Bungalow construction

In April 2004 we applied for planning consent to build a bungalow in part of the garden of our family home. The design was for a 3 bedroom 150m² bungalow together with a detached garage of 36m²; the plot size was about 1260m². Custom Homes undertook a Feasibility Study, guided us through the planning process and ultimately supplied the timber frame for the bungalow. Phil Rigotti of Individual Project (Management) Ltd undertook the project management.Planning consent was granted in September 2004 after the inevitable disagreements and compromises with the Local Authority. Ground work began in Ocober 2004 and we moved into the bungalow almost exactly 12 months later.

Perhaps the most trying aspect of the build was the difficult access to the site. This was across a shared drive, owned by neighbours, which at its narrowest was only 8ft wide, and then across a stream. Much of the material had to be hand-carried the 150m from the village street to the bungalow. Shifting the dry-lining plasterboard sheets alone meant walking 26 miles - a marathon! The links under "Construction Index" will take you to photographs of the various phases of the build. Would we do it again - of course!

"Build It" magazine featured the build in their May 2007 edition.