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Do you have the good fortune to live in one of the charming period cottages, historic farmhouses or even grand manor houses that dot the Buckinghamshire landscape? If you do, but are yet to find out that restoration work on it can be expensive, time consuming and difficult, here’s some of what you’ll need to know before diving into a renovation or restoration project with experienced restoration builders in Bucks. Oh yes, you really do want them to be experienced. 1. Not all

In areas like Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, listed and conservation properties are abundant and they transform the landscape and our sense of our country’s history. Even stone buildings decay with age though, old brickwork much more and wychert, cob and wattle and daub have almost disappeared. Restoring, renovating and even altering historic buildings is both a privilege and a challenge. Using traditional construction methods and materials in todays regulations can be a ch

Do you have a barn conversion you’d like to extend? Well, good news for your architect because he or she must help you. Almost all the problems with extending a barn conversion lie in local authority approvals. Saunders Brothers have a wealth of experience in barn conversions and we’d be well qualified to build almost any extension to one, but we can’t build anything until it’s been designed and approved. Let’s look at your barn conversion Firstly, was it a Class Q conversio

Planning a Victorian Cottage renovation can be an exciting time but what’s important is that the finished project should be all you want it to be and, depending on what you want done, achieving that may need the knowledge, skill and experience of an architecture, engineer and interior designer, as well as the skills and commitment of your builders, turning the design into reality. We provide our top Victorian Cottage renovation tips and answer some key questions: What’s Speci

When it comes to a Listed building renovation it’s important to take into consideration what the renovation process will involve. If you are contemplating a listed building renovation then a little research can go a long way. To help make your project run smoother we’ve gathered some key information as well as answering some of the commonly asked questions when it comes to a listed building renovation. Types of listed buildings A building gets listed by being added to the li

Conservation areas exist to protect the special architectural and historic interest of a place or area – in other words, the buildings and their features that make it unique and distinctive. What is a listed building? A listed building is one that is included in the National Heritage List for England, which is a list of buildings, structures and places worthy of being conserved individually, whether the area they’re in is conserved or not. If you own a listed building, whethe

What is a listed building? The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England (Historic England for short) maintains a list of all places (not just buildings) of special architectural or historic interest. Buildings on that list are called listed buildings and all features affecting their significance as heritage assets must be conserved in any alteration or development. So what features make a building listed and what is it actually like to work with listed buildin

Every responsible builder has to comply with a huge volume of legislation and regulation. Fortunately, our clients have no need to be concerned with most of it, but there are exceptions and an asbestos survey is one of the most important. Where appropriate, an asbestos survey is required by law, but it’s also just possible that it could save you and your builders from serious ill-health so it’s not something you want to try to avoid. So What Is an Asbestos Survey? Put quite s