Today's the day building work starts

[Reastie]

I've been posting on here for months various questions ( for all your help btw) and today finally is start day for building works. We're having work done on the kitchen and dining room.

Spent the whole week end clearing out both rooms and we are now living in a make shift kitchen and dining room which is in the playroom.

I'm rubbish with people in my house and am feeling sick with nerves for the month or so ahead where it will be mayhem. I'm very fussy but also not very assertive.

I'm excited for the end product but not the work to get there!

Any tips to get this to go well? Anyone else having building work done and need some fellow hand holding?

[NeatFreak]

It is far harder than I thought. I insisted on hiring a self storage room to stop 'stuff'piling up everywhere as we had to empty loft and garage but it has happened anyway. I coping by keeping one room relatively clear and nice and spending all my time in there. Builder now refers to us as his second family but that doesn't make it any less awkward when I am sitting in 'nice' room trying to breastfeed fussy newborn and he sticks his head in to ask a question! The extension will add a huge kitchen/ diner, utility room, new entrance hall, two new bedrooms and two new bath rooms so it will be amazing when its finished but it has been a really long slog.

We have a makeshift kitchen with a few camping tables, mini oven/hob, microwave and food/ cooking equipment in stackable boxes and are coping ok- the hardest part is trying to wash up when we haven't got running water downstairs and I can't lift anything heavy due to cs, such as bowls of water or dirty dishes!

If you need any tips etc probably best not to ask me as clearly we haven't managed it very well and I am not enjoying the experience at all... My beautiful baby is keeping me relatively chirpy though!

[Reastie]

. I'm not coping and it's a month long job which I am 2 days into, goodness knows how you've managed!

[MmeLindor]

Oh, you are a wonder, Neatfreak. I would be a puddle in the corner of that one neat room.

I agree with the putthingsintostorage advice. I wish that we had just packed everything up and put it into storage. We did with some stuff, but in dribs and drabs. It would have been so much easier to completely empty the house and be done with it.

[MummytoMog]

Have just spent over an hour filling out the remortgage application. I'd forgotten how horrible this was. Scaffolding is not completed, but have had sneaky thought that I can repaint the front of my house one weekend and hope they don't notice I've been on their scaffold. So that's cheered me up.

[Reastie]

mummy :( . I love the idea of repainting the house - excellent idea. They might not even notice

We've got nothing in storage, just everything pushed into other rooms. Everywhere is a mess! But we're only having a couple of rooms done, it would be truly nightmare-ish if we were having more done.

Right, now, how to do my insanity workout dvd today without the builders noticing

[MummytoMog]

So scaffolders not shown up to finish job yet, but a pair of chippies rocked up and immediately started sucking their teeth and complaining about having to cut the water off and the dodgy electrics (loft is run off a spur from the upstairs sockets and the fuse is shared by the kitchen sockets. We mentioned this repeatedly to the contractor as we're going to completely rewire the house at some point during the build). Eventually they decided to cap them off for now and my brother will investigate on Sunday (when he comes to repaint my house!). Have since had a text asking if I have a hose. I don't. I assume they're draining down my system to remove the loft radiators. I really hope they know what they're doing. That boiler was expensive and it's only two years old.

[Reastie]

mummy hate that teeth sucking and head shaking. Not had that yet and crossing fingers madly we don't get it. Hope they know what they're doing and to them asking if you have a hose.

Things OK here. Builders late as bad traffic and then had to wait for a while for another builder to bring in materials. Plasterboard has been started to be applied. Apparently they accidentally set the alarm off via the panic button when plasterboarding and had to ring DH for the code! Alarm now not working but luckily alarm man coming tomorrow by coincidence to service alarm so can sort that out then. If it had to happen it was a good time for it to happen!

Have headache from hell today and biggest pain if being stuck in all day tomorrow to wait in for alarm man and delivery of wood for DH having being stuck in this morning AND all day Tuesday for deliveries of things I need to check/inspect . All this lovely weather and we are trapped in one tiny room with everything in it. DD is going crazy and behaving awfully from boredom already.

[Shamoy]

We had building work start this Monday too! Ours is a 10 week job. So far so good! Builders are turning up at 7.30am and seem to be motoring through the work so far. We've already got a wall knocked through downstairs!
I just had to clean the bath for the second time today so that I could bath he children. It was full of builders dust!
I'm not looking forward to the early starts and the really really loud noise during the holidays!!

[NeatFreak]

It feels better knowing others are going through similar experiences. Just had total meltdown on dh after convincing my 5 year old to fill some empty water bottles from the bathroom tap upstairs so I could boil the kettle and wash up after dinner and fushing through it before the baby woke up. It's been going on solong, I'm sleep deprived and breaking point has officially been reached . Builders were here for most of the day and have done some plaster boarding, a bit of plumbing (can't tell what but know they were doing something!) and finished off the doors/ skirting etc. I could go and stay with family but not for another 2.5 weeks by which point there should be much more progress (fingers crossed!) so it'd be a bit pointless, especially as they are 400 miles away and we are visiting in 5 weeks anyway...

Tomorrow is a new day so here's hoping we all have productive builders, little mess and lots of progress!

[MummytoMog]

Ok, Neatfreak, that sounds awful! At least we still have the run of the house mostly. Got home late, found scaffolding still not finished, but finished enough to cut off our satellite signal (annoying but bearable) but also our neighbour. Which is not acceptable. Scaffolders say builders need to sort it out. Builders of course are not here to ask. Neighbours being nice, but I bet they're pissed off, I would be. Anyway, builders have also left combi boiler with nil pressure, which I don't think is good for it from what the gasman told me when he fitted it, so will have to check I can refill it tomorrow as radiators are off, but I can't see any sign of capping on the pipes. Buggrit. And the lazy buggers did sod all today except break one of the loft windows, which fortunately is being replaced anyway but still

[Reastie]

mummy for you and the satellite signal and boiler. Hope lots of things happen today for you.

neatfreak are you OK this morning? I'm not surprised you had a meltdown, it sounds so stressful I don't know how you've coped so well already. Do you have any friends you could stay with at least during the day to get some peace?

shamoy sounds like an impressive start. There's dust here everywhere too

Plasterboarding and plastering today hopefully and alarm service/moving some alarm points.

