Builders and carpenters in Buckland Brewer, on the high ground between Langtree and the Torridge estuary at Bideford.

Buckland Brewer is a hilltop village, and that single fact shapes most of the building work here. Properties sit high and open, catching weather that rolls in off the Atlantic and up the Torridge estuary with very little in the way of shelter. Alongside that exposure, the village holds a real concentration of thatch, cob and stone, which means repair and alteration work needs to respect fabric that predates modern construction thinking by centuries.

Thatched properties bring specific considerations to any building project. Extensions and alterations need to be designed around eaves heights, roof junctions and fire separation requirements that a slate or tile roof simply does not impose. We do not thatch ourselves, but we build to suit it: junction detailing, structural support, and coordination with the thatcher so the trades meet properly instead of leaving a compromise where the two roofs join.

Cob and stone walls are common through the village core. These walls need to breathe, and the single most frequent problem we are called to look at in villages like this is damp caused by cement render or gypsum plaster applied over a wall that was previously working perfectly well. Lime plaster and lime render are the right answer, along with sensible drainage at the base of the wall and gutters that actually work, which is unglamorous but fixes more damp than any chemical treatment ever has.

The village's hilltop position means wind exposure is genuinely significant. West and south-west elevations take driven rain, and that shows up in render failures, saturated walls and water getting past window detailing that would be fine somewhere sheltered. When we specify render systems, flashings, cavity trays and window installations here, we do it for the exposure this ridge actually gets.

Access down the lanes towards Bideford and Parkham narrows quickly, and the village itself has tight turns and limited places to stand a skip or unload a lorry. Access planning is part of the quote, not a problem to be solved on the first morning: we work out the delivery route, where a wagon can turn, and where materials and waste can sit without blocking a neighbour.

Ground conditions on the ridge run to clay over shillet at variable depth. As elsewhere in these parishes, the variability is the point, and trial holes before pricing groundworks are cheaper than a foundation variation once the dig has started. Private drainage is standard outside the village core, and we assess septic tank or treatment plant capacity against any proposed extension before the design is settled.