A savvy first-time buyer has managed to save thousands on his house extension by doing the entire job himself. After moving out of a rented house, Scott Baggaley, 30, bought his first property with his girlfriend in 2021 which was a doer upper that they planned to transform.
Dad-of-one Scott wanted to add an extension onto his semi-detached house to increase its size, but he was being quoted "crazy prices" of up to £45,000 from local tradesman. Frustrated by the cost of getting a professional to do the job, the marketing manager decided to take on the ambitious DIY project himself.
With no previous experience of extensions, Scott took to YouTube videos to learn the trade and began buying the reclaimed materials he needed. He then brought in building inspectors to make sure his plans were correct and within the law.
READ MORE:
Scott, from Stoke, hoped that a reasonably priced local builder would become available to help, but they didn't, leaving him to carry on the job by himself.
"The market was busy and the tradesman were fully booked up, so I started learning from YouTube and picked up skills there," said Scott.
"Managing my time around my nine-to-five job and my girlfriend, who has given birth to our son, was the biggest difficulty."
The only major difficulty Scott faced was when he started on the roof, which proved very difficult.
"When I started the roof, that's when it got tricky without professional staff, it's a skilled thing to be doing roofing," he said.
"I was dreading going outside because I didn't know what I was doing."
He also suffered a major setback, when he accidentally dug through concrete and hit a lead pipe, which forced him to halt work and fix the whole system.
But after six months of work, Scott managed to complete the whole extension project for just £9,170.
In total, Scott saved more than £35,000 compared to some of the initial quotes and has added an estimated £30,000 value to his home.
Explaining the costs involved, Scott said: "Projects like this always start off expensive. CPR building regulations and the structural engineer both come in at over £1,000 which was a big hit right at the beginning.
"But once I got underway on the works it was literally demolition which doesn't really cost a thing.
"I had a lot of learning to do about bricklaying. The beams were very expensive as the project needed three beams.
"One big unexpected cost was the windpost which was specified by the structural engineer, but I had to have it."
One tip he advised was: "If you're going to be doing brickwork yourself I'd advise doing it in the summer when it's dry."
Scott has also built a beauty salon in the back garden for his girlfriend to work from home.
Sign up to our free weekly property newsletter by clicking here
