Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
S1 EP9 | The Bramhall Build with Eve & Ty
52 Plays2 months ago
Eve and Ty have been renovating for 4 years; initially wanting to renovate internally only but subsequently doing a complete overhaul with only two rooms remaining the same! We chat about the perils of living in a renovation, how they overcame problems with a builder and how they are future proofing their home.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to DIY Guys Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the DIY Guys, the podcast where home renovations, power tools and mild panic go hand in hand. I'm Nick Morris. And I'm Dan Doher. And each week we'll be chatting with some property pros, some DIY diehards, and hopefully be able to help you with some tips and tricks along the way.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the DIY Guys podcast and welcome if you're a new listener. Oh yeah, a good point. I'm Dan and this is my co-host Nick. How are you doing mate? Very well thank you. How you matey? Yeah not too bad thank you. So end of week five, has it been
Weather Challenges and Plumbing Issues
00:00:32
Speaker
a good one? It's been a good one Builders have been there a lot so weather's been horrendous but they've just been persevering through. Yeah. Got a little marquee set up to keep them a bit dry.
00:00:42
Speaker
nice they've been doing all the drainage work so the foundations were poured uh end of week four which we spoke about previously and they've been doing all the drainage so there's they've been doing the down pipe for the ensuite toilet and the bathroom toilet um it's taking a soil pipe into the main drain there and unfortunately our luxurious bungalow where I had a boiler working and it was all nice and a toilet working is now gone because they had to block off the toilet pipe because it's it's not being used. Where the bathroom is is now completely dead. It's going to turn into a corridor. yeah So there's no point keeping It just caused too many issues. so They've literally cut off the pipe between what was the toilet now and the drain is now gone.
00:01:24
Speaker
we've got no working toilet. Back to wean in the garden like a fox or something. It's just so tragic because I went there a few weeks ago, had the peating on, yeah my toilet, and then now it's just, yeah, it's back to one of those built-in sites you don't even like. Yeah, you don't want want to even go to your own house. Yeah, but it's all good. They've been doing the drainage and they've been linking up to the back. There's so much to think about with building this. This is why it's so over my head, but...
00:01:51
Speaker
So I've got the ensuite toilet, the bathroom toilet that links into a drain. That has to be roddable from a manhole. So they're putting in a manhole to rod those toilets in case there's ever a blockage. yeah And from that manhole, they then go to another drain, which is just on the border of the neighbor's fence and our fence.
Rewiring and Open Space Renovation
00:02:08
Speaker
And then from that manhole they put in, which is new, I've got to think about the utility now because that room's gone from being a study to utility. there's going to be a sink in there. Nice. Like obviously sink, washing machine, not a dishwasher. um The kitchen sink, and we're getting waste going away from that. So all these things I have to think about, and there's not even like a block or brick laid. Yeah. And have to get it in the exact right position of where it's going to be. Really tricky, I think. It's pretty crazy, isn't it? Yeah.
00:02:36
Speaker
nothing there and they're like, i'm going to have to imagine where a block washing machine or a dishwasher is going to go, right? Exactly. And like the toilets are really hard. i I remember a bungalow I did maybe four or five years ago where the toilet, it was just slightly in the wrong position and we had to put like a little bendy pipe there and then you're really not supposed to do that because it just it means it can't be rodded as well. yeah It was just in the wrong place. So it's really hard to get it right. But they obviously have to work out the cavity wall, where everything's going and just work it out perfectly. But when they sort just ask me, they're like, does it look right on my hat?
00:03:08
Speaker
i look at you don't i look at this It looks right. I mean, there is a point there. Yeah. yeah I'm just like, yeah, I trust you. Hopefully it's right. and Fingers crossed. But yeah, I haven't been there really. Unfortunately, I've done one good day, which I'll tell you about in a minute. But yeah, I've been on a rewire um in Tunbridge for a client. it's Nice. I actually rewired her old house and then she did it all up and finished it. and it was amazing. She sold it.
00:03:35
Speaker
Made up to money, bought another house, and was doing exactly same thing. I'm a bit like, I need the money, but at the same time, was like, oh, your old house was so nice. Why have you done that? But, like I said, got a product, so I money coming in rather than money going out.
00:03:49
Speaker
So I've been down there for three days, and then I did the Friday at my house. yeah um And I took down the wall between the kitchen and living room. Amazing. Yeah. Oh, mate, I can't wait to see it. It must be such a cool, like, open space. Yeah, it's nice. And it's handy having the builders there because I usually loan my carpenters drill, but I use the builder's petrol grinder. Yeah. Which makes so much dust a mess. I wouldn't recommend it necessarily, but it gives you, because the wall's getting cut out and we're leaving a pillar and a pillar, like yeah in a column and a column,
00:04:21
Speaker
it gave me a nice straight line so i grinded one on hand side went around the other side grinded the other and did that twice and then then used just the normal drill just to go around and cut all the bricks out so it took a about six hours um and like we talk about my nice bungalow now it's just full of dust full of mess it's just horrible in now i'm a bit like oh bit depressed but um it went well coming out it was like sanding some in brick work um hard work yeah like doable and i like took it all out and took all to skip in one day as well nice and i know we'll want to get on about our guests and stuff but i know there is massive massive news and we cannot do this episode without talking about
00:05:05
Speaker
The fireplace wall is down, right? Fireplace wall is down. It was started in week one, want to say, and left and left and left and left and left. And oh my God, it was so hard as well. Literally, it was cement two inches thick thick on the bottom of these blocks. And I thought there were going to be modern style breeze blocks really light and they weighed a ton. And it basically took me maybe, i thought it was 10 minutes and it probably like 45 minutes. to do it and clear it up. So I was like super annoyed by the end of it.
00:05:36
Speaker
I weighed a ton. Like I was taking eight or nine bricks in one little plaster's yellow bucket on the other wall. These were like one or two each. They were that heavy. So yeah, it really knackled me out as well. So was just like, oh, do the wall. That's the big job.
