For reference our home was the ‘Major Extensions Project in Solihull’ in the Projects section of Houzz, but it didn’t start off looking anything like that. Finding a design and build team to deliver on our ideas was a challenge at first, I rang a number of companies who were good at their craft without doubt, but when I spoke to and met with Bahram and his team, I felt like we had found a team that we could trust to see through our vision and be trusted custodians of all our hard earned savings. Investing the amount of money we were planning to spend was scary, but we trusted and had faith that we’d be led through the daunting process and come out the other side with our perfect place. And besides, their build project portfolio looked awesome so we knew the outcome would be worth it!
I describe the project to friends as a ‘transformation’, because apart from the front half of the brickwork on the house, everything (and I mean everything) was changed. The only reason we didn’t decide to knock the entire house down and start again was because we wanted to keep the front of the property in keeping with the rest of the houses on the street, and we didn’t want it to deliberately stand out. It was important to us that we retained the character of the original house from the outside, but completely transformed the inside. Unless you see what it looked like before, it’s hard to see just how different this new house is.
The external build went up surprisingly fast, so we had the opportunity to start to feel what the internal spaces would be like. Whilst we couldn’t envisage the end result, we relied on teams vision to guide us through how to get the most out of the space we were creating. We introduced a few changes along the way once our imagination started flowing. For example, we wanted a bigger bathroom space so the team reconfigured the staircase and upstairs flow to create a bigger main bathroom. We took off the entire roof and replaced the trusses to create a huge loft space and ran all the utilities up there ready for a nice man cave (a project for 2021). As the perfectionist in my started to surface, we replaced every bit of plaster so there was no trace of the old house left other than the outside, so the inside looks and feels brand new. We replaced the Bifold doors with sliding doors to create more visual real estate. Of all the changes we made, this was the best. The list goes on, and that was my fault. With one toddler and a new baby on the way, we wanted to make sure we did it right first time so that we could settle straight into the home and never need to change a thing.
The electrical and heating transformation had been thoroughly designed and planned through, and professionally executed. We spend most of our time in the snug/kitchen/dining area, and having the ability to control the house from the phone (everything from heating and electric velux windows, to the CCTV) has made a notable impact on ease of running the house on a daily basis. It’s a convenience that one could live without if they never had it, but can’t when they have. You only realise how useful suggestions like having sensor based lighting in key traffic areas such as the downstairs utility and automatic mood lighting in the downstairs bathroom are when you’re living with them. We never would have thought of it, but that’s what the team did….they just thought of it all.
The attention to detail from the team leading on the internal and external fitout was exemplar. From someone who has a minor case of OCD when it comes to uniformity, symmetry, straight lines, etc, I couldn’t fault the team at any stage of the build process or indeed the final build inside. I had visited the team at their showroom so expected the internal finish to at the very top of what one could expect from the profession, but when you see it come together in your own home it truly does make you appreciate the art of interior/exterior build these guys deliver. Everything I asked for, every detail I obsessed over, the team delivered. They guided me of course and helped tweak me back into reality when I came up with something that wasn’t the best of ideas, but such as the relationship. Nothing was too silly a question or request, and they always leveraged their experience and expertise to guide me to the right outcome for us.
Whilst I could refer directly to Bahram/Tehmi/Max/Wes/Mat throughout the above feedback, I wanted to emphasise in feedback that it was the entire team that made this project what it was. Every time I came onsite for random visits, it was like the team on the ground, whoever was around (whether labourer, electrician, Wes or Matt, etc), was building their own home such was the care and attention to the space they were working in. I’m not kidding, I never turned up to a site and saw anything left behind or out of place in the year I kept popping in to check on progress. Everyone was polite, talked about what they were doing, shared their ideas, had a laugh, cup of tea (before Covid-19 that is), etc. They were all really nice, genuine, honest. That’s what we appreciated most – they were great at what they did, and humble about it.
It requires a bit of a leap of faith when investing all your savings to build your forever home/extension/bathroom/etc, so I relied on instincts when I found Probuild 360. I knew I wanted to work with Bahram when I spoke to him on the phone, and a visit to the showroom and meeting the team only cemented that. They’ve all been amazing throughout, and to us felt like they were building their own place, putting in the hours and attention to detail that we would do if we had the skill to do it. We couldn’t ask for more really.
A bit of an essay, but I relied on the feedback of others when I was hunting for someone to build our home so hope this provides a bit of guidance to anyone in our position when we first started. Engage with Bahram and his wonderful team – honestly, there’s no safer pair of hands I’d entrust then theirs. I say that with confidence as I’m now planning to transform our garden space with them in 2021 so we can enjoy the outside just as much as the inside!
