“I’M WORKING ON MY FOURTH RENOVATION”

“Working full-time from home throughout has been great for deliveries and to answer questions, but I’m oblivious to the sound of drilling on calls now Serial renovator Effie Dracou reveals the progress on site as she extends and renovates a chalet bunga

We check in with one serial renovator as she describes her latest project

Pretty much as soon as my last home was finished, I put an offer in for the new project. I had been looking around in the local area because one thing I have learned is that location really matters, as it sets a ceiling on how much you can and should do in a renovation. Having only renovated flats before, this time I really wanted a house and luckily the value of my last project meant that I could afford a detached chalet bungalow a couple of streets over, which had the advantage of allowing my daughter, to stay in her school.

The house was around 200m2, about two thirds of which was downstairs, with just two bedrooms upstairs that had really sloping ceilings. From the front it looked really small. I think other prospective buyers were put off by how much work it would involve, but I could see right away that it had loads of potential. As soon as we had moved in I had an architect booked and we started drawing up plans right away.

GOING UP

Under Permitted Development we have added two dormer extensions to either side of the house but unfortunately our planning permission application for a third dormer to raise the ceiling height in the smallest bedroom was rejected because they thought it would make the house too top-heavy visually. I think I could have appealed but I was really eager to get the first stage of work started upstairs.

Unfortunately, just as we were ready to start in the spring, lockdown was announced so the build was all delayed until July.we weren’t really affected by building materials shortages as I heard other people were, but fixtures and fitting have been a nightmare to order remotely.

Once the dormers had been built, we knocked down and rebuilt all the internal walls upstairs to create four bedrooms, a study, an en suite and a new bathroom. At the end of 2020, we were able to move upstairs so work could start on the ground floor.

A BLANK CANVAS

Anyone who visited the original house called it a hobbit house because the layout was so odd that they couldn’t find the front door when they wanted to leave. I’ve now created a clean pathway through the house so it flows much better. We’ve also knocked through the kitchen-diner area to make it more spacious, as well as rewiring and replastering, leaving a blank canvas.

I’ve been working full-time from home throughout, which has been really great for deliveries and to answer questions, but I’m oblivious to the sound of drilling on calls now!

We should have been finished about three months ago, but although we’re behind schedule we’re almost there now. I’ve got my estate agent at the ready so we can sell and move on again to our next, bigger and better, renovation.