00:05:50
Speaker
I'll do the fireplace. Get my morale up. And it took me ages. was really annoyed for myself. it's done. So you can stop mocking me. So yeah, exactly. can move on. going to have to find something else now. Well, yeah, but I've got massive walls to take out in the future, so hopefully they'll come down a bit easier. Easier than that little fireplace. Yeah, than that deadly fireplace, yeah. Oh yeah, and there were bricks, you know, like, I've actually done this in the past to be fair. They've thrown bricks down the fireplace as well. Oh nice, yeah. When I expose it, loads of bricks just came around. I did that in my house I took out the chimney, threw all the bricks down to the bottom, but, yeah so yeah.
00:06:25
Speaker
So yeah, that's all I've done really this week. So yeah, lots to talk about next week, while because I've got three or four days there, I think. So that'd be a bit better. Yeah, nice. And got guests this week. have. We've
Guest Interview: Eve and Ty's Renovation Journey
00:06:36
Speaker
got two guests week. guests. So this is our first couple, right? Yeah. This is the Bramhall build, and we've got Even Tide joining us today.
00:06:44
Speaker
like great fun great fun so just going on their instagram really big project looks like forever home type thing yeah again only going from there looks like they like went in with like a small mindset and are now thinking like future proof everything and go big and we're going to live here forever it'd be interesting to see what it's like as a couple doing it yeah i've moaning about me being a bit lonely doing all my jobs and not having any help so it'd be interesting see if we can make or break them as a couple as well Definitely. they really add like They've really got like a ah positive attitude. Yeah, exactly. It seems from their Instagram like they've been through it quite badly. So I'll be interested to see if they've lost a bit of their shine. Yeah. So they've said this on Instagram, so we're definitely going have to dive into it, but they've been renovating it for four years already. Yeah. And they don't think that they think it might be like halfway through.
00:07:36
Speaker
They've been living in it the whole time. Yeah. So that is just... That's amazing. That gives me anxiety we haven't even spoken with them yet. Exactly, yeah. It's going to be a good chat. Interesting to hear about that, that's for sure. All right, well, let's get with it. Let's speak with Eve and Ty. Yeah, let's go.
00:07:51
Speaker
Right, hi, everyone. We have Eve and Ty here from the Bramhall build. How are you guys? Yeah, really good. Thank you. Yeah, really good indeed. Looking forward to the Christmas break and and cracking on with a few jobs. But yeah, that'll be good. What about you guys? We're really a great, thank you. You are the first couple we've had. So I don't know if we're going to try and just be devious and just try and yeah go into details about either one of you or keep it quite casual. People are getting to each other. But um can you tell everyone at home a little bit about what you're up to and what you've been up to for some serious years now?
00:08:22
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So we're um yeah we've we've kind of dove straight into the deep end. We've we previously had a um a house a house before this. We were just really cosmetic work, wasn't it, on our first house, but we've we've kind of dived into a full renovation project. we um you know the the The cliche of you know the worst house on ah on a nice street and and in a nice area, but um yeah, we're four years in now and we're tackling it. We've still got quite a bit to go as well. on Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:08:51
Speaker
we've um yeah we've We've done a lot of big jobs, so we've you know done the extension, done the roof, done the windows, but we're now tackling it ourselves inside, room by room, and um you know learning along the way, and just making sure that we we give it everything we've got. Yeah, we've been doing it for four years, probably got another four years to go, being realistic. at people yeah People always ask us, so when are you thinking of you know being finished? And we're like, well, probably two years ago. well Yeah.
00:09:19
Speaker
But yeah, we got we got we've both got like 10 days, 14 days off roughly, haven't we now, over Christmas. So yeah we're looking forward to making a real dent in it. It's so funny how your priorities change. You're like, yeah, I've got two weeks off. I'm just going to work on my house. Like sweat and tears. We did debate that, didn't we? Should we have a Christmas break this year or work on the house? But we thought we need to work on the house. Yeah. This time last year it was freezing though, wasn't it? So like I know the weather's, you know, it's cold now, but last year it felt like it was 10 degrees cooler. Yeah. It kind of makes you, when you get up in the morning, you don't want to do work on the so on the house. Like you'll know yourself. Like you'd, You just want to flip in you want to go out and you know have a meal or go for a walk or whatever, but it's um it feels manageable this year, doesn't it?
00:10:00
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it's a little bit nicer when you've got that shorter list where you can like, oh, could do bits and pieces rather than going, actually, the back of my house is missing. so horrendous Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that there's still plenty to be doing. And, you know, we we we definitely have to motivate each other and get ourselves up for the day and um to chip off the bigger jobs. But yeah, you're right. There's little bits that can keep you ticking over. Yeah, definitely.
00:10:25
Speaker
We still enjoy it and we're doing it together. It's brought us closer together. We spend a lot of time together now. We actually used to work together in a media agency. That's not how we met or anything. We actually met at college, but then we started working together. We genuinely do love spending all our time together. Doing the house has been bit of dream come true for me, really. Yeah, 100%. You're working with your partner and seeing your life partner in a different light. Not everybody goes through a renovation and you learn a lot about each other. Yeah. About what you can port with and how resilient you can be and the challenges you can get through. I feel like if you can renovate together, you can do anything. Yeah. Yeah, it's so true. It's so stressful. I mean, there's so many things that are, you have so many ups and downs as well, don't you? You feel like you're getting somewhere. There's always something that can sort of come. Oh, it's a rollercoaster. It is a rollercoaster. We always try and take check of the milestones and the checkpoints and, you know, really look back at the hard work that took us to get there and knowing that, you know, we're prepared to keep going and tick them off and hopefully then we'll have that house that we've been working towards.
00:11:40
Speaker
And I don't know if you guys this found this, but like one day you can be like on cloud nine because just something's gone right and it's perfect. And then the next day you get like some bad news or you've got a delay and you're like, oh, I hate this house. Yeah, it's so difficult. Sometimes just like one like job can go wrong and it can just push back like for three or four other jobs, can't it? And it's so like upsetting. But you've just got a sort of grit and bear haven't you? There's nothing you can It's always when you think you've figured it out, you're like, yeah, we figured this completely out. And then the next day, everything goes wrong. You're like, actually, I know absolutely nothing. We had a day like that last week, actually. Just everything that we did, we tried about three different jobs. They just all went wrong. And we were like, right, well, do we just tidy up then? We can't get wrong. We can't got balls this off. We can't not be able to tidy up.
