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

aesops yes we tried them, it's quite a big unit so I don't think anyone keeps them in stock, plus the place I found had them at 30% off which was such a great deal! whereas everyone else was rrp price.

Builders here today so hopefully we will see some action!

Not sure if I'm jealous you have builders at the weekend or not Karcheer!

The flat roof is half on the extension, and it makes it look enormous from above. It's right outside DS1s bedroom window and the first thing he said when he saw it was 'Awesome, now I have somewhere to sit out like they do in American TV shows'! Hmm not sure I thought this one through!

That should be finished up Monday hopefully and the subfloor will go down. The boiler will be moved so no central heating for a day or so, then a bit of a gap while we wait for the doors and windows to come before the wall comes down! Think they might start first fix electrics, plumbing etc in the new bit- who knows?

Have stuck in a couple of pictures - one will eventually be the new back door! The other is the back of the house at the moment.

Looks like you have an amazing outlook.
I had a house once where you could sit on the flat roof via the bathroom window. It was great on New Year's Eve, or sneaky glasses of wine in the summer eves.

We found out today that we are losing our existing kitchen on Monday! We thought we had a few weeks longer with it but due to some floor issues it goes this week!

We will have a temporary kitchen set up but will have no real kitchen till mid June!! Freaking out massively.

Any tips on surviving it with two toddlers for such a long period of time.

We are now 9 weeks sans kitchen and have at least 6 to go. Fortunately no infants (our 20yr old DDs are at uni)

Here are my suggestions:

Get 3 or 4 large plastic containers to store foodstuff

Buy a hot plate so you are not relying purely on microwave/toaster

Buy min amount of cheap plates/cutlery and glasses that you would not mind breaking rather than assume you can purely use paper/plastic plates etc

Stock up on dishcloths and cleaning sponges for washing up

Small fridge if poss

Buy lots of washing liquid

Microwave in bag rice/porridge. Savoury and sweet biscuits. Lots and lots

Paper towels and antibiotic wipes will be your new best friends

Bottled water supply at hand in case water goes off

Get a cheap folding table that can be used for additional workspace with plastic table cloth

Extension socket for use when/if you have to manoeuvre to different part of room

Last but not least...... Corkscrew!

How's everyone doing?
I am sat amid piles and piles of boxes (in my living room) ... how much crap stuff can one family squeeze into a kitchen?????

My new range cooker is arriving between 10am and 12 , and the kitchen is arriving anytime between now and 10pm (thanks DIY-Kitchens for the massive timeslot )

I may be a tad excited

The outside of the extension is finished bar the roughcast and the downpipes from the gutters. It's looking fab

How exciting to have the kitchen arriving!

We had the plumber here moving the boiler yesterday and today we have no power as a new consumer unit is going in. The builders are off digging foundations elsewhere while they wait for supplies to arrive here - doors, windows, patio slabs, oak cladding - nice to have a bit of peace and quite actually!

I have 2 builders trying to look busy while they wait for the kitchen to arrive - 2 lots of tea and biscuits provided so far.

The cooker has arrived - the builders may have been quite amused by my happy dance

The brick bit at the front of the house whichll be our bedroom was completed today and a lot of the skeleton is now done.

Had a tiler and the window company here to measure up today.

For those of you who are doing loft conversions, how high are you making the straight wall before a slope (sorry bad description). Do you know what I mean?
Where you have a slope of the roof and you then create a wall but still have some slope, well, how high is the straight bit of wall to the floor?

We don't have a loft conversion but do have a room over the garage with sloping walls and a dormer built in which may be similar to what you mean...if so then the walls below the slope are 1.1m high.

Our scaffold came down today which gave us our first proper look at the build. We're cladding the new bit in oak which is my only worry point at the moment as I'm unsure how it will work with the brickwork - it's ordered now so can't change it!

That's exactly what I mean, as that's what I have but thought a loft conversion might be commoner. Thank you.

Karcheer on one side ours is .95 of a metre before the slope and the other side slightly less. The bed isn't quite against the wall but to be honest I don't think you would notice unless you know.

