Home extension 2019 the Third thread- Drowning in Dust

[WhereDoesThisToiletGo]

And we're off again

Did you get your list finished off @soakedat3 ??

Very impressed at the coq au vin @WhereDoesThisToiletGo !

That's v impressive @WhereDoesThisToiletGo! I honestly couldn't face raw meat in the living room. It freaked me out when I did burgers on the dining room table with the little hob!

No the list is not finished @avocuddl :( I came back home after a day of soft play (school holidays) and found that we are 1 step forward and 2 back.

All radiators are in and working - check!
Replacement cupboard door - check!
Replacement door hinges - nope.

Replacement drawer - check!
Door for drawers - nope! Apparently the pre drilled holes are in the wrong place now and as the shaker doors I have a real wood and have delicate panelling the fitters are reluctant to drill as they may split.

Anyway, back on the phone to suppliers for New Dad. The salesman is still adamant that it's not their fault and that it's all the fitters faults.

Patio started and window sills cut ready to be fitted by Big Groundsman.

Does any else have internal drawers in a 600 larder in their plan? Am I crazy to have asked for them? 1 shallow and 2 deep in the bottom below worktop level section of a tall larder. Because at no point did the salesman say it wasn't possible but it is starting to feel like I've asked for the moon!!

I'm hoping to have 2 deep, one shallow in my larder too but I'm not 100% sure I'm going to get it.
Their default is 2 deeper drawers only which works with the hinge placement, me wanting 2+1 won't work. My larder is a 1000 one but designer has specified smaller 900 internal drawers to avoid the hinges.
We'll see what actually turns up....

@wheredoes thats so funny about the electricians, my problem was the opposite - i wanted symmetry and mine wanted them centred over the walkway but my island is offset and i didnt' want that!
Builder has just charged me £500 extra for taking down the kitchen ceiling and replacing it after the electrical work was done

Our builder is a bit high level with everything but now we're near the end he's geting close to what he quoted so I'm a bit concerned that he's going to start arguing things are "extra". So to anyone starting out, I'd make sure you have a full list of what is and isn't included in the quote.

@soakedat3 I’ve never understood why builders can be so incredulous about what you want and find practical. I had to talk to my plumber and BIL about the reason I wanted a directional arm for the small shower head (just wanted to be able to shave my legs ) - still, plumber pushed for what he thought was best and I bought an extra shower head holder which I can stick on the wall when I need it. (Also it’s Virtually winter now so I can lay my legs out to pasture for a while. )

Plasterer coming to finish youngest daughters room today. Rubbish cleared from front garden so we are going to garden today.

Heating might be tackled today too. Fingers crossed.

@MyNameIsJane lolling at your legs our to pasture over the winter. Mine have been since the last week of August tbf!

Annoying your list isn't quite complete @soakedat3 but you're getting there!! I've asked for drawers in the 600 larder. Also was like I asked for the earth! But in the end he said it shouldn't be a problem. Just added the drawer pack to my order!

Also off to the garden centre this morning. Hoping it doesn't rain and I can get my new plants out!

Yes, I'm dreading the "extras" list.
There is a certain Look that passes over Boss Builder's face when I ask for something Not On The Original List, but I've decided that since I'm going pay for it anyway, I should be able to specify extras.

We haven't got down to how much getting rid of Pesky Pillar is going to be, but he's guestimsted only a couple of hundred quid as it mean one slightly longer steel instead of 2 mid length ones, and one less foundation, pad to dig.

However I am trying to avoid asking for non essential extras now in case they distract from the job in hand. I'll ask him to put up my utility cupboards once everything else is done

The drawers fitted but please check what type of hinges are coming. The original ones were normal open to flat 90 degree angle but I noticed the drawers specified 165 degree hinges. These are on now and without them the drawers would def not be able to come out. Now to get the door back on!

Instagram is v misleading with these drawers in larders! But I still feel the designer should've known about issues. He still maintains its all fine and its builders fault!

Our designer specified 170° hinges for our larder with internal drawers, hopefully that's what will arrive!

Moment of truth day - testing the new diverted soil stack that once formed the Pesky Pillar.
This consisted of me repeatedly flushing toilet with and without paper while the builders peered into manholes to see what emerged.
I was tempted to drop a Hello mum printed message....

That's good news the pillar has been removed. Were the tests successful?

I'm going to do the "definitive test" tomorrow about 10 minutes after breakfast...

This week's problems - still no word on the glass for the heritage french doors, new cylinder fitted has reduced the pressure in the shower rather than increased it, and my decorator can only do till Thursday not Saturday as promised.

On the plus side I found replacement glass shades for the broken ceiling fitting on ebay for £40 and the side door to the utility is fitted. And the tap pressure from the new cylinder is amazing, DD had the the best bubble bath EVER last night!

Oh and I'm still dithering over kitchens - almost put a deposit down onthe Wren kitchens one and then got an email from Plykea who quoted for doors to go on Ikea cabinets early on in the process. Still undecided either way but need to jump one way or another this week. Advantage with Plykea/ Ikea is that I could get units fitted very soon, and so worktop templated etc. But I suspect the Wren kitchen will be nicer......

I must be weird that I had my kitchen pretty much nailed before we laid so much as a brick, I'm impressed at you winging it mid build.
Of course we didn't actually do any real building in the kitchen area which makes it so much easier.

Busy day today, electrician back to finish off First Fix (and move the ceiling LEDS again)
Cutting new bits of replacement plasterboard as by the time they'd removed the tiles and dropped some cables and sockets, there wasn't very much left of it.
Dropped (by less) ceiling being boarded up today with oddles of insulation.

Still no roof tiles on the extension but the underlying membrane seems pretty watertight. It's like being in a tent.

But I am dithering about Cool White v Warm white LEDS in ceiling.
Kitchen is semi matt chalk white, navy island and white worktops.
I'm worried that cool white will make it harsh and cold looking.

What has everyone else gone for?

Cool white in the kitchen but warm lights above the island.

Lights

@MyNameIsJane Having a mixture of both hadn't occurred to me!
Annoyingly, we mapped out 3 spots equally along the length of the island and the middle one is slap bang under one of the original RSJs .
Moving the whole row down a bit would look odd so we have opted for just 2 over the island surrounded by 3 on each side in the rest of the kitchen.
It's such an odd shaped room that we can't just do a grid of lights to cover the entire area, each section has to treated separately.
Electrician is going to fit the spots where you can swap out the bulb (instead of the entire unit) so that I can decide once everything is done.

I've just realised that you have pendants over island so different bulbs would look ok, we are having spots only (Mr WhereDoes' only input to the entire project) and I think mixing the bulbs would look odd.

Yes, mixing that way would be odd.

We went with warm white downlights but cool white under cabinets @WhereDoesThisToiletGo. I think cool white, while making it very good to see things in also makes rooms look like a clinic as it's quite harsh. Acceptable in the bathroom for getting things done but I like the kitchen to be warm and inviting. Like you I had the kitchen design mostly done and dusted before they even started digging as had been dreaming about it for years!!

How did the toilet test go? :D

@northernruth - what kind of plykea doors are you thinking? I like that they look a bit different and special. I just couldn't do the stress of ikea building and the co-ordinating of separate doors. But great news for light fitting. We are loving our Made.com ones.

@MyNameIsJane - I still love that corner shelf... we have a corner needing a shelf so I might steal your idea. Was it Ikea again?