Real Project Contemporary Self-Build

Patsy might be underestimating her achievements here. In just 22 weeks, she successfully project managed her very first self-build, despite the pandemic. “We did have a bit of a wobble at the start of lockdown –I think everyone did – but we all worked round it really well and the team were brilliant,” she says. “We had a few gaps because of Covid and I think we would have perhaps gone even faster if it wasn’t for that, as it slowed down with getting materials and the workforce.”

Working with local oak frame company Enville Oak and contractor Chris Longmore she’s built a single-storey oak framed home at the front, sitting on a concrete slab foundation. At the rear is a two-storey blockwork section cut into the hillside with a Stepoc retaining wall system. This rear section houses the ground-floor kitchen, and basement snug, reached via two staircases from the ground floor. The contractors waterproofed the below-ground space using Everbuild Black Jack damp-proof membrane.

Cleverly, Patsy clad the whole exterior in timber, thus suggesting a whole-house oak frame construction without needing a large budget. “We also chose a modern standing seam zinc roof, which is sustainable and beautiful. I knew that I didn’t want a very traditional look that you can sometimes get with oak frame. I also went extra large on all of the windows, and spent a lot of my budget here, so the windows are huge and none are standard size. As this area is special, we wanted to be able to see outside from as many places as possible.”

TIGHT BUDGET

The construction may have gone smoothly, but working to a tight budget, even for a small two-bedroomed house, was no picnic. “The budget was so extreme that we had to stick to £190,000 — in the end we did it for £191,000. Every penny mattered,” she says. Remarkably, given these constraints, she’s managed to install an air source heat pump and a fire suppression misting system for the open-plan kitchen and escape routes; eventually the flat roof on the blockwork section will become a green roof.

“We did have some nail-biting moments on site, though, such as when plastering costs doubled and I thought I couldn’t afford to plaster. That really slows you down because if you can’t get the walls plastered it’s a critical point. I’d already booked the plastering crew, so I needed to buy the stuff for them to do it.”

Another tricky moment was finding the money for the kitchen. “I didn’t actually realise how expensive kitchens are,” she admits. But she found her dream kitchen on Facebook Marketplace for just £5,000. “The sellers just showed us a photograph of it and I thought — it looks great in the picture, let’s have it. It was a brand-new German kitchen on its way to an exhibition that was cancelled due to Covid. The appliances alone were worth more than the price I paid for the kitchen.”

Now that Patsy is settled into her new home, which she describes as having a ‘boutique hotel’ feel, she’s busy with plans for the garden: “We’ve done loads of additional planting, and added hedgehog houses,” she says. “We’re hoping to have a beehive next year in the summer.” Still, with external works and decorating complete, she can afford to relax and enjoy her first home. “I literally wake up every morning and pinch myself. I can’t get over that I live here. It’s like a dream come true.”