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

Hi Smilyx3 - I think we would never have thought that an architect would deal with little houses, just big projects. I went with someone who worked with my sister and her husband. So recommendations were important.

Oooh plot twist! Saw another builders pop up on fb with good looking previous works and reviews! They're coming tomorrow!

Nice builder rang, quote for just rear slightly more that he thought because of steels/bifolds which is fair enough! He's going to send more details and then I'll have a think!

@avocuddl, good luck!

I've been watching 100K house on BBC iplayer to keep me going during the purgatory of waiting for the warrant. Where do these people get the OH's that just "build" the extensions themselves??

Also, I'm flip flopping over tiled floor vs LVF. My kids walk around barefooted and don't seem to feel the cold on hardwood but wonder if tiles might be too cold. Also, @HoppaHouse, did you get your floor sorted?

Ah Soaked I'm still not 100% about the tiled flooring. I absolutely LOVE it and think it will look fab but worry about it being cold. I just don't know what to do. Very expensive too in comparison to other options.

God I know, my OH is absolutely useless!!

@avocuddl,
Good luck.
Some twist in situation here too. Before we asked for the quote, we had offered on a house for sale but were outbid. Now the agent called and said that sell fell through and if we match that offer we can get it. I know that offer would be 20-25K overpaying. At the same time quote for our house extension is coming around 20k more than what is fair price. Ned to decide soon... The house for sale has bigger garden. Our house is detached and after extension will be all new and everything of our choice. But all the stress of extension....

First estimate (not a formal quote) in.
50 bloody thousand quid......

What are you doing twisted? Sorry if I’ve missed jt

Not twisted

@wheredoesthistoiletgo don’t know what happened there

@soakedat3
It isn't sorted yet, but we have been in touch and he has promised to sort it out. I'm just not feeling confident he can now 😫
All the edges need taking up, redoing and resealing neatly and a large area that slopes down needs taking up and levelling properly. The sealant around the island needs removing and redoing in clear.
Feeling quite deflated and stressed by it all tbh 😭
Overall it does look nice and I do really like LVF as it is warmer and 'softer' than tiles.

We're doing The world's smallest extension!
Seriously, it's 2 x 3.5m to enlarge TV room which we then knock thru into kitchen.
It does require 2 vertical and 2 horizontal steels.

The underfloor heating is now OFF the wish list!

@Hoppahouse I missed what your problem was, I thought you were just about finished?

Awh @Hoppahouse it sounds like it can be fixed it's just a pita. Think about how far you've come this is just a minor blip! It'll be finished and perfect before you know it!

@Hoppahouse what happened? Your post has vanished

Sorry, I thought I should delete my whinge...!

They finished the floor - it looks good overall, but have left it sloping down towards the door. Also not happy with the finish around the skirting boards and island.
I do want perfection - is that too much to ask?! 🙈😆

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo £50k for 7m2 😭 are you in London?

No hoppa, it's not! I'd be cross too. I chose our flooring guy, purely because I have used him before and the fitting was perfect. Because of that I've gone for a different brand of flooring as he didn't carry the brand I wanted and doesn't fit stuff he doesn't supply 🤷🏽‍♀️

@Hoppahouse, a level floor isn't exactly asking for perfection if you ask me!! It makes quite a lot of difference to things like tables, chairs and washing machines to think of a few. On the bright side you could just put in a drain and slosh the floor and have it drain at the door when it gets mucky - only kidding! ;)

But honestly, most flooring doesn't like wonkyness so your whinge is very understandable. :)

@Wheredoesthistoiletgo, 50K is a lot for that space! Is this your first quote and does it include the kitchen?

From what I can see (online an in mags) even in London you could go as high as 3K a sqm and that would be super quality work. I'd keep looking and keep in mind 2-2.5K a sqm for great quality finishings.

You could also look and see when knocking through if you could live with making a large opening instead. So keeping parts of the existing wall on either side of the room to hold upstairs up. That would save on steels. We are keeping part of the current utility wall to save on steels there but doing a complete knock out of the kitchen. A reference for a builder did this for her kitchen extension so now she has two openings to get into her new extension which you would think sounds rubbish but is actually not! She just used the wall as a mini bfastbar area. Just a thought.

@hoppahouse - you’re entitled to whinge! It’s a huge amount of time and money that you’ve invested.

@mum2015, I guess it's such a personal thing as it sounds like the new house is not detached and I am a big fan of not having shared walls as a result of some very noisy neighbours in previous houses. Don't envy your being in such a situation. You could always flip a coin and see? Apparently if you secretly wanted A and side B won then your gut instinct is to go noooo and then you know your real preference :D -

disclaimer : This is in no way the adult thing to do...

I thought it was a lot!
Sadly. due to the lay out of the existing house and what walls are load bearing, a partial knock through wouldn't work.
And no, the kitchen is extra....

We are not in London but we are in a stupidly overpriced part of the country

Don't lose hope @WhereDoesThisToiletGo, the first quote I got was twice the lowest quote I've had so they vary so so much. Problem is getting the damn quotes in the first place!!

@Hoppahouse, moan away! that's what we are here for!

Lightlypoached, if you have the finance and can go with builder 1 their work sounds good and at a higher spec. Get a quote in writing stating what their quote covers work wise. After this if they suggest any other work then the price and work would have to be agreed with you before they do anything. This should protect you from them giving you a huge bill at the end. If youre not able to watch over builder 2 you might find working with them stressful and you may end up disappointed in the final finish. Perhaps make time to see their work in person and have a sit down with them to lay out what you want before making a final decision. Best of luck x

Hi Smilyx3,
We used the architect that I used to work for but I had a builder here today who basically refused to take the spec and just wanted the drawings 🤔.
Also noticed that some builders now offer a drawing design service!
After going through an architect and planning and building regulations I did wonder if we had wasted our savings doing it when we got our tender quotes back the costs were way out of budget. If I had called a few builders first and heard their prices I doubt we would have proceeded with the architect at all.

@LozzaS,

We have tried both ways. Builders will quote whatever they want to quote and an change their initial estimate after the structural drawings significantly. So there is no ideal way.

We have now offered on the house for sale. Let's see how it goes. Worst case we will extend over winter if sale falls through.

@soakedat3,

Yes after living in detached, I appreciate being detached. The semi we have offered on has really large garden and I like gardening. A detached house with that garden is rare in our area and would be over our budget.