Wonderful family home in Oxfordshire
Background
David & Tanith Ridgway, along with their daughters, Molly (10) and Erin (5) have built this wonderful family home complete with Glatthaar Keller basement.
Having left a successful career in IT a few years ago, David set up his own classic car business shortly after. With a long held dream to build his own house, along with his wife, Tanith, he decided that now was the time and so went about drawing up a list of things they’d most want in a house.
“We looked around for plots to buy in the village of Tetsworth where we had been living but there was nothing. Then we found this plot almost by accident. I’d signed up to a couple of local plot search websites and one day an alert just popped up with this piece of land on it. The vendors, now our neighbours, were selling it off, as part of their original garden, and although it already had planning permission on it, it didn’t include a basement or a swimming pool which were both top priorities for us.
We bought the plot in summer 2016 and worked with our architect to define exactly what we wanted. Given that the site includes river access and the house build was proposed on a site with a high water table, we were aware that building a basement wouldn’t be without its complications.
I found Glatthaar Keller via an online search and was especially encouraged by the fact that they specialise in basements that are completely watertight. I spoke to 2 or 3 other companies but it was clear that Glatthaar Keller were the ones that could offer an effective solution and assurance of building a basement on a site with a lot of ground water. The pre-manufactured element also meant that the construction of the basement would be really quick, which was another big attraction. Glatthaar Keller worked in conjunction with our architect, and although there were a few questions from worried neighbours we submitted the new planning application and it was approved in December 2016”. David Ridgway
Build
“In January 2017, the plot became a building site. Given the complexity of the site, we couldn’t find anyone, within reasonable cost, to do the groundworks. Glatthaar Keller were extremely helpful in advising what was necessary for the excavation and made good recommendations, so we decided to do it ourselves. The environment agency had stipulated a 6 month window of time to complete the work and in this time frame we filled 170 lorries with a total of 5100 tonnes of soil to be dumped. The high water table meant that we had to have a permanent drainage system in place which equated to 120 vacuum pumps around the perimeter of the excavation. A total of 57 reinforced concrete piles were put into place 4 metres under the basement to secure against ‘uplifting’, and to anchor the house. It was a huge job.
Glatthaar Keller then started work in August 2017. The team worked incredibly efficiently and professionally to build all the walls in 1 week and then another week to do the ground floor slab. The operation was flawless and watching it go in, I had every confidence that the Glatthaar Keller build system was the effective solution to ensure against the high water table. The team knew exactly what they were doing and quickly found solutions to any challenges. The swimming pool, although accessed via the ground floor, is sunk into the basement.
With Glatthaar Keller completing the basement, we used a traditional builder for the house, and the solid concrete ground slab built by Glatthaar Keller provided the perfect foundation for the block work of the house to begin. The house was 12 months in construction, and once furnished, we moved in, in October 2018”.
Living
The basement provides extra living space for the family to enjoy sociable time together and with extended family and friends. There’s a large party room with a stocked bar, pool table and seating. This room has a long lightwell flooding it with natural sunlight. There’s also a wine cellar with it’s own seating/relaxation area, a cinema room complete with additional refreshment area/room for the popcorn machine, his and hers WC’s, and a large plant room.
The interior walls of the basement have a variety of facades including brick slips in the wine cellar to add authenticity. The basement is accessed via the central staircase of the house, giving a free-flow feeling between the floors and meaning that the basement is incorporated within the main house. The stairwell also allows for borrowed light into the basement.
The basement has a high level of insulation ensuring the same degree of warmth as the rest of the house. There’s 300mm of insulation under the slab and all around the outside of the basement. Although it costs more to have insulation on the outside, living space is not lost to insulation in the walls. There is underfloor heating, and a heat recovery system throughout the house, including the basement. The house has 6 bedrooms.
Experience
“Having had no previous building experience, I’ve learnt several things along the way. Probably the most significant lesson is that this plot isn’t ideal for a basement. Glatthaar Keller overcame the challenges with a quality product but the amount of soil that we had to remove, and the high water table, meant that the groundworks were far from straight forward. If I had been building this property to sell, we wouldn’t have had the basement but as a family home, it gives us a fantastic social space and also means that the swimming pool doesn’t infringe on living space either.
The basement has definitely met my expectations and Glatthaar Keller are a good company with a quality product. Not only did they complete the build in a fixed time frame but also at a fixed cost. I would absolutely recommend Glatthaar Keller”.
“Glatthaar Keller offered an effective solution and assurance of building a watertight basement on a site with a high water table. They have delivered exactly the spacious basement we wanted, which also incorporates our swimming pool”. David Ridgway.
Client: David & Tanith Ridgway, Oxfordshire
Plot: just over half an acre
Glatthaar Keller Basement: 150 m2
Basement Cost: £350,000