00:12:29
Speaker
it Tell us a little bit about the house. Is it a 30s house, I think, from France? Yeah, so it's a 1930s house. When we first bought it, it was three bedrooms.
00:12:41
Speaker
and It's in a really lovely area. That's kind of why we fell in love with it. And and there was just a lot of potential. So, yeah, since then, we've kind of knocked the back of the house down. Probably, would you say, extended it by, like, 50%? I think at least doubled it, I think, yeah. Doubled it, which lands a bit. And then raised the roof as well to give us that third story.
00:13:01
Speaker
um But yeah, we've it's it's a 30s house. It's like the traditional red brick. um It's got really nice sort of... What did you call it? Leaded windows. Yeah, it's got leaded windows. Lovely old features, original features. um There was lots of like wood inside the house. and Yeah. um the The sort of openings are a sort of bigger than you they would be in a normal house. And everything's just like nice high ceilings. and Everything's just really...
00:13:27
Speaker
And even though we've changed like quite a lot of the layout, when we first walked in, we were just like, it just feels right, like the flow of the house. Yeah, just as soon as we walked through the door, i literally did look at Eden and said, I want this house. Yeah, so would we'd viewed tons of houses beforehand, and like at that point we were kind of, you know, we wanted, we were ready to move. And I could tell when we pulled up, Eve saw the potential of it, and I also saw, wow that's a lot of work.
00:13:53
Speaker
Do you know what mean? Yeah. I could just tell straight away she was like, this is the one. top Because we'd actually been looking at houses for and eight months. So we viewed probably, would you say about 50 houses? At least. Or more than that. think at least 50, yeah. through all different areas in Manchester, and probably like Rottenstall, Bolton, Bromhall. Yeah, it was basically 30 minutes from where we used to live. Yeah, because we were probably too far away from family. From parents, so um And then there was just nothing really that we we'd loved as much as this, really, was there? Yeah, something that was quite interesting about the that part of the story, I know we're going off on a bit a tangent, but... That was We'd viewed tons of houses. we you know We kind of exhausted what was available to us
00:14:40
Speaker
within 20 minutes of where we used to live and then we expanded to 30 minutes. So I think it was like 10 miles to 15 miles yeah i'm right and we were refreshing it every day. And then we we came across like where we live now and we we were looking at all the different properties but this property was actually on for, you know, I think it was 100 grand more than we could afford that we could afford at the time.
00:15:01
Speaker
and um But we just got desperate. So I'd been, yeah, we'd been searching for ages and I started looking at above our budget. And I said to Ty like, oh, just be cheeky and just call and say, would they accept an offer below budget? There was five houses that I'd given him a list to try. Ty started calling and this was the only one that said, do you know what? It's been on the market for about a year or even more.
00:15:22
Speaker
just older I think it was, the owners might be interested and then it turns out they were and we ended up getting it a little bit less so it was a bit more in budget. It was still the most expensive of our budget yeah and in the worst condition as well so those two things are a bit of a red flag but we just Fell in love. Four challenges, weren't we? warmer you challenge um But yeah, no, we loved it. And um yeah, got lucky with that. And, you know, we managed to get the house for pretty much the same price it was sold for four years prior, um which kind of gave us a nice head start on, you know, on monies for the renovation and the extension.
00:16:00
Speaker
So how did this conversation go? You saw it it was a massive project. How did you decide like, yes, this is the one for us? um Well, I've always dreamt of doing a big renovation like this. So ever since we met, like when we were 18, I said to Ty, when I'm older, and this is what I would really love to do. And I think at the time you thought I was a bit crazy or you're just like, yeah, whatever. we were just at different times of our life. Eve had it all planned out. I had a road map and I was just still just playing rugby league and going to college. So... um But yeah, she stuck to it. And honestly, she's always been driven in in the fact that she's going to, you know, get into property and, you know, make property become you know part of her life and her her earnings and her career and so on. So when we wanted to move, we were just thinking, well, we definitely want to do some kind of renovation project. We didn't know if it would be like our final house. or Do you remember that? We were kind of looking, we might end up moving, doing a house up and then moving again. all like because we didn't We were kind of flexible with it. We just knew we wanted some kind of renovation project.
00:17:02
Speaker
But when we saw this, we just thought this would be our forever home. We would never have to move. We'd do it once. And then, yeah. And it was also, I'm still kind of on a slight opposite side to Eve, but we try and work on it together, is that I'm always going look at options long-term. Once we've got it done, I'm going to get it valued. I'm going to understand what the options are for us because if we get really lucky and we cash in and it could afford us an amazing life, even somewhere better or get somewhere abroad, I don't know. There are more. The options are open, but I really love this house. Yeah, so we're staying here, basically. This is a tricky one as well. You actually look at wall and whatever and think like, oh, I built that and I insulated that and I plasterboarded that. I think it's different. think you just fall in love with all of it. So I think it'll be, I don't think you've got a chance. Wishful thinking. So was it always your idea to do something so big though with it? Or when you bought it, did you think, should we just keep it as is maybe do something in the future?
00:18:09
Speaker
So we didn't think we were going to do a renovation as big as this when we were first looking. When we bought this house, and the kitchen was absolutely tiny. So it was probably, i would say, around like two metres squared. It just had like one sink, one counter and an oven. It was...
00:18:28
Speaker
you couldn't you couldn I mean, you could use it, but it was, you know, for that type of leap into that type of house, you want a bigger focal point of a kitchen. We wanted like the open plan kitchen that, you know, a lot of people have. And that was kind of our dream kitchen. So we did know that if we bought the house, it would need extending at some point. and What we didn't realise is that we'd be doing it so soon. yeah Yeah, we got into that sooner than we than we thought, really. So stage one was trying to get the house back to and you know dealing with all the problems. So it needed a rewire, it needed to be re-plumbed, it needed to um you need lead pipes changing, didn't it, for the incoming water. it had a lot damp issues. Had a lot of damp, yeah, so we needed to address that. So we kind of had phase one of or renovating planned out. Yeah. um That was just basically to fix everything that was wrong with the house so that it wouldn't go into a further state of disrepair because it had been left basically empty for four years yeah with no heating. Windows weren't hadn't been opened for years. Yeah, exactly.
