Office worker builds his own extension after watching YouTube tutorials
Scott Baggaley, 30, saved himself £35,000 after he built a house extension on his own – simply by following YouTube tutorials.
The new dad and his partner bought their first property, a ‘doer upper’, in 2021.
After purchasing reclaimed materials, Scott was shocked when he was quoted £45,000 for the cost of building an extension at the back of the house.
He also struggled to find any local tradesmen available.
As a result, he decided to take on the project himself and turned to social media for guidance.
The 30-year-old, from Stoke-on-Trent, said: ‘Because the market was busy, the tradesman were fully booked up, so I started learning from YouTube and picked up skills there.
‘Managing my time around my nine-to-five job and my girlfriend, who has given birth to our son, was the biggest difficulty.’
He also brought in building inspectors to make sure his work was correct and within the law.
The first major difficulty Scott faced was when he started on the roof – which he admits was daunting.
The dad added: ‘When I started the roof, that’s when it got tricky without professional staff. It’s a skilled thing to be doing roofing.
‘I was dreading going outside because I didn’t know what I was doing.’
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He suffered another setback, when he accidentally dug through concrete and hit a lead pipe, which forced him to halt work and fix the whole system.
But the office worker persevered and completed the roof, as well as the whole extension, in just six months and spent just over £9,000.
A breakdown of what he spent:
In a video montage, Mr Baggaley detailed what some of what he had to buy.
- £583 on CPR building regulations
- £585 for a structural engineer
- £110 on temporary door materials
- £14 on a bricklayer’s trowel
- £240 on block, brick, sand and cement
- £150 on hardcore and sand
- £120 on insulation
- £756 on Modulite Medium Dense lightweight blocks
- £2028 on beams
- £107 on a DPC tray, will starter kits and weep vents
- £589 on a windpost
- £50 on alumminium brick profiles
- £240 on cavity wall insulation
- £228 on door and window lintels
- £280 on rafters and hangers
- £60 on roof laths
- £481 on roof tiles
- £222 on roofing lead and sealant
- £559 on skylight, accessories and delivery
- £1020 on door, window sills and delivery
- £296 on fascias and soffits
In total, he saved more than £35,000 compared to some of the initial quotes and has added an estimated £30,000 in value to his home.
However, it’s worth pointing out the extension was not the first piece of building work that Scott undertook.
He previously built a beauty salon in the backyard for his partner to work from home.
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