Home Extensions 2017 - come along on the journey

[RedRobin1]

Hi just wondered if anyone has recently started or about to start a home extension. Haven’t seen a 2017 thread so starting one here.

Our two-storey extension is due to start on 1st March and we have just started packing boxes. The planning and research has been ongoing for 2-3 years. Had planning permission approved a few years back and completed all the research around what we would like in our new extended and how we would like to design it all - extending the kitchen / dining area downstairs to create an open plan living, dining and kitchen space and an extra bedroom upstairs.

Have two DCs under 4 and need help / advice / tips and general hand holding.

Is anyone else starting theirs soon?

Hello. Not the same but planning a loft conversion. Can I ask did you have to contact current home insurance company and give them any details?

Well we will be starting our at some point in 2017! Just waiting for planning permisson to be approved, then will depend on builder availability!
Its double story to the side and single at the back and we are staying in the house!

Currently at the drawings stage, but ours is quite a minor extension to the back of the house. Knocking down a lean-to and extending a couple of metres. Doing as much as we can to avoid having to go to planning.
Still amazes me how expensive this stuff is!

We're still getting drawings sorted too. We're looking at building out over the drive. Se there are only 3 rooms (the dining room and two bedrooms) that won't be impacted. This is a scary concept.

We are about to go to tender on a side extension plus lots of internal alterations, new kitchen, new bathrooms and building an annex. Fingers are firmly crossed at the moment that the quotes that come in aren't too horrific! It took a year to get planning as our home is listed so would quite like to get going now...

Good luck to all of you, I hope your builds go well. We did ours in 2016 and it was without a doubt the most stressful thing we have ever done.

We are 5 months in to the build but have another 3 (we hope no more) months to go. Extension and renovation to house, while living in it with 3 little ones. It's gone relatively smoothly so far but you can't lose the sense that there'll be an expensive issue to resolve around the corner! We are still learning every day but the one thing i wish we'd done is really talk through in detail an important feature at the start. They've built it to the plans, but because of rooflines it looks naff (it's a window) and if we'd known it would look as it does we wouldn't have bothered. A conversation on exactly what it would look like so our vision was clear would have helped. Hope that makes sense! That and deciding things like doors and windows at the start rather than as we went along. Good luck everyone!

You need to inform your house insurance and they will ask to see your builders insurance policies. Some policies have a maximum time for works before they need to revise your policy (ie reduce your cover or increase your premium). Whilst our house was slightly open air (5 months) we stored valuables elsewhere.

I'll join!!!! Hopefully starting work on a kitchen extension in the next few months, just need to sort out remortgaging and sort out contract with the builder

Hi we are complete novices to extensions, we have recently moved and are planning to extend our kitchen and dining room and make it bigger and better.

Can someone give me an idiots guide to how you go about it - do you find a builder, or an architect or what????

wow lovely to see there’s so many of us - at different stages from considering an extension, drawing up plans and waiting for builders and planning permission!

nell15 we got an architect to draw up plans (found one on google and registered with the Architectural Society (or something like that!!) Our architect was brilliant and he gave us good advice on the vision for the house

we then applied for planning permission (discovered I was pregnant so put finding a builder on hold)

Got planning permission, then got builders to quote on the plans. We got 3-4 different builders to quote and they were all around the same mark. We went with the cheapest but one with good reputation

We also had two years to pick and choose - I have a list of notes and spreadsheets and design ideas - everything from paint colours, bathroom fittings and sanitary ware, kitchen and appliances, doors and windows etc - we have written down makes and model numbers for everything we like. So all the picking and choosing is done. Not yet paid for anything. Waiting for the build to start..... so it can all come together!

The thing that worries me is the cost and unseen expenses.

didireallysaythat thanks for the tip about revising home insurance policy - hadn’t thought about that.

noisygirls how did you find living in it with 3 little ones? We are thinking of moving out for a month with in-laws or could be two as won’t have boiler, bathroom or kitchen temporarily!

Please can I join? At the very very early stages of beginning to think of a medium sized kitchen extension and converting loft (in a bungalow, need to put in dormers).

