Home Extension thread 2018

[Baxdream]

Thought we should get the new thread ready!
Our front door is in. Long story but it arrived damaged 😫 it's in and lovely but it's going to be replaced!
Our fencing has started today, the short ones are new, the others are getting ripped out

It's engineered wood from wood and beyond. It was a bargain!

Oooh... Yes sale on makes it cheap as wood chips 🍟 :)

But don't know why I am getting excited, I don't have a builder yet

Bax,
That is the wood floor i love!

We tried to colour match. Found annice bras tap but we’ll have a really ugly one next to it for drinking water. I really wish I could find a more decent filter compatible tap.

We have moved out. The builders are already smashing the bathroom to pieces. I have been told in 3 weeks the kitchen will be finished, the kids room and the bathroom will hopefully be complete but they may still need to do some tiling of the shower. I am holding them to it!

Where are you living Dust? We have no family nearby so moving out even for a while will be costly!
But probably a necessity :)

We’ve moved out to local short stay apartments. It is adding a lot to the bill, but the alternative was everything dragging on for ages so we decided to use some contingency money. I just need this all to be over!

I love mixed metals. I've bought light fittings that have copper and steel on. I love the look and it saves the headache of trying to match everything. I've also gone for brushed steel sockets as they were cheaper than copper and look great. We need 22 double sockets so I am buying a few off of Amazon every couple of weeks so we don't notice the spend.

Back of the house has come down!
I like mixed metals too

Hi.
Please could you tell me the order of doing things as we are new to this.
We have planning permission and are awaiting structural surveyor (we were told 2 weeks)
Then to technical drawings (another 2 weeks). Then architect said submit to building control?? How long does this take?
I want to get a builder lined up and ready to go but how do I know when he can start?
Thank you for your help we are total novices.

dust - hope you're now settled in your new place. I think it's so wise of you to move out for a bit. It gets exhausting.

My builder is on holiday for a week, and I am having a much-needed pause from all the work, and it is WONDERFUL. Yesterday, I had the building inspector, an Ikea collection, and a visit from a joiner who is going to put some of the detail right in a couple of months, and it still felt like a blessed holiday from it all. Today I might not even have to deal with anything building-related, apart from some tidying up. I can't tell you how much less stressed I feel just for having a few days off! When I tidy something up, it actually stays tidy. Amazing.

Can I join you? We're on day two of a small two storey with pitch roof (to try and lessen the box on the back effect!). Building will have a new kitchen and double bed with the existing kitchen being turned into.a utility and separate bathroom and an upstairs bedroom being downgraded to a single/office.

The old kitchen extension comes down today and I am resigned to several months of living with half a kitchen (with a lower than usual sink for some reason the builders haven't explained!).

Dust is already taking over my life!

Ilovechocolate,

Have you got contact of 2-3 builders. They take ages to get back and give quotes. Start talking to them, show the approved plan. They wont give proper quote until structural drawing but it takes time just to get them involved.

Hi yes we have 3 builders involved I'm just a bit confused as how you can get them to start quite quickly after technical drawing if some of them have long wait times? I feel like I need to instruct them now so the gap between technical drawing and build is minimal. Is this just not how it works?

You can ask for the technical drawings ahead of planning permission if it's under permitted development, that's what I did.

I'm in shock. Just got the bargain of the century in Homebase! They're selling off their display models & I got a 80cm neff hob, 2x Smeg built in Pyrolytic ovens and built in separate fridge and freezer for £665! That's less than the hob alone. I'm a bit in shock at how much we've saved! I'm now trying to redesign the kitchen as I'd initially planned an American fridge freezer. Any thoughts regarding stacking 2 single ovens? I'll attach my initial plan and would love some suggestions!

4 years you should splurge on a bottle of champagne for that bargain, did you do a happy dance at checkout? Fabulous :)

Pretty much! I think I'm still in shock. I was adamant that I wanted an American fridge freezer with a water & ice dispenser but these looked fab and it was £320 for the fridge & freezer. As our current American FF is 13 years old and will die soon, I decided it was too good a bargain to miss and they'll look gorgeous fitted in the tall run of units:)

Fabulous bargain 4 I think I would change my plans for that!
Looking at your plans your kitchen will be massive! Who are you getting your kitchen from?

You have so much cupboard space I would reduce your larder cabinets to 800mm to get the extra space you need for integrated fridge and freezer. What’s the plan for the other side of the am F/F on the plans?

We are not planning a down draft extractor but do you need that much space to accommodate them?

We've bought it from DIY Kitchens, but can thankfully change it up until delivery. Sadly they don't do 800mm larders, so instead I've juggled it around with 60cm larders to keep it balanced. The downdraft extractor unit is pretty big and needs a 30cm gap minimum and with the larger than planned hob, we'll now need a 90cm hob instead. The 2 large larders were very extravagant, but I love to cook & bake so I decided to have one for each I'm now going to use a pull up shelf on the island for my mixer to go. 🤞🏻 it'll all work out & won't daft

Brilliant bargain and it sounds great. The amount of space for a downdraft extractor is why we decided not to get one. I don’t have a big kitchen and could not afford to lose the space.

Excitement here as the builders have got a rocket under them and are really achieving. The bathroom is gone, tiles off, everything bar the loo out, one of the walls that had to come out is gone. Wallpaper stripped.

The kids bedroom is almost entirely plastered now. And downstairs the kitchen is properly coming together. They know they have to crack on and fair play to them they are doing it. I think they want out of our house as much as we want them gone!

4years we too are going with diy kitchens and have requested a couple of customisations to our units they may be able to do the same for you if that’s what you want! Hadn’t realised the down draft needs so much space!

Exciting progress for you today though. I’m driving around half of London tomorrow with a toddler to collect a lightbulb and a bathroom basin-I can’t work out whether I’m crazy or if this makes good economic sense.

Yay dust! You must be so pleased to see the end in sight!

That sounds exactly like I would do 🤣

Hi all,
Can I join? We have scaffolding going up today to start phase 1 of our project (hip to gable loft conversion, rear dormer on our 1930s semi)
The plan is to get this done, then apply for planning permission for ground & 1st floor extension (loft being done under permitted development)
We initially contacted an architect in December 2015-he did plans which we got planning permission granted (over a year later-he was SLOW, another 6months or so to get partial building regs drawings done) but we were really not happy with the actual plans, as he hadn't done what we wanted so we started again in October with a new architect and are pretty much good to go. Builders say 6weeks for the loft, so hopefully that will run on time, as we have our first baby due the week after they finish, and are planning on moving ourselves up into the loft then. It's going to be a large master bedroom with ensuite shower room.

1st question-I'm planning on some Ikea Pax wardrobes, but only 2m in the middle of the room, rather than a whole wall-will that look weird? We will have chest of drawers either side but don't want to dominate the room with floor to ceiling wardrobes along the 5m wall-so hoping to have chest then wardrobe then another chest. Would you get carpets fitted then do wardrobe, or fit wardrobe then carpet up to it? I'm thinking less awkward to fit and easier if want to change something to have carpet underneath, but obv the weight of the wardrobe would squish it anyway

Hi there everyone,
Can I join in please? We're just about to start a whole renovation, loft conversion and rear extension of a totally derelict Victorian house. Terrified!
Any advice from anyone (especially around choosing builders) would be very much appreciated.