Come and talk to me about extensions...

[NotAnotherNewNappy]

I am dreaming of sticking a large one story one (4m long by 8m wide) on the back of our house, incorporating a new kitchen, shower room & utility Cupboard.

How much does something like that cost? How long does it take? Will we have to move out? How did you finance yours?

We've just decided to definitely do this earlynext year. This year will be saving up, finding a good builder, planning etc.

Am dreading it but it had needed doing since we moved in 10 years ago so we've just been putting it off. The main thing that puts me off is gettin ripped off/having a botch job done. Plus all the decision making about the tiniest thing. Would love someone reliable to just come in and take over and do it all!

I am hoping ours will cost around the 40,000 mark. Although we need demolition of a very shoddily build garage and lean-to first and I have no idea how much extra that will cost.

We will be financing it by extending our mortgage by amount and possibly by a few years too. Not sure how far in advance I would need to start doing this initial building society visit and ringing builders etc to start in early march next year so will be watching all extension-building threads with interest.

Wow that's a lot, it looks like I'll be dreaming or a while. Have you gone for a flat roof or a slanted one? What are the pros & cons of each?

I'm torn between dong something sooner for helper that would make the house more pleasant to live in (I.e. knocking the kitchen & diner into one) or holding out until we can go for the extension and get it to it's full potential (re jigging the ground floor to gain an extra bedroom/study, living area, kitchen diner plus bathroom & utility).

We are in a conservation area, which could further complicate nothing we want to do.

Sooner or cheaper...

Bloody hell! We've been quoted 10k for an extension. I'm wondering if our quotes were too good to be true.

We have just had extension done (8m wide x 4 m deep, single storey). We had pitched roof - to match original roof and also because flat roofs look awful IMO.

We got three quotes, all were almost identical, and total cost for building to "shell" finish was £42,000. This included heating, plastering, roofing, painting, skirting, electrics but not flooring. We have put a new kitchen in to the extension which obviously cost us more on top. I would be very suspicious of a quote of £10k, Kiss, unless your extension is tiny and your foundations are already in place.

I don't regret it for a moment, even though it has increased our mortgage repayments hugely. I just wish we'd had the courage to do it years ago...

We paid 70k for a loft conversion, conservatory, two storey side extension and a new kitchen and bathroom.

Half the foundations are in place. The part that needs to be built from scratch is about 2m x 2m. That quote was only for the extension and not all the other work we need but it does seem too cheap. We'll get some more quotes.

I am in London so I expect we'd have to pay top whack

Hi, we are in East Anglia. We got quotes from 3 builders and they were almost identical. Had recommendations, references etc from all three, and in the end went for the one who could start first! Our site is complicated in terms of access and also the builder had to dismantle the ancient conservatory on the back of the house before starting work, and that took ages as he couldn't get a machine to it so dismantled it by hand. He estimated that it would be 8 weeks in total but more like 12...

As a general rule of thumb, general building work for basic construction, i.e. walls, floor, plaster, uPVC windows, painting etc should be around £1,000 - 1,200 per sq metre. Obviously if you want bespoke detailing, that will cost more. I will be very suspicious if any builders quote less, as they will probably just say certain items are not included when they got the job and start on site.

Have you considered employing an architect to help you if you are planning to do a big extension and house renovation? I often help clients to obtain planning permission / building regulations and write out a specification of work for them to get quotes from builders, the specifications will be quite detail and there is no room for the builders to substitute cheaper and inferior materials like insulations, windows or bi-folding doors.

Remember, if you don't have a detail specification of work, all builders will use the cheapest materials to maximise their profits, you will be surprised how much you can save on your heating bill with proper insulation instead of the cheapest stuff from B&Q. So spending a bit of money to employ an architect will actually save you money in the long run.

Good Luck.

Nb if in London get quotes from builders elsewhere in country
Cousin just had work done (substantial) on flat in London trendy area
Manchester builders with good rep were half prie of best London quote... Great finish to all work too

Thanks everyone, some great tips. I think we will have to make little adjustments the house bearable in the short term but keep saving with a long term view to extend. Now that I've realised the potential I can't step out into the garden without imagining where my new kitchen sink would be