Carolyn and Chris Brown than a bigger house in a different street. “We wanted to buy our own place after renting for more than five years,” says Carolyn. “We loved the street we were in, and the rented house worked for us, but the owner didn’t want to sell – in spite of us trying three times.”
W
They started looking for something else and, eventually, a similar property just three doors down from the one they were living in came up for sale.
Although it was the perfect solution, right there on their doorstep in the community they loved, it was by no means a perfect house. It was a dated three bedroom property, built in the 1950s, and relatively un-modernised. There was damp in every room, a tiny kitchen which was disproportionate to the rest of the house, a utility barely big enough to house a washing machine, and dated decor. The pantile roof was ‘shot’ and the pointing on the external brickwork was crumbling so badly that the whole house needed to be redone. The plot fared little better, with a tired-looking garden and a single garage with an asbestos roof.
Yet Carolyn and Chris were looking for “a project,” and the run down property was just what they had in mind. They were the first to put in an offer (which was accepted) in May 2017 and then they carried on living in the rented house until they were able to move in at the end of September 2018.
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www.sbhonline.co.uk
hen it came to the crunch, friends, neighbours and the local community meant far more to selfbuilders
The first job was to get permission for their plans to reconfigure the entire house and build a two-storey extension across the back. It took just 10 weeks, with no objections, for Harrogate Borough Council to give the nod, and building work began on 1 October. By this time the house had been empty for more than two months, giving Carolyn and Chris time to line up contractors and source materials ready for the first phase. “The garden was cleared first,” says Carolyn. “There was good access down the side of the house, so the builders could get machines and diggers to the back and any rubble and waste could be taken off site quite easily.”
The garage was also demolished, with special care taken to safely dispose of the hazardous asbestos, which could not be recycled, re-used or put into an ordinary skip. The general rule with asbestos removal is to ensure that no fibres are released during the demolition, and that specialist masks and suits are worn to prevent inhalation of asbestos dust. Smaller pieces of asbestos should be placed in a bag or polythene sack as soon as they are removed and all asbestos should be wrapped in strong polythene before being collected by a company that specialises in dealing with hazardous waste. “It is best to leave it to the experts,” says Carolyn. With the garage gone and the space opened up, work began on the foundations to the extension. The builders immediately hit a problem. As fast as they could excavate the garden, the channels were filling up with water.
KITCHEN
The house has been extended across the full width of the house at the back to create a light-filled, open plan living and kitchen area
HALL
Everything has been replaced and modernised, including the staircase and hall floor
LOW POINT
We were delayed by several weeks waiting for the delivery of the correctly sized beam for the extension, and the delivery of a fascia board which needed to be fitted to complete the roof – it was very frustrating – Carolyn Brown
nov/dec 2020
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