00:19:31
Speaker
So it was quite quite bad, really. We didn't realise how bad it was until the moving day. We brought stuff. We knew we couldn't move into it. We were living with my grandparents. which we said would be for three months and it ended up being for eight months. oh But it was nice to spend a lot of time with them anyway. But we, on the moving day, we couldn't move anything into the house. We just had to put it all in the garage because there was just so much work that needed to be done, wasn't there? Yeah.
00:19:56
Speaker
um But then we we quickly realised that we are eventually going to extend, we are eventually going to have a new roof. So we decided to you know look at what was you know possible on the planning, you know make a a couple of maybe big decisions that you know we don' we don't want to have to pay for something now and then potentially damage the plaster in the future or...
00:20:16
Speaker
So we focused on like two rooms, which is the living room and our current bedroom at the moment. And then we just got to the point where we had the planning permission that was already accepted from the previous owners that had bought the house. They went through planning. and We had a look at that online and we were like, wow, that would be our dream house. and That was going to expire in the April after we bought the house. And we were thinking, do we just go for it or do we carry on renovating inside, knowing that half the house is going to be knocked down? we need a new roof a full new roof on the house. So we just thought we've either got the money to carry on inside or do this extension just the shell. So we decided, even though it'd be a lot more, it' it's more difficult path, isn't it? Chaos. Yeah, chaos basically. Let's just do the shell and then take it month by month after that. Yeah. um Which we're now through, which is yeah which is feels a sigh of relief.
00:21:12
Speaker
And we are literally just tackling it bit by bit, using YouTube, making sure that we're you know just cracking on. And um yeah, now that we're through that part of it, yeah, we're we're much happier. definitely. Yeah, because it wasn't easy for you for both of you because obviously you went through a couple of builders and that's never fun, is it And you know what did you what were the red flags for that? What made you decide to sort of change builders?
00:21:39
Speaker
Yeah, so we had, honestly, doing the extension, so, sorry, before we did the extension, we worked with quite a few tradespeople and no word of a lie, everything went great. So we worked with, you know, plumber, electrician, damp roof specialist, a roofer, we had, you know, a great experiences. And I think that built up our confidence to then do the extension. But what we found is doing an extension and managing trades internally on smaller jobs, are just two completely different things. Because then when we went into like the construction side of things, we started off with a company that did the groundworks
00:22:17
Speaker
It was just, we had so many delays. we ended up losing money through working with them. The standard wasn't great. So we paid like the initial payment, didn't we? And then we thought we're not you know going to continue with them. Once we've got the groundwork done, there's no way we want them to continue building up.
00:22:34
Speaker
and So we had to part ways with them and then we had to find a new builder. and so it's quite difficult, obviously, finding somebody that will take over when the groundwork have already been done. and we ended up finding a recommendation through a friend. Went to have a look at her house. Her house looks amazing. It's a friend that actually lives not too far from us and she's got the same house as us but in reverse. yeah Same sort of features and from the 30s, probably from the same developer, just a few streets old. It was like the twin of our house originally but she's kind of, extended it a different way and to us so they look a little bit different now but yeah they did such a great job on their house so we went with and their builder and then yeah we had a lot of delays with them but at the time we were just happy to get get moving again yeah there was a big delay between the the first and the second yeah we were losing you know faith in the process we were like what we done why did we start this we've got no experience in doing it why did we think we could
00:23:31
Speaker
you know, manage this. And then and we had a really cold winter that year. don't know if you remember, but i think there at least like two weeks, wasn't there, where we had a delay with that build. Obviously not their fault if the weather's held them off. and But yeah, we were happy. Like the quality of work was good. So we were happy, even though there was delays, we were fairly just happy to kind of like muddle through. It did take a lot longer than we ever thought. and Finally, when we got up to wall plate, the roof got taken off um and then... And we even we even, just on that, because we're in a renovation, because we've maybe lost a bit of money and because we're savvy anyway, we like we like saving money where we can and and sort of living off the land type thing. we When we were taking the roof off, it was old, original Rosemary tiles.
00:24:15
Speaker
Which we were going to keep. Which we were going to, the original plan was, yeah, to re-keep them, sorry, reuse them and keep them. um So, you know, we even paid to get them taken off the roof carefully. yeah rather than just thrown off or you know down a chute. So we had plans to do that. It was only then later when we'd driven around a few houses and spoke to a few of our neighbors, like there was different alternatives that were just as nice, more modern, you know better tech type thing.
00:24:41
Speaker
um But yeah, so we we'd got to that point. We had a nice stack of 5,000 rosemary tiles in the back garden. back-breaking work and then um yeah unfortunately i think you're getting on to this point now like the just stopped turning up yeah i took my roof off and um and and kind of tapped it up so the roof and all the tiles had been taken off and stacked it had been tarped over the the wood structure was still there um and then he started another job so he basically gave us a call
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah, he basically gave us a call and said, and I've started another job, but don't worry, I promise that I'll get your roof back on for you. So we were like, what are we going to do? And then he was like, oh i' you know even I come on the weekends, I'll make sure I get it done for you.
00:25:27
Speaker
and And we just thought at this point, well, you know we'd rather just stay with this current builder and just accept that there's going to be a further delay. and and then he just didn't come back and get it sorted. No. So then that's when we thought we can't really be living like this for much longer. you Luckily, that was... That was summer....started spring kind of all the way through summer.
00:25:49
Speaker
But we thought... it's getting colder, we were like, we've got to do something about We were like, we need to get this sorted. Otherwise, before you know it, we're going to be in winter with no roof. and So then luckily we were were put in touch with and a joiner who really like, we can't say enough. Yeah, and we love working with him He's such a nice guy and he really just came on. It took like six weeks with him and two other labourers to do the roof because and It's quite a tricky roof, there's like three roofs that kind of connect together, three different styles of roofs that connect together.
