I can offer some thoughts on some free options in this area.

Firstly, and don't knock it until you try it, Ikea's kitchen planner. Now I know some of you may be in the Smallbone area of kitchen luxury and all power to your wee wheel. I have never felt the need to spend lots on a kitchen, believing that the structure is all pretty similar and it is the finish that makes the difference. right now I want the best build I can afford (or probably slightly more!) and I'll put up with stuff that can be corrected in the future in order to get stuff right that can't be retro fitted.
It's an on-line tool and only works with Ikea kit but even if you don't want to go that route it helps to visualise your thoughts.

Ikea Kitchen Planner - PC only

For 3D planning the remarkable free Open Source tool Sweet Home 3D takes some beating. Many Open Source products have a slightly 'unfinished' air and this is no exception but it is powerful and can handle dormer windows and the like with a little care.

We have a particularly tight problem with dormer roofs in our bathrooms and this helped us both visualise and resolve the issues.

Sweet Home 3D - PC, Mac, Linux

Another tool in this area is FloorPlanner. This is an on line and, therefore, cross platform tool with free and 'professional' (i.e. chargeable) options.

FloorPlanner - cross platform

Last one in this area at the moment is eDrawings Viewer which works with those pesky .dwg files your architect insists on using.

eDrawings - Mac

Lastly it is worth mentioning the ubiquitous Google's offering SketchUp. This is a free 3 D modelling tool with a professional version portrayed as a tool for architects and engineers. Personally I didn't get on with it at all and I can't imagine most pros giving up AutoCAD in a hurry but it may work for you.

SketchUp - PC, Mac