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?

I'm in week five mocking through for a two storey extension!!! The rooms to small that we've built a corridor into and the house is a complete mess
Feel like crying !

Sparkly hang on in there! Are you plastered? I felt it was all too small until i was looking at smooth walls and then began to see the spaces in real terms.
Are you going for 2 new bedrooms? we've got 2 'new' but actually only gaining one as were stealing an existing room for a new bathroom plus the corridor.

But, by god, the dust……..

We're getting a garden room/family room downstairs and a new bedroom upstairs but an old bedroom will have a corridor into the new one x

Also putting a hall into the living rooms so people can come into the other rooms without walking through the living room x the dust will be at the weekend 😬😬😬

Oh God. The builders tell me the drains have had a long term leak and will have to be replaced before any more work can be done. on a Friday afternoon... Temporary fix so we can use the loo over the weekend but. .... Oh God

So my weekly update - well week & abit and I have to report ......., a great big fat nothing!

Well a row of bricks has gone in on top of the steel. The lifts were still in today, from last Wednesday, when the hire company came to collect them. DH text him to let him know and got this message back

'No need for sarcasm I'm snowed under we are trying to clear a job up 1st thing I've been here since 6:15. the boys will be there AM. No days are lost at all electrician has not been finished long. I'm getting fed up with all the little digs to be honest.
We are waiting on material if you want someone round round everyday standing around then I can arrange that but it will be at your cost if there is nothing to do. I will send invoice this evening as I've had no time what so ever this week trying to get jobs wrapped up'

The fucking cheek of him! The bifold doors went in on 3rd August so it's taken him a whole fucking month to knock a fucking wall down! 😡😡😡😡

TeamRick that's so shit!! The bloody cheek of him! 'Fed up with little digs', lol. He should get his bloody tools out and do some actual bloody digging, the arse.

Yehudi don't panic yet. Have they given you any indication of the delay/ costs involved? Try not to worry until then (I know it's hard). We had a long-standing leak to the mains water supply uncovered during the early part of our works. It was £ to rectify but not ££.

All ok here although it's becoming increasingly obvious that they're running behind (unless they start pulling evenings and weekends). They've been on site every day but it's a bloody massive job.

We're at the end of week 5 of our side return extension - steels have just gone in and it's all knocked through, so we're not too far behind schedule.

I've been hoovering / sweeping 2-3 times a day to barely keep on top of things and desperately wish we could afford to move out. Hopefully the rest of the project continues without any major hiccups. Can't wait to have solid walls again!

Rick I'm fuming for you. Seems our builders were both cut from the same cloth. Stay strong but DON'T get walked over. Best thing we did was sack the clown.

I've had 2 weeks of solid work from the new team. It's all, basically, done. I've now got to paint the whole house (the building works affected every single room other than 2 bathrooms). So that's 3 coats of paint on EVERY room in a 4 bed house, plus 2 coats of gloss on EVERY skirting board and door frame (all newly installed). Then we have 5 rooms having new carpet down (all the bedrooms), then hall, stairs and landing. Then, we can lay the new kitchen/dining room floor and install the new kitchen which will be finished being made end of Sept.

So building work is done, but the hard graft is about to come.

The house became uninhabitable so we've (family of 5) been sofa surfing for 2 weeks. It's without a doubt, the worst period in our lives, bar none. And we've done the cancer/miscarriage/divorce/other load of shit before. This is worse. We have no home to run to.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Do not start any work before you have DOUBLE, TRIPLE, A MILLION times checked your builder. It's the difference of make or break.

Wow @TeamRick, that's incredibly unprofessional. As if it's your fault he's juggling too many jobs!

Hope there's a forum to share feedback with others who might consider using him...

Namedy yes this one! I'm going to name & shame him when it's done!

I've spent hours googling him and can't find anything at all! But the next poor victim will for sure!

It's what keeps me going!

The first thing they did when they started back on the 18th April was take the fence betw us and attached Neighbours down, it's been propped up ever since! They've been v kind & understanding!
She text me on 12 August & asked if we could put it back up for sons Bday party! We're asked & asked him to do it but has he nope! DH & neighbour are going to do it Sunday! 😡

So DH text him tonight to tell him we had done fence and remind him he hadn't sent us an invoice (god knows why he did that) and we got a text back from his daughter.

Apparently he is in hospital suffering from panic attacks & fatigue. He's coming out tonight but could we please not mention it to anyone else because he's embarrassed!

While I could perfectly understand if you have 5 or more angry customers all pissed off & demanding you work on their house this could push you over the edge but it also seems like s classic avoidance technique!!

What do you think?

Oo-er teamrick I don't know quite what to make of that. It must be so stressful for you

I call bullshit. Keep it quiet so his lie doesn't get exposed more like. But I'm cynical of all of them now.

Yeah I tend to agree Monkey!

They were supposed to be coming today to put the floor insulation down but didn't turn up!
But for the first time ever text & apologised! Maybe he had had some sort of epiphany over the weekend! 🙄!

TeamRick I think you are going for the record for the longest extension build. At least he sent a text this time.

You end up feeling as if you are nagging them. Our builder did another job the other week - he said it was for 2 days but I doubted he would turn up on the Friday. So I sent him a text checking before we moved the settee/tv back out of the lounge again. He confirmed he wouldn't be coming as had some extra small jobs to do at that job.
He did say the next week when he turned up that he should have contacted us to let us know what was going on.

Ours is almost finished now. A few small jobs to do tomorrow and then we are onto sorting out the decorator. Whilst we wait for the floor to dry out for a few months so we can get the flooring down. Should be done for Christmas!!

Will be glad to be free of builders/workmen for a couple of weeks. Not been easy trying to work with them around constantly and our dd is not impressed they are finishing just as she has to go back to school

Sushi yes, the slowest extension in history wasn't what I was aiming for!
They've been today and laid about 16 bricks to mark out where the stud walls are going!

If that's it for the week I will flip!

When did yours start Rick?

18th April!

Ah. Mine started 6th March. I win

Ha ha! Horrible isn't it!
Am feeling really down about it this week! Just the endless disruption and getting home from work to see the shit tip that is my front garden. Fed up!

Team Rick and Monkey I feel your pain mine started end Feb (and was only a garage conversion and new kitchen) now finally finished although still waiting for final building regs so not fully paid for by me (so far I have had 4 failed attempts to get this sign off which were cancelled due to some crisis in my builders life) fingers crossed for next week which is when it is supposed to happen next and then I will never have to see my builder again. My only saving grace was I was away for the first few months so just lived in it fo the last 3 but I agree it just gets you down, like your life is on hold. I love my new space now but but we were thinking of putting in a new bathroom next and there is no way I can face it yet (ever!)

And here is my shit tip of a front garden! 😞

Tween it must be lovely to have it finished!

I keep telling myself I'll forget all this horror when it's eventually done!

OMG I can't believe he has left all the rubbish in your front garden. Did he not get a skip or take it away regularly? Ours couldn't put a large skip in our drive because of the access so he put it on his drive and was clearing it from ours regularly. It did mean he disappeared occasionally but at least we didn't have the mess.

Ours came back to do the last few jobs today ( didn't turn up yesterday - was ill). So we are done now inside until the decorating and flooring are done. Got the sign off on Monday so that it another hurdle done.

Before and after from outside.