- Davey Pearson, a mortgage broker, turned an old, empty shed in his backyard into a cozy pub.
- The 46-year-old estimates he spent about £3,000, or $3,800, on the entire DIY project.
When Davey Pearson moved into his new home three years ago, he wanted a space where he could get away from his family.
"There was an old derelict garage at the bottom of the garden. And I felt that's an ideal place for me to hide away for an evening and relax," Pearson told Insider. "I've got four kids, so you can imagine."
But what was initially meant to be his mancave ended up becoming somewhere his family could spend time together as well.
The 46-year-old mortgage broker had been living in Sussex, a county in the south of England, but relocated about 160 miles north to Lincolnshire due to rising costs.
The shed in his backyard had been left empty by the previous owners, and it measured 18 feet by 9 feet — more than enough space for what Pearson had in mind.
After all, it wasn't his first time turning a garage into a home pub; he had done something similar on his previous property.
Pearson had been running a local newspaper in his old neighborhood for 10 years until the pandemic forced him to shut it down. But the newspaper still had a social media presence — and he ended up turning his old garage into a pub where he would host online pub quizzes that were streamed on the paper's Facebook page.
His set-up back then included a simple wooden tabletop, a beer tap, and some alcohol bottles displayed in the background.
"So I used to invite my readers to join me on a Friday night, and I would do a piece to camera and do a live quiz," he said. Pearson noted that this became a popular event during the pandemic.
He moved shortly after, and it was those positive memories that left him inspired to DIY another one in his new home, Pearson added: "I suppose I quite enjoyed building the pub that I had in my previous property."
But it was a tall task: The shed was old, dirty, and lacked proper flooring. It didn't have electricity either.
There weren't any proper inner walls and the building lacked insulation as well. It was basically a shell — and nothing more, Pearson said.
He started working on the build about six months after moving in and completed most of the work on his own.
Pearson doesn't have any professional background in construction.
"So I had experience in it just from a life experience point of view, but nothing professional," he added. "It's DIY just because that's something that you have to do when you own a property and you haven't got a lot of money. You don't hire people to do it, you work out how to do it yourself."
After insulating the walls and the ceiling to ensure the building was fit for winter, Pearson lined the walls with plasterboard.
"I just used normal fiberglass soft loft insulation, which is, none of it is to building regulations," Pearson said. "Because obviously it's not part of the house, so I didn't need to worry about that."
After the plasterboards went on, Pearson painted the interior walls a deep greyish-blue shade and even added wall moldings to give character to the space.
The hardest part of the build was trying to put in the ceiling on his own, balancing a heavy plasterboard while standing on a ladder, Pearson said.
That aside, tending to the outdoor area beside the pub was labor-intensive simply because he was the only one working on it.
"The area around the pub was quite troubling — it was very messy with lots of earth, weeds, and things like that," he added. "I ended up adding a little shingled area around the pub to be able to sit out in the sun."
Pearson estimates he spent about £3,000, or $3,800, on the entire project, including electrical works.
"The most expensive part of it was getting the electrician in to run power to the building," Pearson said.
The building doesn't have a water supply at the moment, but Pearson says he plans to add it soon.
"That's on the cards. That's something my wife keeps telling me, that we need to plug in a toilet because it's a distance from the house," he added. "That's the next job."
Pearson started converting the shed in April 2022 and finished the project in July.
The most notable difference between his current backyard pub and the previous one is that this new one is detached from the house and much larger.
"For a start, it's not part of the house — it's down at the bottom of the garden," Pearson said. "I have more space to work with, which means I can just get a lot more rubbish in it. Basically much more pub-orientated furniture and games, and stuff like that."
Some of the furniture in the pub was donated by friends who ran real pubs back in Sussex.
"I knew all the people who ran pubs and restaurants. So when I did the original pub in my old place, I put a shout-out online and said, 'Look guys, I'm making a pub. Have you got any old pub stuff you don't need anymore?'" Pearson said.
He ended up bringing over a bunch of donated pub furniture to his current home when he moved.
"A lot of it was donated, but I did buy a few bits," he added.
The pub in his backyard isn't open to the public, but it's a space where Pearson can hang out with family and friends when they come over.
"We've moved miles from everybody, from family and friends. So when they come and visit, obviously we make a big deal about spending the time here in the pub," Pearson said. "They're very impressed with it, and even more so impressed when we've had a few beers."
While it was labor-intensive, Pearson has no regrets about his DIY project.
"I guess you have to be a lover of pubs to undertake this type of project, but you could do a similar build for all types of reasons, including a games room or a cinema," he said.
Ultimately, the space gave his family another chance to spend time together outdoors.
"As a family, we spend a good amount of time out in the garden, weather permitting. It's ideal for getting the kids off their phones and engaging with the rest of the family for some quality time," he added.