Debbie’s Single Storey Rear Extension in Newbury - October 2023
My partner and I bought our Victorian cottage from the renowned Highclere Castle Estate. The cottage had been empty for a while, having been rented out. It is set in an AONB with views across rolling fields to the rear, and overlooking Watership Down to the front.
We did not need to extend the three bedroom cottage on the first floor but wanted to increase the living space downstairs to incorporate a large kitchen/living area, a dining room/snug and a small utility.
We chose iPlans having researched online and taken account of reviews. Ant visited the property and suggested some ideas and workarounds. There were two very small windows on the first floor landing which were at floor level. We did not want these to be covered up by the roof extension, so Ant suggested two individual flat roof sections between the tiled roof extension which have worked very well.
The building work commenced within 2 weeks of us completing on the property. The major work meant taking the entire back of the house down, leaving it open to the elements other than a plastic sheet throughout the particularly cold spell in winter! Once the shell of the extension was built, it then took a couple of months for the other services to be completed. In addition we had a lot of ground works to be completed such as a new septic tank, oil tank and soakaway. We were quite literally living on a building site for months!
We did have some issues with the builder who did not complete everything he was supposed to. iPlans were very helpful with this. They recommended using an independent building control company, which we did. This was a saviour because they backed us up on the issue with the builder, and would not sign off the build until all works were completed. We did have a number of months of wrangling, and the case was due to go to the small claims court, but the builder did not have the evidence to support his claim that he had completed all works to a good standard.
iPlans were really helpful throughout this difficult process and were able to advise us on certain points.
However, despite that difficult time, we are delighted with the end result and have spent the last few years developing the land into a cottage garden and updating the rest of the cottage.
“The design that iPlans did for us was spot on. The service was professional and someone was always available to contact. There was a very clear and easy process to follow and iPlans never deviated from this or went off schedule.
If we were ever to move and need an architectural practice we would not hesitate to use iPlans. We have also recommended them to a number of people we know.”