Home Extension Thread 2019 - The Extension

[TheFatberg]

Only a few posts left on the first thread of 2019, so here's a new one to get us started.

We did that when we moved in but realistically I know that if I go all one colour again it'll be another 10 years.
There's so many lovely colours...I just need to be brave with it.
Dd wants one wall of her room to be a midnight blue with stars and moons on it. Initially I was like no way but I'm now thinking what the hell

Lovely navy.
We will have white units on three sides and navy island and am seriously thinking about a slab of navy wall matched to island.

Builder is going to paint all the exposed walls before kitchen goes in.
Can't decide what to have, even though it will most probably have another coat after kitchen is finished.

Wall units are semi matt colour called Chalk.
Currently walls are Brilliant White (but a few years old) and I'm worried that pure white will make units look dirty.
Suggestions welcome, off whites are the hardest things to choose!

Dulux Timeless is a nice not too stark white - we have it in our front room and I am thinking of using it for the kitchen extension too.

You're lucky having your builder doing the painting. It's one thing ours doesn't do.

We should have planned ahead and got a painter to come in immediately after the builders finished (end of last week), but didn't and are now steadily working our way through painting a large room (kitchen plus breakfast room plus WC) ourselves. What with all the new-plaster-undercoats, it's going to take a while.
We still haven't decided on top coat and are debating how brave to be with the colour.

Little Greene slaked lime is lovely. We have it in our existing kitchen and I am going to paint the new one (if it ever gets done) the same colour. Off white, but with a bit of warmth and seems to work in all seasons and lights.

I’m slightly concerned because a decorator I spoke to yesterday who I’ve used before told me it’s not necessary to do the mist coats on fresh plaster. All I read online is that it is necessary. Bit awkward because I do want to use him but want it done properly.

Should I go lighter on the walls than the Chalk units, or darker, or try and get paint matched exactly to them?

We’ve gone white all the way through too. I fancy a navy wall in my front room though.

So Beardy Boss Builder rang Building Control yesterday and officer said he'd be round at lunch time today to check what the ground is like at the minimum 1 metre down.
He turned up at half past 10 and not surprisingly, the foundation diggers hadn't reached the required depth.
Since when is half past 10 "lunchtime"?

Goforitgirl I don't usually bother with a mist coat and it's fine. I was good this time and misted upstairs which was horrible and messy. Downstairs I added 10 percent water as a compromise and it's much better. I think paint technology must have moved on and most people not caught up

My poor builders look like they are about to melt.
My garden gets very little sun but the exact spot where extension is going gets full sun from about 11 onwards, (this is why we are building it and installing a South West facing window rather the the small North one we currently have.
I keep on refilling a jug with cold water for them, then just had the brainwave to rig up the garden parasol beside their trench which casts a little shade for them.
Happy boys (one said Yes Mum when I handed him the sunscreen this morning....)

The mist coat thing is annoying as I see varying % of dilution. The one DH used on the walls behind the radiator was 30% water to 70% paint but I’ve seen 50% suggested as well.
Absolutely baking here too. DS and I are hiding in a cool room and I’ve given the builders and tilers some watermelon. The brickie just wants endless tea - which again makes me grateful that I’ve set up a temp tea staton for them with an el cheapo kettle and mugs!!

The finished tiling result!!! It needs a further dust down but I’m really pleased with how the alcove has come out.

More photo spam sorry, here is the finished blockwork for the extension. Roofers in tomorrow.

@worrisomeheart ooh that is really lovely. Is an alcove a standard thing now? Seems a good idea.

@WorrisomeHeart alcove is lovely but must only be used for a single bottle of Jo Malone shower gel!
Don't ruin it with a Value bottle of Tesco dandruff shampoo!

It will stay pristine as long as there are instagram cameras on it 😜

That’s lovely @worrisomeheart!

And annoyingly, on closer inspection, the grout and adhesive is looking patchy and the plasterboard behind the tiles appears broken. Possibly not such a great job after all, the main loft guy is meeting me tomorrow am to look at fixing it and I am hoping it doesn’t mean it all needs to come down and be done again 😱

Oh no.

My roof tiles are off and the new trusses are arriving. By Friday I really will be noroof!
I'm travelling through today to get my first look since we left nearly 2.5 weeks ago. Nervous and exciting in equal measure!

@WorrisomeHeart that's a shame. We had to tile our bathroom twice due to a cock up. Nearly made me cry as we tried to get the tiles off without damaging but it didn't happen. 400quid down the drain.

Oh that is exciting @Noroof!! Make sure you take photos for us.

I am writing off the tiles, there’s no point in trying to salvage them. The kitchen builder has given me the contact name of his ‘most OCD’ tiler. At least now I might be able to get the herringbone pattern I want (Bodge Tiler reckoned it would be too hard to get a straight edge 🙄). I think that it will be a 2020 job though - we need to get a bespoke screen anyway and we’ll just keep using the main bathroom for now.

First visit from Building Control.
He told me I had "lovely soil and existing foundations" and I preened like a proud mumma.

Anyhoo, he is happy with the depth Builder has gone (once it's levelled off) so no need to go down as far a Structural Eng suggested - but his calcs were based on not having Lovely Soil.

So first thing on BC tick list passed!