At DHIDevon, we believe that your kitchen is the heart of your home. With over 20 years of experience in home remodeling, we have built a reputation for exceptional craftsmanship, unparalleled customer service, and innovative designs that bring your dream kitchen to life.

Hello! This s great site isn’t it. Looks very ‘professional so this fits the bill exactly. That’s what we want. something fit for purpose.

I am a one man band, it is just me. Phillip Donnelly. I’m on MyBuilder.co.uk as DHIDevon – follow the link for more information.

Now the facts. I have been in the home improvement business for 20+ years, and it all started with my own home back in 1990, when I bought a 2 bed home and added a bedroom to make it a 3 bedroom home. My brother simply created a wall to partition a very large double bedroom. Unfortunately I didn’t make any money but I did add value as it was sold during a recession with 15% interest rates, when house prices dropped. I worked in a Data Analyst role at that time. Though I had helped a pal build a house extension at weekends, he was a builder.

Step forward to 1991 and my next purchase, a run down 3 bed semi on a private estate in Surrey, the value was £108,000. Imagine me inside adding sound proofing to the party wall that I just framed and plastered. Tims just wrapping up and showing me how. I booking my plastering course next. Next job, uilding wardrobes into alcoves, adding coving, downlights and flooring. Next, the new kitchen ( except I’ve just told the fitter to stop work and leave, I like things level ). Now I’m tiling a floor in the kitchen dinner through the night to finish it.

Outside: Once I’ve fixed the levels on the slope, and created the level base, clay paving for the parking area in red and brown, it will go nicely with red brick walls, a mottled red/black/brown brick. Red clay tiles to the garage roof too but that’s not built yet, nor are the walls.

It didn’t stop there. We had a small extension providing a study and a downstairs cloalroom and utility. Out little Westie loved the Dog flap in the back door. It was a flat roof extension. Outside we had substantial gardens around the house, and next door to the house a horrible prefabricated garage. Well, you might guess what happened to all of that.

I hired a builder to do the outside work, he came in, dug some foundations for a new garage, got paid but didn’t return, after all the “I will be there tomorrow” messages. Well, I wasn’t having that. I hired a digger and finished the trenches myself, including the walls around the parking area. On my own I laid the considerable foundations for the garage and walls, they were staying for ever. The site was on a bit of a slope so they were quite deep in the heavy ground containing clay. I had a lorry load of concrete delivered, he pored the concrete, I raked it. Sometime later, the foundations were done. There was going to be 8″/200mm deep brick walls for the front, even the brick piers had a steel pole in and were filled with concrete. The garage walls were single brick with piers for support the roof.

I found a couple of brickies from a neighbouring site who did the brickwork for me. I had to watch them though, the walls were only 3ft high at the front but I came home to find them building house walls! Excuse me lads! 1 meter high! At the back of the parking area it was a 1.5 meter retaining wall.

Finally a 2 storey extension on the side to include a new Kitchen, Utility, Living room by redesigning the ground floor layout we obtained a dinner/kitchen and 2 living areas. Upstairs we added a double bedroom with ensuite, now 4 bedrooms and a new bathroom. Value £450,000 in 2004. If you want the rest of the story It’s continues below in an expandable section.

The Story Continues

On the sale of that home a flat then the purchase of a tired 2 bedroom Bungalow in Addlestone, Surrey. £225k in 2008. The Bungalow was pre 1930 with a substantial garden to the front and back. 6 years later that house was a 4 bedroom, 3 reception room house with a bathroom and ensuite. There was now a large Kitchen/Dinner. I wont say how much that house was sold for but it was considerable except for a division of the proceeds following divorce. I rented a house just a mile away which I also brought up to standard for the landlord while I was there. I rented a wreck he got back a lovely 2 bed turn of the century house with a new front door I grabbed from the side of a road! So everyone was a winner, almost. Images in the gallery.

In 2014 I relocated to Devon where I created the business known as DHIDevon. ON my own things changed considerably and my job became that of a small builder, renovation, repair and installation. The issue I had with Devon was that either Sales, Trades or the NHS were the main employment areas. I had the pleasure of working on some lovely houses and enjoyed a good social life but the work considerably dropped off. Devon was difficult places to work, lots of competion and a lot of long journeys.

In 2019 I relocated to Hertfordshire to undertake the job of improving a large 7 bedroom 3 story house which was completed in 2019, I actually moved home in 2020. Then Covid arrived in March.

Over the years I had a qualified as Electrical Tester, learned to plaster, installed many kitchens, installed and finished many bathrooms, decorated and even helped people out for free.

I am also an IT engineer, a project manager, and a manufacturing system expert which also covers warehouse management systems. I also code as a hobby and a lot more besides including playing the piano. Playing Piano took over my life for a while. As of 2025 I decided to get back to work.