Good things come to those who wait

I’ve heard that other companies like to sell themselves on speed, saying that they can do the job quicker than anyone else. On the face of it, this may seem appealing; after all, it’s natural to want to minimise the disruption that building works can cause in your home. But at the risk of stating the obvious, I would always advise anyone to value ‘quality of work’ over speed, every time, it takes a little more time to do things thoughtfully.

It is wise to be wary of any company who claims to be available immediately; there are ways to get the job started almost at once but I wouldn’t suggest they should be taken up.

Truth be told, with Soundhouse there will always be a bit of a wait before we can start work on the build. But this is exactly as it should be. Firstly, it takes time to get your drawings and structural engineering in place: your house is very individual and there is no such thing as an off-the-peg loft conversion. Also, it’s very important that you serve any party wall letters to your neighbours that may be required. This will need to be done at least two months before the build begins and is the responsibility of the homeowner, not the builder, though we are happy to advise our customers on this, as with every other aspect of the build.

All of our builds accurately follow surveyors drawings and inspected structural engineering. We always use the local council’s professional staff to inspect, ensuring that everything adheres to the correct government LABC standards, especially when it comes to insulation and fire safety.

Another aspect of our work that can take a bit of extra time is the importance we place on getting the plumbing right (if required). We always use traditional copper, which works out a little more expensive and time-consuming to fit, but pays-off dividends in terms of what it could save you in the long run.

And importantly, we rarely fit a macerator toilet, unless a customer particularly wants one. These types of toilets are often considered the ‘easy’ way to add an en-suite to a new loft-conversion, saving time and money (for the builder!).

All in all, there is truth in the old saying that if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly!