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?

snowglobe: We waited until we had building regs and structural drawings and then went with the builder who'd been chatting to my husband for ages about how good they are. :-)

TeamRick: did the skip go? Has he turned up?

oh, I can't believe someone can paint a house... my husband wouldn't let me do our kitchen (to be) on fear of me messing it all up.

Here: some more foundations are in. We had to go down 2.5 metres at some point, turns out to be a difficult site. (and a bit of incompetence here and there... but my husband is learning loads and probably can be a builder himself after this should there be a need. :-))

I'm trying to see the positives... on the days when they're not here, I'm saving on.... biscuits. (that I end up eating myself, so maybe not so good)

snow - do you have architects? They often manage the whole tender process. You basically send a set of drawings and a basic spec out to the builders you want to quote.

spydie - reclaimed oak windowsills sound lovely! Tell me more!
Where did you get the oak from?

My builders turned up at 7.30 this morning, and took a delivery of foundation blocks which are now being laid. I can see the outline of the rooms really clearly now, it's kind of wonderful. I am looking forward to going out there this evening and imagining the walls.

It's good to read all the positive updates and self building going on! It's getting colder here so having just plywood between us and the outside world is not great.

We've had our back wall removed for the supporting steel to go in. However, we've had back and forth with building control about how the steel is to be supported which has meant the back of the house is sitting on props. As a result we have cracks appearing upstairs and the builder claims this is normal. Fucks sake. Excuse my language.
He says the steel is going in today, we shall see when I get home from work.

He turned up - 2 days in a row!!!!!! 😵😵!

The skip is still there though! Lol!

The screeding is finished! Sigh of relief

Believe we had cracks too, it took him 4 weeks to take the wall down, one big one on the outside & 1 inside. It does seem ok now the steel is in!

And we have plywood - I think your builder & mine cut from the same cloth!

Believe we still have plywood for a window. Because it takes 3 f*cking months to come back and do it after everything else was installed

guilty there is an oak place in our village amazingly, so we have got hold of some waney edged oak. Needed quite a bit of sanding back as was quite stained but looks lovely. But We had great fun cutting it with our neighbours circular saw!!! We just need to fit it now on the kitchen sills! Doubt lazy-chops will ever get round to doing it for us...

We had a crack in our bedroom wall above where the steel went in as well. It was only through the plaster - we checked when the builder plastered the bedroom wall afterwards.
More decorating to do!!

Ah the wonder of plywood our builder also used duct tape around the edges to keep the dust out. Bless. It didn't work 🤣

AndTeam, great news on two days in a row. That's just amazing! Is that it until next week 🙈

Things are ramping up here apparently so I've been chucking stuff in plastic boxes frantically this evening. Our living room has been walled off now (it was open plan to the old dining room) so it feels very different. Need to put a sofa in storage so we can squeeze the small dining table in until it is all done 🙈

Believe honestly there are so many similarities between my builder and yours- he used to say things like that!
Then we'll have a big push
Then we'll flood it for a week
Things will really ramp up
And of course the unforgettable- come to a shuddering halt! 😬

He doesn't even bother now!

I have a bit of a confession to make - DH in desperation has offered him £2k in cash over the quote price if he finishes by a week on Friday! He gave him a list of jobs & specified building regs sign off!

I think DH money is safe but we will see.....

believe - oh my word, I'd find that very distressing. I hope you can get it sorted soon. Cracks appearing in your house are anxiety-provoking, to say the least! It's great that you're moving into the next phase, though.

rick - YAY! Progress!

More foundation blocks getting laid today here. I'm starting to realise just how grim and intrusive it's going to feel when they're working inside the house in November. Slightly worried how I'm going to cope! Any advice/tips appreciated.

I'm reassured guilty that it has happened to others but I'm cross because it'll take some fixing. Some of the bathroom tiles have cracked

Haha TeamRick, it is and isn't funny I genuinely think that while the builder is good at pulling trades together, he doesn't cope well with multiple jobs.

Well at least your £2k is safe but it's so bad that it comes to that.

On a plus note, the builders were there at 7.30am this morning and cracking on while I was getting ready for work.

Any builder recommendations for the loft conversion?

rick I hope that £2k is a totally empty promise? Just playing tit for tat, like

believe - I'm not surprised you're cross. I'd be fuming too.

I feel that we should open some kind of betting book on rick's situation. Wonder if £2k will get him going?

