Jim Brydon from Wherrol Flat in NSW had a dream!
That dream has recently won Jim $10,000 second prize in the Smartkits "I Built It Smarter Photo Competition for 2023"!
His story is brilliant.
In a nutshell, he built his house many years ago with the hopes of adding a large deck to follow his passion for Atsrophotography.
His plans were rejected by Council in the first instance.
The council, after many visits and phone calls to them eventually passed it. It took a long time.
In 2020, Jim was diagnosed with cancer. This was the trigger that pushed him ahead in the incredible endeavour.
This is what Jim had to say about his experiences with Smartkits.
Hi Smartkits, Thanks for letting me enter your competition. When we owner built our house fifteen years ago the council would not allow us to add the carport/deck to the Development application. So my wife (Denise) and I shelved it at the time. I was diagnosed with multiple cancers four years ago and decided I’ve got to get some things done that I always wanted to (big procrastinator then - but not now).
I’m very lucky, my lovely wife allowed and supported me in starting this project that had been on the back burner for so long. With Covid it was impossible to get any engineers or draftspersons to draw up plans so we turned to kits on the internet as we figured they would be pre-engineered with plans for council. Smartkits stood out in our research especially as you catered for custom builds. On contacting Smartkits we engaged with Drew in sales and he helped us get our job up and running as it was more difficult being attached to the house.
Big thanks to Drew and your engineers who allowed that to happen. The kit arrived and some parts were not as per plans but Kelsey and Mick were on to it. Mick was very helpful in sorting some short supplied parts and clarified my erroneous interpretation of the plans. I saw on your website a picture of a suspended deck prior to concreting. I had some scaffolding so suspended the whole structure before concreting the piers, this made the build pretty straightforward. Our dream deck of fifteen years has finally been built. Now we can watch the night sky and do some Astrophotography (which I love doing) on the deck, as well as entertain. Below deck we can shelter the cars and sit outside in shade. It’s taken us a while but if an old guy (72) like me with cancer and his wonderful wife can do it, you can too.
Huge thanks Smartkits and your team.
Jim has a very detailed BLOG about the build - It is quite the read!
If you are keen to get your very own deck, just like Jim. Then GET IN TOUCH today and we can customise one just for you. We are also happy to help out with any building approvals that may be needed, to take the stress off your hands in getting exactly what you want or need.