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?

Poppy you could look on your local planning portal for plans of what other people are doing, might give you some ideas.
I think a rough figure is about £2000 per sq metre depending where you are in the country, and you do find yourself paying out before a brick is even laid. Planning permission, building regs, build over agreements, party wall agreements! None of it is cheap!

Poppy the architect should be able to give you a rough idea of the cost of the build as well. Bear in mind the cost of building materials has gone up quite a lot in the last few months.

Our builder was telling us that any quotes he does now are only valid for 30-60 days (depending on the job) before he will have to re-cost if you don't sign in that time,

Our architect also recommended some builders who we got quotes from as well as some we sourced ourselves through recommendations. Get a few as we found the quotes varied quite a bit. Helps as well to know what you want- such as fittings as the builders can include that in the quote. There will always be some extras though as you think of things as you go along.

It is a slow process but I keep telling myself it will be worth it in the end

Thanks sushiqueen

My tip (depending on the scale of the work involved) would be to ask for quotes exclusive of fixtures and fittings, e.g. Bathroom tiles, suites, kitchen, doors etc. (But including all building materials). Gives you much more freedom to shop around and avoids the worry that the builder hasn't allowed enough/ has over-budgeted and pockets any excess on the quiet.

Hi, we live in Esher Surrey. We want to refurbish our house including bathroom refit, retiling and some internal alterations with a small wall to be knocked down. We also plan to have an extension at the back of the kitchen in two months time when we get the permission. Does anyone know a good local builder in Surrey?
Thank you very much.

Things have slowed down here as the builders wait for the concrete sub floor to dry out.

Getting slightly annoyed as want more progress!

Also, what have people done about the size of their patio? So we've had a large area excavated for the extension and they've taken the old patio away. We potentially could have a patio as deep as 3m which seems too big to me - complete waste of space as it would be as wide as the garden (about 10m) - our garden isn't huge so I would prefer more lawn for the DCs.

Any thoughts would be welcome!

I am following this thread with interest as we are just about to start getting quotes for our build (demolition & rebuild of old extension and new side extension). Probably won't be starting it all until the new year.

Re: patios - how big is your table and chairs. I always think that you need to make sure that you have enough space to fit that with the chairs pulled out and to be able to walk round the edges.

How much detail did everyone have written down to get quotes against? We have building control drawings, but we are wondering if it is worth also doing a detailed breakdown of exactly what we want doing room by room - a mind of schedule of works I guess (as there are some additional bits on existing rooms that won't be clear from the drawings)

Weekly update!
They came back yesterday to take the wall out - at 13.30, so obviously didn't get it finished! The lads were very apologetic about leaving the mess & have 'gone rogue' and turned up this morning to finish off & tidy up!
They sound as pissed off with the main man as I am, don't know where they're working from one day to the next, can't look their customers in the eye because he's promising them all sorts they know he can't deliver! Said ours is coming along quite well compared to some of his other jobs! I'm starting to feel grateful!

It's looking great! Shame that your builder is being such an arse

rick is that the whole extension? That we can see? How annoying that they rocked up at 1.30. Sound like my ex builders.

I now am living like this. The kitchen was removed yesterday ready to be knocked through. I have not a single room untouched other than the downstairs toilet and the family bathroom. Every other room has been ripped out. I'm dying, slowly.

Ex builder is going to receive a very nasty, but to the point, email tonight. He either pays up, or we take him to court for damages.

I don't have new builders. I've gone it alone. Independant sparky starts tomorrow, chippy is coming tomorrow to finish stud walling. General builders x 2 coming Monday to knock through the wall. Steel has been made by another company to structural engineer calcs.

I'm terrified. I'm done. But I'M GOING TO FUCKING DO THIS SHIT.

P.'s. I'm now also an alcoholic.

Monkey no it goes round the side as well! If it had taken them 17 weeks to do that bit I really would have kicked off! 😬
Good for you, it sounds stressful but has got to be better than you were dealing with before! Good for you!

Oh monkey I really do feel for you ...sit tight and you will get there but it is rotten !!

Monkey you go girl!

rick I didn't mean that how it sounded It looks like it's going to be ace, I just wasn't sure what I was looking at. Did your builder give you an estimate of how long it would take at the beginning?

We are just going into month 6. Should have taken 8 weeks.

