Home extension 2019 the Third thread- Drowning in Dust

[WhereDoesThisToiletGo]

And we're off again

Getting rid of the pillar is a game changer! Well done builder!!

We have a lintel! 🙌🏽

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I think we never really have builders, they just swan around doing what they want, when they want and then disappear when they feel like it! It's definitely quite an ephemeral affair really.
Love the flooring - it's beautiful and looks lovely next to the units @WorrisomeHeart
Yay for the lintel @avocuddl
We have felt going on the roof and tiles have arrived! After lots of humming and hawing we decided not to have the rooflight. The builder talked us out of it really...he said for the costs involved and the limited difference it would make he'd save the money for something else so that's what we've done. He said we could have one retro fitted if we regret the decision.

@chopc it was a decent sized kitchen with dining area, plus a separate small family room thru double doors. Family room wasn't used much apart from a way out to the garden. It had a chair in each corner and was a cross between a corridor and a dentist's waiting room!

I've had a busy ish day but is anyone else struggling to make decisions?

I went to choose a fire surround. We are having the Dovre 35 stove which is kind of funky 1960s styling so the fire surround will be fairly simple, I've gone for limestone rather than marble because all the marble ones looked a bit......cheap.......in the shop (we had marble before and I loved it so maybe it was just that shop?)

ANyway I decided we would have something matt which means limestone, and then all the limestones looked sort of beige to me rather than white (and we have had the whole "it's off white" nonsense with the render so I'm not going there again) so I've chosen Blue Bateig limestone which is actually grey.

I'm now a bit worried that this will clash awfully with any paint colour I choose ........

good news is that I found a recommended decorator with a cancellation so he starts on Tuesday - bad news is that he therefore needs to know paint colours!!

Hopefully he can do both bedrooms upstairs (new spare plus hobby/ sewing/ study room) and the child's new bathroom and maybe even make a start on the living room.

And I've booked a garden designer to come w/c 7 October so we will have rough plans for the outside and I can book in to get the patio done.

On the downside I can't get comfortable with the Wren Kitchens design - I hate that they won't let you have the plans till you place a deposit - and so we might not have a kitchen for weeks!!

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo that kitchen looks great

@avocuddl honestly what are neighbours like - mine never do any work and their houses could do with it!!

@Noroof at least you've had great progress so far - my approach with my buiders is just to keep on at them. We've now been going since mid April so even they know it's gone on too long

@northernruth

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo that kitchen looks great

It's not real yet, just a CAD

eventdata.uk/Forms/Hom00Visitor.aspx?FormRef=HoHB9Visitor&PageNo=1&TrackingCode=email-week6prereg&utm_source=email-week6prereg&utm_medium=CPC&utm_content=email-week6prereg&utm_campaign=Harrogate19

Don't know if this is interesting to anyone here.

What is it @Isittheend?

Sorry, that wasn't very clear. It's a link free tickets to the Home & Renovtion Show (Near Harrogate)

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo yes I know sorry, I meant that the CAD looks great - will be even better when it's real!

I have the CAD as the screensaver on my computer to cheer me up!

@northernruth, grey is meant to be a neutral so should go with a lot. We have an inherited limestone fireplace surround and it is beige. It marks stupid easy. Grey is a better choice.

Lots of progress and planning though northernruth! I didn't know that about Wren. Are you sure you're going with Wren? Is the deposit refundable?

@northernruth I think that limestone will look lovely! I also really struggle to make decisions, my builder hates me!! But it's just so important and I'd hate to make the wrong decision!

Are you set on wren? Have you tried howdens/Benchmarx etc?

We are packing up the kitchen today. You don't realise how much stuff you have until you take it all out the cupboards 😳

And mugs!! Grrr! My DH wants to keep all the football mugs and the novelty ones. I would feel bad throwing them away but equally they're not going to match our lovely new kitchen!!

@avocuddl I have put all the mugs I don't like with the builders' kettle. Hopefully they won't survive.
(the mugs, not the builders!)

I also bought a stack of new "go with my lovely new kitchen" mugs!

I also didn't think I had that much in the kitchen, and also had a purge of the cupboards before I got to the packing stage.
But I still seem to have dozens of boxes and crates all over the place

I should add this to the tips thread, but the worst thing about living here during the reno is the boxes. I did try to get a storage unit early on, but we live in a very student area and they were all taken due to it being holidays - might be worth trying again now even if just for a few weeks.

I'm not that set on Wren, it's just that I want a baby blue kitchen. Think 1950s pastel ice cream colours. Wren do a Macaroon range which has a lovely pale blue. Other manufaturers do custom colours but the lead time is longer, and the more I dither the later the delivery date gets!!

Has anyone gone for tambour doors? I had planned to have full length shutter style doors for the cupboard above the worktop in the opened up chimney breast. DH says that they will always be open and he doesn't want to have to open a shutter style door every time he wants to put a glass away (not sure why he thinks that will be necessary if theyr'e always open.........)

I considered a tambour door when I was planning as wanted an appliance hub/bfast Station thing. Only didn't in the end ss changed layout completely. I liked the functionality of it but also couldn't find bifold doors from the suppliers I was looking at.

If Wren have a display one see if you like how they roll. I think the grey /silver colour of the tambour would go nicely with baby blue. Unless Wren do bi fold ones that slide into the sides?

I though about one too as having an appliance cupboard. None of the kitchen places that we are looking at do anything I like unfortunately so we are just going for a standard cupboard front and hopefully will be okay.

@avocuddl you can order the gambit door separately and your fitter should be able to fit it. This is what I did in my old kitchen

Yes I was looking at ordering separately - the trim will be brass so a silver one wouldn't work

I called Craig at the fireplace supplier and i could almost hear him roll his eyes down the phone but they are holding the order so I can change my mind ROFL

The extension might be small, @WhereDoesThisToiletGo, but what a big difference, the designs look fantastic! It's great that your builder has found way to not have a pillar too, it will make the space so much more flexible - we had a pillar in our original designs too, but it really compromised the kitchen space.

Sounds like you're powering through @northernruth. Annoying about the design not being given by Wren, that must make it hard to really evaluate it in your own time and it's not a decision you want to feel rushed or pressured into. I feel like I've been planning the kitchen forever, and yet I'm still nowhere near a final decision, it feels a scary step to actually commit to one!

I'm gearing up to talk to the neighbours on each side about the groundworks/landscaping we are planning. We are on a hill, so there are retaining walls all over the place. Just trying to find the right words and way to approach it - we're friendly with both sides but not that close, so other than telling them we are planning an extension and giving them copies of the plans when they were submitted to the council we haven't really talked much about it with them. Already planning the case of wine to help with neighbour relations, thanks for the tip!!

Right I've rung Craig back and I'm going in on Tuesday to change my order! I'm hopeless. The one we're going for now is this: