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?

YES to pics!

Mine is starting Monday.

I'll be bombarding you all with before and afters

Though my build is cheap and small so you'll all be decidedly underwhelmed 😂

Ooh! Can I join in please? We started before half term, it's a 6 month project, loft conversion into a master suite with dressing room (swoon), en suite and bedroom. Then a single storey extension to the living room, all new flooring through the ground floor, a whole wall of bifold the width of the house, some internal rejigging to create a new utility room, new kitchen and refurb the old utility into a boot room. Plus loads of maintenance and a gabled roof to the front. And we are living in. And breathe.

Pancake day involved 4 x pasta ready meals cooked in a microwave on the floor.
I want my kitchen back!!

Eightosixer your progress sounds good ( although I can imagine you'll well over living in chaos!). What is the estimated completion date?

Monkeyface we start next week too.. had been planned for Monday but builder says Tues/ Weds now which is probably good as gives us another 24 hours to move out ( haven't quite at all started packing yet!).

Can't remember who asked about what they'd start with but our guys say that they would be demolishing the existing walls in week one but would be a day or so "preparing" the site. I think our firm works on two projects at a time too..

Eighttosixer microwave skillz!!

Joining - we're hoping to start in June! Although I'm completely panicking at the cost of it all. What sort of kitchen floors are you all having? Anyone having underfloor heating?

Hi window. We're hoping for wet underfloor heating in the kitchen, with light grey wood-effect Karndean on top. I know what you mean about costs- I preface everything with 'we hope' at the moment because until we finalise the quote with the builder nothing's guaranteed!

I'm just aiming for a floor at the moment

It'll be a case of rugs over the plywood until we can afford the tiles I want. I figure no point installing cheap stuff, I'd rather wait and get what I really want.

Got confirmation today that we start on Wednesday! Half excited, half nervous.
First day will be clearing the patio and prepping ready for the digger on Thursday.

Window- We are going for Karndean too in a cream tile.

Eight- You are me in about 3 weeks time... your meant to be telling me how its all fine and perfectly liveable :) Im under no illusion that its not going to be a nightmare!

We are having underfloor heating but only in the two extension parts. One is the lounge and one is the dining part of the kitchen. I don't want it anywhere else.

Some great progress on here and yes please to pictures!

DS is loving his new room so that feels like a major achievement. Outside builder should be finishing the walls today. So need inside builder back to do the knock through which I'm dreading without the roof being on but needs to be done so a steel support can rest on new downstairs steels .

Same time he's doing steels new walls are going in to form new part of hall, lobby and utility room and the doorway to new living room. Today's job is ring roofers for quotes. We'll run out of money soon but I'm hoping that's after we've got the extension watertight wit the new layout for downstairs in place. Our available budget was very low for a 2 storey extension plus all the internal reconfiguration and we're only getting as far as we are on it as I'm project managing and been lucky with the builders.

Middlesex - so your party wall agreement all got sorted, then? Fab! I'm very jealous of you all having started work, I still have another 4 weeks till we hear about the planning application.

I'm also wondering at what point I need to initiate the party wall conversation? We've never actually met the owners of the house next door as they rent out the property. Presumably I should get in touch with them informally, before issuing any scary documentation?

Can't wait for this all to be over - I'm living and breathing everything kitchen at the moment, it's making it hard to get work done when I can't stop myself from browsing houzz and pinterest looking for similar layouts!

Hi there I would say do it sooner rather than later only as it could delay things . Your surveyor/ architect should be able to initiate the paperwork or if you are brave you could do it yourself ... we are 4 days in and one wall already up , apparently the brickwork will b up by the cop tmrw yay !

Hi everyone

So after 9 months we finally have all of the official paperwork in order to build our extension. We are adding on a 2 storey extension which will be an extra bedroom and a family room which be added to current kitchen.

We have a builder in place - he built a retaining wall in the garden last year so have complete faith in him. Getting quotes for joiner,roofer etc.

So hopefully starting in next few weeks - seems strange after all this planning!!