00:26:21
Speaker
and There's like a flat roof, there's two petat three peaks at the back, one at the front, and then it's kind of like got a pyramid over our bedroom as well. and So it was all like a hand-cut roof, and then your friend who owns a building company um did like the re-roof for us with the tiles. So we managed to kind of get that sorted, didn't we? yeah um and that kind of so did i think we did i think we did do one winter without ah boil that didn't weigh yeah and then
00:26:53
Speaker
completely without a boiler, um what waking up in the bed with dressing gowns on. And you could see breath. See your breath, you could see the ice on the inside. There was an ice inside the windows, not on the outside. That's very crazy.
00:27:06
Speaker
And that's like feels wild to us, doesn't it? But we were saying that to our grandparents and they were like, well, that was just what it was like back in the day. yeah to potto in the bed No sympathy whatsoever. We're like, cheers, nice one. It's so difficult, though, because how do you actually ever know if a builder is going to begin a new job? ah when you When you were saying I was delayed, I was like, it's either going to be weather, staffing, or they just accept a new job. And ultimately, they usually accept a new job because there's more money in it for them.
00:27:33
Speaker
Exactly. And I don't know, like... down builders because it just like sometimes it's just a bit of mismanagement but i I just don't think I'd have the conscience to ever do that I'll just be like oh I've just got to and I want to make more money but I've just got to finish this job and move on to next yeah but you guys you seem like you've dealt with it ah you seem like quite like good spirited like like funny people did you you sort of find it difficult in that process or you sort of got through it together I think fine and trace people is has become the most difficult part of the whole process really
00:28:05
Speaker
Well, it more maybe be just the builders, really, for the extension, because now we've gone back to managing it internally, doing a lot of our of the work ourselves, and doing it trade by trade. We've had mostly good experiences. but a lot of good experiences again, too. Maybe just that wasn't super great. and But, yeah, so I think it's... I don't know. I just think maybe doing an extension and managing things internally are just completely different. Two completely different beasts, yeah. Yeah. Look, there was definitely...
00:28:32
Speaker
You know, times where there was like, have have we made the right decision? How far should we pack it in? What we do from here? no that that's Yeah, did have a roof. We couldn't do anything. Stop. I'm pulling in roof. Yeah. Who wants to buy this?
00:28:48
Speaker
I think that's one of the biggest things with doing an extension is you can't stop. So it's like once you've started, you just have to keep going and going and going. And it's so invasive because it's your home. So it's like where you live, it's, yeah. At one point, we literally had a door separating us in our bedroom. We have two cats. So it was us and the cats, our little family in the bedroom with a halogen heater and hot water bottle. and then everything outside of the door was chaos. So we'll end up going to sleep half 12, one o'clock, but then some trades might want to be on site from seven. Yeah. So then you're doing that for weeks and months. It definitely takes its toll on you, and that's where you just need...
00:29:26
Speaker
this is I know this isn't like a relationship podcast or whatever, but that's when you just need to... It's when you need to, like... We have a theory, like, with the marriage, like, sometimes she'll give 90% and I'll give 10%, and that's where you've got to balance that, yeah especially for our our renovations. We found that when we were doing a renovation. It kind of really, like, shone a light of, of like, how...
00:29:44
Speaker
much we do like look after each other because there was times where be having a breakdown and then Ty'd be like, come on, like we know why we're doing this. It'll be fine. We'll get through it. And then I'd be like, yeah, you're right. And then the very next day, ties like, oh, why have we done this? I'd be saying the same things that he'd said to me yesterday. yeah That's really nice. I mean, it's not as good content as you just like swearing at each other. It's definitely that. Yeah, there's definitely been a bit of that. but And did you guys have any DIY experience going into this or is it just something that has sort of grown as you've as you've gone along?
00:30:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think one of us more than the other. so Here we go. Yeah, yeah well, I bet it's not what you're thinking. So, even um Eve has always, i mean, I won't tell your story for you, but very I've really never... i don't think......got together. I've never picked up screwdriver. time picked up screwdriver before we moved into this renovation um but yeah in our previous house it was my dad that did a lot of the work I kind of helped out and my granddad did some as well so that was more like cosmetic stuff so it's like new bathrooms we did a lot of work in the kitchen and floorings and things like that so it's not you know no extension no knocking walls down or anything like that yeah
00:31:00
Speaker
and But, yeah, we just both wanted to kind of give it a go. And what we what we know now compared to when we very first started is crazy, isn't it? Yeah, 100%. And that's that's one of the main things we are really taking away from it. Not only, you know, it might pay off long-term financially for us. Yes, we've got an amazing family home, but we're always going to, um you know, i've learned so many things and skills along the way, which...
00:31:22
Speaker
when times, you know, if one of your pipes burst, then you don't have to call someone out, can do it. Do you know what I mean? And it's... I genuinely do enjoy it. I don't know if you feel the same, but when I used to work full time, I'm on the thing. I put a great face on.
00:31:38
Speaker
I know there's other things I prefer to be doing, but... For me, there's probably not. like You love it don't you? Yeah, when I used to work full-time, I used to think, like I can't wait to finish work and just go and tile the bathroom. that is that I was just so excited to get on to doing that project.
00:31:53
Speaker
And I remember and more recently, like maybe a couple of months ago, we had to put a new joist in, and the joiner was only going to charge, like, think he said, like £40 to come out and put the joist in, the joiner that we'd worked with with on the house. On the roof. On the roof. and And I was like, oh, we could get John to do it, or should we you just have a go? Because I kind of like want to know like can we fit a joy store or not ah yeah and then I just liked doing it because it's kind of like a big puzzle in a way so yeah we did that didn't we did that and it's all good yeah that's the thing is that you do realise you know things are if someone else can do it you can do it it's just how much time do you want to
00:32:28
Speaker
you know, dedicate to learning how to do it, to what standard you want to do it. And Eve's got really high standards. So we were always, you know, takes a while researching it a long time. And if if it's slightly off, we're doing it again. yeah And yeah as much as that's frustrating sometimes, at the in the end goal, you want to, after all this, you want it to look great, right? yeah' a but That's the biggest difference, isn't it? Between like us doing it and a tradesperson. It's just the time. Because I was doing, when I was doing the tiling in the evening, i was doing six tiles in an evening. So it was slow.
