Home Extension Thread 2019

[4yearsnosleep]

Time to start another extension thread. 2019 for lots of newcomers and hopefully lots of finishers too!

We're Day 5 of builders on site and have a roof framed. V excited about the big velux

Don't know about the fire hydrant Lozza but we have a manhole. You need to contact your water company and find out if you need a build over agreement. In the end, we didn't as it was a private sewer.

We're in the eye of the storm. Ordering things daily and everything is taking to arrive than we hoped. The tiles I want have a 7 week lead time but the tiler is booked in for end of May. Not sure whether to go with what we want - cement from Morocco - or change the look so the build is not delayed.
So many decisions!

Toggle switches - yay or nay? I can’t decide if they’re faddy.

I do like them @Greengreengrass19 , but we moved into a house with all fancy switches and one by one the mechanisms have all failed and I end up with the switch falling apart in my hand 🤦🏽‍♀️ it's been such a pita especially when the light is left on!!! I'm deffo going for the most basic switch that will hopefully not break on me!!

More tile porn. Want these desperately in the hallway https://www.tileflair.co.uk/products/artpastell_patchwork

So bloody expensive though!!

@mum2015 hope builder 2 gets back soon!

Sorry no idea about the hidrant @LozzaS

@Stokey what are your other options as not to delay? And what are the original?

Sorry no idea about toggle switches either - had to google what they are. We have just got white sockets and switches everywhere and I'm happy with them - especially against my mainly white walls!

I popped in to Homebase and saw these stools for £14 each (I think B&Q have similar for a little bit more). They're quite light, but sturdy and comfortable, so I bought 4 - Really pleased with them now!

The floor is being laid at the moment - oak luxury vinyl (same sort of stuff as karndean) parquet, so the kitchen is almost done! 🎉

I’m half considering white as less likely to date than something more trendy

I looked on Pinterest and saw most seem to be having white sockets now, so I decided that was good enough for me! 🙈😆

Ooh those stools are lovely!!

Can't wait to see it @Hoppahouse

I've googled Toggle switch and I'm none the wiser as they all seem to be very industrial

They’re lovely @hoppahouse - and I’m eager to see your kitchen.

Plasterboard is now being fitted. The underfloor heating and the screeding should be done by Friday. We’re getting there!

The floor is done! Spent the evening having a massive clean and moving things back in!

Kick-boards still needed, but feeling like home!

It all looks really great @Hoppahouse! I'd never have believed those stools were £14 from Homebase now I see them in your kitchen. What a great buy! You must be so pleased. I'd just be sitting in there looking at the room instead of TV :D

Those barstools are great Hoppa , it's looking fab.

The look I was after were these hexagonal stars. The original are extortionate, even by tile standards, so I'd found a cheaper bespoke version. Now I'm considering going with what the bespoke guys have in stock but it would be either dark grey square stars or light blue. Both would be mixed with plain tiles too. Need to decide by Monday!

I prefer the dark grey stars @Stokey. It's easier to find things to match grey than blue. I do love blue but I am the kind that in 2 years wants to change the wall colour and it would annoy me that I need to co-ordinate with blue tiles (as currently I need to do with main bathroom - next big project when/if bank balance recovers!!).

Love the blue but also love the grey! But agree with Soaked. Grey is more versatile?

Love the floor @Hoppahouse is it tiles or laminate? Can't quite tell from the pics. I've been debating a chevron type flooring.

well helo everyone. lovely to see the progress you are all making.

we are down to 2 builders. choice between

1. very professional, recommended by someone we trust - and have seen the work. Pros: excellent deign ideas and good attention to aesthetics (important to me), i loved their design ideas. extensions are all they do. cons: have already listed prices for extras - eg for correcting sloped floors in current kitchen, special guttering if need arises etc. which is good but suggest that they will charge for every tiny thing?

2. lovely Polish brothers. seem to get a lot of repeat work and good reviews. work looks high quality but not seen in the flesh (we can but have been too busy) pros: slightly cheaper,and seem more flexible re additions/changes. cons: more 'bog standard' in the design an woudl need very close supervision on the small stuff as they don't have an eye for design. i work very full time so this would be a bit of a challenge.

thoughts?

@lightlypoached I would go for number 1. Your description of them is far more positive. Yes, they charge for extras, but you know this in advance and can budget for it as contingency. The fact they've already factored in those extras means they have a very good attention to detail.
I work full time and we went with the middle quote (out of three) for the same reason, their detail, finishing, quality etc. Even so, I have had to spend A LOT of time working with them and making decisions etc. I would have hated to have had to supervise every tiny detail.

I agree with Paz, number 1 sounds like the winner and you can budget now for the extras and not be surprised when things come up with builder number 2.

Totally agree re number 1. I’d much rather know upfront than have it all crop up during and the detail mindset cannot be underestimated!!

We had our structural engineer site visit today. Slightly nervous at the number of steels he talked about but we’ll see. I think most of them were already included in the price we are working towards. Now a breathless wait for the detailed planning to push forwards and to understand the building control timeline. If all goes according to the (current plan) the loft work starts in just over a month 😱

Hi all :) I hope no-one minds me popping in and I definitely don't mean to hi-jack this thread in any way I am just genuinely interested :) , I'm an almost qualified architect and love reading home extension / refurb threads like these

as an almost qualified architect, and my bf also an architect - we're attempting to start running private jobs like extensions etc outside our normal day jobs in order to start building a base to start our own practice...

I just wondered after all your experiences if you didn't work with an architect why not? or why chartered surveyors or a technician instead? We don't feel that architecture should be a protected title, but just thought it would be interesting to get some thoughts on it!