Chesham – Two storey side extension, loft conversion and full refurbishment
Mr & Mrs K had pondered for many years whether it was best to move house or improve? They loved the current location, which worked well for schools etc., and to get the space they needed would mean relocating much further out for their budget. A real example of "Don't move, improve".
So, after working closely with our architect an interesting scheme was accepted by planners – to extend the 3 floors of the house utilising unused space to the side of the house, reworking the hallway to offer a much larger kitchen/dining/family space, even including a bespoke baking cupboard and pantry, bi-fold doors to the garden, a useful utility room with side access to the garden (another wishlist item ticked off!), and more bespoke storage under the stairs for all those school bags/coats and shoes.
Then upstairs creating a very grown up en-suite bedroom for their growing teenager, family bathroom and refurb of 2 existing bedrooms.
The finale being a 3rd floor loft conversion carefully incorporating a study area to the underside of the new oak and glass staircase. Large Velux windows draw light to the new master en-suite, with a feature picture window making the most of the views over the nearby valley, and a generous en-suite bathroom with bespoke fitted wardrobes to the bedroom for maximum storage.
The works took 6–8 months and meant that the family had to take a short term local rental, which enabled the team to action various works at simultaneous stages. The children had been involved throughout the build, so they played a part in choosing their favourite tiles, and fun paint colours for the bedrooms!
On handover day, it was clearly a joy for all the family to see their much improved and enlarged family home. They now had dedicated spaces for quality family life, homework and rest without having to move and leave a home they loved but had just simply outgrown.
Client testimonial...
Remodelling our house was a huge project for us. We'd experienced a 'do-er up-er' and a straight forward loft extension before, but nothing on the scale we were embarking on. As a busy family of five with both parents working and young children, we needed a construction company that could see our vision for our home, and one that could take on the project management too.
Frithsden Construction proved to be this company. The partnership between Anthony and Julie Hayes worked brilliantly for us with Anthony understanding our build - which was very complex due to the shape of the site - and Julie's informed and inspirational eye for design and flow. Coupled with a conscientious project manager on site with a keen eye for detail and outstanding level of care and attention, our build was in safe hands. For us, the beauty of using Frithsden was the high level of personal care and attention that Anthony and, in particular, Julie employed throughout our project. We were extremely grateful for Julie's hands-on approach, understanding that we could dictate exactly how much help and advice we wanted.
With a high degree of foresight, Frithsden also offered many suggestions to improve on the planned build as the project progressed. As clients we were able to give a very clear brief as to how we would use the house and new spaces we were creating, but weren't always so decided on the look and feel. Having developed a close working relationship in the early stages of the construction and having lots of conversations about what the family liked and how we spent our time, Julie created mood boards for each room to give us food for thought that helped us shape our own ideas. Another significant bonus was Julie and Anthony's in-depth knowledge of, and relationships with, local suppliers. Julie was able to interpret our ideas and then recommend a range of suppliers. This saved us a huge amount of time that we would have had to invest in research ourselves. What was especially useful was Julie's advice on how we could save money by careful selection of product without compromising on quality. Once decisions were made, Frithsden then handled all the purchasing to ensure we got the best price.
Throughout the build the communication with us was excellent with regular updates and schedules, along with prompt responses to queries. By maintaining regular communication we felt that we were constantly up to speed despite us both working, enabling the project to progress without delay.
We were happy for Frithsden to get on with the project with minimal intervention from ourselves. We were confident in their understanding of our build and the quality of the work they were delivering. We trusted their judgement and, by being in regular contact, we were always able to query or challenge anything we didn't understand. Equally when there was a decision to be made, Frithsden always ran options through with us to ensure we were getting exactly what we wanted. We were as hands-on as we wanted to be and were able to be, given our family and work commitments. Frithsden's project management and experience kept any potential stress points to the minimum meaning we could focus on getting on with things whilst they dealt with any issues that came along. Specifically, the relations with our neighbours was particularly well managed, keeping them informed of busy days on site and maintaining a courteous and considerate manner throughout, keeping disruption to a minimum.
We are delighted with our new home and are happy to recommend Frithsden Construction as a professional, competent, knowledgable and reliable partner.
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