BASEMENT CONVERSION
TRANSFORMING A FAMILY HOME
Matt and Molly live in a terraced period house, close to Cheltenham town centre. We first met them back in 2014 – when their first baby was on the way – and their basement was full of dust, with bare bricks and lots of damp.
‘All the houses in our street have got basements but no garage or rear access,’ explains Matt. ‘We used ours to store tools and paint and outdoor kit. It was all piled up in the middle of the floor – on bits of wood and away from the walls – to stop it getting damp.’
Creating a liveable, usable space
Matt and Molly wanted a multi-functional room, to fulfil three main needs – as a utility space, storage for their outdoor kit and an office space for Matt who had been working at the dining table.
Luckily for them, the basement already had an eight-foot-high ceiling (no expensive digging down), electricity and a window. Keen to finish the room in keeping with the rest of the house they called us in February 2014.
To meet our clients brief, Guardian were asked to transform the damp basement into a bright functional space, containing an office, snug and utility room. Guardian worked their magic by installing a full cavity drain membrane waterproofing system, complete with a pumping station, capable of removing waste water from the utility room.
Why Matt and Molly chose us
‘We contacted two or three companies,’ says Matt. ‘But when Tim came around we instantly had a rapport. He was very genuine, gave us good advice and was just honest. He didn’t push us, but gave us some nice choices and prices. He really listened to how we wanted things to be.’
Exceeding expectations
As well as waterproofing and plaster-boarding the room we worked with the couple on some finishing touches Matt had sketched out.
‘They built two great storage units out of a coated fabric I'd found,’ says Matt. ‘Plus a built in workspace with hidden cupboards for our camping stuff. They built the utility room and finished it how we wanted. When you’re having work done on your property it’s always disrupting. But they were very clean and friendly.’
The End Result
‘It’s absolutely amazing,’ says Matt ‘We're really, really pleased with it. It definitely gives the house a bit of wow factor. Everyone who sees it is amazed it’s finished to this level.
‘I work down here three days a week so it needs to be bright. Everything’s out of the way now. Everything’s got a place.’
Would they recommend
Guardian Preservation?
‘Definitely,’ says Matt. ‘They're a friendly, honest, approachable and professional company. Tim has been back since. He wanted to come back and see the place and check out how the sump pump was doing. If there was ever an issue we know we could call Guardian and they’d give us the right advice and get it sorted.’
If you would like to meet up and discuss how we could help you to complete projects on time and to high quality specifications, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