00:32:59
Speaker
But they look great. I'd come home and be like, thought you said you were Titan tonight. Obviously, they only said that once. They're the most leveled tiles you've ever seen. It's also the worst thing for the other half to come home and say, I thought you were doing this. I had been doing it for like four hours. It's just like three things have been done. I only said it once. I never said it again. So how do you split the jobs out? you, one of you like better at plumbing or you just kind of go into it together?
00:33:31
Speaker
Yeah, so we kind of have this agreement that Ty will do all like the grunt work and then... And the donkey. All the heavy lifting and the knocking down and the... um That's about it. No, I'm joking. All the risky stuff, really, is what I'll be doing.
00:33:47
Speaker
and um And I'll do like the more intricate stuff, like the plumbing, the tiling. Because you've done it with your dad before, right? His dad's done a couple of houses himself and he's you know he's been doing it for years, so he knows the ins and outs and you know he's he's always there to pick up the phone and he'll... I mean, Eve will even try not to ring him now because she loves just working it out herself, but sometimes I'm just like, look, we haven't got the time. Just ask your dad. Just ask your dad. That's what they're there for. Yeah. And he loves it and it's a nice way for them to spend time together as well. Yeah, he does a lot on this house as well. Yeah, he has. and i um So that's really nice. He'll come round you like one day a month or every couple of months or something. then If there's a specific job that we think is a bit tricky, um like a few weekends ago, he's quite busy at the moment, so I didn't want to ask him. But we were going ask him to come and help us fit a radiator because we'd never done that before. And I thought if he shows us how to fit one, we can do the rest in the house. yeah and But I didn't ask him i know he is super busy and then we managed to do it, didn't we? Just give it a go, yeah, just with an arm.
00:34:44
Speaker
We've had these lovely cast iron radiators sat there for years that we bought a long time ago. When you plan a job ahead of time, Eve's the queen of this. So buy the materials and then we've just not done the job. So the house is full of materials. It's so hard sometimes because there could be like a good offer on or something and you just get and then you shift it around for a year. Sounds familiar. It's like you've been watching our video.
00:35:12
Speaker
yeah So what's your sort of top tip for guys like who are thinking about doing what you're doing? because yeah I think your page is really interesting because it's not like one where you've just bought something and you've done it in six months. This is like a long project. what What would you sort of advise people who are thinking, I want to do this, but don't know if i'm sort of brave enough.
00:35:31
Speaker
yeah ah i would Yeah, I would probably say two things, really. um Just be prepared for it to take over your life. just the one is Because it does, doesn't it? It just becomes like your life. It's all you think about. It's all we talk about. It's just...
00:35:48
Speaker
Yeah, your decisions and your yeah your actions, your time off, your you know your downtime, you have to make a decision and be disciplined enough to say, you know, well, no one else is going to do the work for me. So I'm going to um we're go have to knuckle down and get it done. But it kind of ties in nicely to patience, like jobs aren't going to get done in that weekend like you thought it was going to. Yeah. um you know They're going to take four weekends or they might take even longer.
00:36:12
Speaker
um Things are going to crop up you've just got to learn to sort of roll with the punches. and And as everybody says, eventually it will, you know, oh, it's going to be great when it's finished and you've got to keep telling yourself that. Which is true. But it's and it's also, I think a big piece of advice that I would give is,
00:36:29
Speaker
Again, don't want to make it too relationshipy, but you've got to make time for yourself and and you two as a couple still. um Otherwise, it can be all engulfing. It can be super stressful. You're both leading separate lives anyway with your jobs and your you know with your social lives, cetera. So you need to make sure that you know you you take time out for each other and make sure you check in with each other. that it's not just like It's not transactional like we're doing this is a with with with only one end goal. We've got to enjoy the process as well.
00:36:58
Speaker
Yeah, which we've kind of like learned more in like the last year. We kind of sacrificed holidays, didn't we, in the first couple of years? Because obviously when we had no roof on, we didn't want to leave the house just in case anything happened. But yeah, the other thing I was going to say is, just ties into what you were saying before, if somebody else can do it, you can do it. And just to give it a go, really.
00:37:20
Speaker
Yeah, I'll obviously be careful and you know read what the risks are and and so on and where the right equipment, et cetera. But is as long as you're prepared and you're prepared for it to maybe go wrong yeah and yeah and things are going to go wrong and then you've got a and you just got to learn and not do them wrong the second time. so well ah Changing subject slightly, what made you like want to document this?
Social Media and Cost-Saving Tips
00:37:44
Speaker
so Did you start out doing it for yourself or did you want i to make this a thing?
00:37:50
Speaker
So it's funny that you say that actually. So um how this account started was one of our friends and knew that we were buying a renovation project and she said, you should vlog about it and document it online. And I thought, i don't know if I'm going time for this. At that point I was working a part-time job, a full-time job, and like two separate ones.
00:38:10
Speaker
And then and also starting this renovation, which was brand new to us. And I thought, I'm not going to be able to vlog about it and run a social media page or anything. And then the first six months, everything was moving a little bit slowly with like trades people and stuff. And I thought, do you know what? I actually probably would have time to like film and put content out. And this was just after lockdown where like TikTok blew up in the UK. So i was watching a lot of TikTok. So I started first on TikTok.
00:38:37
Speaker
And then probably just like the first three to five posts that we did just got really tough. Yeah, really tough. it was um It was more, ah right i think it was because there was so much before and after content of ripping things out and yeah uncovering original features or it got going back to brick and you were able to tell us. And we also had our story of, like we just touched on then, we'd viewed 50 houses and yeah this is this our you know the house of our dreams type thing? There was a really good narrative behind it, which is all true. And people really loved the house as well, like the exterior with like the bay windows and the and and the leaded windows as well. Yeah. um
00:39:17
Speaker
And I think also part of the story is that, you know, we're a younger couple, so a lot of older people and older couples are really liking the fact that a younger couple's going for it and they're chasing the dream. Like, a lot of um yeah a lot of our um people messaged statistics and but it with Instagram and TikTok, it's quite an older audience, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. here Yeah, so we got lucky with a few videos. They caught fire. and um Then we just kind of interacted with our following and we tried to understand what they wanted to see from us.