[MousyMouse]

we are getting a new bathroom right now.
it's a bit of a pain as this is the only bathroom in the house. at least the weather is lovely and we have a lido nearby...
agree with the others, expect delays. dismantling was supposed to take a day, another one for the dry lining and then another 3 days for tiling.
we are on day 5 and the dry lining has nearly finished.
the dust is unbelievable.
I mop through the hall every evening to keep a bit on top but you woukd never know...
can't wait for the finished article!

[Reastie]

Well, we've had electric first fix and plasterboard up, they are plastering tomorrow. Monday the electricians are coming to do more work and then they need to do some plumbing for a washing machine and then it's all systems go to put in the new kitchen (which is already made up) then cutting worktops, doing tiling and then putting in floor. I'm thinking a month should be realistic (3 weeks after this week), please let it not take longer!

mousy welcome. it's so nice to bore share with other people going through the same thing

[MummytoMog]

Well builders agreed to pay for next door to have their dish moved but not ours. Ours has miraculously started working again, so we're going to leave it. Went round to apologise and explain and neighbour was really really nice about it, although I have since heard that the scaffolders blocked half my neighbours in their drives and then buggered off to get lunch. Not my favourite scaffolders then.

Back dormer is GONE. Most of the pent roof is also stripped back, to prepare for going out to the gable end, so they're getting there on demo.

[MummytoMog]

Scrub that - can't refill boiler and sky is not working now it's the evening. I've shoved loads of water in the boiler and it's not gaining pressure, which makes me think there's a loose radiator valve upstairs. I can't check of course, because there's a bloody great piece of wood screwed in, blocking my access to the loft and I ain't climbing the ladder without someone footing it. I shall leave a note.

[Reastie]

mummy oh dear, just as well it's hot and you don't need the heating on . Do you have any hot water?

I'm on holiday later (thank goodness I'll get away from the works!) so might be away from the thread, but please keep chatting, I'll be back!

Kitchen arriving on Monday and sad I won't get to see it but it's possible the kitchen might be at least partly fitted by the time I get back

[Shamoy]

Our first week went well! We now have a wall missing downstairs which is being held up by big metal bars all through the walls up and down stairs. Going to have the steel put inside the wall to support it next week.
Am finding it very exciting to be choosing the tiles we want and the paint colours etc, which offsets the noise and dust and helps focus on the end result!!
Nice to have the weekend off from the noise :-)

[MousyMouse]

finally all wall tiles are done, floor tiles tomorrow. and a big deadline: the plumber comes monday to install sink, bath, radiator...
my poor relative, working so hard and trying not to curse with the dc around.
hopefully I will be able to take a bath monday evening!

[MummytoMog]

Well next door are all sorted with the Sky - phew! There is now a suspicious damp patch on DD's ceiling, which I think may be from me trying to refill the boiler and I just went outside and there's a light on in the hole in my roof!!

And breathe, because my brother is coming tomorrow to disconnect the electrics and we can work out what is leaking and what light is on and it will all be fine, yes it will.

Those of you at the kitchen fitting stage, and tile picking stage, please cheer me up with lots of lovely beautiful things - I know it will come good, and everybody hates this stage!

[MummytoMog]

We do have hot water. And we also have lots of roof trusses to burn in the stove this winter which we will need as god only knows if the boiler will still be working or connected

[Reastie]

How is it progressing everyone?

My Dsis is emailing me update pictures whilst I'm on holiday this week. The kitchen has been delivered but not in yet and they've put it in the sitting room with my beautiful expensive cream carpet which I specifically asked the builders not to put it in . Please let the carpet not be ruined please let the carpet not be ruined.......

[MummytoMog]

Skip finally showed up, a week late. I have almost no roof now. I've also moved a LOT of wood down to the end of my garden. I may need a new wood shed. I'm feeling very tense about it all, and have basically no confidence in my builder after last weekend. Someone reassure me that I won't spend the next six months wanting to kill the builders every single day.

[MummytoMog]

Oh and stuff on the cream carpet, wtf? They will need to pay for the cleaning if its dirty right?

[Reastie]

I'm not sure mummy I hope they would sort any mess. I'm extremely fussy in there - no shoes allowed and DD not allowed to eat in there becasue of carpet . I'm sure your builders will sort it out and come through and you won't want to kill them in the end but you may a little bit sometimes

[FayTality]

May I join the gang? We're about to start an extension (next Tuesday) so I am still in blissful ignorance of the stresses involved! I also have an exam to sit at the end of August, so my biggest concern just now is juggling studying and coping with the extension .

We're planning a full width, single storey extension across the back of the house to link together the current kitchen and dining room, and create a large, open plan kitchen/living/dining space with bifold doors out to the garden. The builders reckon it will take 14-16 weeks - we are planning to hold my husband's 50th birthday party in the house in 20 weeks' time, so hopefully things won't overrun too badly (or it will be a December garden party ).

I'm nowhere near ready for this! AAARRRGGHH!

On the plus side, our house used to be two flats, so we have a second kitchen upstairs, which means that we (hopefully) will retain a functioning kitchen throughout. The only issue is if they need to access under the floorboards there in order to hold up the back wall - we will have to wait and see.

Anyway, I love the idea of keeping a record of progress throughout, so will make sure I get lots of before/during/after photos.

Good luck to all!