By Diary of a Nobody
This is a re-working of an article Paul Whitelock originally wrote in 2020 as part of a trilogy which describes, in diary form, his history of property renovation and development in the UK, Spain and Luxembourg.
He has owned three properties in England - in Walkden (Greater Manchester), Thelwall (Warrington) and Latchford (also Warrington) - and four in southern Spain – three in Ronda (Málaga) and one in Montejaque (also Málaga).
He has also worked on several building projects for other people – two in England in Luton (Beds) and Yate (S. Glos), two in Luxembourg, two in Ronda and three in Montejaque.
10 November 2020
Paul Whitelock was a languages teacher, a school inspector and a translator / interpreter. Since retirement nearly two decades ago he has also dabbled in journalism and blogging.
But what he really wanted to do when he was younger was to be a tradesman, eg. plumber, electrician, carpenter, bricklayer, tiler or painter and decorator. But he was encouraged to go to university where he gained an honours degree in German and Spanish.
Over the years he’s had a go at all of these “trades” on an amateur, DIY basis with relative success. Here’s the story of the houses that Jack – Paul – built! Or helped to build…
First steps in DIY
I first started doing bits and pieces of DIY when, as a poorly paid young teacher, I bought my first house, a semi-detached in Walkden, Greater Manchester, for £11,000. A lot of money back then and the mortgage interest rate was a massive 16 per cent!
Unable to afford to employ professionals, I informed myself from books (no YouTube videos back then in the late 1970s) and tentatively did a bit of electrical work, plumbing and painting and decorating.
My first wife, Jeryl, and I then moved to our second house, in Thelwall, Warrington, not far from the infamous Thelwall Viaduct on the M6.
A three-bed detached it cost us just £37,500, a huge amount in 1980. Over the next 20 years, the house grew in size to become a four-bedroomed, two bath-roomed house with four reception rooms and a third WC plus garage and large balcony overlooking the adjacent park.
Although builders did the main construction work, my DIY skills had developed so much that over the years I was able to re-wire the whole house, convert the original garage into an extra lounge-cum-music room, turn the separate toilet and bathroom into an ensuite bathroom with new suite, install a shower, replace all the guttering and drainpipes and build two patios and a pergola. Not to mention wall-papering and painting throughout. I even built a treehouse for my two kids.
Buying property in Spain
In the early 2000s Jeryl and I bought two properties in quick succession in Ronda (Málaga). The first, Piso Blanco, was a small flat that needed little doing to it, but the second, an end-terraced house, which we named Casa Blanca, was virtually a ruin.
Piso Blanco facade in 2001 Daughter Amy posing in front of Piso Blanco in 2023
Over the next couple of years I re-wired Casa Blanca, replaced a collapsed floor, upgraded the kitchen, re-built the terrace and decorated throughout.
Then disaster struck .....
..... or should I say three disasters!
Redundancy, early retirement and divorce in quick succession, in 2005, had a profound effect on my life.
To find out what happened next click here:
The houses that Jack built! Part 2 (eyeonspain.com)
© Diary of A Nobody
Note: This article and its 2nd part form part of a trilogy with Montejaque Diary – First Ever Stay and My God! What Have We Done?
Links:
www.help-me-ronda.com
www.secretserrania.com
Acknowledgements:
Paul Whitelock
The Olive Press
www.help-me-ronda.com
www.secretserrania.com
Photos:
Karl Smallman
Paul Whitelock
Rightmove
www.secretserrania.com
Tags:
£11,000, £119,000, £37,500, amateur, A new life in Spain, A “new” old house, Baden-Württemberg, balcony, Blogging, bricklayer, Bryn-y-Maen, building a new bathroom, building project, campo, carpenter, Casa Blanca, Casa Pablo, Casa Real, Casa Rita, collapsed floor, Covid-19, divorce, “do-er up-er”, DIY, drainpipes, dream house, early retirement, electrical work, electrician, El Rincón, England, ensuite bathroom, extending the roof terrace, “footloose and fancy-free”, four-bedroomed, four reception rooms, garage, gardening, Germany, Grand Duchy, Greater Manchester, guttering, Hesperange, installing a new bathroom, interpreter, Jac, Jeryl, journalism, languages teacher, Latchford, laundry room, lounge-cum-music room, Luton, Luxembourg, Málaga, Maude, Maulbronn, “Meter Maid”, Montejaque, Montejaque Diary – First Ever Stay, mortgage interest rate, M6, My God! What Have We Done?, North Wales, painter and decorator, painting, painting and decorating, patio, Paul Whitelock, pergola, Piso Blanco, plumber, plumbing, professional, property renovation, re-configured, re-decorated, redundancy, remedial work, re-plastering, retirement, re-wire, re-wiring, Rita, Ronda, school inspector, semi-detached, shower, southern Spain, Spain, summer romance, terrace, terraced garden, The houses that Jack built, Thelwall, Thelwall Viaduct, third WC, three-bed detached, tiler, tiling floors, tradesman, translator, treehouse, Tunstall Villa, two bath-roomed house, UK, university friend, upgraded the kitchen, Victorian detached villa, Villa Indiana, vivienda rural, wall-papering, Warrington, WC, winter garden, www.help-me-ronda.com, Yate, YouTube