16 weeks so we're one week over but I reckon that was generous considering they've only done about a day a week for the vast majority of it!
I didn't take it the wrong way! 😀! Quite hard to photograph! 🍷🍷🍷🍷

Monkey - fingers crossed for you. I am sure you will be fine - sounds like you are organised so managing it yourselves should be good. I think I might need to stock up on gin before we start our work judging by the stories on here.

Rick - hope you get speedy progress soon. 1 day a week would have done my nut.

We are in the process of trying to write the detailed spec for everything - my theory being that the more that is written down the better. Think we may also use the architect to assist with this, as I get the feeling getting the right builder with the right spec could be the most important part.

Good luck monkey. What a terrible experience you've had! My aunt had a similar experience but found decent builders and now has a lovely loft extension.

Things feel like they're going slowly here. I did have a couple of questions re kitchens - what have people done to source kitchens? Our builder was dismissive about howdens. We've got a couple of independent places which we will get a quote from but I am thinking about using Ikea and sourcing worktops and appliances separately.... is this an insane idea

Morning!

I'm going to jump on board if that's ok? We bought a house in London almost three years ago and have been renovating it ourselves ever since. Living in a wreck/building site for that long has seriously impacted my sanity, especially as I got pregnant the month after we moved in (2 years of TTC and I thought we'd be heading for IVF! Turns out all you need to do is buy an inhabitable house and voilà!).

Will post a bit more later about our current situation (essentially we're project managing a double storey extension ourselves which is due to really kick off next month - probably the same week I give birth to DD2!). We've done a ridiculous amount of research for products so hopefully I can help with recommendations, e.g. sliding doors, polished concrete floors, rooflights etc.

Wanted to be helpful in my first post though. Believe, you might want to have a look at DIY Kitchens. There's a LOT of love for them on Mumsnet if you do a search, the quality/customer service is great (we've been to their showroom) and the units all come pre-assembled - although you do have to do the measuring and planning yourself (the IKEA online planner would be good for this).

Alternatively, IKEA are great too! Definitely agree with sourcing your own appliances, although you might want to stick with one of their own dishwashers (if looking for it to be integrated) as the hinge/door is notoriously difficult to match and keeps falling off. We had an appointment with an IKEA kitchen planner last week who strongly recommended we go with one of their dishwashers - but said all other appliances will be fine. The specific hinge has been discontinued twice but customer keep demanding for it to be reissued as their doors fail and they need a new hinge. Re worktops, we've used Diapol a couple of times who are great, so worth including them if you're getting quotes.

We're being super fussy with our own kitchen. I really wanted a DeVol shaker kitchen until I realised it would cost us around £40k(!) and so we're commissioning IKEA for the units and using a company called Shaker Doors in Oxford for the oak shaker doors (they match to the IKEA Metod range). I'm a bit of a snob and really want to get as close to Devol as possible without blowing the budget! The extension should cost us around £100k if we're careful (for 60 square metres) when builders in London would have charged us £200k+ - ouch.

Monkey, been following your posts and I want to wish you lots of luck! You'll definitely get there. We're hiring all the trades separately. We used a builder for the demolition and foundations (which have been done incorrectly so we need to try and get him back in), a Timber Frame company who start work next month and then we need to hire a bricklayer and roofer and probably lots of other trades ... It's stressful but at least these people aren't on site for too long. If you have a stressful time with them then at least they're gone and you can move on to a new fresh relationship with another trade.

Well we had a response. He thinks we are scamming him. He thinks we can't afford to pay for the rest of the build so are doing this to scam him

FGS Monkey! I'm annoyed on your behalf!
Because you really wanted the hassle of a leaking roof, finding another builder and the small claims court!
My kitchen arriving this week, (hopefully not tomorrow - DH was told he had to be around this week and is away on business- but that's a whole other thread in Relationships )
They haven't finished knocking through, the steels aren't in etc so the kitchen will have to be stored round the side! Which is still full of builders crap! Another last min job to get everything cleared no doubt! It's so wearing!

Ooh you have celotex. 100mm celotex by the look of it

Is that a good thing Monkey?

Apparently we are done. Just waiting for a painter.
My one piece of advice is to think very carefully about who is going to fit your kitchen. Ours had never fitted a wickes kitchen,and it shows. They are used to Howdens ones. With hindsight we should have paid the extra and had wickes fitters do it.