Home extension 2019 the Third thread- Drowning in Dust

[WhereDoesThisToiletGo]

And we're off again

We went to DIY kitchens with our draft plans today, came away all excited.... just got the quote through and it's £8k! About £3k more than we'd expected once you add in end panels etc and about double what our draft had added it up to!

Anyway else been a bit 😟 about it once it's all totted up- doesn't include any appliances, or handles, but does include worktop.

@NotMaryWhitehouse How big is your kitchen?
I'm afraid my idea of budget got blown to bits fairly early on in the process!

Hi. Can I join? Trying to catch up with all the threads. Love the photos and progress reports.
I can't find the hints and tips thread and wonder if someone could post a link.
I am looking for guidance from a very early stage. Our planning application has just gone in and we haven't done anything more at all. What sort of things can we be doing and should we be thinking about now? We are completely clueless, never had anything major done to house and I feel like when we do we don't make grear decisions! 🙄

@Fettyheather what sort of building work are you planning?
What makes the most impact is where the new joins the old. If the joining point can be isolated from the rest of the house, that's great but most of us don't live in places with the East Wing and the West Wing, and half the time the building involves the kitchen which is high impact.

How do you all manage your contingency? I know everyone says you must have a contingency but how much? Do you then say no I can’t afford that UFH for £3200 but I’ve got £10000 in my contingency, which I may or may not need??

Hello! It's a 2 storey side and will affect kitchen. I guess we are quite lucky as we have another room we can set temporary kitchen in and then a livimg room. Getting through front door may be tricky though! I'm just thinking of getting kitchen ideas on proposed dimensions and researching new boilers, flooring etc
I'd like UFH but have heard it isn't as effective unless whole ground floor is done and that would mean loads more expense and us moving out. The possibilities just seem to grow.
Also our plans are a bit more than first intended and I've no idea until we get builders quotes if it will still be in our budget.
Guess I think it will be best to wait for planning decision but then worry we'll be waiting months for a builders slot. I am so fed up with the house and not doing anything to it as we're waiting on this that I'd like to be ready to move ahead quickly if we get approval.
Is there a book, extensions for dummies or similar?! Feel like that's what I need
I love this thread but I feel so far away from choosing kitchens and details of design.

@fettyheather - I would get builders quotes now as you have the drawings. It takes time to find a builder you like and get on their radar. It will also keep you going while you wait. I would also get thinking on your kitchen and looking at suppliers because it's only fun at the beginning and then you get sad waiting and waiting in the temp kitchen.

I wish we could afford a garden designer @northernruth I'm still digging mud off and finding black grass underneath in between the monsoon "showers". But it sounds like all go for you now!

Tiles will all look good soon @WhereDoesThisToiletGo. The ones in the photo already do.

@NotMaryWhitehouse , what was your kitchen plan? You can sometimes "cheat" with the end panels. But you'd need a fitter to say which ones can be half a panel and which ones must be full. Also, end panels are endlessly useful for fitters.

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo completely normal size, albeit with a big island. The end panels for that work out at over £600. For end panels!! 😑

weirdly, the worktop we were slightly 😬 about now seems like great value!

Hi. Have been reading but not got round to posting...been a bit manic here
Loving the photos and updates - wheredoesthistoiletgo your floor looks amazing! But is making me slightly nervous about which tiles to choose now, cleaning is not my forte! Will your floor require ongoing maintenance do you think?
We've already blown the budget too! End panels and door handle costs are what shocked me with the kitchen costs.
We've had the quote for patio and fencing. Trying to decide whether we go for it and get it all over and done with now or postpone til we've saved more of a financial cushion. I think we're erring towards pain now, pay later to be honest
soaked yours looks gorgeous! So much space and light, hope you're really pleased with it?
palindromicyour overrunning build made me hyperventilate somewhat. Ours is supposed to be a 16 week build...we're on week 8 I think, the thought of more fills me with dread!
Today they're blockjng up the window and door gaps so we'll be in darkness. 1st fix plumbing and electrics is done so plastering this week apparently.
I am going through so much sugar for teas/coffees - I'd love to know the incidence of diabetes in builders vs the general population😂

I'm back in love with my floor tiles.
The two thirds we cleaned on Sunday is looking much better than the smaller bit we did on Saturday. We changed our technique and the results are much better, I most probably will go over Saturday's bit once I don't have builders dust sheets covering it (why no photos today)
It shouldn't need on going maintenance beyond normal cleaning, this is hopefully a one off job, albeit a big one.

Biggest excitement is getting washing machine plumbed in again today! (on top of uncleaned tiles....)

Hooray for loving the tiles! And for the plumbed in washing machine

Boss Builder and I partially unpacked my poncy Italian radiators this morning to check the outlet placements.
They are nestled in expanded polystyrene blocks, covered with cardboard, inside a cardboard box, inside a wooden crate.
I felt like Howard Carter unwrapping Tutankhamen

@wheredoes that sounds like fun - early Christmas ?

