Home Extension Thread 2018 - summer edition

[DustandRubble]

A thread to share the highs and lows of all things extension, loft conversion, renovation related. Bring your own dustpan and brush.

Actually come to think about it they were stroppy when templating, but also in a let get on with this type of way. Stroppy I can deal with any day of the week, so long as the end product is worth it.

Pre extension here just doing some of the initial planning discussions and checks - we're a rectangular boring bungalow and were lifting the roof off, building up the sides of the wall by about a metre and putting s new roof on, thennusing the lofts to create 4 bedrooms and a bathroom olusnen suite for main room. Downstairs we're going to extend out our kitchen by 2x6 metres and knock a few walls down to create open living area

Wondering how long and how much!

Hello all. I went quiet because I was fed up of the whole thing. I am trying to stop stressing over it now. We have flooring down in the extension and the roof will hopefully be on this week. We are slowly advancing.

I think we all have times like that dust I know how you feel it’s hatd to keep motivated and see the end goal. We had a street party at our current (soon to be old house) this weekend-I felt sad about moving away; there’s good people here and we are so settled why am I pushing to change it all...?!

I need to buy the velux windows for the new extensions x 4, what do you think electric or manual?
I knew all of the costs going into this but does anyone else heart just sink every time you get another invoice ? :(

Ergh filo invoices yuk...
will you be able to easily reach your veluxes? What’s the risk to your flooring type if it rains? We are going for electric as they will be too high to easily reach

filo we went for electric but I think I might've chosen solar electric if I had realised they were an option. This is for our rooflights and for two of them total coat was about 1500 more expensive.
I thought it made it seem a bit more finished and a bit more luxe. Not that we are aiming for total high end but finishing details make it when looking to resell.

I think we are getting electric because I told DH to sort them out as I had had enough of making decisions by that point.

Dustandrubble sorry you're feeling a bit worn down by it all at the moment. Hopefully things will move forward a bit more soon and you'll be filled with renewed vigour.

I want a manual rooflight (although no idea at this stage what the options are) as electric just seems like another thing to go wrong. Our ceiling isn't high though.

flumpybear that sounds like a huge project! Good luck.

Well our planning application is IN, and we've written nice letters to the neighbours to let them know what we're hoping to do. A couple of them have lived here forever and I think there will be some negativity about making changes (no one nearby has made significant changes), but I'm hoping there won't be any major dramas.

We're going for manual velux because our extension is NW facing so doesn't get much sun so I don't think that they'll need to be open much and it's so much cheaper!

Sorry for brief absence, the baby arrived! So now 6 week into the build with a 2 week old baby. Too be fair the only annoying bit is we currently don't have an outside tap to fill paddling pool and we are a bit squashed with all baby gifts!
So the upstairs is all built and plasterered and ready for second fix carpentry which is happening today.
Downstairs is half plastered. Kitchen started being installed yesterday and windows and doors delivered on Thursday.
I am at the point now where I have kind of had enough but only as we are so piled high with lovely baby gifts and nowhere for them to go!

Congratulations @Ilovechocolatetoomuch ! Hopefully the rest goes smoothly so you can relax in your shiny new house

That’s lovely news ilovechoc. Many congratulations. I can’t quite imagine coping with building work & a newborn!

I have had to escape the house as I have a man in repairing cornicing and fitting it where we have a new bit of wall. He has taken over the entire downstairs, it is chaos!

We have received approval of our planning application!. So pleased. One of our neighbours objected but they did not really have any good reasons in their objections so it read more like ' we object because we don't want anything to be changed'.

I am not sure what order we should do things in now. Should we ask the architect for the detailed drawings and then start contacting builders? Or do we contact builders first?

Congratulations ilovechoc!! Wow, you must have your hands full at the moment, but sounds like it's all going well!
Lieinrequired - we got the architects to do detailed drawings after planning permission granted, and have then taken these to builders so they can quote from them. Just waiting on one quote now...

Well we got our building control approval through yesterday, so when we get the last quote back it's decision time! They all seem to think we could be done by Christmas, fingers crossed...

Hi all...things here are chugging along. Seems quite slow at the moment but that's okay. Hoping they drag it all out for a while until the summer hols, when at least I won't have to worry about getting the kids up for school.
Lieinrequired I would suggest you get everything squared away with the architect from the very offset. Then you are all singing from the same hymn sheet. THere were a couple of things that we didn't get them to alter, thinking we could just sort as the builders went along...which they have, but it probably would have been more sensible to get the plans done to exactly how you want things to be when you are finished.
hopefully will keep fingers crossed for your planning permission!
Dust totally get how you're feeling. I feel swamped by all the decisions. Driving me mad. I should be researching radiators, but getting side tracked by this morning.
Good luck to everyone else starting, in the middle or nearing the end!

Oh and congrats on the new arrival Ilovechoc!!

Hi.. I dropped off yonks ago as life got too busy to get on with build.
But now we have start date and I am properly excited.
I planned and chose kitchen ages ago.
Even chosen a sofa...
Now just got to get builders in and woohoo...
My final choice is floor.. I think engineered wood but any advice on colour?
We arw having DIY Norton kitchen in lampwood grey bottom units and pale grey wall units. With a pale oak coloured) wood work top and copper half cup handles. White metro tiles.
Walls will be a grey white and the huge corner sofa is bright sunshine yellow
The room is approx 12m x 5m with kitchen u shaped and big living space, double doors out to garden and a later roof.
So lots of light.
The new floor is going through extension, kitchen, hall and utility.
In the hall we are having horrid orange pine stairs painted white with dark carbon grey gloss top rail and white walls.

I think a grey or white washed oak??
What does anyone else think???

Sounds fantastic red We're having a similar square footage space by the sounds of it, about 10m x 6.5. And similar colours, and kitchen ( just got to finalise plans )
We're having karndean as have 2 dogs so think this will be the most practical. I'm 85% sure we're going for the van gogh country oak.
Have you sourced your handles yet??! If so, can you post a linky pretty please!

This one....

Oooh love the floor bobkate
Handles arw from holden. Not having their kitchen but handles were lovely.
Have seen many much cheaper on amazon but think quality may be rubbish

How do you cope with the stress of a long term job?? Give some tips please
This time last year we were getting quotes from builders, this week the roof tiles and velux windows are going in. In this time there's been a catalogue of delays but It's now finally looking like an extension. First we were let down by a builder who basically told us in the first week that he couldn't do the job as he had no capacity - too much like hard work, I think. We begged another builder on our list to take it on, which he did, fitting us in with another job he was doing. Xmas and new year delays with flu and bad weather: snow,cold, rain. Then plumbing problems, then elderly brickie got sick and was persuaded to retire. New brickie found and it's all full steam ahead Next it's knocking into the house then its fitting the kitchen and utility out. Hopefully we could be finished September or October.
We've not had a holiday. We try to get out on little day trips. We won't be able to get away over the summer as hard to book anything or to plan
Both of us cope in different ways and react in different ways. I'm finding the stress creeps up on me and this week I've had breathlessness and am waking early in anticipation of the builder turning up.
What do you do to cope with it all??

Sorry, I meant give me some tips please

We haven't started yet, sorry you've had such a rough time.

@theredjellybean hafele handles are good quality and can be found cheap in a lovely brushed copper. We're having the bow handles in the same range for £2.60 each search hafele Odessa range.

Yay for getting started

Hi 4years...i think you joined thread when I did.... Way way back... Yes here's to actually getting started. Thanks for tips on handles