Home extensions 2017- the one where all builders are dickheads.

[monkeyfacegrace]

Link to the old thread.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/2847599-Home-Extensions-2017-come-along-on-the-journey

As you were ladies.

Here's the punchline....

£39.99 Aldi special buy! Has rave reviews and my kitchen man loves it!!

I've set off a whole tap discussion

whisky I'd get the one you want. The marginal cost over one you don't want isn't going to be that big. Or get teamrick or monkeyfacegrace's bargain but good versions! No good for me because I don't want one like that. I don't dislike them (amazingly!) but I want something unobtrusive for the kitchen tap.

4years that sounds fine. You will need to specify what finish you want in general, e.g. do you want it all plastered? Painted? Flooring fitted (what?). I'd suggest for anything you ask them to supply in terms of actual fittings as opposed to building materials you either specify what you want now or ask them to include the budget they've allowed. e.g. for any sanitary ware, new internal doors etc.

Wow monkey! Love it! And an amazing bargain! 😄

Bax good for you re the sockets!

I’ve already decided I don’t have enough in my utility room! Damn!

We’ve had a text tonight to day the plasterers are are coming tomorrow!

I really really hope so although we’re a few bits of plaster board & half a stud wall short for a complete job but something is better than nothing right?

Believe, that’s exactly my reason for getting a double sink.

I’m a bit stuck for taps as there aren’t many that pull out and have a traditional look. I have ordered bathroom sink taps from the US, there is so much more choice there. (No idea about their quality though.)

Our builder just announced that he’ll charge us more for the raised patio. Don’t know amounts yet. Just shows how much detail you need to go into when having discussions before quote. (Our site is very difficult, quite slopey. Which I didn’t realise until the build started.)
We have a masive hole in the garden for new soakways, which was a surprise when arriving from school pickup.

monkey your tap looks great!!
We’re going for a boiling water tap in the kitchen- wanted to get shot of the kettle although will probably keep one on standby just in case the tap ever fails!

Do they still do that tap? That is perfect for our utility (we’ve got a hot water one for the kitchen) but this is perfect for washing the dog 😂

Definitely worth spending money on s good tap. Ours cost 140 but is a bit shoddy really and I'll probably end up replacing it in a couple of years.

So much happening here this week. They dug the foundations for our porch yesterday, the plasterer starts today and is rendering the side of the new gable end this morning, the velux Windows have arrived, the front door will be here later and the roof tiles arrive tomorrow! The house is freezing now the old porch has gone as it was enclosed and kept the draft out. The new boiler still isn't in and I have no idea when that will happen so I'm wearing lots of jumpers and socks in the evening and covering myself in blankets! Here's some photos of the upstairs rooms taking shape. Not very good ones as my phone camera is rubbish.

It’s looking good Titsywoo.

Loads happening here too. Bottom beam of our steel box frame is going in. Everyone is here to help shift it, including the electrician who only came to check on where the new kitchen is going. There is a lot of measuring of route going to ensure they can clear all the poles holding the house up, and which ones can safely come out temporarily while the steel inches past.

Ooer I really wish I'd read this thread before I ordered my tap, might have been a false economy. I need more sockets than I realised in my utility too - have my eye on a cordless vacuum cleaner that at the moment will have nowhere to charge.

@TeamRick have any plasterers turned up yet? Mine was due last week but got taken ill suddenly. There seems to be a lot of that in the building trade - dangerous profession!

Ordered the last few major bits yesterday, in a rush. Have chosen engineered oak parquet floors without having seen a sample. Went for a lacquered finish in the end as that was what I could find in my price range. Woke up at 3am in a panic that I'd made the wrong decision!

We’re looking at parquet too. Which company did you end up using?

We’ve got workers on site today- I think they’re doing the utility roof but I’m hiding in the house.
There was a plasterer here too but I think that was discussing plans for next week.

So tomorrow and Thursday we have roofers to finish the back of the roof, electrician to do first fit and the windows are going in.

Then Friday morning it’s breakthrough time 😱. They have said it’s going to be a busy week next week!

I’m so so excited! I just need to finish packing the kitchen!

Believe you'll like this - my builders have been oohing and aaahing over the quality of the Luca units - think they were rather sceptical to start with but have been won round by the quality of the carcasses and hardware. They normally fit very high-end kitchen and their jaws dropped when I said how much it cost.

