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Home extensions 2017 - Christmas is coming

999 replies

Believeitornot · 06/12/2017 18:12

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EJC85 · 15/12/2017 21:22

believe those sinks are my dream!!!!!

I kept changing my mind too. Finding these decisions quite hard! Like the sink you chose. Will have a better look at it, thanks for sharing!

bax your kitchen...wow

Baxdream · 15/12/2017 21:30

I love it so much! Although it has a tiny chip on it.. I'm remaining calm, it just needs a little touch up.

EJC85 · 15/12/2017 21:44

bax I don't blame you. It is gorgeous!!!

NamedyChangedy · 15/12/2017 23:12

So very envious of you all being so near the end. We’ve had very little progress and some setbacks this week and I don’t see how we can possibly finish in time. Painting is incredibly slow when done properly, I now realise!

We have family arriving on the 22nd and we definitely won’t have had time to put their rooms right by then. Hope they don’t mind too much. I’ll just try my best to get everything as clean and uncluttered as I can in the time, if not decorated yet.

It’s also dawning on me that we haven’t put enough thought into some elements of the layout, due to last minute changes. I suppose every build has compromises, I just don’t like that they might have been avoidable.

Sorry, not very positive today - am just a bit disheartened and fed up of having the builders in my space all the time. They’ll be here over the weekend, hoping to catch up - let’s see how they get on!

Your pictures are lovely to see, it really helps me to feel that there’s an end in sight. Someone somewhere is making progress, just not here!

EJC85 · 15/12/2017 23:28

namedy I'm sorry that you feel disheartened about it all. I've felt like that for ages too. It is so hard to keep positive about it sometimes...hang in there. You are not alone.

devondream · 16/12/2017 06:21

Just 2 days of finishings in January and then we are done.

The builders are now on their Christmas (union negotiated) break until 8/1.

Signed off the building site on Thursday minus the last EUR 5000 (in agreement with them) as an incentive for them to come back and finish work worth far less than than that!

I am away for the night picking DS up from boarding school and can't wait to get home later to show him the house. He has not seen it since late October.

The dust though is a never ending battle - I have spent 3 hours a night this week cleaning after work. And the next day the floors are white again.

Just wondering how long the dust lasts?

So a weekend of furniture moving / building and cleaning awaits.

Christmas has been on hold due to the work so now finally we can dig out the decorations and get a tree.

We had so many moments of frustration at the pace of the works - and I can heavily sympathize with those at that stage.

But somehow as the build ends the memory of the frustrations is fading fast and a joy at what I have achieved alone (am divorced and DP has his own home) is taking over.

devondream · 16/12/2017 06:21

By the way what exactly is the MN tap? Kept meaning to ask.

Baxdream · 16/12/2017 08:14

Namedy I so know that feeling. We have definitely had those weeks to say the least. Thankfully our builders have finished their other jobs hence the push at ours.
We have the tiler back today and our labourer then the bricklayers are back tomorrow to make good the gap for our bifolds

Here's a better picture

Home extensions 2017 - Christmas is coming
DustandRubble · 16/12/2017 10:52

It’s looking great Bax.

Namedy I am feeling rather disheartened to. We are behind. The drains issue is going to push us further behind. They could press on and do upstairs after the kitchen if we have not been able to actually extend yet. Except I am not sure they can because we were reliant on that downstairs toilet while our upstairs bathroom is ripped apart. I feel like we are going to get stuck in some half finished state for ages.

And because we agreed weekly payments rather than by milestone I have had to email the builders to say we need to look again at that as we will end up paying their bill weeks (months) before the work is actually done. In hindsight we should have pushed back and asked for milestones. I don’t think they will waltz off, they rely a lot on repeat custom, but it is really not ideal.

Whatthefoxgoingon · 16/12/2017 13:55

Can you hold off your weekly payments until they catch up dust? Say hold off for next 2 weeks, there can’t be much happening over the next week as we approach Christmas? Building work usually slows right down during this week until after the new year. You won’t be alone in this.