Please can I ask those of you who are further down the line than us.. how did you go about getting drawings? Did you use an architect? We have had one architect over and they have quoted us £11k for drawings and going through the planning process with us. If we want them to hold our hand throughout the build then the price will go up to £16k. We are not in London, we were slightly at the quote.. but are we unrealistic? Is this what architects cost?!! Our rough budget would be about £100k for all the work.

Hello, we started a two storey extension and redoing the layout of part of downstairs just before Christmas. Ours will be in stages with different contractors and I am project managing. We'll run out of money at some point so think the whole thing will take a couple of years.

Our drawings plus building reg drawings were done by an Architect and came to £900. There was about £420 for the structural engineer, £300 for a CDC health and safety file and roughly £660 for building regs I think. We went on recommendation for architect and he drew up what I had designed.

Unforeseen costs to date so far are however much it costs to redirect a utilities pipe plus £590 to upgrade a steel beam (knew thiis might need to be done). But we are only as far as dpc on extension and about a third of way through internal changes.

Can I join please.

I have bipolar and anxiety disorder, and I'm already being physically sick with the stress.

3 years ago we got planning. Then DH got ill and we couldn't afford to proceed.

Now, our planning expired 3 weeks ago (typical!), so I've just reapplied.

We are fighting the mortgage company at the moment. We got our remortgage decision in principle, but now the full application is in, they are dragging their heels. I feel sick with stress, as if this gets declined then the whole thing is off. We should have an answer on Weds/Thurs.

Builder is booked to start first week of March. As planning was granted before, we don't envisage a problem so are going to plough on

The builders break ground for our extension next week!
We're knocking through our existing kitchen/utility/downstairs loo to make one big kitchen, and extending to create a new loo/utility.
I can hardly wait.

I just need the mortgage to go through. This wait is AWFUL.

We are adding a second storey above the existing garage conversion. This will be a 4th bedroom, and en suite and a dressing room. Then downstairs will be remodeled, with the current kitchen being made into a utility room, the dining room being made into a kitchen/diner and a conservatory adding onto the back. Then a large porch out the front and block paving the drive. We need about £40k for the works which is much less than some of your budgets.

Please please PLEASE Nationwide accept our mortgage application

We're a couple of weeks into ours! Small 2-storey infill extension and partial garage conversion (which involves raising garage floor, thus also raising ceiling/floor of bedroom above the garage so the roof has to come off and be raised....). Should give us a nice big kitchen/diner rather than a poky little isolated kitchen with dining area in the lounge. Also 2nd bathroom and utility....so far all excavations, foundations etc done and timber kit is up for the extension. Roof trusses arriving this weekend then it's off with the roof (we're going to family for a week while they do this and the worst of the knocking through but can't be away any longer). So far it's been okay but what has really surprised me is just how many decisions I've had to make on a daily basis. We thought we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted but there are just so many tiny things to decide at every stage....

Good luck everyone!!

Hi
Can I join , due to start first week of March , like you Monkey we are remortgaging. Went to our current lender who refused to lend us the full amount we needed even though( didn't have the greatest adviser and convinced she put figures in twice !)went down the road to another provider and got the mortgage in principle immediately. Had the survey don last fri and received offer in post today. Due to our first experience I was very nervous about whether something would go wrong once full application was submitted but thankfully it was ok. Good thing to as we have paid all of the fees associated with building controls etc ! We are having a kitchen xyrndiom going out 4m , new roof , new porch and our garden completely redone ! Can't wait !
Can I ask , what's your views on bi folding doors ? Worth the extra cost ??

af2000 - that feels like a lot. We're planning a 2 story side extension which includes changing the roof line and an attic conversion (no dormers though) and we are looking at about 2k to get to planning permission and another 3k to get to building regs approval. Including registration fees, etc. We're in East Anglia.

af2000 that does feel like a lot of money. Ours came up to just £2k for drawing up plans, planning permission submission fees + building regs etc

thanks for that info, so we must have found the most expensive architects on the planet.. I think they do 'Grand Designs' type things, rather than bog standard extensions. We need to shop around a bit I think

How exciting grannyRoberts I cannot wait till ours starts! Counting down the days to March. What kind of tiny decisions did you have to make?
I have heard of the usual ‘how many electric sockets, how many radiators, where do you want them to go etc... ‘ but think they would come a lot later in the build stage...
Didn’t realise there were decisions that would need to be made 2 weeks in...