A DIARY OF A RENOVATION: Part 2
A DIARY OF A RENOVATION: Part 2
Pammy Kaur, of the hugely popular ‘gram @mama_of all_ _things, continues her regular column in which she reveals how she is transforming her two bedroom end of terrace into the five bedroom home of her dreams…
This month a lot has happened! Is it weird that I love the craziness of this build? Four weeks and what has been delivered? We have demolished and removed the garage. This was specialist removal because of the asbestos roof. Asbestos is a common material on many old purpose-built sheds so it’s something to look out for when buying or demolishing
The footings have been dug out and signed off by the building control. The concrete has been laid and the ground floor brick wall has started going up with the most beautiful original reclaimed London brick, might I add.
Oh and if that’s not enough, @mama_of_all__things has had the mother of all scaffolding installed! I would love to take credit but Matt from @thefamilybuilder knows what he is doing and he runs a tight ship whatever the storm!
I can’t tell you how much the scaffolding makes me smile. Is that normal?? Considering I think I can be a little OCD, I’m absolutely loving the chaos and fast pace of the build. Seeing my dream come together gives me butterflies. I know it’s only been a month and the novelty is meant wear off but I feel like I’m made for this life. To the honeymoon period of build.
We are still awaiting party wall award on one side of the neighbours (the other side was completed and signed off). The party wall on the other side is taking longer than we anticipated. I didn’t realise what an added expense these party wall awards take. I would recommend if you need 2 party walls like ourselves then you talk to both neighbours so that you can use the same party wall surveyor. This can cut your cost by over £1k as they will always give a discount for issuing both awards.
We’ve been proactive while we wait, Matt and his team have not let this delay them and they have been working on the gorgeous bricking.
Having architect drawings are great but the dream is compromised with the reality of building the project no matter how much ‘Building for dummies’ you read! Party wall awards, checks and changes by health and safety and other building regulations. There’s always something to keep you on your toes. We have already had to change the the internal plans by adding a hallway for fire regulations due to being a 3 storey house. I mean unless you are prepared to spend in the region of £10k on a sprinkler system, which my kids would set off at any opportunity, sounding appealing in the heat!
My tips this month
- Take bottle of wine over to your neighbours to go through plans early on. By taking the time to explain your plans and the dream home you are trying to build, it will hopefully help reassure your neighbours, and do keep them updated.
- I would suggest saving possibly hundreds and writing the party wall consent letter yourself for the party wall award via your local council website. The templates and exact information is all there. Lots and lots of examples online.
- Have parking permits at the ready if needed for contractors and check with the council on skip parking etc – little costs all add up.
Read Pammy’s first diary entry here!
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