Subheader: Lantern-Lights, Bifolds, and a Knock-Through Transform the Downstairs of this 1990’s Detached Home

In 2022, Mike and Caroline bought Brook House, a large, detached property on the outskirts of Crediton. Almost immediately they set about planning an extension to give them a larger kitchen / family room.

Having had an architect design the extension and help them achieve planning permission, Mike and Caroline went out to tender to three builders, two of whom responded. After doing some research, the couple awarded the contract to Lenny, as Mike explains:

“The quotes we received varied greatly in the level of detail provided, so it was difficult to compare like for like. However, Lenny was competitive, and it helped that we knew about him because he’d worked with my brother. We also did a site visit with a recent client of his and we decided that waiting 12 months for him would be the right thing to do.”

In May 2024 work began on the extension. The plan being to demolish an old conservatory, build a kitchen extension with comfy seating area then knock through between the old kitchen and new to provide a spacious kitchen and dining area all on the same level.

However, after digging down nearly three metres they were unable to find the existing building’s foundations. When adding an extension, building control mandate that the original footings must be found as they dictate the depth of the foundations for the addition. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to predict that this specific situation will occur prior to starting any extension.

To enable the planned extension to go ahead, Lenny discussed options with building control who directed that a piled foundation with a reinforced concrete slab would be necessary. This is specialist work, so Lenny sourced a contractor to produce drawings and carry out the work under his supervision, all of which had an impact on budget and timing.

“The piling issue burnt through our contingency budget before we’d really even started,” says Caroline. “The good thing is that Lenny worked with us and agreed that he’d remove painting and decorating from his quote, passing that back for us to do and helping us recoup some of the overspend.”

Once the footings were in, the timber-framed, cedar-clad extension began to take shape, but not without a few ‘on the fly’ modifications as the couple explain:

“My main goal for the extension was to get as much light into the room as possible. At the time I was working from home and found the dark kitchen depressing,” says Caroline. “We’d decided to have a flat roof with roof lights but after talking with Lenny and his window people, we all agreed that roof lanterns would be a better option, not least because they soften the sound of rain. We also switched from sliding doors to bifolds to give bigger, better access between the kitchen and garden.”

But what impact did all these modifications have on the budget?

“Obviously we’d had Lenny’s original quote and the contract containing the stage payments, what we liked is that whenever a change was agreed, Lenny was transparent about what the cost was and what to expect from the next stage payment so there weren’t any scary bills at the end,” explains Mike.

Prior to the build the couple had also taken Lenny’s advice about removing the existing kitchen floor joist. Originally, the new and old kitchen floors were going to be treated differently but Lenny’s advice was to concrete, insulate, and screed both the old and new floors creating a single floor that would help mitigate any movement and subsequent cracking that may appear between the two.

A year later, a shaker-style Ashgrove kitchen has been installed, and Mike and Caroline are enjoying a light and airy, social space that has changed the way they live. The cedar clad extension is visible from the road and has caught the eye of several neighbours who’ve all been very complimentary.

“Lenny and his team have given us exactly what we envisaged. I think it’s a bit out of the ordinary, and a lot of people have commented positively about it,” says Mike. “We’re always happy to tell them who built it for us as we have no hesitation in recommending Lenny. We found both he and Mark to be very personable and myopically focused on detail and quality, which was important to me,” he adds.

For Caroline, while the quality of workmanship was important, she believes that it’s the rapport with your builder that’s most important;

“Feeling comfortable about the people we chose was incredibly important to me,” she says. “From the female perspective, these people are going to be in your home a lot so it’s important you trust them. They were also highly conscientious about clearing up and leaving the place in good shape!”