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

Builder contracts signed, the deposit paid, funds arranged. Measuring for plans next week. Aiming for build starting late Aug/early Sept.

I have a feeling that costs may go up after survey/measure as - inexplicably - the semi we are attached to and the house the other side are higher than us. all of our front doors are level but attached NDN can step out from their kitchen to the garden - we have 2 steps down. we are not on a hill. it seems like one of the previous owners may have excavated the garden to make ours half a metre lower. weird and possibly expensive as we might need deeper foundations.

Am itching to get started but also scared of the amount of stuff that has to be done - I work very full time and travel a fair bit so finding/making time for this will be a strain. and my mum is ill too (cancer). But you know......soldier on, it will be worth it in the end etc etc.

It's amazing how many tiny (yet expensive) jobs need to be done before you can start the main build itself.
We have to sort out removing the burglar alarm sensors that are on the wall scheduled for removal, check with BT what do do with their phone point that we don't use, also on the wall that's going. Get the electrical control board upgraded.....

@WorrisomeHeart it's the fitting quote where you'll save with Benchmarx. Our friends were quoted £6k to get their Wickes kitchen fitted and ours is a v similar size but premade cabinets and it cost £1k to fit x

We've gone for a contrasting island, but we also have solid wood doors, so if we get bored/it dates badly, we can just repaint

That's an interesting point.
I have assumed that the units i want come pre assembled, but my fitting quote is over £3K

Well the plumber came for 2 days and then went home feeling poorly and hasnt been heard from since. He had said 3 days to complete everything but so far nothing is finished. But the bedroom carpet which was going to take 10 days to come in has arrived within 3 days and they are wanting to come and fit it - except i dont want it fitting until the ensuite is done!

Dh has been muttering darkly about finding another plumber. And is refusing to pay the builder until the pole is gone and the hole in the floor is sorted.

On a positive note because of the delays we have saved some more money so cash flow isnt a problem - every cloud and all that!!!

The Wickes install quote was £3600 (excluding appliances which are mostly coming from other suppliers). My builder quoted £2k for the DIYK install so I need to check how much it will adjust with a flat pack kitchen instead. Wickes will still install the worktops though as we’re going with Slabtech.

Been finalising appliance choices today and making sure they are all Which Best Buys - I get quite a few discounts via work so feel like I’m building a jigsaw with various different discounts on vouchers etc 😂. Am really pleased we’ve settled on Wickes though. DH went to see them today to check out the feel of the units and was happy enough with it. Can anyone recommend a good integrated microwave? We were going to stick with our old free standing one but the corner it was going in is tricky so now we’re having it in a wall cupboard. It seems to be the one thing that Which hasn’t reviewed!

We had the build control plans for review for the loft this weekend as well. Is there anything more fun than reviewing an electrical map for a new room? 😂. I’m such a saddo 😂😂

I have been looking at two ranges playing spot the difference so I feel your pain Worrisome! I have the £1 which? trial to help/not help...

@Catquest1 - I agree with your DH, don't pay until the pole and hole are gone!

We currently have an expensive swimming pool building up in our garden due to the amount of rain we've had since the garden was cleared on Fri. It's lovely... I already miss using our back door and it's really only been 1 day of work.

Any suggestions from anyone as to how to keep the dirt to minimum?

@soakedat3 yes! Screwfix - Titan wet/dry vacuum cleaner. I have been using this to pick up the rubble and dust before paining. It’s truly fab! £69/£59 depending on your choice.

(Pigletjohn recommends it and I hang on every word he says! I even bought some doors on Wickes which he gave a good review on. 😆)

There’s a £49 one as well although I’ve not looked at the capacity differences.

www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb350vac-1300w-16ltr-wet-dry-vacuum-cleaner-240v/36516

Unless you are all incredibly tall, don't put a microwave in a wall unit. They are too high and it's dangerous.

Is that because of the danger of things spilling out when lifting dishes out of the cabinet? Hmm that’s a good consideration. Argh.

Our microwave is above the oven and definitely not too high - it's bust height for me! We have Bosch ones btw.
I did see a friend's one much higher than this though and didn't look great.

Our existing kitchen was installed by the builder (new build house a very long time ago) and I can only assume whoever drew the plans was quite tall.
After dropping several lids and a casserole taking things out of the microwave, we had the oven and micro dropped down 6 inches.

New kitchen will have oven above micro with grill at eye height.
This means that i have to bend to micro but this is safer than reaching up

Met with Beardy Builder to go thru quote in detail.
It actually contains / allows for several things that I wasn't expecting like lifting the floor, removing tiles, and decorating. These definitely aren;t included in cheaper Hairy Builder quote so I don't think they are as far apart as I thought.
Mr WhereDoes and I really like him - he seems very professional and gives us confidence.
He may be able to start sooner than we thought as his job scheduled for July and August has been rejected by Planning.
So I might be posting pics of holes in wall before too long...!

Oh that’s exciting Wheredoes!

I've been caught on the hop.
Kitchen supplier says it's 8 weeks for paint to order, but the factory is on go slow over August.
Ditto my poncy Italian radiators which apparently walk all the way here they take so long.
So I need to get on and order stuff!

Order your kitchen in plain white ( or neutral colour ) and get a pro painter to paint in situ . Probably cheaper than the premium you pay for special colour too ( tip passed on from our designer,Karen at OnePlan, when we did ours )

That's an idea but I think they should get here in time.

I just want to vent about the mess, dust and the fact my home doesn't feel like my own at the moment! Massive middle class moan I know!

Argh Fatberg that fills me with dread. I am still in that dreaming of the end result. We’ll see how I feel in about a month when they break through from the loft...

How much longer for your build?

WorrisomeHeart about a month to go apparently. That's when the painters are in - the end of this month. The builders are so dedicated - I'm aware how lucky this is - they came round at 8am this Saturday to start work - great but not a relaxing weekend morning!

They're plastering now. And then flooring, kitchen and taking out the old kitchen and redoing the garage into a room. Sounds like more than a months work to me, but there are about 6 of them around each day.

I feel like we'll never be free of dust!

I'm using future build as an excuse to give up on cleaning for the next 6 months.

We had bathroom done earlier this year and that was bad enough.

Finally got a date for the build- 22nd July yay!! 😁 Although slightly dissapointed as my builder said he could definitely start in June just a few weeks ago- I think I need to learn to be patient to survey the build don't I 🙈

Anyway... Just wondering how much you all budgeted for plumbing and electrics? Total (so for first and second fix). Ive budgeted 800 for each- does that seem reasonable? I live in the NW so relatively cheap part of the country

@wheredoes I gave up cleaning too. Then had some friends round for some wine and felt so ashamed. Next day ensued a deep clean 🙈 even thouy building work is starting next month