Trying to work out at the moment whether it would be more cost effective to do the whole kitchen at the same time as the extension or to do the extension and then the kitchen. Guessing it would mean more time without a kitchen that is all?!

We've ordered the windows today, being fitted w/c the 21st apparently they were supposed to match the ones we already have, but due to fire regs now the opening has to be widen, so they won't match...
Anyway, I think it'll be something only I notice :S

We no longer have a skip in permanent residence outside our house!

On the last leg now and cannot wait to turn our house back into our home.

Our bedroom is starting to really take shape, they were attaching wood panels to the wooden structure today.

I know this thread is a bit old but our extension is (finally!) starting tomorrow. I am in total denial of how bad it is going to be. Single story replacing an old conservatory with full width extension so kitchen/dining/living space. Kitchen us staying in same location but new units and worktop with breakfast bar being added. How long does the dusty knock through stage. Have 20 month old ds to look after and 16 weeks pregnant! It's going to be a horrific 2 months isn't it...

It's old but we're mostly still here.... we're starting stage 2 soon

Dusty stage, accept that it will be a few weeks of dust when they knock through. It keeps settling for a long time and gets everywhere.

Ha! It's old because that's how long things take trying not to worry you

We knocked through from the extension to the bedroom (which will be partly hallway in the new world today) luckily it wasn't too dusty.
It's all really starting to take shape. I'm continually peed off with the famous steels as they seem to restrict where things can go so much.
I'd hoped to make part of the dressing room open plan to our room but I can't...
Anyway today's challenge is whether we put in a steel on a wall that I'd like to knock down if/when we do our kitchen, the builder says it'll be cheaper/more straightforward,I suspect dh will go a bit crazy I'm even thinking about this... Plus he'll say we don't have the money...

karcheer it's OK I know that it's going to take a long time, if it's done by summer I will be happy (baby due in September so best be by then! ) My dh is the same always looking at expensive things then telling me we don't have the money!

madblonde a few weeks I can cope with I think... she says now ambitiously!

Ours started the half-term week (so second week of Feb?) and this week the glass is going in and the connecting wall should come down tomorrow or Monday. It's all gone up a lot quicker than I expected - no dramas so far, I don't think we've reached the painful yet though with the dust and chaos. Am not enjoying packing up the kitchen and thinking about living off paper plates and microwave/toaster meals!

Our oak cladding is up and looking good and the roof lantern is going to be amazing when finished - am very plead with how it's all turning out!

Karcheer did you decide what to do with the additional steel?

Wild your extension is looking brilliant already! I am also not looking forward to the mess and having no kitchen, although the new kitchen will be worth it in the end

icklekid just don't get annoyed with yourself if you have some down days about it. I've had some days where I have really struggled and been fed up about the mess but it passes

My wall came down today! The space is pretty big the dust was so much better than I was worrying about.

Still haven't got a kitchen plan from the designer who came out which is driving me mad / the builder needs to know for Monday where the sockets need to go and I've no idea!

mad yes we've decided to do it therefore prob more delays the builder is also going to take off the bricks so we can reuse them, so that'll hopefully save some money /add more time but it'll mean the kitchen refit/rearrange is more straightforward but prob won't happen for a very long time.
The plumbers cost have come in slightly less than I'd thought, so that's good.

The upstairs rooms are all ready for flooring, so we all won't have to balance on the odd scaffolding board when we are walking around there, hopefully that'll happened soon, our room is 80% watertight.

The plumber, electrician, and three of the other guys are all in tomorrow, so lots of action hopefully

Saturday afternoon and there are 7 yes 7 blokes here. 3 building patio and laying paving slabs to the side of house. 2 upstairs fitting shower screen and shower to our amazing new bathroom!! Other 2 are decorating new bedrooms in the third colour change for walls all go in the Aesop household this weekend.

Kitchen screed drying out and tilers due back 18th April - deep breath...Kitchen fitting date set for 25th April

Booked first week in May off work to 'play' in my new kitchen!!!

Home run now and it is looking amazing we are really happy with the space