Renovation project lessons learned

[movingtokent]

We are just about to start on a major renovation project - new heating, electrics, insulation, remodelling of inside, extension to front and back, new garage in a hill and new access to property. Please could all you wonderfully wise and far more experienced people give me your top tips on what worked best for you and what to avoid or point me in the direction of a lessons learned thread. I have searched and read the bathroom, kitchens ones but cannot find one about actual building work etc. thanks

We're just finishing a near-complete rebuild.

I handled all of the interior layout design and this has allowed us to make the most of the available space.

Some things we wish we'd done:

Discuss with your main contractor / project manager all of your key finishing requirements on a room by room basis. Then print out and hand out copies and pin one up in each room! E.g. you want all cables in conduits, no visible plumbing, all radiator valves into the wall, no curved architraves etc.

This way you should get across the look and feel you want to achieve and help to guide your workers when they need to make decisions on their own. You cannot oversee every decision unless you are on site every minute and watch every activity!

Move out while the build is on!

And, wait for the builder you want - don't accept someone else even if it means starting 3 months later.

Good luck!

OK, here's a stupid one:

Put away the Denby mugs. Buy a load of cheap ones from Poundland. Go to Costco and buy a pallet of sugar, a sackful of teabags and a huge drum of instant coffee. You will be amazed how quickly you get through it!

Be prepared to find used mugs all over the place. I swear there must be one buried in the foundations of our extension!

I agree re photographing everything at every stage. Check and check again that the builders are doing what you asked them to do. We specified insulation and had photographs of it going in to the walls. I then had a bad feeling about one room so one weekend we took a panel off the wall only to find the insulation material had been removed by the builder ( we still don't know why ). We were gutted.

He was kept on the job but demoted. This was a mistake. We should have had him fired.

At the end of the job go over everything in fine detail with the PM. We didn't get that chance (even although it was promised) because they screwed up timings and had to start another job.

One of my bug-bears is squint sockets. Such a shame to see the beautiful Forbes and Lomax sockets and switches and dimmers that we bought installed squint. Take a plumb line (I don't know what their correct name is) and make sure that sockets have been installed on the level.

Shameless place marking. Great tips thank you!

SKIPS - cost a fortune and you will get through a few so make sure that it is only heavy/awkward stuff that goes in them.

I kept rummaging through ours to take out polystyrene block packaging and cardboard which I took to the local Council tip in my car freeing up space.

Phone the orgs your builders claim to be registered with. Half of them are meaningless anyway (FMB I think they just pay to register) but if the body has never heard of them/they haven't paid for a couple years... Even if they have just done a great job down the road.

If your builders are doing a shell for you to decorate, get in writing exactly what is and isn't included - plaster, sockets, wiring, first fix plumbing...

Good builders arrange their own portaloo. Check they will!

Adding to NotCitrus's comment (since we are in a city terrace)...check that your neighbours are happy about where you have put the portaloo.

Skips - will get filled (and then possibly emptied) with other people's stuff if you order them too soon.

Windows - if the new extensions are going to make access to the existing upper windows tricky, get them painted whilst you still have scaffolding on site/easy access.

Weather - learn to love detailed weather forecasts. From distant memory we held off a few days when we wanted to pour our slab because the temp was going to drop to 3 degrees.

Will you still have a kitchen? My builders splurged £50 on some shop soiled cabinets, sink and worktop and plumbed in my washing machine in a temporary kitchen we set up in the dining room. (waste and water supply went outside through a temporary panel where the doorway was. I think I've loaned the Tefal mini oven to at least 4 or 5 friends and families since.

treat your builders like you would want to be treated. it is hard manual labour, especially in the middle of winter or heat of summer. find out their names, have a laugh with them, they don't want to turn up to a job where the owners nag and are miserable.

my plumber fixed an existing problem in my bathroom for free as he said I was such a nice customer who didn't treat him as if he was something stuck on my shoe!

not all builders are the enemy

These are all wonderful. Writing them all down. Please keep them coming.