Hi everyone i see that you all have managed to find good builders, how did you go about finding them. We have planning and working with our architects to finalize the layouts but its only a single storage but it is side and rear but quite large. We were thinking of doing the main roof as well so that we only have the mess once, any suggestions on that?

Funds I agree with you all the cost just seem to be going up and finding a builder that only works on one project at a time is difficult so that he can concentrate on only you and you can build that relationship with him.

Seeing the fact that two of our walls of the kitchen are being removed to make it open plan into the extension, we two could be living out most of the time or using the microwave or having those glorious take anyways.

We will keep reading the posts just to keep up with you all and how you are progressing.

@pigleychez Sorry. it sucks. but apparently it's worth it in the end!

So there has been progress this week. The kitchen arrived (See Pic) turns out you need A LOT of storage for the units until you fit them! I have a man in there now playing jenga with the boxes trying to find the right ones to start on!

I have plumbers upstairs fitting the bathroom. woop. There's a problem with the bath waste button so I'm waiting for Better Bathrooms to call me back and send a replacement. But the tiling, painting and flooring in bathroom has been done too this week. (pic) .

lots of people here using karndean. I think ours is similar. it's called poly floor. Bathroom is Balmoral grey slate effect which we asked them to lie in a brick pattern with ice white grout. (see pic).

I think we will ask for the same in the kitchen.

Can I join please? Love all the stories and pictures, pretty envious right now - wonder how long after we start will still think this!
We are either starting before May or after September depending on when our bat licence comes through, maternity roost so build times restricted but this is a whole different story/ heart-ache.
Got planning back in Oct - we live in 1950s bungalow with granny annex so plan to open up and reconfigure whole downstairs with loft conversion. Just waiting for quotes now and little nervous what they may come back as.....eek! Going to do it piece meal and live in with 2 little ones at same time.

Ruislipmum to find builders I just asked asked asked around. Anyone and everyone I know/met/saw and got recommendations.

Our architect also gave us three firms he works with a lot, although tbh they turned out to be unreliable and never came back with the quotes

Our single story extension starts a week on Monday. I'm trying not to worry about where the skip will go (on street parking is a nightmare here...), and whether it will go over budget!

so an update from me about our builders. 1 person turned up on Wednesday and started the demolition, and we had 2 people working on site on Thursday. They have demolished a brickstore (size of a small shed), demolished and cleared the concrete under the brickstore, partially demolished the conservatory and cleared out all of rockery. We have a sloping garden. They haven’t started on the patio slabs at the back of the house.

However I was pleased with the progress they made over 2 days in demolishing the brick and concrete structures. Although no one turned up today because of the rain. Is that normal? Do they really not work in the rain at all? It’s supposed to rain all of next week - does that mean they won’t show up... getting frustrated with starting and then stopping!

forgot to say, the two days they did work they were on site from 8-5pm and barely took breaks. I am just peeved that no one showed up today and I wasn’t even informed. Perhaps this is normal and the way builders work? I am not sure as haven’t had any experience before.

Wooohooo we finally have been granted planning permission! After the local councillor got involved i had resinged myself that it would get refused or take months more! Just got to get the builders booked in now!

What a great start to the weekend!

Our builders did not come to site this morning because of heavy rain. I think they are doing brick laying at the moment which can't be done in rain. We are not living on site, but they did inform me as I had told them I planned to visit this morning.

As to whether they ordinarily work in rain - I can comment on the build next door to us which has been going on for months (it is huge!) They have worked in all weathers right through winter including torrential rain that went on for weeks. They never even seem to wear coats! However, they were not brick laying in the rain. So I think it does depend.

NamedyChangedy we spoke to our neighbour 3 months before the start of the extension regarding party wall. Neighbour okayed it verbally and then DH typed up a party wall agreement (you can download the template online and modify it to suit your situation) Neighbour officially signed the agreement and we gave copies to our builder and probably building regs will need to see it too.

Well. This was my garage conversion this morning.