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

Bax what a transformation! Looks amazing. I feel like we are a million miles from where you are. We've just got the drawings of the existing wreck and we got the keys to said wreck on Friday, so as well as our money pit we now have several hundred pet pigeons!

4sleeps thanks for the advice re builders, we've contacted a few more, but are going to wait for quotes until we have planning permission. Before that we need to get scaffolding up and a temporary roof before any more rain gets in. Any advice on scaffolders welcome!

4sleeps had you been doing a lot of bargain shopping or did you just get lucky, that look like such a lucky find.

Also, we used Wood and Beyond years ago (can't find where they were mentioned now) and they were brilliant.

bax just popped on to say how wonderful your work is. You must be so thrilled, you havent just updated your living space, you have made your house proud and as it should be, a tremendous achievement.❤️

I'm a bargain hunter, but I genuinely stumbled across these. It sounds like all of the Homebase stores are changing appliances, so it's worth having a look. X

Ground works ongoing here, first BC visit yesterday who think they would like a ring steel in-there goes the contingency and probably a bit more! Nothing significant we can do about it now though we are committed (having no back of house attached anymore!) to say the least.

Ugh, it's so depressing when contingency goes on stuff you can't see! I hope the rest of the groundworks go smoothly.

My big saving on appliances is probably going to be used up by a new boiler as our 15 year old one is playing up and the plumber isn't convinced it has the capacity for the underfloor heating.

Random question that I’m hoping those more experienced/at the end of their project :)
If house renovations (ground floor extension new kitchen and downstairs layout were due to take 26 weeks what do you think would be happening in weeks 19 - 22?
Do you think the kitchen etc would be in or would this be closer to the end?
I’m only asking as we could potentially not be close to site fir these weeks and I’m worried it could be key times. Any help or sage advice welcomed.

filo` others will hopefully chip in but (with caveat that all builds different and a lot will depend on when any screed has gone down) think by week 19-22 the basic wind and watertight structures will be in place and the builders will be focused on internal wall construction, first plastering and cabling ....heading towards first fix electrics etc. The time when things seem to be taking forever to take shape but suddenly transform. So although kitchen units wont be required at that point you really will need to have firm idea about services locations etc and in our experience there were frequent questions and discussions at this stage. But your question raises the main point that you really should have an overall 'milestones' schedule from your builder.......so you can be clear when decisions need to be made and materials need to be on site. We actually lived 450 miles away through the process but took turns to stay on site and attend regular site meetings, that worked for us.

Yes that’s what I’m waiting on at the moment, thanks Whatashower, fingers crossed we can make things work.

Things are ticking along at ours. The bathroom floor is going in today. The kitchen fitter buggered off again so head builder and his apprentice are doing it instead. They are still confident that they can get it all done in the time, but it makes things a bit more of a headache for them. I am enjoying not being there! I’d stay away longer quite happily but the budget probably can’t take it.

Builders have decided to call it a day here, it’s snowing and bitterly cold and they’re still outside.
We were also going to have some windows fitted so I’m not sure I mind that as it’s the coldest I’ve ever seen around here. I need to top up the chickens’ water with hot water as it keeps freezing.

It’s definitely not a day for being outside! Our builders are all on internal jobs so working hard. I left them some nice biscuits to keep them going when I popped in. Any updates from anyone else. whisky are you still having a break?

My builders have told me it had better be warmer next week, not sure what I can do about the weather, but it's nice to know they think I am in control

nursery an you send some of your weather control my way too!

My bathroom floor is going down!

Dust that is a beautiful floor, when you said bathroom floor going down, I thought you were the same as us, we have knocked through a bathroom and toilet which were two different levels

Those tiles are gorgeous!

Looking fabulous!

Gorgeous floor!

We've just got the quote through today from our preferred builder and it looks like he will be within budget. We now have meeting next week with the builder and our architect to go through the detail of what is included/excluded, but we might be starting in April - whoop!!

Nursery we have knocked through a separate bathroom and toilet, but they are all the same level. Our old toilet area is our new walk in shower.

Thanks for tile comments, they are from TilesDirect and I recommend them. I got floor tiles and kitchen splash back tiles from there, both really nice.

Threesocks that is great news. Exciting!

Dust, that's a really lovely floor.

Has anyone got a fireplace, with a woodburner, my builder thinks something like this will date, what are people thoughts

I don’t think this classic look will ever date. We’ll have something similar but with bricks going all the way up to the ceiling.

It looks gorgeous nursery. I honestly don't know if they'll date. We've decided against a woodburner based on the cost of having it installed, the cost of keeping it going and the general keeping it going - we're a bit lazy. My parents have two though usually only have one going and it's lovely, very warm but takes a lot of wood and is a lot of work getting the wood, storing it, moving it in to the warm to dry out properly and just keeping it going. We're going to get an electric one which even if we buy a slightly more expensive stove will be about a quarter of the initial cost of a woodburner and easier just to turn on when we need some extra warmth - like today!

I don't think a classic log burner like that will date either - we had one in our old house. We are putting traditional fireplaces in this house (we found we never lit the wood burners as the house was warm enough!!).

We are looking to convert our loft. Can anyone highly recommend loft conversion companies that will cover North London? Many thanks.