Clive Hargreaves
building surveyor
Methodical; diagnoses before prescribing
Damp
Ngozi has a limited budget and a house that needs everything. She learns to diagnose damp, prioritise energy upgrades and hire builders without being exploited, and discovers the house was telling her what was wrong all along.
Planned · not started yet
Home & housing Money under pressure Hard choices Family duty Small town Family home Bracing Reflective
The premise
Ngozi has a limited budget and a house that needs everything. She learns to diagnose damp, prioritise energy upgrades and hire builders without being exploited, and discovers the house was telling her what was wrong all along.
The protagonist
Ngozi Okoye-Lambert — Inherits a Victorian terrace with damp walls and a doubled energy bill
The council
Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.
Dr Annika Sjöberg
energy-efficiency engineer
Data-driven; fabric first
Leroy Batchelor
consumer-rights adviser
Protective; knows the cowboy builders’ tricks
How the story moves
A year of repairs; each season reveals a new problem and the house changes as much as Ngozi does.
What readers take away
- Condensation, penetrating and rising damp
- Ventilation
- Insulation priorities
- Heating systems, including heat pumps
- Energy Performance Certificates
- Grants and funding
- Getting quotes and writing contracts
- Building-regulation basics
- Use a moisture meter and its limits
- Read an Energy Performance Certificate
- Plan works in the right order
- Check a builder’s insurance and guarantees
The books
- 1Winter Planned
- 2The survey Planned
- 3The builders Planned
- 4Summer Planned
Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.