But I knew I shouldn't have chickened out of the ultra-trendy navy blue island, I can hardly tell the difference between the white and the dove grey - they're almost identical!

Oh that is annoying namedy but the difference might become more obvious once everything else is in?

We are having parquet as we have it in the hallway so we are going to match it. Builder is probably fitting as we are not doing tricky herringbone. This is what we are looking at: www.flooringsuppliescentre.co.uk/products/real_wood_flooring/parquet_flooring/tradition_flooring/1732/mosaic_oak_flooring_fingers_panels_prime_480x480_mm.html

Oh my, I'm having parquet too, only mine is fake. I got quite a few square metres of Amtico Spacia in American oak, which can be laid in a herringbone pattern. It's for a hall that gets heavy use and doesn't have a porch, so something very hard-wearing was needed. It was on ebay at a fraction of the new cost - a lovely family from the West Midlands had over-ordered for their drop-dead gorgeous bungalow.

I'm hoping I'll have enough over to do my study as well.

Good luck with the knock-through Bax! titsy - I'm at that glimpse of your view - so green! monkey - you're soooo amazing at getting bargains!

namedy - I have oiled oak floors in my lounge/dining room and they would be a NIGHTMARE in a kitchen. They are very high maintenance and mark very easily with moisture. Laquer all the way for a hard-working floor. It's infinitely easier to clean.

Oooh so much progress you clever people, I have pages to catch up on! Have been hiding as haven’t completed my homework - before and after pics - that I promised. But cannot resist uploading my own star buy tap in case it is of any interest to anyone. Especially as from Amazon and you might otherwise be unsure without a real recommendation although the published rave reviews are fair and accurate. It was actually my star buy of the whole project as a) it works, b) it really does look far more expensive than it was.
here
Anyway, off to catch up with all your progress.

Oh thanks so much @whiskyowl that's really good to hear. Anything high-maintenance wouldn't suit us at all. (And sorry your floors are a nightmare!)

namedy hurrah for Luca!!!!😀
Can’t wait to see. Hope you enjoyed unwrapping all the units - I have never seen so much packaging material (and care) in my life! We saved all the thick foam type wrap for covering our floors for decorating, it was perfect!

Oh another fabulous bargain ours tap what!

I have had a real life plasterer in my house today! Ceiling and 2 walls done in DH's man cave!

There has been a development! Twatchops has layed everyone off & gone back to being a chippy! While this is a relief & a plus for the general public I'm not sure what the implications are for his current victims customers!

He has said he will finish our job, obviously there has been some action today and we're already other contractors to do the front door and window so we shall see!

I think I will treat every plastered wall as as a plus! 🙄

I really need to proof read my posts! Meh!

Thanks for the recommendation shower Showed it to DH and ordered! He's always wanted one like that but we're having a boiling water tap in kitchen. This one is ideal for the utility, for cleaning wellies and the dog we don't have yet!!

We're also clearing out the kitchen tonight as builder is coming a day earlier than planned to take the wall down! Fortunately only need to do one half.

We're looking at Moduleo for flooring. It's like Amtico and Karndean.

I’ve just ordered that too 😂 Aldi didn’t have the other one!

Four magpies- we are having the same activities this week!

Gosh! I guess that’s an affirmative response! 🤣🤣🤣
As the saying almost goes, ‘ in the land of the building sites, the finished kitchen girl is queen. ‘

(Slopes off to gnaw my hands in fear you don’t like the tap.)

teamrick yay for plaster (if not for your builder).

Our whole new ground floor space has plasterboard now, and apparently the plasterer might come tomorrow. It looks quite room-like. Only small detail is that it's lacking windows and the big glass doors...

We are after a standard single glass door for our new side door (which leads into our utility room). Something like this: www.slideandfold.co.uk/aluminium-front-door-in-grey-white-black-smart-beaufort-schcuo-systems-302.html

We can't have that exact one because they can't make it with a u-value of 1.6 or lower (!), which is what building control want (I think that's standard). They could make one from their bifold range to the right u value but it's a lot more expensive. Anyone know of a cheap place I could find an alternative, or am I dreaming?!