Rudthorpe Road

We approached The Build Bristol Group to tender for our full Edwardian house renovation, including complete internal remodelling and replacement of many structural pieces throughout, as well as a creating new rear extension and undertaking a loft conversion for us.

Of the three estimates we received from local contractors, BBG were the clear choice for us – whilst on paper theirs seemed the ‘pricier’ option, for transparency from the off alone they were head and shoulders above the other two. This was because the others sent through a ballpark estimate less than one side of a pdf, lacking the details as to what each figure was exactly for or the calculation it came from. By contrast, Build Bristol’s was a twenty page document that had been meticulously considered and calculated by a quantity surveyor. This gave us very helpful pointers that the others hadn’t as to what to budget for every single stage and each individual item that would be going into the build: a huge benefit to us as first time renovators that enabled us to quantify what we would need to be prepared for financially, which we felt was far likelier to be representative of the final figure than a more ambiguous ballpark. It ultimately gave us a lot more security upfront in terms of being able to budget correctly than I have heard from others’ experiences of using other contractors.

On meeting the team, we were further impressed by their friendliness and clear ability to achieve a very high quality spec. Hannah was so welcoming and just instantly got the vision I had for our home, and it was exciting to be able to trade supplier contacts with her and feel enthused about the process ahead together! Not at all what I had anticipated in finding in our builder when we’d first embarked on our renovation, which was such a bonus!

From the first day on site, Dom was very accommodating to our plans and ideas and did everything he possibly could to ensure any hiccups were discussed together in a down to earth way where it was easy to resolve them without causing delay or any friction. No build ever runs completely smoothly and so this made him and the guys on site extremely trustworthy (this was especially important for a full renovation like ours where you’re unable to live on site throughout and therefore the majority of communication occurs over the phone or at weekly site meetings). When we reached an inevitable pinch point in the budget, Dom happily met with us to discuss the plan going forward and was honest and transparent about where the spend was currently at and where we still had to go, with the itemised spend to date to back this up.

As a result of their precision in tracking the finances like this, we came in slightly over the estimate but far better than even we had anticipated – and with some added extras on our part like underfloor heating, not to mention post Brexit price fluctuations to contend with, this was no mean feat! I fear we would have been significantly over had we opted for a more traditional ‘fixed price’ job with another contractor, despite the perception amongst many that this is a ‘safer‘ route. The beauty of BBG’s time and materials basis meant for us that we had full license to omit certain aspects of their estimate that we didn’t necessarily want and instead replace them with our own choices or preference of contractors (eg kitchen fitter) without any question, and we also had full creative license over the quality and choices that went into the finishings spec, rather than being steered to certain suppliers like we might have been with another contractor. This ultimately is what made the build so successful and helped achieve the high-end finish we were hoping for. For someone like myself who wanted to be so hands-on in the design process, it made it so much more enjoyable also!

Thank you Build Bristol Group for being a pleasure to work with! We are so grateful for how hard the guys worked each day and their ‘can-do attitudes’ always – they had our neighbours singing their praises at how respectful they always were too!

Jess & Elliot, Rudthorpe Road, Bishopston, Bristol