00:39:48
Speaker
Yeah, it kind of blew up a bit on TikTok and then Instagram was more kind of gradual. and But yeah, it was just just because we had the time to do it really. And I loved making the videos, loved putting the content out. Then when I saw people were interested in it, it made me love doing it even more. And i was like, wow, i'm going to keep doing this. And then... Yeah, we get such like nice messages off people. like Honestly, i always remember there was one morning on a Saturday morning and somebody just sent the most loveliest message. And I was like, I can't actually believe that people are taking the time out of the day to send such a nice message. It really made my weekend because we a weekend of work ahead of us. and So, yeah. And that's what's lovely about it is that it's people that you don't even know. Yeah.
00:40:31
Speaker
they often say, don't they, people clap hardest for you who you don't even know. so and they And they're the people who are, you know, they're watching from afar and they're seeing the sh struggles you go through. and But that message, some those types of messages just give us a boost. Yeah. um when you when you really need them.
00:40:46
Speaker
i've got Obviously, we've got a great support network anyway, but it's it's really nice to see that other people, look don't get me wrong, that you also get a lot of, you can get a lot of negativity yeah on certain... On social media, Just And you don't want to hand do down when you're hungry up you don't want to read them on a Sunday morning when you're hungover, so... I think of why you guys are doing so well, because is it nearly 200,000 you have on Instagram, I think, when I looked this morning? It's insane. But I think people sort of come for the house at first. Then I think they always sort of stay if they like the people.
00:41:15
Speaker
And I think that really like is coming through. We're just speaking to you guys now. but I noticed you've been really transparent as well throughout the process and um like say yeah what things cost and like how to save money as well. like The one that really struck a chord with me was you bought the steels without, was it the oxide primer on it to do yourself? and like So I think stuff like that as well is like really cool and show people to do it. you know i just I've never actually even looked into that myself and I've probably extended 10 houses. So what sort of... How did you sort of find out things like that? Are you digging into every little aspect and trying to save money where you can?
00:41:50
Speaker
So that was probably just luck, really. so um the builder that was fitting our seals, he was going to paint them with the red oxide paint. And he said, if you want to save a bit of money, you you guys can just do it for yourselves. And he actually, i think where the key saving was is that he ordered them from like a bit higher up ah in the chain. So it was like he was buying them from like a steel stockist rather than... um Yeah, I always get this steel fabricator. Yeah. yeah or Which way is cheaper. Yeah, I can't remember which way. Yeah. So he was going to fabricate them on site and instead of going to like a fabrication shop, I think, where they would, you know, spray them. and So, yeah, it was just through luck, really, just from him giving us that information. bit And that also meant, well, you know, we're not goingnna pay somebody to paint when we can just paint. Yeah, we just thought, well, we can just do it, get them ready for you. So they got delivered, we painted them, and then they've gone in.
00:42:43
Speaker
yeah my own that And then there was also another really good tip that, well, cost saving that we live by now really is waste removal and how, you know, the modern day skip, the way to do it through skips now is, you know, we don't believe it's the most cost effective way. We've sort pivoted to grab wagons and we've also, we try and grow,
00:43:06
Speaker
We try and go to the tip quite a lot ourselves. and Yeah, because you can't take trade waste, but if you've kind of done the jobs yourself, and then you can take that to the tip for free. Yeah. It's amazing what you can actually get in a car. You just need to have that car that you don't mind getting absolutely ruined. That's why I've still got like a Peugeot from 20 to 20, I think it is. Just to go to the dump.
00:43:29
Speaker
Exactly, but they stuff like that and just, um you know, I think um you can work with other sort of waste removal like methods like through Facebook Marketplace. People can come and say, you know, stuff that you that they would use. like they the Yeah, that lot actually. Any old offcuts, you know, people come and use it on a log fire. We just list it for like a free firewood. It was actually a follower or a couple of followers actually that messaged us because I think I put up a story saying how many tip trips do you think this pile timber is going to be?
00:43:55
Speaker
and And then quite a few people messaged saying, oh, do you know people would pick that up for free off Facebook Marketplace? So we were like, brilliant. That saves us like a couple of hours. So we just listed that and it went all in the weekend. and People must have been having like, it was during summer as well, wasn't it? So people must have been using it you know, outdoors or whatever. they bought Stocking up. Yeah. We just put that on for free. And then... any like excess building materials, we sell quite a lot of stuff that's in good condition or we just like give it away on Facebook Marketplace. Do you know what's good as well? The last couple of years, we always tend to do well between Christmas and New Year because a lot of the builders' merchants are closed. So anything in excess that we've got that has been sat there for six months on Facebook Marketplace always tends to sell between Christmas and Year and stuff. It's like you're buying, I guess, isn't it? It's like you've bought like your hearth and surround, haven't you, for your fireplace on Facebook Marketplace. It's like there'll be someone giving something away that you can just restore if you've got the time to look into YouTube videos and whatever.
00:44:51
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Awesome. So basically, we always end on the same sort of question. So thank you so much for giving us your time today. And it's basically because this is the DIY podcast, what is your best and least favorite thing about DIYing? So you've had four years of it, you said, or coming up to four years. What's been your favorite thing you've done so far? And then what's the least your least favorite thing about the whole thing?
00:45:17
Speaker
Yeah, so i think I'll go on first and on that one. So that I think my most favourite, you know, it is is just seeing what we're able to achieve together, you know, and what we're able to build. And I think I touched on it earlier, you know, how we can overcome challenges. And then you step back, I think one of you said it before, you step back and look at something you go, no, I built that. And, you know, no, i I've now got that skill and I know I'm going to be able to pass that skill on in the future.
