Expert Advice Find the best builder


A story of just how well it can work!


Polish-born builder Janusz Jolkowicz, was the only builder willing to take on the job of building a guest house on the sloping mountainside of Lou and Bill Oppenheim’s Acharn home in Perthshire.


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Janusz Jolkowicz, was the only builder willing to take on the job of building this guest house on the sloping mountainside


very other builder the Oppenheims approached was put off by the lack of access for materials and plant at the


remote, mountainside site, but Janusz knew a simpler way of working. Within half an hour of starting on the project,


FMB’s TOP TIP:


If problems arise during your project, keep talking and listening and discuss with the main builder. If communication lines are good most problems can be resolved


“Our neighbour’s builders retreated


Janusz had built a wooden chute from the driveway of the main house to the building site for the guest house. And undeterred by the lack of access


for machinery, Janusz hand-dug the foundations through rock and mud. Despite appalling weather conditions, he battled on late into the evenings protected from the wind and the rain only by a tarpaulin, with the site lit by a storm lamp.


A sloping site was ‘no problem’ for Janusz!


to their steamed-up vans with mugs of tea when the rain poured down, but Janusz and his labourer battled on through the lashing winds,” said Lou. “He never complained – in fact his favourite phrase was ‘no problem’. “We were so impressed by Janusz’s


cheerfulness, his dedication and his high professional standards. He had to build on a steep slope, with very poor access and in horrible weather. But he never complained and despite the incessant rain he just kept on working,” added Lou.


ABOVE: Lou and Bill Oppenheim’s Acharn home in Perthshire


Perfect results from a perfect builder


Undeterred by the lack of access for machinery, Janusz hand- dug the foundations through rock and mud


84 Self Build Homes | April 2012


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