A man struggling to get on the property ladder landed spent just £15k on his first home - by building it in his parents' garage.
Josh Jones, 21, convinced his mum and dad to let him convert the garage attached to their four bed family home in Tunbridge Wells into a one-bed apartment.
Josh Jones, 21, convinced his mum and dad to let him convert the garage attached to their four bed family home in Tunbridge Wells into a one-bed apartment.
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hi, my name is Josh Jones and I live in a garage and this is how much it cost me to build it myself.
00:05Before we get started, this is how it looks before the whole transformation and this is how it looks now.
00:10Stay tuned to the end to hear the final price.
00:12Before I even got to tickle any tools, I had to pay £850 for architectural fees and building control.
00:18The first tool we found ourselves tackling was raising the garage roof. This cost me £1,150.
00:24The joists were running front to back resting on this massive beam that had to be moved because it was too low down
00:29so now the joists run sideways and the beam is completely removed.
00:33The next job was cutting a hole in the middle wall of both garages.
00:37This didn't cost me anything, it just gave me the same cough as a 60-year-old chain smoker.
00:49At this point in the build, I was feeling super, super optimistic.
00:52However, it's time for drainage. The drainage materials cost me £450
00:56and in my opinion was one of the hardest parts of the whole entire build.
01:00If I was feeling good before, I was feeling great now because the drainage was done.
01:04Now we move on to the front. I sold the existing garage door for £50 profit.
01:09I bought a new front door for £100. I bought a new UPVC window for £20.
01:14All the timber, brickwork, insulation and boarding all come to a total of £400.
01:20So the total for the front was £470.
01:23The stud wall and timber cost me £240 and the insulation was actually free from a friend of mine.
01:27BOOM!
01:29The plumbing was a nice surprise. It only cost me £750 for all of the first and second fix.
01:34Before we went any further, it was time to tackle the damaged boards from the roof lift five years ago.
01:38But look, my hands went straight through it.
01:41The small roof lift wasn't the plan and it cost me £500 a fix.
01:45Next up to do the plaster boarding was £650 and that was just materials alone.
01:49However, I did not do the plastering myself. I actually got a professional in and I'm so glad I did because it looks absolutely amazing.
01:56The plastering cost me £1,350.