Walkern’s Richard Bamforth, surprised mum of twins, Helen Giffen and her husband James, with the incredibly child-friendly service his building company Abbey Building Services & Maintenance was able to provide during a recent kitchen extension project. It even included taking their newborn babies for a stroll, to give them a much-needed break!
Already proud parents to Alfie, aged 8, the couple were expecting twins when the building work began, but were apprehensive about the whole project.
Says Helen “Starting a kitchen extension when heavily pregnant with twins and then sharing the house with builders until the babies were 10 weeks old wasn’t, in fact, as bad as it sounds! Local firm, Local builders Abbey Builders were very sensitive to our situation and, as my stomach became progressively bigger I think that Richard was all set to chuck me in the back of his truck and whip me up to hospital!” The family had a side and rear extension built to give them more space. When the babies, Oliver and Charlie, came home mid-way through the build the kitchen was still a shell. But despite Local builders amaze mother of twins with their ultra child-friendly approach this Richard and Mick from Abbey always made sure the washing machine and dishwasher were plumbed in somewhere and useable, at the end of each day’s work. Richard comments, “It’s great to create comfortable spaces that work well for the people that live in them. But it’s just as important to make the building process as enjoyable as possible.”
Local builders install a new kitchen
Installing a new kitchen, WC, utility and crafting a bespoke bookcase wasn’t all that Richard and the builders at Abbey did for the Giffens. Richard took the twin babies for a walk around the block to give Helen a break and they also provided a ready audience when 8-year Alfie performed an impromptu ukulele concert.
Along the way, Abbey’s Richard and Mick suggested changes to the original plans which, as parents themselves, they knew would maximise space and make the house far more practical for a family with three growing boys. That included a total redesign of the kitchen, because the one which had been designed wasn’t user friendly at all. Say’s Helen, “We are so pleased with the result!”