and it’s now a ‘wow’ feature of the property. GOING DIY
To carry out so much work themselves took some serious confidence – and a bit of experience. The couple had renovated a public toilet in Charlestown several years before and turned it into a holiday home. But there was still plenty to learn along the way.
“Joey taught himself how to draw and do CAD (Computer Aided Design) after stepping on a nail which went through his foot, so he was out of action for over a month. All the designs and ideas were completely his own,” she says. “Joey has an incredible vision and can imagine what something will look like just by looking into an empty space! He designed every part of the house himself and drew up all the plans. We didn’t instruct an architect, only a structural engineer (John Knevitt) to calculate the drawings for the steel beams.”
Because the couple did around 95 per cent of the works themselves, they found it easier to stay within their budget and time frame – and it meant there was money left to for a few luxury extras.
The build itself took around two years and was finally completed in early 2019 after what she describes as “18 months of intense work.” The couple – and their four dogs – lived in the property while the renovations were carried out. “The low points would be the sheer exhaustion,” she admits. “If you’re not demolishing, scraping, de-nailing, cleaning, burning, or lifting and shifting, you’re still thinking, planning what to do next; ordering materials, booking in trades, liaising with building control and the planning department. It
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never ends and you have to be so organised otherwise the next steps are delayed. “The access to our house is very narrow too, so most deliveries couldn’t get down our lane. We had to buy a flatbed truck to collect materials from the end of the lane, and take them to the house. This was hard work, especially when trying to load and unload hundreds of granite slabs, boxes and boxes of floor tiles, and furniture! We couldn’t even get concrete and cement deliveries so Joey had to collect it from Maen Karn himself and drive it down the road. This added quite a cost to the build, as well as delays.
“We tried to source all of the materials locally, and support as many Cornish businesses as possible,” says Charlotte. “I think the only major thing that was shipped down from up country was the granite for the patio. There was over 200 m2
of it, and unfortunately the
Cornish quarries just couldn’t compete with the prices from a supplier called Nustone up in Colchester.”
“It was difficult for us as we lived in the house during the whole renovation so the dust and dirt was just never ending. We would completely gut one or two rooms at a time, which was not the most straightforward way of doing things as Joey had to constantly think how and where the electrics were going to go, and arrange for it to be replaced bit by bit, rather than in one go. “Luckily for us, we had the hot tub in situ, so that soothed our aches and pains every night.” One of the challenges was getting items delivered – with the property only able to be accessed down a tiny cliff path, many suppliers refused to deliver.
And while the location was the major january 2020
JOEY & CHARLOTTE’S TOP TIPS
Treat yourself – renovations are hard work! Book date nights or a spa day to recharge and get back on track with each other
Check access and delivery arrangements or you could be stuck with materials you can’t get to site.
Don’t let it take over your life – otherwise you’ll end up
resenting your home
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