Overview
Our home is a 4 bedroom 1930s house in the Manchester suburb of Bramhall. We knew the village well and had always intended to move there when we returned from living in Dubai. I had seen the house from the outside in the summer of 2018 and when my husband got the offer to transfer back to the UK office we saw the house had actually been reduced in price. Our friends went to view it for us in October and sent us some videos. It needed fully modernising and was perfect for a rear extension... we put an offer in immediately.
We went back to brick in every room, new electrics, boiler, extended the living room, converted the garage into a playroom, built an ensuite, put in new windows, new roof and a 4 meter rear extension. Due to the required pitch of the extension roof we also had to raise the upstairs rear windows.
We didn’t make any changes to you plans once they had been finalised with the architect and sent to builders for quotes.
How long did the project take from start to finish?
From start to finish the building work took 8 months and we coordinated it all from Dubai. But prior to the building work the planning stage took 4 months. We found a local architect recommended online who did all the plans before we’d completed on the house purchase. A main criteria when picking the architect and builder was somebody who was quick to respond to emails and messages as this was going to be our main way of managing the build from abroad. The builder we chose had come recommended by a friend and was fantastic. He would regularly update us with WhatsApp pictures and messages so we always knew what was going on every day. It definitely got more tricky towards the end to manage other trades such as tilers and bathroom fitters. We were fortunate to not be living in during the build but being so far away did bring it’s own challenges.
The building work was all completed during this period, but we didn’t start the garden renovation and patio render until the autumn when we’d being living in the house for a few months.
Budget
We had a pre-determined budget for each aspect of the extension and renovation. We stuck to it as much as we could. In total, we spent approximately £150k on the renovation. The biggest surprise was the raised patio which was an additional £14,000 we hadn’t accounted for! As the garden sloped down away from the house, we needed to have a patio and safe way of getting down into the garden.
What was the most expensive part and what was your best bargain?
The rear extension was the most expensive part of the renovation, but this created a huge 8x8m living space for the kitchen diner. One single item that I consider the best investment are the Timber French doors. These cost £7,000 but they are stunning and timeless.
I would say the best bargain is the kitchen from DIY Kitchens. It was tricky to plan and order, but we have a wooden, in-frame kitchen at the fraction of the price of other companies.
Were there any obstacles you had to overcome during the project?
I think problems are inevitable with any renovation, but we were quite fortunate. There was a man hole discovered during the excavation of the extension foundations. We had to leave access to this so that was costly but manageable.
Other delays came further down the line in waiting for items to be delivered for bathrooms and kitchen fitting. It saves a lot of money ordering items separately from different websites and companies, but then becomes a logistical nightmare having people available to receive the deliveries and check they are all correct and not damaged.
Looking back, is there anything you would change and do you have any tips for someone looking to do something similar?
There is nothing major I would change in our renovation; I love the home we created. I suppose if the budget had been larger I may have selected different roof tiles such as the smaller Marley flat tile. We went for the larger Marley Duo Modern that is designed to replicate the small format slates saving £20k.
My biggest tip is to plan everything in advance!! All of a sudden you will be asked to make a decision and you don’t want to have to rush anything. Spend time looking at other houses to see what elements you like... for example window colours and door styles. These make a massive impact on a renovation. But also plan ahead the smaller details you’d like such as skirting boards and internal door styles.
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