Whatthefoxgoingon · 16/12/2017 13:56

bax you are tantalisingly close to the finish line there, looking fab!

DustandRubble · 16/12/2017 15:32

That’s what I am thinking whatthefox. Either a break or we reduce the payments. The Builder has replied to me email about it saying yes he was thinking the same and we can have a chat on Monday about it. He thinks we are 4 weeks behind where we should be.

Baxdream · 17/12/2017 17:32

It's the final push to Christmas everyone. I hope you all have a good and action packed week. Let's we all have a half reasonable Home for Christmas! Anyone else still not have any decorations up?!

Worktops are the big thing here. They promised they'd be in before Christmas, let's hope topsco don't let me down! We have our tiler in on Wednesday so they need to be in Monday or Tuesday.. other than that bifolds are going in on Friday and radiators. Anything else can wait!

We've had a good weekend, lots of painting! The snug is now dark blue. Albeit it needs a second maybe third coat.. the downstairs toilet is done and the kitchen is on it's way. Thankfully I love the grey we chose. Oh and the ensuite is fully tiled! It looks gorgeous

whiskyowl · 17/12/2017 18:06

namedy - hugs to you! I think there are almost always compromises when you build, things you just didn't see coming that are annoyingly imperfect. Please remember that you are the harshest critic of your own build at this point. Others will look at it and see an amazing space. You see everything that is wrong. It does feel very disheartening, but remember what you HAVE achieved and how different your space is now from what it was! (You wouldn't be doing an extension if you already had the perfect house for your needs)

I am sure your family won't mind things being less than finished. We went to the inlaws when building work wasn't quite done, and the only thing that made it difficult was the fact that they didn't adjust any of their plans - they kept trying to do the whole bells-and-whistles Christmas (which was impossible), and it became really stressful as a result. We just wanted to have some lovely family time, and chill out. Christmas really ought to be more about people and less about trimmings! That's what really matters, after all.

I have a host of similar issues, too - most significantly, the crossbar on my glazing in the garden room is positioned so that when I'm in the kitchen (where the floor is around 1m higher) it is directly in my line of sight. This is SO annoying since it means I can't see a view. It was entirely avoidable, too - but I didn't pick up on it from the plans. I really blame the architect for not noticing this. I do get the same view, uninterrupted, from the large kitchen window, but I am still annoyed about this.

Other little niggles are getting me down - window seals that aren't perfectly fitted, a window with a tiny chip in the glass. etc. I need to get the double glazing company back out, and hoping this doesn't freak the builder who I know is worried about paying the bill for them. It has to be right, though - I've paid £13k for glazing and I expect it to look bloody well perfect.

dust - I think changing the payment schedule sounds like a great idea. They ought to be OK with that, it's only fair with the setback you've had.

For those of us who are continuing into January, Christmas is a big psychological roadblock isn't it? I keep having to remind myself that it's ONLY a week and a bit, and that it will actually be a great chance to reclaim the space a little from builders, and feel like it's ours again. I am really, really hoping that they tidy up a bit more than then have done to date, because downstairs looks like a bomb has hit it. I might have to have a very clear expectation setting conversation tomrorow morning with the chief builder.

My kitchen is coming on 27 December, and I am basically going to be building all the cabinets between then and the 2nd January, when work starts again.

Believeitornot · 18/12/2017 12:34

@Baxdream sounds like the final stretch!! We’ve got the painter in today, tiler in tomorrow and hopefully we are nearly there.

We’ve got to the tail end of our bank funds -
It’s going to be a squeaky month!!! Should be fine for the last amounts but with a bit of overdraft and credit card management going on.... we don’t have anything left for the garden - and it needs a new patio and retaining wall. I’d chance building a patio but not the wall so will have to find money somehow to pay for it.

OP posts:
whiskyowl · 18/12/2017 13:09

believe - can you leave the garden for a few months? Nothing starts growing til March/April anyway, and any attempt to lay a patio before that will potentially get quite muddy. Maybe by Easter your funds will be topped up again? We have had the builders lay a load of crusher run down the side of the house and on the area that will be a patio (one day) and it's getting nicely compacted by all the feet, barrows, etc going over it! Building garden walls is so much cheaper than building house ones (especially if you can use blocks faced with stone rather than brick), it may cost less than you think!

