Customer Interview – Taking it up a notch

By Naomi Madelin In Loft conversion case study, Reviews 2 Comments

Jon Pritchard have been open and operating in Bristol throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The great thing about having your loft converted is that we put scaffolding up – and that means we can access your house from our scaffolding, not needing to pass through your living area or be in direct contact with you.  A bonus with lockdown restrictions.

One of our lockdown loft conversion customers, Alex, agreed to have a chat with our writer about his experience.

What were your reasons for wanting to convert your loft?

“We had another baby on the way and needed extra room!”

An expanding family, or family growing up, is a very common reason for people to decide to convert their loft. We often find that it’s mum and dad who move up to their new luxury loft penthouse! Though once in a while a student or teen gets a cool new hangout.

What rooms did you hope to achieve in your loft?

“We wanted a double bedroom and small bathroom – a master suite for us to move into.”

 

I felt like I could trust him.

 

Why did you choose Jon Pritchard?

Alex says they got quotes from four companies in total.

“Funnily enough someone from Elephant Estate Agency in Bristol had been round to value a few months prior and talked to us about our loft ideas. They mentioned Jon Pritchard.” Since the estate agent they were talking to is also a property developer, they respected his opinion.

What did Jon Pritchard have over their competition that made you choose them?

“Mainly the price. It was really competitive compared to other quotes we got. I got a good vibe from Jon,” says Alex, “I’d met three others before Jon and out of the four he was the one I got a good vibe from.”

Alex says the good vibe came from various directions; their meeting with Jon, the company’s website and previous work they had done, the reference from the estate agent, the budget, and the overall personal angle that they got from Jon Pritchard.

“I felt like I could trust him with the project.”

 

Did you start the process before or during lockdown?

“We got in touch around March – April 2020, at the start of lockdown. Everything was very uncertain but we felt safe to have Jon round to take a look.”

With a break to sort out financing, they then got back in touch with Jon Pritchard in May, and work started in June 2020.

 

Did you have any particular discussions with Jon Pritchard about Covid-19 measures?

“It wasn’t that much of a concern to us,” explains Alex, “Because of the way they work, they wouldn’t even enter our house but enter via the scaffolding. We weren’t going to have any direct contact with them for the first two months. Then when they put the stairs in while we were away… by that time it was August so we were okay with them being more in proximity.

We really appreciated everything they did, like having a portaloo so that they didn’t need to come into the house.”

 

Did your ideas for your loft change at all after engaging Jon Pritchard to complete your loft conversion?

“We had to alter the plans a little bit – to make use of dead space. It helped being comfortable enough to talk to the builders … we felt in safe hands right from the beginning.” Alex says they were really happy with the changes made, as they made the loft even better, and used all the space available.

 

How were the loft build team?

“They were all really well behaved. Polite. My neighbours even commented on how clean they were.  They said to me ‘We’ve never seen builders like this!”

Doing any building work can put pressure on neighbourly relations. So knowing that their neighbours weren’t only content, but impressed, was fantastic for Alex and family’s peace of mind.

 

Our standard of living has gone up a notch.

 

Were there any issues with the project? Did you feel well supported to resolve them?

“As it was starting to get to the final fix there were a few issues with electrics not being in the right place – the thermostat for the underfloor heating, for example,” Alex explains, “As soon as we got in touch with Jon Pritchard with anything they would come straight away.”

Alex was really happy with all the solutions Jon Pritchard offered to the small issues that came up.

 

How has your new loft conversion changed your lifestyle?

“We love it so much. Every day we go in there and we say how amazing it is!”

Alex only laments that now that their new loft looks so swish, they feel the need to do up the rest of the house!

“I feel like our standard of living has gone up a notch without a doubt.”

 

What would you say to someone thinking about having a loft conversion?

“I would, and have, recommended Jon Pritchard. I’d just say make sure you get a good crew – which is what we had. All the lads were really easy to get along with.”

 

It was totally worth it

 

Did you use the app and your personal project website?

“Yes, we used the app weekly, especially towards the end with kinks to sort out. It was very efficient.”

 

Any further comments about Jon Pritchard?

“Big up the guys – they were great. I’ve dealt with builders in the past – we had a kitchen extension and the builders were terrible. Noisy, messy, careless…

Jon Pritchard’s whole loft conversion team were really respectful to us as customers.  Really great.”

Alex admits that he would prefer not to do a project like this again  – “It upends your life, especially with young children, but it was totally worth it.”

 

Due to Covid-19 Jon Pritchard are not currently able to commission our photographer. As soon as we can we’ll be adding photos of this Bristol Victorian terraced home loft conversion to this blog post, and to our gallery.  In the mean time, head over to our gallery to see images of other lofts Jon Pritchard have converted over the past few years.

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