At my home, a brickie just turned up and started putting out lines! I'm going to have actual bricks coming soon! I don't know why, but this feels like a huge milestone.

It turns out I know him, too - he's got a plot at my allotment and I see him out dogwalking in the neighbourhood.

Evening all!
Have had a good week here. Timbers are on the roof of the rear extension. Foundations for the other extension (basically removing a large bay then squaring it off) have been dug. 2 x first fix bathrooms and a hallway and bedroom plastered. There have been 2 builders, 2 labourers, a plumber/gas engineer and plasterer here all week which is really helping. Maybe being in by Christmas isn't such a pipe dream after all?!? (Dare to dream emoji required!!)

3 days in and ours is all moving along nicely. Builders turn up at 8am sharp every day and leave around 4. Plumber came today and sadly we have lost our central heating for the duration but hopefully it won't get too cold and we should be done by early December.

Where are you curiousmum? If you are near Surrey I would definitely recommend the guys we are using now.

No one here today but they're waiting for the screed to dry.

Apparently the plasterboard is arriving tomorrow and they will make a start!

Holds breath NOT!

The only positive is that he has told the lads that work for him about the incentive payment ( I know one of them) that actually makes me feel a bit better- if he manages to pull it out of the bag- it looks like he intends to share it!

Rick that's a good sign, re the incentive payment.
Titsy I hope you continue in such a smooth way- well done your builders! I'll keep my fingers crossed for an Indian summer for you. Pre any of the works on our house (we lived there for a year before works began) we had full central heating but nowhere near enough rads, an uninsulated roof and draughty windows, so it felt freezing most of the time. Portable electric and oil-filled heaters made it so much better- if you have a good stock of those all will be well!

Ladies could I be a bit nosey and ask how much approx things cost. We are looking at buying new home one we like we would like to do work to but no idea how much it would cost.
Ideally 3m? Extension out downstairs to make bigger kitchen diner so new kitchen too.

Dream would be either to do loft with one bedroom and ensuite or if we could get permission to do the first floor we would scrap the loft and do two level extension which would extend the existing bathroom 1 bedroom and add ensuit.
Is all of this just a pipe dream would it all cost hundreds of thousands?
No fancy taste here. Well there is but we would quite happily for cheapest option of things if it meant we could actually do it.
We are south east London.

Squiffy others on here will be able to offer much better advice as we are just at the initial stages of our project (engaging the architect) but we're looking at a ball park figure of £150k for loft conversion for a bedroom/bathroom and a single story extension to create a large kitchen living space and maybe a utility. We're in the midlands.

Squiffy I think it depends whereabouts in the Country you are & whether you are doing single floor but I think £2000-£3000 per square metre should give you a ball park figure!

Materials seem to have increased in price a lot recently too.

Any more movement today Team?!

Squiffy we've been quoted about 80k (that includes vat) for our 3x6m extension including fitting but not the cost of the kitchen. Also includes a utility room and porch.

So I think dh and I are on the verge of a divorce as the amount of arguments we have about the extension is ridiculous

Dh is dealing with the builders and I get annoyed with things and transfer that annoyance to him . Sometimes he misses things but we've got to the point where actually I can't point them out politely anymore and when I do we argue. I've been right about needing to do stuff but have been dismissed. It's not good really but we are going for a nice meal out to try and have a nice chat.

On a more positive note, the internal wall has come down 🙌🎉

No idea about loft conversions. I'd quite like one but will never have another builder within 200m of my property after the 5 months I've just had! - don't let me put you off though! 😬

Well guess what! My bloody skip has gone! 🍾🍾🍾

And they have been here again today for the 3rd day this week!

Believe I know what you mean re arguments, I've been very careful re putting any blame on DH - I want to scream - well you chose him but obviously I have not!

I think it was my tears last Friday, I haven't cried at all over the last 5 months, ( god knows how) that inspired the cash incentive payment!

To be clear I don't blame him at all, the builder was brilliant when he was quoting etc & even today he was talking to us, for the first time in months, about how many men he has had leave him, how hard it had been trying to find replacements & I thought why could you not have come & spoken to us about this 4 months ago in a civilised way instead of giving us the run around for 5 months! Grrrrrr

He's still a twat though!

WWYD? Rear of house insulated (HUGE difference - no longer windy inside), and next, the roof and attic. DH keen to lay the flagstones for the garden and complete...I'm thinking we should wait and do at the very end due to debris etc floating down from the top. Is a roof messy? And has anyone put underfloor heating in an attic bathroom?