CONTACTS/ SUPPLIERS


ARCHITECT Philip Wadge Architecture www.philipwadge.co.uk


BUILDER


Hedges & Son ltd 07788 407009


KITCHEN kitchenstori www.kitchenstori.com


KITCHEN SUPPLIER/FITTER Honest By Design www.honestbydesign.co.uk


BIFOLD DOORS ALUK


uk.aluk.comen-gbproducts folding-and-sliding-doors


WINDOWS Flush 70


cwgchoices.com


quite used to managing people, working to budgets and deadlines.”


She also has plenty of praise for their builder: “When you watch property shows on TV, the builder and the homeowner sometimes argue and the builder walks offsite or suddenly announces costs have doubled. “There were things that cropped up, but the builder would sit us down and say ‘this is what’s happened, here are your options, what would you like to do’ It was a partnership, with him walking us through the process in a really nurturing way.


“Our builder was just fantastic  we knew of him by word of mouth and he’d done work for a couple of neighbours and I’d seen it and been impressed. Our architect also recommended him.”


The family decided to live in the house during the renovation  which was “definitely a challenge,” says Claire, but she’s again impressed that the most disruptive part of the work, removing the staircase and walls at the centre of the house, took just three weeks. “We had to get out for that but, credit to the builder, he got it done over the school summer holidays, so we were on holiday for most of that time and then stayed at my mum’s house.” When extending a property, getting the new to blend seamlessly with the old is always important. “Our builder was clever here, re- using old roof tiles that he had to remove for the extension so that the new dormers and much of the new roof look like they’ve always been there.” The couple’s choice of a new off-white render for both old and new walls also helped to unify the different parts of the project. The age of the house and old-fashioned construction methods used to build it, such as


56 www.sbhonline.co.uk


its single-skin brick structure, limited options for ‘green’ features but highly insulated new glazing and the installation of some underoor heating have raised the building’s EPC rating from E to C.


Essential construction and renovation at the house were carried out between June and November 2021 but further work on a patio and the driveway, plus interior decorating, continued through 2022 and into this year. Claire adds: “Things still to do include more underoor heating, putting up wall tiles in the kitchen, and there are lots of windows that don’t have blinds or curtains. They’re finishing touches, but they often take the longest time to complete because there’s so much personal taste involved.”


SQUEEZING THE BUDGET In terms of budget for the renovation, the couple’s first estimate was around 200,000. Claire says: “We revised our expectations as we went along, and the final figure is going to be more like £320k if you include the new patio and driveway.”


She adds: “That 200 figure wasn’t anchored


in reality. As novices at this, you don’t know what you don’t know, so we hadn’t thought of every single detail when we put our first budget together.


“One of the unnerving things about creating something like this is you pay upfront for designs to be drawn up by an architect before you have any idea of the affordability. You only get that when you take those drawings to a builder – and that is the point you know if you can make it happen or not.


The new-build part was probably the simplest bit, says Claire, but with the older bits of the house, they uncovered a chimney breast that


sep/oct 2023


WINDOWS, ROOF LANTERN, BIFOLD DOORS SUPPLIERS Premier Home Improvements premier-homeimprovements.net


FLOORING


The Flooring Company www.theooringcompany.uk


CARPET Karndean www.karndean.comen-gboors


Manx Tomkinson www.manxtomkinson.co.uk


RENDER Licata


licataltd.co.uk


BATHROOMS Buildbase Newbury www.huwsgray.co.uk


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