We've also just finished our 2nd project and the recommendations really ring true!

Firstly make sure you get on with your builder - you'll be working with him for many months and you need to have a good relationship. Our first builder was technically great and very fast but he did many projects a year and we were just one of his 'sites'. Every small change was a sigh and a bill! 2nd project we had a builder who has been less fast (very slow at times) but I've been happy to work with him. Despite it takes much longer I've felt happier about the whole process.

You can't plan for everything so cost increases are likely - I had a spreadsheet which showed the budget figure for an item and then the actual.Carpets are a good example - until we built the extn we couldn't accurately estimate costs and we were out by 50%.

Consider getting the building regs plans laminated as they can then be left on site without being destroyed.Get separate folders for Planning and drawings, Building regs, Quotes, receipts. The paperwork starts to come in fast once you kick the project off.

Definitely buy cheap builders cups, get a dozen and they will be used. Treat the builders well, we set-up a tea station and we provided biscuits, bacon rolls on Fridays and ice creams when hot weather.You will go through buckets loads of tea, milk and sugar - with 5-6 guys on site we get through over 100 teabags a week!!

Plan for being without heating and lighting for some stages and get plug in heaters. We moved out for 2 weeks during the kitchen demolition to a holiday home and it was a pleasure.

Don' t worry about the children - they seem to treat it as a camping experience.

Portaloo is essential - first builder didn't bother (more profit margin) and it was horrible cleaning up every day after the builders.

Declutter before hand - get rid of any rubbish - we actually bought a small trailer so that we could take stuff to the dump ourselves it's been a great buy.

Building fatigue happens towards the end of any project. You maybe more snappy with your partner so just acknowledge it and look at what you have achieved.

Remember another one! Have a good first aid kit - large plasters and antiseptic cleaning wipes. In 2 projects we've had to deal with 3 cuts, nothing too serious but guys working with power tools can get hurt. The carpet fitter sliced his finger open

Newstart thank you. Can I ask why the carpets were 50% more. I have been calculating on the room sizes on the plans. Is this wrong?

We didn't have a portaloo and the builders didn't make a mess of our downstairs cloakroom - they even used the toilet duck

We also provided bacon sandwiches on a Friday and ice creams when if was hot. They appreciated nice biscuits too.

take photos of wiring to sockets - esp if it doesn't just come straight down.

it really helps when putting kitchen cabinets and other things on the wall and saves rows.

Electric sockets on outside wall for Karchering, any electric garden tools. State no radios blaring at outset, especially annoying for neighbours putting up with noise and dirt for no end reward.

Mugs - hit the charity shops, oh and tea spoons too
Sugar - I always forget people have sugar in tea and coffee
Switched plugs - we can turn on lamps in the lounge and the Xmas tree lights from one switch
Wired in smoke alarms and emergency light for the under stairs cupboard if that's where you fuse box is
If you have any floor that you're keeping, duck tape down those plastic floor protector sheets (we've a wooden floor in our hall way which has been covered for months - still covered as we're painting now)
Henry like vacuum cleaner (screwfix for £50)
Sketch out and stick to the walls things you might forget (eg where you want light switches, plugs, TV aerials).
More plugs that you think you need - plus you can get plugs with USB charge points

Thanks anyone installed an air source pump?

fantastic thread - we are going through a complete renovation, extension and loft conversion, the work has commenced today and its all very exciting. I will be watching all these fab threads with keen interest!

We hired a shipping container and had it put on our front lawn. It is more convenient and cheaper than self storage (for the length of time we needed storage) and is stacked so that we still have access to our drawers and wardrobe. We moved out into a static caravan on a caravan park locally, out of school holidays it wasn't too expensive.

Hi movingtokent I'm really curious to how your extension/renovation went? are you pleased with it all? how long did it take and is there anything you wish you'd done differently??

Take your time making decisions. I rushed lots of things and am having to go back and do it again.