The Border Oak process
The Build Journey
Each bespoke build journey is very different, but here we’ve put together a brief ‘example’ process below to give you an idea of the key stages. Our approach is unique to us, as we are the only fully integrated design and construction company to offer such wide variety of contract packages.
Every Border Oak home is bespoke so we retain a vast degree of flexibility. Our contract types include a ‘frame only’ service, a ‘water tight’ option and also a ‘full build’ offer – and everything in-between!
Unlike others, we really can provide a complete ‘turnkey’ contract from design to finished home – with a fixed price agreement, using our own labour and project management and with the exceptional workmanship, quality and service you expect from Border Oak.
How it starts
Find a Plot
The plot is the key driver for any project – it will determine your location, your design, the planning status, your timescales and your budget.
Once you find a plot let us know – the sooner the better so we can offer our experience & help avoid pitfalls. We can undertake desktop appraisals before you buy – using our extensive plot knowledge to help you assess if the plot is right. If you are buying a site from Border Oak the process will be slightly different as we offer our plots as fully serviced, with planning and full knowledge of the background.
Once you have purchased a plot, we will come to site to meet you. It helps us to get a feel for the land, to chat through your ideas and understand the constraints and opportunities. Following on from this you can ask us to undertake design work for you – we will prepare a quote for this depending on the specifics of the project and then begin the process of collating your ideas and producing plans
Site Visit
Design
This is a really exciting time – and the most important phase in creating your home. We relish the chance to work in partnership – to help realise your hopes and dreams and also alleviate your worries. We appreciate that complex bespoke design can sometimes feel overwhelming, so our aim is to guide and support you and to make it enjoyable and accessible.
Collecting images that inspire you, visiting our show homes and looking at case studies is a great way to start. Our design team also like to understand how you live and, most importantly, how you would like to live.
We can help find the best way to showcase the oak frame, but also guide you how to balance architectural features against funds!
We always integrate your budget into the design stage. We believe there is no point designing a home you can’t afford to build or isn’t great value for your investment. And because we are often the architect and the builder we know that design and cost are not independent.
Our design process is creative collaborative and iterative, so can take anything from a few weeks to many months to complete. We want to get this right so that we can submit a strong planning application and secure the right permission.
If you already have a design and want to work with Border Oak to revise the existing plans, or to ask us to build the home, we are very happy to inherit the drawings or work in partnership with your architect.
Planning
The planning process
Once our designs are complete we can submit the planning application on your behalf. We’re also happy to work alongside your architect or a chosen planning agent.
Alongside our architectural designs (floor plans, elevations, outbuildings, site plans etc) you may need a range of other supporting surveys and assessments for the planning application. These might include: topographical surveys, ecological assessments, Biodiversity Net Gain documents, highways surveys etc.
We have several trusted planning agents across the country that we often partner with, and nowadays many projects will benefit from a specialist planning collaboration. Early partnerships work particularly well, where we may be able to add most value and enhance the application.
We are also able to pick up existing planning approvals and often work with architects and agents who have secured planning without a contractor in mind. By all means send over your approved plans – even if you hadn’t considered green oak – and we will take a look. No obligation whatsoever!
In theory the planning process should take around 8 weeks. In our experience, several months is more likely. We follow the application and shepherd it from submission to completion, working with officers to resolve concerns or answer questions – advocating for our clients and their projects.
Placing your order – specification & technical drawings
How we bring your project to life
Once planning (yay!) is granted we work alongside you to refine and perfect the contract documents – setting our what you need from us, establishing your detailed specification and the costs.
Once the contract is signed and your deposit paid (10% is typical, with monthly retrospective payments based on the work we have undertaken therein), we begin the complex process of technical/structural drawings, working drawings, oak frame drawings & cutting lists, ordering the oak, prepping the workshop team, quantity surveying, procurement, arranging warrantees and regulation compliance, clearing site, programming your schedule, appointing a Project Manager and prepping site. There is so much that goes into every home – much of it behind the scenes – before a brick is laid!
You will be invited to a specification meeting at Border Oak HQ to decide many of the choices for doors, windows, floors, staircases, roof tiles, render colours, guttering detail, brick choices, door handles, kitchen and bathroom layouts, electrical planning etc etc – but please don’t feel overwhelmed, we are here to help and make the day as fun as it can be! And there are lots of us to help you chose.
Workshop
Crafting your Home
Every oak frame we produce is made by hand, using artisan medieval based carpentry skills, in our rural Herefordshire workshop. We only use the finest Restoration Grade green oak.
Our carpenters are experienced and knowledgeable craftsmen and we are very proud of the care, attention and creativity they invest into every frame – large or small.
Our carpentry team are also qualified Timber Graders. This enables them to professionally check each piece of oak that is delivered from our suppliers and to uphold our own very high standards.
Onsite
Building your Home
Our construction process runs in scheduled phases, all planned in great detail by our Contracts Team and led by the appointed Project Manager.
Whilst we are making your oak frame the site will be cleared and prepared, with infrastructure installed and all the requisite Health and Safety and welfare resources put in place, plus storage and security. The foundations will be poured and laid (to our detailed working drawings) and made ready for the oak frame erection. Once the oak frame is test assembled and signed off by our carpenters it will be delivered to site, where our erectors meet the frame and begin the fascinating and exhilarating process of assembling the timber skeleton – along with the partner panel system.
Construction then runs in an order conceived to make the project efficient and practical- with materials and our labour procured appropriately and all inspections and warranties arranged at the correct time by our Project Managers.
Our aim is deliver to the schedule, but we also retain a great deal of adaptability because creating a bespoke home isn’t an exact science and even the best laid plans sometimes change – weather is just one example of the unforeseen!
Detail & finishes
Finishes & Detailing
Our way of working means there are infinite ways to personalise your project. From hand carved names on oak beams to panelled walls, handmade latches, natural paint mixes and character floor coverings. Every tiny detail can be shaped to reflect what you love and how you want to live. We have a vast range of incredibly talented partner craftsmen and women, great suppliers and a highly skilled ‘in house’ team who genuinely enjoy creating beautiful homes for our clients.