The final bits of plastering are getting done today. It's difficult to explain, but these change the whole 'mini-geography' of the house. Up until now, there has been a central hallway leading straight from front door to kitchen. Now, the end of that hallway has become a cupboard, and to get around you go through the front room into a large semi-open-plan area (front room - dining room - garden room/kitchen across the back of the house). It feels surprisingly different, even from yesterday. It sounds strange, but I can't quite get my head around the new house. I know how it works theoretically, but my habits haven't caught up.

Good news - the window seals look crap because they're not finished. The company are coming out again to fix them all up! Phew! Other good news - catflap is fitted through the wall, so my wee beastie can poo outside again (I can't describe how amazing this will be, as I currently share my office with his litter tray!!). Other good news - cedar cladding is going on and the whole house smells amazing.

DustandRubble · 18/12/2017 14:56

I agree that leaving the garden sounds like a good idea.

We have agreed a new payment schedule with the builder, so all is ok. Flooring got delivered today. I also have a washing machine which will hopefully be plumbed in soon.

Electrician has been finalising the lighting in the ceiling so they can close it up. I have chosen these lights for over our dining area, hoping they will look good. www.artifact-lighting.com/coolicon-industrial-copper-pendant-light/

I have also been looking at paint options, in the dining area we are having book shelves around the chimney alcove. The alcove itself will have a bench built in which will form part of the seating for the dining table. I’m thinking Dulux Midnight Teal for painting the shelves and wall, with perhaps something lighter in the alcove, maybe even white. Although that might be too prone to mucky hands! www.dulux.co.uk/en/colour-details/midnight-teal

whiskyowl · 18/12/2017 15:06

Oooh, I love Midnight Teal dust - such a lovely grey-blue. Looks great with white. Love the lights too!

whatashower · 18/12/2017 16:07

Just popping on to wish everyone the very best festive break and echo whiskyowl's wise sentiments about the importance of people not domestic perfection!.

Whatever state you are in (!) try to relax and enjoy good cheer, good food and good company for a few days at least.

I also want to thank everyone for this thread, sharing their builds warts and all. ( I am a bit sad that I didn't join a similar one last year when we were on the same journey.)

We are still refurbishing the rest of our house, painfully slowly, and by ourselves this time (so no-one to grumble about but us!) so I can definitely still empathise with the dust, plaster and paint traumas.

A very Merry Christmas and Happy Hogmanay to you all. Here's to saying a fond farewell to all your beloved builders in 2018!

DustandRubble · 18/12/2017 16:52

I have a working washing machine!

helzapoppin2 · 18/12/2017 17:24

Yay Dust! It's great when a bit of normality creeps back in.
Our painter will be finished tomorrow. The builders are still working on the bathroom like fury so they can finish ASAP.
We moved some furniture back in at the weekend. I've spent today cleaning up plaster dust and shampooing the sitting room carpet. Carpet? I know, so retro! Apart from some outside work which I hope will be done in spring, the end is in sight!

DustandRubble · 18/12/2017 18:00

We are having carpet in our living room! Much cosier on the feet.

The new washer dryer is huge and has a fancy screen display, even though it still works with dials. I am anxious to find out how well it dries.

counttotenandbreathe · 18/12/2017 18:01

Our builders are making a really good push to TRY to get us straight for Christmas. The flooring is being laid tomorrow so a busy night painting tonight and then we can move all our stuff from around the house into the new space. This should help massively. Then it's just the small matter of fitting a kitchen!!! The installation costs were out our budget but now I wish some workman were going to whizz in and whip together a kitchen! Heyho if nothing else it will be entertaining!

glorious · 18/12/2017 18:23

dust we have those lights. Not up yet but they are sitting there and look lovely IMO.

DustandRubble · 18/12/2017 18:36

Oh that is good to know glorious, what colour flex did you go for?