We had builders 1st site meeting today and it's all go from tomorrow or weds. the temp kitchen goes in (in the lounge) on weds and current kitchen (we are reusing some of it) comes out on Thurs. paying door deposit today so they can start shipping the materials. The kitchen is being made in Germany, and I'm hoping that bloody Brexit doesn't stop it getting here

some extras already appearing, eating into the contingency ( floor leveling £?? , +£650 for fast dry self leveling screed so we don't have to wait weeks to lay the wooden floor, £340 to water co for even thinking about putting foundations in the same road as the sewer for starters) . I've allowed 15% contingency but it will evaporate quickly I think.

But we are getting started.

@Whyisitsodifficult do not spend your contingency on underfloor heating!!! That's not what it's for

We have got off lightly so far (I think) but unplanned extras so far are

1. re rendering the front and rear of the main house (I thought this was included, builder says no) - will be £2000 all in
2. painting the new render - it's supposed to be white but it's not "brilliant white" and that's what I want - lowest quote so far £1000 plus £350 for scaffolding at the side of the house
3. cupboard doors for the upstairs cupboards because I want cupboard doors not room doors
4. launderette fees!
5. cost of having coving made and fitted (I had allowed for this but nowhere near enough, I thought we would buy coving off the shelf and have it fitted by the builders)
6. New fascias to be fitted to the rear of the house as they are rotten due to the felt being rotten under the roof tiles - tiles will need to be stripped off and relaid
7. General repairs to the roof which are needed

I do think I may have made a massive mistake in the kitchen extension - we have a small breakfast area that has been tacked onto the rear of the house. I decided that it would be a good idea to have electric underfloor heating in there so the joists are set 15mm lower to allow for the screed etc. I've just realised that I could get an additional radiator in there so didn't need the underfloor - except that the joists (and the floor!) are now set lower than the rest of the kitchen..........

To be fair it's wired for the underfloor and the designer radiators plus plumbing will probably be the same price as the underfloor, it just feels like a bit of a mistake

Currently trying to decide on doors - we have a dining room at the front of the house and a kitchen at the rear, the wall is coming down between them. It's a toss up between getting a pair of 60" wide doors (two 30") or getting something made with inner doors and two side lights IYKWIM.

THe former is simpler and quicker but the latter lets more light through and is potentially a bit easier to use....but there's a 4 week lead time and the builders want to knock through next week....

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo that's great news about the tiles and the radiators sound ace

here's a pic of one of mine

I love that rad, @northernruth

@Fettyheather I second the advice to talk to builders now - mine has had a few schedule changes because one of his jobs is waiting on planning, he clearly gets them booked in pending a decision

@NotMaryWhitehouse on the kitchen front have you looked at Ikea? depends what you want but they are great with the planning and I've had two from there. We are going with Wren but I agree they are expensive

@northernruth I love that blue-green wall colour behind radiator

northernruth 😁 I know you’re right but I really want UFH and would be slightly gutted to have 10k leftover which i could have spent on it! So for those of you who are further down the line with your build, have you been very strict and kept your contingency money separate and only used it for emergencies?

That reads terribly of course I wouldn’t be gutted to have 10k leftover but I hope you get my gist!

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo thanks! It's F&B and I think it's actually called Blue Green

@whyisit I think it's better to scalp a bit off your budget elsewhere - the main issues for contingencies will be going into the ground, issues with rotten joists/ fascias/ roofs or plumbing problems. Oh and flooring can be an issue - levels. So if you want the UFH, pinch a bit from a spend that comes late on in the process - reduce your kitchen budget, for example, (Ikea vs Magnet, get laminate worktops not quartz),
choose cheaper tiles, decide to do your own painting - then if you have cash left over you can reinstate those things later on in the build when you are sure your drains aren't going to collapse once you start digging foundations!!

@whyisitsodifficult, I agree with northernruth. Your contingency needs to be for changes to structure or damages.

We went into some of ours for the change to roof. Extra lead and work. Also now needing to pay amended fee to planning. I really wanted the kitchen we got and a range but I managed to half the range budget by going down to 90cm and changing preferred brand. Its a smeg. I originally wanted a stoves. I also worked really hard searching for tiles that were cheap enough for me to get the whole wall done instead of just to splashback level. The tiling work costs so much more than actual tiles.

Looking at your radiators I wish I'd spent a bit more time there too but in the end I just let the builder do it. Figure we can replace pretty easily as long as in the right place!

Northernruth, I like the look of two doors more. It makes such a grand entrance into a room!

@northernruth not Ikea, no, just because it's a different size and we have measured to within a hairs breadth (!), but we have booked in to go to a few other places this week and weekend to try and get some comparison quotes.

Interestingly, wickes have a lot on sale at the moment

@notmarywhitehouse oh Wickes have some nice ones, I was in looking at doors last week. Also worth a quick look at Howdens.

I think @noroof used Better Kitchens and they seemed great, you have to measure up yourself but sounds like you are all over that.

Also with Wren there are different price points for different ranges so might be worth asking if they have anything in the lower price range

I had a 3x3 m extension 9 yeas ago and didn’t get ufh. I really regretted it but do suffer with cold feet.