all comfortable working remotely with each other.”


He conducted site meetings by doing a walk-


around video, which Melinda could watch. If there was a question which needed an immediate answer, they could speak on the telephone.


For instance, when a major query popped up about the basement – the plan was to retain a vaulted ceiling, but the builders discovered that it was actually made of plasterboard – and it needed a fairly prompt response, Melinda and Stuart shared a Skype call. “That time, she turned the camera around to show me where she was,” he says. “It was a typical Maldives scene; azure water, white sands, and she told me, ‘this is my office today!’” Builder Sammy, whose company SDA Build typically works on high-end renovation projects in south west London, also found Melinda’s clear focus a great help. “To keep things on track, the main thing is to be focused before you start the job, and know exactly what you want to achieve,” he says.


His advice to other self-builders and


renovators is not to start tweaking plans too much once the actual build process is underway. Also, he stresses that you should set aside a sensible contingency fund: “Any work on a period house will cost more than a standard build because of the cost of specialist materials and replacements – such as chimney pots and bricks – which will need to match the originals in order to meet conservation guidelines.”


32 www.sbhonline.co.uk issue 01 2021


HIGH POINT


“Moving in on the exact day the builders predicted, a year to the day since they started. The entire project


finished exactly on time.”


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