Anyone starting an extension imminently?

[Karcheer]

Ours has been a long time coming, planning permission was granted 18months ago, but our builders finally start on Tuesday.
Would be great to have some build buddies

mcbaby we were thinking of doing this! mainly because we thought it would keep them motivated. We've not decided what yet, but we were thinking probably money.

I want to but the simple fact is all our money is going into the house so I'm not sure whether we can afford it.

Might get them some booze and some chocolate

Same here, booze for the brickie and a case of Red Bull for his assistant (he drinks 3 tins a day!)

Not going to tip the actual building company owner though - has has 4 cars including a Maserati

Nope! They should have finished in October. They aren't getting anything out of me! Call me mean, but I've paid them enough!!

Yeah, the main builder guy bought himself a very nice new Audi 4x4 last week so I'm not sure I want to tip him. One of the labourers I like and would like to get something for but not sure I can just get him something and not the others. The others come and go though and he is always there, working hard and being polite.

Trying to plan for the next stage, originally we said we'd like a 4m extension off the back but I'm now wondering whether 5m might be better. Can't decide if 4m would give us a big enough kitchen diner.

No here as well. So far builder though lovely has only acted as a tour guide for Building Control man. Perhaps I should get him a yellow umbrella for future tourists to follow round the site!

Gnome that could be his Christmas pressie

Had to go tile shopping yesterday for the bathroom, I'm still not confident we've gone for the best options, its so hard to know what will still look on trend in 5-8 years time.

It's worrying about tiles isn't it. I'm worried our kitchen will look dated. The bathroom is grey so I'm not too concerned. We kept it plain and will jazz up with accessories.

What colour did you go for?

Hi all, good to see all the progress.

Our builder is due to start in a couple of weeks, and we still need the final building control drawings from the architect (who has helpfully gone on holiday for a week...)!

We have a dilemma as to how to proceed. The architect wants to use a structural engineer (at a cost of £350) to work out the size of the steels, and then put all the info on his drawings. However, our builder said he can do the calculations very quickly and easily as part of his quote, and will attach them to the architect's drawings for building control.

Obviously we want it done properly and to spec, but I really don't know if we need a structural engineer for a couple of beams... DH has also gone abroad for 10 days (with limited communications) so I'm going to be dealing with all this on my own...

We went for beech wood effect floor tiles and matt white wall tiles. Thinking simplicity is the way forward for it not dating. Hope it works, very nervous about seeing the finished article . Going for the same idea, jazz it up with accessories.

What does the architect think to using the builders calculations Currer?

Madblondedog, the architect is happy to use the builder's calculations... although the builder wanted to see the final drawings first so it all feels a bit chicken and egg right now! Seeing as our architect is away, and I don't know how quickly the structural engineer will do his bit, I am thinking of leaving it in our builder's hands to sort using the existing drawings. He's the one who wanted to start in December, before we were fully ready!

The only thing I would say, which is something I wish we'd done, is make sure for building control, that all ducks are in a row. We had an architect, a structural engineer and a builder. In hindsight we'd have gone to a 'firm' where the architects and SE's are communicative, as opposed to us being the middle link.

Us and the Building control guy were working of the structural engineer plans. Builder off the architects. It could have been a nightmare.

Our building control wanted proof that steel beams would support loads. In the mean time our builder did what he always does, and we ended up asking for calculations AFTER jobs had been done. Poor form and lesson learnt. It puts your nerves on edge and makes your bum cheeks clench. Our engineer has been worth his weight in gold and has done a lot of calculations to help get our build past inspection.

We used a two structural engineers but they were refered to us by the architect. Very early on I got them all on site to meet and chat over the plans.

I kind of think that the structure is really important so wanted to get a SE but tbh my builder has subsequently changed a few things and she just nods and agrees... So I dunno...

More brickwork today...

Thanks Wombat and Karcheer. The builder is confident that he can do the structural drawings himself and he deals with building control all the time.

I spoke to the structural engineer, and he says he has to follow a rigorous procedure (including site visits to check the structural integrity of the existing) before he can produce the plans. He ended up suggesting it would be simpler to get the builder to do the drawings, as they will be checked by building control...

I will ensure the architect's final drawings have 'subject to engineer's calculations' written on them so the builders follow the correct drawings...

Still need to decide whether to let the builder bring in an independent building control company (our architect has warned us against this), or go with the local authority.

Fingers crossed it gets resolved Curer

I'm so excited, there is paint on our walls in the loft (OK, only in random areas and its the base layer but still)

currer the BC guy where I live is fine, he's very receptive to my builders requests to visit. But maybe we are just lucky.

Thanks, it's so stressful right now... but I'm excited that we've chosen our new kitchen! After five years of living with one that is falling apart... Our kitchen designer has produced a very impressive walk-through 3D rendering of it all, so I can see how the family room will work.

If only our architect could have done something like that, to help with our decisions over the floorplans over the last few years!

Madblonde, paint on the walls is very exciting! Can't wait to get to that stage!

Where are you getting your kitchen from Currer? We're changing ours next summer but starting to plan already

It's by Leicht, a German brand. We were very impressed by the quality and flexibility of the units - and by the amazing plan the designer did - but their prices are comparable with Howden's and similar. (If you're anywhere near Bristol I can recommend the showroom we went to.)

So many lovely styles that we liked, but I think we've settled on walnut and white gloss. Am getting stupidly excited about having a larder and deep pan drawers!

I wish we'd planned the kitchen earlier, as we've ended up making last minute changes to the plans (e.g. window sizes) due to the kitchen design.

Found a supplier near us on the South Coast, will add them to my list of companies to visit. A friend has a Howdens trade account so we're likely to go with them as I can just pay cost price but its good to have comparisons

So today my builder informed me I need to move out of two existing bedrooms and the family bathroom by Monday as they'll start work on that part of the house.
I'm off work on Friday so I'm going to focus on clearing out rubbish and going to the dump. I was going to go christmas shopping.

I also need to decide how high something needs to be, opinions welcome...
We are having a carport built, it's attached the the house on one side and one side is obvs open. On the other two sides are two big windows (without glass) ie 4 windows in total.
How high do you think they should be from the floor? I'm thinking about 10 or 11 courses. The main things to consider are, my dog mustn't be able to jump over it (behind it is the garden) and it needs to let in enough light to the carport.
Thoughts?

How big are your dogs?

12 courses would be 1.2m

Is your dog prone to jumping?

Mine wouldn't attempt much more than a 70cm fence and he's a labrador

Mine aren't no, I'm a bit worried my mums young standard poodle might, but he hardly leaves her side so probably overly worrying .

I know this may well have been covered but we're about to start a rear extension to a 3 bed semi - we'll gain an extra bedroom with ensuite and a bigger kitchen diner downstairs. We're adding about 40 square metres.

I know there is no "one answer for everyone" but does anyone have a spreadsheet / budget for things they've needed beyond the builder's quote. So the builder's price is for the plaster finish downstairs / bedrooms etc, and fitting of bathroom suites / tiling etc. I have done some research but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed about pricing everything else up.