Anyone who has sat through an episode of Grand Designs on Channel 4 knows that, just before the final commercial break, things will go horribly wrong.

It’s the doom-laden tone of voice that the presenter, Kevin McCloud, adopts. You just know that the hand-made terracotta tiles coming all the way from Uzbekistan will not be delivered in time or maybe it’s the foundations that have started sinking because no-one thought to check the local water table levels.

It makes for great television if you’re partial to a spot of schadenfreude and some of the self-builders are so damn smug anyway you feel they deserve to be taken down a peg or two.

But what’s it really like to invest your time, energy and savings into a ‘grand design’?

Exactly one year ago Homes and Gardens editor Judy Riley met Rachel and Jez Duncan, D-I-Y enthusiasts who were throwing all their time, energy and money into a neglected Victorian property in Harrold, North Beds.

It is worth it in the end

Twelve months on and all that hard labour and TLC has paid off. The work has been completed, the house looks stunning and our photographer has been back to take a look. But it was an eventful journey and along the way Jez was thrown a curveball that brought the whole project to a halt - and almost cost him his life.

To paint the picture of how it all looked in April 2010...

Judy Riley talks to D-I-Y enthusiasts Rachel and Jez Duncan who, fortunately, like a challenge.

“We’d always liked the North Beds villages” says Speech and Language Therapist, Rachel “and we wanted a project; we wanted to buy a house that we could do something to. Apart from anything else it would make it more affordable. We weren’t sure about this place (a stone-built, detached Victorian house in Harrold) but a pushy estate agent brought us here. The carpets were disgusting and the whole place was rammed to the gunnels with stuff but when I stepped through the door I thought: ‘Ooh, I like this: I like it lot.’”

It was to be some time before Rachel and Jez could move in though.

Like many properties in this part of the county the house was built on the site of an old leather factory. “Some bloke in an office in Leeds warned that the land might be contaminated. It took six months just to prove that there was nothing harmful there.”

They finally got the keys in October 2006. “We were really excited” says Jez, a graphic designer. “We knew we’d made the right decision. We’d drawn up plans but we ended up living in the house for about 12 months before we started work on it.”

“In that time” says Rachel, “we discovered how it flowed and worked. And then we changed our minds about most things.”

“The first job we did was to rip out a cupboard in the hall in December 2007” says Jez. “We created a corridor where there hadn’t previously been one and then the builders came in at Easter 2008 to put up lintels.”

The building work was coming along nicely and Rachel and Jez were due to get married in a few months time. At that stage everything was going to plan.

But suddenly, plans for the house and the wedding were thrown into disarray and Jez was lying critically injured in hospital.

(If this were the script for Grand Designs, the final ad break would be scheduled in here)

Cycling to work in Bedford one morning Jez was hit by a car. He was incredibly lucky to survive at all; as it was he spent days in a coma and many months in a wheelchair. Not exactly the best position from which to tackle D-I-Y.

Despite his injuries, Jez recovered enough to continue as project manager. "It saves money though it does bring added stress" he says. "It's a rollercoaster ride. You feel exhilerated when you've had a big push and something like a new glass roof goes on - then you discover that it's leaking like a tap. Once you start knocking out walls you can see the progress but then all the things that you don't see, such as electrics, insulating and plumbing have to happen and you sit for a long time waiting for the next visible progress. It's when you reach the stage of skimming a room that you know it's nearly finished."

Rachel says "Jez is a passionate D-I-Yer. I don't want to do the doing but I like to be part of the creating. I'd never want to move into a finished house - I wouldn't feel that I was getting value for money."

Would they take on such a big project again?

"I'd do it again" says Jez, "and I probably will. But I'd be a lot wiser and smarter next time."

And their advice to would-be grand design D-I-Yers?

"Make friends with your local friendly Buildings Regulations Inspector" Rachel says with the voice of experience.

"Have a plan of attack, a strategy you can follow on an 'order of events' board" says Jez. "Put things in storage when you're working on different areas. We wasted so much time moving things from room to room. You need to have patience and enthusiasm.

"Oh, and don't get run over half way through the job."

The result of all that hard work is a beautiful home that combines many of the original, Victorian features with a stylish, contemporary feel  - and a fantastic sense of satisfaction for Rachel and Jez.

If you are in the throes of planning, building or finishing off your own Grand Design we'd love to hear your story.

Call us on 01234 369586 or email: homesandgarden@bedsonsunday.com

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