2 storey rear extension including kitchen - and newborn!!!

[milkyjo]

Looking for some opinions really. We have a 3 bed 1930s semi/end of terrace with shared drive/road to the side. We are expecting 3rd baby in January and we are in process of applying for planning to extend the back of the house and add an extra bedroom. The whole house will be affected (except the downstairs shower room) as we will be replacing the wall between the lounge and dining room as per the original house as it is currently open plan. Two bedrooms and bathroom upstairs will also be affected, leaving only DD box room unaffected during the build. Recommended builders can start in January at the earliest, some are not available until summer 2018. However, as our family grows we are in desperate need of more space. Moving is not an option as it is a desirable area and we cannot afford the larger houses coming onto the market. 3 bed semis have increased dramatically in value and by remortgaging we are able to release equity to carry out an extension (but still not afford a larger house!). We did sell our house in December within a few days of it going on the market but could then not find another house to suit our requirements in the area where both children attend school.

So here are our options:

Live in a building site with no kitchen and sharing rooms on a grand scale - potentially with a newborn - in winter.

Rent somewhere when the majority of internal work is taking place - could be costly as rental prices are also high in the area. We have no family nearby.

Wait until spring/summer for the work to be done when we could get out of the house a bit more easily. But would mean having baby in with us post 6 months.

Try holiday let - all facilities inc washing machine but very costly.

Are there any other options? I know it will be challenging and the thought of it makes me want to cry but the end result will be worth it.

Thanks for any insight or anything I have overlooked.

Second hand mobile home placed by a crane into your back garden. Sell it afterwards? They do that on Grand Designs. I'd also wait until until the summer if you can.

Loving with that much distraction, two children and a newborn sounds awful.

How long will the build take?

I think I'd want to move out.

It's fine with a newborn, I've done it twice and best time to do big buildings work as you are on maternity leave to project manage, and and that baby can't move yet!

If we have a very cold winter then some trades may not be able to work eg bricklayers.
When we extended our house the worst part was when the builders were breaking through from the old part to the new.

I sent the plans to potential builders for getting quotes on the day my second baby was born. Started work 5 or 6 months later (i.e when baby was 6 month) but we moved out for the duration. We had factored the rental cost into our budget from the start. As well as two storey extension we did a complete rewire and new windows throughout, plus loft extension. Staying was definitely not an option. Also if you did try to stay, it will slow the whole process down as the work will have to be carefully staged to allow you to move from room to room. Ours took 6months exactly.

Forgot to say we rented something small, nearby, and put a lot of stuff into storage (garage, shed etc). I was on maternity leave for some of the build which is useful when your builder rings and needs a decision on an issue that's holding things up.

Could have written your post. We finished a double storey rear extension. We were due to start last Feb but due to overrun on the last job, builders started in April. We lost the back of the house (so lost bedroom and bathroom upstairs, kitchen and rear reception downstairs). Builder made sure we always had working kitchen other than about 2 weeks, and bathroom for about 3 weeks.

Simply wasn't an option to move out, would have added about £12k to the build even for a small house, money we just didn't have.

We rented a storage unit and stored as much furniture as possible, DS had box room and H and I, plus 2 x DDs, squeezed into front bedroom. It was a novelty for about a week then just tedious! It's hard, no 2 ways about it but it's doable.

It didn't slow the build down - quite the opposite in fact. We were around to speak to builders daily, saw the work daily and could make decisions there and then when required. We went away for a couple of weeks when they were knocking through and had a couple of weekends away.

Builders have said 3 months to do the work. I think it worries me so much because of the kitchen being out of action - the new bedroom will be over half of the kitchen so I would imagine having an unusable kitchen for quite some time as they will also have to change the ceiling - currently a pitched roof so I would imagine they would have to remove it to then build up the brickwork and lay a flat floor. Two chimney breasts at the back of the house are being removed also which makes me feel anxious about dust and mess upstairs. I think it is doable if me, dh and newborn were to camp in the lounge whilst the work goes on upstairs inside the house - its not like the builders will be there at night. I've also had a quick look at rents in the area and there are not many and all want 6 months minimum contract. When I think about how much we would have to fork out for renting (whilst still paying our mortgage and being on mat leave) I think we could get a really nice holiday!

I would be very surprised if it could be done in 3 months. Our builders were fab, worked at the weekend if they ever had to miss a day during the week due to weather and it still took 6-7 months. And yes, chimney breasts are awful (we'd had one knocked out a couple of years before the extension). It wasn't just dust, It was a combination of dust and soot so everything was caked in a fine black mist that got everywhere.

As far as the kitchen is concerned, your builders should be able to give you a kind of make shift kitchen - sink, hob, washing machine if you tell them it has to be that way.

Wait til spring/summer then live in a tent on nearby campsite?

I wouldn't risk having no heating in the winter any time with a baby.

I'm just coming to the end of this journey - single storey albeit but we did to our downstairs what you are.

Our builders have been awesome. They started on time (third week of May), the first week was entirely outside, the second week was mostly outside and on week three the kitchen was gone. The living room couldn't be used as we were blocking up the knock through, so we lived our life upstairs. We had no kitchen for just short of a month, and after the first week, the novelty wore off and frustration set in. We planned a holiday during this time so we were away for two weeks, and sometimes stayed away weekends. The staff in a local cafe got to know us very well.

It's a stressy time (wasn't quite prepared for it!) , but we saw what happened every day we were here and could just go and buy anything we needed and make decisions instantly. They're on their final week and only doing outside work now :)

Move out and your builders will be able to focus on the work in hand rather than re connect hot and colds and power etc all of the time and allow enough leeway on timescale so that it doesnt add pressure at the finish

I'd go with the builders who can start in Jan. They will probably do the extension building first so the will be working outside and are not likely to need to disconnect heating, water etc. at this point. This will probably take at least a couple of months by which time it will be getting nearer to spring, so the worst parts, i.e. When the builders are inside, will be during the better weather (hopefully). Someone I know had similar works which took around 8-9 months. With a baby I would advise staying in a travelodge for a week whilst the builders knock through walls as this is the noisiest and dirtiest part and probably not healthy for a baby to breathe in all the dust.