London Road
The client first came to us for advice on a major renovation of their existing house, with the aim of adding a lot more living space. After a feasibility review and site investigation, it was clear that the existing layout couldn’t take the improvements they wanted in a practical or cost-effective way.
We advised that demolishing and rebuilding would give them far more flexibility and better long-term value, both in how the house works and in cost. We took them through the decision step by step, including the VAT position: building a new house is zero-rated for VAT, whereas renovating and extending an existing one is charged at 20%. VAT treatment depends on the specific project, so we always recommend confirming the position with your accountant or VAT adviser.
Details
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Client: Private
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Property: A seven-bedroom luxury family home
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Duration: 26 months (plus 4-weeks pre-construction)
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Location: Essex
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Contract: Design and build
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Budget: £1.3m
Talk it through in confidence
If you'd rather discuss your project privately, we offer a free 30-minute Teams meeting. You can talk through what you have in mind, what's possible on your site, and how we'd approach it. Where it would help, we can also arrange a free site visit. Everything you share stays confidential, and we're happy to sign an NDA before we start.
Managed from start to finish
We ran every stage ourselves: demolition, groundworks, structure, roof, services and finishes, with a bespoke staircase from a specialist joiner, a home cinema and interiors finished with the client's designer. As work progressed the brief grew to include a heated pool, pool house, gym and plant room, built while the house was being finished.
One team from start to finish
Lough Build managed the whole project. We appointed the architect, handled the planning application and approvals, and ran the build from demolition through to handover. The client had one point of contact throughout and didn’t need to coordinate designers, consultants or trades themselves.
The build
London Road, stage by stage
Demolition began at the rear. A tracked excavator took down the single-storey section first, working away from the neighbours, with scaffold kept on the flank for hand work.
Demolition starts at the rear. Stage 1 – Demolition
Next to the adjoining house the roof was stripped by hand from scaffold, tiles, battens and chimney course by course, keeping debris off the neighbour's roof.
Hand demolition next to the neighbour. Stage 1 – Demolition
The plot was cleared within a week. Rubble was sorted on site, other waste went to a separate skip, and welfare, hoarding and parking all stayed inside the boundary.
Site cleared. Stage 1 – Demolition
Drainage laid and soil-pipe risers set within the foundation walls, with the pre-stressed beams being laid out for the beam and block ground floor.
Drainage before the ground floor. Stage 2 – Structure
The external walls taken up to first-floor level, with the scaffold raised for the next lift and the first-floor joists going on.
First floor lift. Stage 2 – Structure
Facing brickwork taken up to the gables with the roof trusses on behind, window openings formed and clay plain tiles loaded out on the scaffold for the roofers.
Front elevation at roof level. Stage 2 – Structure
The gables finish in a brick-on-edge coping and raking dogtooth course over a corbelled dentil kneeler. Every brick in these courses was cut and set by hand.
Gable kneeler detail. Stage 2 – Structure
The stairwell was trimmed with doubled joists on hangers. A temporary site stair gave safe access until the bespoke staircase was fitted near the end of the job.
Stairwell before the staircase. Stage 2 – Structure
With neighbours close on both sides, the site ran from a compound in the front garden: welfare cabin, palleted materials and a telehandler to load the scaffold.
Site set-up from the air. Stage 3 – Roof
A trussed roof with hipped ends, two front gables and a flat crown decked in OSB, with openings left for rooflights and the top-floor rooms formed within the trusses.
Roof structure from above. Stage 3 – Roof
Pitches finished in clay plain tiles with roof windows on the slopes, and a row of flat rooflights on the crown bringing daylight into the top floor.
Roof complete. Stage 3 – Roof
The rooms in the roof were insulated at rafter level with foil-faced boards, putting the whole top floor inside the heated envelope before boarding.
Loft room insulation. Stage 4 – First fix
The rooms in the roof were boarded out with plasterboard, cut to fit the sloping ceilings and rooflight openings, ready for skim.
Loft rooms boarded. Stage 4 – First fix
The build
Interiors, pool and grounds
The open-plan kitchen and living space at first fix, with lighting cables ready for downlights and water, drainage and ducting brought up for the kitchen.
Open-plan kitchen and living. Stage 4 – First fix
An en-suite at first fix: a level-access shower former and linear drain set flush with the floor, and underfloor heating laid across the deck before boarding.
En-suite first fix. Stage 4 – First fix
The pool was dug at the bottom of the garden, the sides lined with heavy-gauge polythene and insulation laid under the base to cut heat loss from the heated pool.
Pool excavation. Stage 5 – Pool and pool house
With no lorry access to the back garden, concrete for the reinforced pool base was pumped in by line and placed by hand around the steel.
Pouring the pool base. Stage 5 – Pool and pool house
The walls were built in hollow concrete block and core-filled by pump line as they rose, with the pool wall fittings set in as the blockwork went up.
Pool walls and core filling. Stage 5 – Pool and pool house
The finished shell, with entry steps formed in blockwork and pipework connected, ready for finishing. The porcelain terrace is already laid behind.
Pool shell complete. Stage 5 – Pool and pool house
The finished pool and pool house at the end of the garden, with porcelain surrounds, a new lawn, planting beds and a safety fence around the pool.
Pool and garden complete. Stage 5 – Pool and pool house
The edge course was set in mortar along the new boundary wall first, then the sub-base was levelled and compacted across the drive.
Edging the drive. Stage 6 – Driveway and gates
Behind new curved brick walls, the sand laying course was screeded and compacted across the drive so the tumbled block paving won't rut or hold water.
Driveway laying course. Stage 6 – Driveway and gates
With the block paving laid, dry jointing sand was swept into the joints and the drive compacted to lock the blocks together.
Jointing the paving. Stage 6 – Driveway and gates
The entrance hall with the bespoke curved staircase by a specialist joiner: oak handrail, black metal balusters and large-format porcelain underfoot.
Entrance hall and staircase. Stage 7 – Finishes
A home cinema with a tray ceiling, wall-mounted screen and stone fireplace surround. Services were planned at first fix, so no cables show.
Home cinema. Stage 7 – Finishes
The finished house from London Road, framed by curved brick wing walls, stone-capped piers and hardwood gates, with block paving out to the pavement.
The finished house. Stage 7 – Finishes
A complex roof, built by hand
The roof’s hips, gables, valleys and flat crown made it the most complex part of the build, so we brought in specialist roofers and craned the timbers in. The client chose handmade clay plain tiles, laid by hand in the traditional way. The ridges, hips and verges were bedded and pointed in mortar mixed on site, which gives the roof its finished detail.
