Couple spent £150,000 on ‘the ugliest home on the road’
A pair spent £150,000 on ‘the ugliest home on the road’ and doubled its worth – turning it into their dream residence – after studying DIY on YouTube.
Lizzy Williams, 37, and her husband, Phil 40, who works in finance, purchased the four-bed semi-detached home in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in June 2014.
They declare it was the ‘ugliest’ property on the highway as a result of it had not been lived in for 4 years – with holes within the ceiling, lifeless crops, and fungus rising within the downstairs bathroom.
The couple spent 9 years renovating the property themselves and estimate they’ve saved £200k in prices – turning to YouTube to learn to do the plumbing, electrics, construct a swimming pool and set up a kitchen.
They employed builders to assemble an extension to the rear of the property and match a brand new roof.
The lengthy backyard path to the summerhouse had little allure (left) however now it’s elegantly landscaped round a swimming pool and patio
After an arduous constructing venture (left) the household’s renovated backyard exudes up to date model
The kitchen regarded uncared for after being unoccupied for 4 years (left) however now it’s a fashionable household kitchen with an island breakfast bar
The toilet was darkish, dinghy and unwelcoming (left) however it has now been remodeled into a lightweight, ethereal house
They completed the renovations final September and stated they’ve remodeled the home into their good household residence.
Lizzy and Phil spent £150,000 reworking ‘the ugliest home on the road’ utilizing financial savings and their salaries – and say they’ve doubled the worth of the house.
Lizzy, who works in advertising and marketing, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, stated: ‘Phil could be very particulars centered – he absorbs info very well.
‘We used plenty of on-line boards to assist us – we might watch YouTube movies too.
‘He would lean on family and friends to assist us out and ask recommendation on strategy conditions.
‘It is a little bit of a myriad of analysis on the web and asking mates.
‘We put our coronary heart and soul into the home – the truth that we did plenty of the renovation ourselves makes our residence actually particular.
Lizzy and Phil at their four-bed St Albans home in the course of the renovation
Phil at work eradicating partitions in the course of the constructing venture
Lizzie and Phil added an extension to the entrance of the property
The home exudes allure with its mix of conventional and up to date model
‘The major home renovation took us round six years as we did many of the work ourselves.
‘We absolutely accomplished the renovation final yr, ending off the backyard – 9 years after we initially purchased the home.’
After shopping for the property in June 2014, the couple moved in six months later to begin gutting it.
Phil and Lizzy initially lived in two bedrooms while the renovation work was occurring round them.
Lizzy stated: ‘We set the entrance room up as our bed room after which we had a again bed room that we used as a lounge.
‘Everywhere else we had been doing work on – we lived in these rooms for a yr.
‘We did not have a again of the home for a yr both as we had been constructing the extension.’
When they purchased the property it had 4 bedrooms. Phil and Lizzy prolonged the property to make the bedrooms bigger and transformed the storage – including 4 further rooms.
Lizzy stated: ‘It isn’t the identical home that we purchased, we re-plumbed, we added a two-storey rear extension with the neighbours.
‘We had been capable of lengthen the footprint of the home, going again into the backyard.
‘We transformed the storage into 4 rooms that we use as a utility room, bathroom, research and boot room.
‘We went down a bit too, beneath the home was only a void that was used for storage.
‘We regained that house and now you step into our kitchen space.’
The inside of Lizzy and Phil’s St Albans house is unrecognisable from what it was earlier than
The home was stripped again by Lizzy and Phil throughout renovations
The couple educated themselves to do a lot of the plumbing and electrics (Pictured: New joists are fitted under the lounge flooring
The couple spent £150,000 on renovating the property after recognizing its potential
In complete, Lizzy and Phil spent £150,000 on the property, they’d £40,000 in financial savings, borrowed cash and used their wage to afford the transformation.
Lizzy stated: ‘The £40k we had saved lasted us round two years, we borrowed some more cash and used our wage for the remainder of it.
‘That is one more reason why it has taken us as long as we didn’t have enormous reserves.
‘It has been a tough slog however we like it.’
Lizzy says her favorite room in the home is the kitchen and enjoys the ‘quirky’ options within the residence – together with a ‘hangover bench’ to take a seat within the bathe and a TV within the toilet.
Lizzy stated: ‘We actually just like the kitchen, we love the excessive ceilings and the house we’ve got.
‘In Fifties homes you do not actually get that, our ceilings within the kitchen are three-and-a-half metres tall.
‘It provides you a sense of house and openness which you would not in any other case get.
‘Obviously the swimming pool is cool, it’s nice in the summertime for our son, William, three.
‘We have put some enjoyable options into the house, we’ve got a TV within the household toilet.
‘We have a bench within the bathe that we lovingly name the hangover bench.’
