Dec 7 2006
Nu-lok delivers prestigious roof for cutting edge self build.
“We’ve never built our own house before and our local builder had never fitted Nu-lok roofing, but with help from Nu-lok it all went according to plan.”
Harry and Linda Billing calmly explain how they decided to do what many of us dream of. They’ve made the move away from busy Manchester to semi-retire in Cornwall. An enviable decision, opting for a more peaceful life, you might think - that is until the couple reveal that they designed and built their Cornish retreat themselves.
“We decided to sell our Manchester home and move down south, but we had definite ideas of how we’d like our new home to look and operate”, explains Linda.
“There was a lot of research involved to find the right products and suppliers. We did this on the internet and by going to exhibitions, but this was all genuinely interesting to us and we enjoyed the whole process.
“We first met Nu-lok’s Sales Director, Glen Addy, at the 2006 Brighter Homes Exhibition in Birmingham. The Nu-lok system caught our eye and we had a demo which really impressed us. It looked easy to understand and fit, and just clicked into place.
“Most importantly, the ceramic tiles looked lovely and fitted in with the modern design of our home but still tied in with the natural colours and textures of the area we were building in.”
The Billing designed their new home themselves. Their son who works for a civil engineering company then converted their drawings into CAD format, to enable structural planning and execution.
The design is forward thinking and modern in both appearance and functionality. The living rooms are upstairs and bedrooms are downstairs. It is built from insulated wooden panels and there is no heating: a Nuaire MVHR System is used to redistribute cold and warm air. The spiral staircase also supports the roof purlins, which hold the roof up.
Looking at the exterior of the house it is difficult to believe that no bricks or block work have been used. The house features a Wetherby Epsicon render system on the outside, fitted directly onto SIPS.
But the couple did not base their selection of suppliers simply on whether they were cutting edge.
“We are open minded and were willing to try groundbreaking products, but our main consideration has had to be the notorious harshness of the Cornish weather. Strength and durability were at the top of our list of requirements when choosing the roofing system. We bought 129m2 of the Nu-lok roofing system and have never looked back”, Linda added.
“We found that Glen Addy was contactable all the way through the project.
We rang him quite a lot with various questions and he was consistently helpful when it came to explaining how to fit the roof. He sent us plenty of background information.
“We’ve never built our own house before and our local builder Roy Booth had never fitted Nu-lok roofing, but with assistance from Nu-lok it all went according to plan. Roy didn’t find it at all difficult.”
Roy Booth added: “I hadn’t heard of Nu-lok before, but the roofing was so easy to fit, I managed to do it all from an instruction pamphlet that Nu-lok sent me. There were no problems and the roofing just clicked into place. It was simple.”
Having started work at the beginning of August, the whole project has taken around 17 weeks from start to finish. The Nu-lok roofing system was fitted within one week, and the couple have achieved their dream of moving in for Christmas 2006.
“We’re really pleased with the end result. The finished roof is just as we expected and hoped it would be. It’s modern, but fits in really well with the rugged Cornish scenery.”
The Billing’ attention to detail when selecting the right products and suppliers for their self build, meant that they encountered nothing worse than the odd hiccup whilst working their way through a project that would challenge an experienced builder or project manager, with an established contacts book.
Their willingness to stray from the traditional products and materials has resulted in an ultra efficient home which was built with the minimum amount of stress.