00:45:38
Speaker
um And just, yeah, just knowing that the hard work you're putting in is going to pay off. Yeah. I would say my favourite is the same as yours, so shall I do the worst bit about it? Okay. Yeah, go on. See if you agree with me. Yeah, go on. Probably the worst bit about it is just the time that it takes, because it's took a lot longer than we ever thought it was going to.
00:46:01
Speaker
And it's been a lot more difficult than we ever thought it was going to be. like We never thought the extension would last, you know just the shell would last over a year. it's taken us a lot longer to do jobs inside the house, even though we're happy with the jobs that we've done, it does just take a lot of your time up, doesn't it? Yeah.
00:46:19
Speaker
But yeah, would you agree with that? I think, yes, I think if we, it depends how long you've got really, but... I think for me, sometimes as well, it's just, look, if you're going to go with a huge building company that, you know, is, you know, they're well-renowned and everybody knows who they are, but their job's going to probably cost you 30, 40% more than... Exactly. Yeah, so that was the challenge of then, you know, managing it ourselves. Yeah. and trying to go off reviews and recommendations. Yeah, breaking it down into smaller jobs. But there's quite a lot of houses on our road that having work done, and some of them are with the bigger companies. And when we see from them, from being at foundation stage to having the gates taken down, so that will be all internal works completed and ready to move we assume. Even that could take like two years. Some of those are still ongoing now. company coming in and doing it from start to finish obviously there'll be stressful points for that but it's supposed to be much smoother process isn't it when you get a bigger company to kind of look after things if it all goes to plan and even that can take two years so you know if we're doing it ourselves with individual trades it is going to take so much longer Yeah, it just is one of those things that is just a slow process. And I bet you're sick of your friends saying, when is it really? When are you going invite around? It's like, come round if you want. I was like, I can't really moan because I'm putting it all over Instagram and YouTube. Every time meet someone, how's the house? I'm like, oh, I just don't know how to talk about it today. Thank you so much. I was going to say, that's the thing. We're happy to talk about it when something good's happening. When we stress, we're just like, oh. Yeah. That's it. That's it. Well, thank you so much for your time, guys. Can you let everyone at home know where we can follow you, where we can follow the journey? Well, you said for maybe another four years. Who knows? Yeah, definitely. It's definitely going to be at least another four. Yeah, so we're currently on Instagram and TikTok with the same handle. It's at the Bramall build, and it's Bramhall build.
00:48:22
Speaker
um But if you just type in the Bramall, it should come up. And then I think Evie's also trying to push YouTube at the minute. yeah a bit on youtube again it'll be the same the same handle on there um and yeah we're we're just trying to you know post more regularly don't know if we've touched on this but eve has uh now made this part of her career you know she's she's she's now yeah she's now doing it full time so it's um umm yeah it's ah yeah there'll be a lot more posts from us we're doing like daily updates so yeah Amazing. It's exciting, yeah. Lovely. We look forward to following the journey and hopefully we can get you back on maybe when it's a bit nearer completion. Oh, I love that. Absolutely. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, definitely. Lovely. Thanks for your time, guys.
00:49:04
Speaker
Yeah, no problem. Thank you. Bye. thats just by Well, thank you, even Ty. Another great interview there. um it was just so nice to have like such positive people on, and especially as they've been like freezing to death for like four years. Yeah, know. are they still so positive?
00:49:21
Speaker
and know I know. was trying to probe them to get some like couple banter of them yeah hating each other, but they're clearly not. They were clearly like a really good couple, and were just loving the work and loving working together.
00:49:32
Speaker
was actually quite nice to see, even though I was being a bit devilish trying to probe. That's it. And they absolutely love renovating. like You can tell it's like proper in their blood and it they're not made for it. Yeah. And um I just like that they're doing everything properly as well because they're like, this is going to be our forever homes. They're talking about future proofing going in the loft because they didn't intend putting all the steel up there. It's a good idea. Obviously, it's tons of money that has to start going. But yeah if you think it's going to be your forever home, then why not? Then
Episode Wrap-Up
00:50:00
Speaker
it's worth isn't it? and It was interesting to hear about the builders and like what a great like insight into like if you come across problems with builders or you know you slightly disagree with with how things are going. and
00:50:13
Speaker
Taking that big step of changing builders like midway through projects is is normally not pretty crazy, isn't it Yeah, really stressful. and Again, they sounded like they just dealt with it really like maturely because it's...
00:50:24
Speaker
really stressful thing to deal with and you have to you sometimes lazy i don't want to go through all this again and find another person and yeah they're just like cracked on they just seem like crafters again and yeah i work really well together yeah definitely like and i suppose it gives you an insight and into like the the mindset you do kind of have to have like i know you can get you know It is stressful working and living in a renovation, but you know you've just got to keep powering through. Yeah, that's brutal. Four years in the bit of without a boiler. It's so cold. That's crazy. a Fair play to people that do this. is just I literally you love it. And that's probably why they have 200,000 odd people because they like following them because not only does the house look amazing, but you sort of invest in them and like yeah perseverance and stuff. Yeah, definitely. I like doing couples. It was quite fun. know, right? Yeah, it was. Yeah, we'll have to get some more on. Hopefully people don't think we're a couple. No offense. Hasn't happened yet. No, that's it. Yeah. I'm out of your league. Yeah, fair play. That's awesome guys. So thanks for so listening. As always, our email address is open. Hello at DIYGuysPodcast.com.
00:51:33
Speaker
ah You can DM us. um We'll be answering a few questions. We'll have a few people email plans and stuff and ask for advice, which is pretty cool. And we're feeling a bit overwhelmed by it. But if we don't know the answer, we'll just ask someone who knows more of us. It is exciting, isn't it? Yeah.
00:51:48
Speaker
Thank you for sticking with us. We'd just love it if you like and subscribe and tell your friends. Yeah. You know, the more the merrier, right? Yeah, you're so good at that i always forget that. Yeah, why don't you tell us a friend and we're like just doubling and doubling. It's awesome.
00:52:01
Speaker
We've had so many thousands of listeners and views already. It's overwhelming. So we really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you so much for all the support.