he visited several builds and renovations to alidate their preious work. oweer, this was far from plain sailing. One builder, who a family member raed about, formed a good relationship with Giancarlo and submitted a bid which was considerably lower” than other submissions. He admits that this should hae resonated that somethings not right, but adds, at the time  thought een if we hit an issue, we should have enough money left over to cover it.” To minimise the impact on the views of the


church for nearby properties, the bungalow had to sit two metres below ground level. Colossal amounts of soil had to be transported to the bottom of Giancarlo’s parents’ driveway, a volume of earthmoving which the builder completely underestimated. With access being very tight, the only solution was to remove a wall in his parents’ home to allow grab lorries to sueeze through. The moment you start digging up the earth, the cost starts going through the roof!” exclaims Giancarlo. The site’s location proved a challenge again when it was discovered that connection to the sewage main wasnt possible  the only solution was to install its own pumping system. s part of getting the scheme through planning, they also reuired that a water fire sprinkler system be included. Giancarlo explains that while it completely protects the home, a one-tonne water tank was needed for it to function, which cost a load of money.


Despite these myriad headaches, the


resulting structure and foundations are really well engineered,” says Giancarlo happily. The home is basically sitting in a concrete egg crate, supported by steel beams with massie retaining walls.” The nature of Giancarlos ob working for


26 www.sbhonline.co.uk


broadcaster Sky means he doesnt work standard 9-5 hours, and this allowed him to be onsite regularly to see how the build was progressing. However, he was able to witness the results of an issue with the glazing company he had specified for the contractor to use. They were hit with delays, and without the glass, the proect couldnt proceed. With all the contractor’s employees sitting around, he started another job elsewhere.”


The period after the glazing finally arried onsite and the contractor returned to the job was where the proect lost its momentum, says Giancarlo, eplaining that there was a lack of focus. n addition, his builder wasnt up to scratch.


Not only did people stop turning up, but he also says that the uality of the finishing was appalling in places. fter months of stressful experiences with the builder, the relationship started to deteriorate, and Giancarlo was forced to end the contract. ts hard because you get close to people and seeing they hadn’t done the leel of work that  trusted them to delier warps your iew of the world  you lose trust. Fortunately for the team, a new contractor along with his electrician brother took oer the proect and managed to fi the maority of the issues that were left behind. The pair of them saed my house  and were still friends now says Giancarlo.


DESIGN & LAYOUT Despite this project’s extremely challenging planning and construction phase, the completed two-bedroom bungalow comprises an elegant, neatly formulated design.


Considering the home was in a tight, oerlooked space, the eterior had to be carefully considered. s well as digging two


nov/dec 2022


GIANCARLO’S TOP TIP


• Reusing materials and finding places that want to get rid of stock will sae you thousands.  can’t recommend it highly enough!”


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