Advice about house extension

[tedmumtobe]

Hi. I am moving to teddington in the new year and we want to do a side return extension and new kitchen before we move in. Funds are not great following recent wedding and move etc.

Any advice about good local builders/company with competitive prices.

Does anyone know how much a side extension and new kitchen should cost? The extension is about 4m by 2m and one story? We have had a quote which I think was extremely high but maybe I am underestimating...

Unfortunately I don't have any recommendations, only warnings: we just had a big rennovation and extension done on our new house and had a nightmare with builders. I would get quotes from 3 or 4 recommended builders, but be very careful of going for the cheapest - you definitely get what you pay for!

We went for a slick-looking company who undercut the others on the basis that our job could be a bit of a "show-home" for future clients. They ended up going bust part-way through the job and we've spent the last year trying to get other workmen to finish their mess.

Costs will vary massively depending on the spec e.g. types of steel needed, roof, windows, back doors, underfloor heating etc. It all adds up. Same goes for the kitchen but there you can shop around a bit: we found Magnet came up more expensive than our local Sheen Kitchens which were sourcing high quality German units; get all the appliances online as you'll save a lot vs kitchen companies; and we also saved about £2k on worktops by getting them from Stone Masters up Wembley way, who had a massive selection and fitting was all good too.

Good luck. It can be a very stressful exercise but I am in love with my kitchen/extension now so I might stretch to say it was worth it!

Hi, good luck with your move! Some local builders firms worth contacting for side extension quotes include Pete Meadows of Meadows Partnership, Shaun Steer, and Gus from Lofts And Extensions. When I was considering extending these three were my shortlist in terms of a good balance on competitiveness and quality/testimonials.

Hello,

My husband has a contracting company, and can give you some guidance for free. But in my opinion, go with who you feel comfortable with, and within budget. Make sure it is either all in, or you can pay for each person (plumber, carpenter, electrician etc) separately on a daily basis. This can make costs spiral if they don't go according to plan.

Let me know if you want my husbands details.