Extension / loft conversion thread 2020

[missfliss]

Hello,

Thought I'd start a thread for 2020 extenders and converters.

Might be good for us each time say a bit about what works we have planned / are in the midst of if folks are happy to share some / al details.

Current house:
1970s semi with 2.5 (!) bedrooms on South Coast ( Sussex).
Single storey extension ( large kitchen / diner with bifolds) was completed in 2013.

Planned works
Loft conversion with full width rear dormer and small front dormer to create a new master bedroom with large bathroom.

Stage
Planning permission received, builder appointed to start in March

Costs
Build is £60k including VAT. Bathroom / decor extra.
It is a double dormer with aluminium sliding doors to rear and lots of pipe work due to siting the new bathroom at the opposite end to the existing bathroom below.
It's more than expected but we have non-standard plans and are doing the work to stay in the house for years as opposed to maximising profit to sell.

Reasons for doing work
An adult space to hide away and relax!
Also our son has additional needs and we may need to use au pairs in the future ( new room needed). As our son gets older he may need to live with us into adulthood

Plans
Attached

Next steps
Party wall agreement
Deciding on bathroom fittings / flooring within budget

Look great, having spent some time in US this year I’m liking their master bedroom set up. They have bedroom, bathroom and dressing/walk in closet

I’m thinking that if we went into the loft we could have a dressing room and an en-suite, but have them side by side instead

Looks lovely @ivykaty44 - does your loft have a lovely large footprint ?
A dressing space would be so nice - see all your clothes and accessories clearly :-)

Link to old thread which is now covered with plaster dust and paint splatters (plus grease marks from all the bacon sandwiches)
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/3672616-Home-extension-2019-the-Third-thread-Drowning-in-Dust?msgid=92778087#92778087

Plus ongoing hints and tips thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/3680823-The-MN-surviving-building-an-extension-thread-of-hints-and-tips

Thankyou @WhereDoesThisToiletGo for providing the links.

We still have our living room to complete and a back garden to clear. We also have a few doorways to complete and skirting to put up. It has been a year since we started. I’ve included a before and after picture of my hallway. (They’re shown in reverse on here.)

Hello! Can I join? I have lurked on previous threads but we are a couple of weeks off of the start of our build.

Current house:
1920s 3 bed semi detached

Planned works
Side and rear two storey extension, adding porch, open-plan kitchen, downstairs cloak, new bedroom. Pretty much the whole house remodelled in some way

Stage
Work due to start late January

Costs
A lot more than originally anticipated...

Reasons for doing work
Love our house and location but it's too small for our family. Haven't seen anything we could afford that was worth moving for in the last few years.

Next
Move into rental - currently on holiday and in denial about this step... have not done any packing!

Can we fast forward the next six months please?

Garden boys started today.

@birdbrained If you are going to be living elsewhere while work is being done, I recommend getting something like a Ring doorbell.
mine was set that it recorded every time the builders parked on my drive so I knew what time they started...

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo this was useful for us until we took away our internet.

Welcome everyone

@birdbrained can you give us a rough cost guide?

I'm planing to extend my semi this year/going into 2021 I imagine! and re-do garden.

I'm still interviewing architects at the moment, I'll be back when I have a better idea of what I'm doing.

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo that's a good idea! Although conveniently we are moving only three doors up the road so hoping that will help us keep an eye on things.

Build is around 100k excl VAT, kitchen, bathrooms etc. Not expecting much change from 160k... we are in an expensive area so quotes were a bit of a shock. We will be overcapitalising which worries me for sure. But I've been watching the market like a hawk and there has been nothing I would move for.

Here you all are! We're at the snagging point now so nearly finished but I'm looking forward to seeing how all your builds progress It's so exciting!
We've got decorators here today. We were brave and have chosen quite a bold colour for the walk through utility and it looks fab! I'm so pleased! When they've gone I'll take some photos.

Can I join in please. I was on one of the older threads albeit briefly but my start date got delayed (over and over 🙄) so lost a bit of interest.

Anyway.. Single storey rear extension with some internal remodelling. The builders are here!!! Started today 😬😬 and I am super excited and mega nervous.

Day one has been super full on already. 5 workmen. 4 vans. 1 car. 3 skips (which are full already). 1 blocked (and unblocked) drain and a loads of questions.

Lads seem great. So excited and happy 😁

Now to go back and read all the old threads. Might take a while...

Rhica that's so exciting! Hope it all goes well for you. I really enjoyed the actual building stage, it was so interesting and it seemed to change constantly.

@birdbrained I've been dreaming of doing something similar. I'm in London so similarly expensive I would imagine? How many square meters are you extending by?

@HelloAgainYou roughly 40sqm in total I think. The side extension is only 1.5m, most of the space is being added at the rear.

@birdbrained thank you! x

We are on the final, painful strait.

We spent the Christmas break painting the new room (7m x 5m so quite a lot!). We had to stand down the decorator on cost grounds on account of having to buy another kitchen and appliances

Just waiting for the builders to resurface to complete the floor levelling and uf heating so our fitter can do the floor.

Then the sliding kitchen door can be done and hallway plastered so we can paint it.

And then we can put a temp kitchen in the new space (see previous posts re bastard bankrupt kitchen suppliers).
God knows when the proper kitchen wi be done.

The remedial crack work and rere-pointing (yes they have had to do it again as it's so Shit ) is still to be done. Oh and finishing the roof which worryingly has water sitting in it for most of the time. And they put the outside tap and powerpoint just where the downpipes go. Numpties.

In the meanwhile we had a leaking shower and discovered that the previous builders had not used proper materials. Cue a shower rebuild and row with insurance company and yet another builder and another room in chaos. And done really shit filing that I just don't have the will to challenge. Have emailed a complaint to the original builders though.

Why are builders so crap ?

That said the brilliant garden boys have come in , Bosh Bosh and got the job done. It looks nice and they only need 2 coffees a day.

Why can't all builders be like my garden crew ?

Had a melt down on Sunday re 'have we done the right thing?' Had a cry and talked some sense into myself, Tell me it all be over soon and that I'm just an over privileged person who needs to get some perspective?

@lightlypoached

How come the UFH has not been installed prior to floor levelling unless it is electric ...which if so suggest you await your first bill with trepidation?

Also concrete floors need a minimum drying time of 1 day per 1 MM unless your UFH aid installed in the floor and it can be force dried

Just curious how it has been done having gone through it

Good luck @lightlypoached hope the rest goes smoothly. Sure it will all be worth it the end.

@MarieG10 the new extension floor is a mix of original floorboards and new screed (we paid extra for fast drying). They will level across all of that using board and 'stuff'. The wet heating trays then go,on top of that. Then a layer of self levelling rubbery screed , then the flooring.

It's been a right pain. The builders swore that they never put levelling screed in top of the ufh and that the floor fitters always do it., and the flooring people (I spoke to a few) insisted that builders always put a self levelling screed down and that they never do. So I ended up using a flooring chap who said he'd put the screed down even though he hasn't done it for years. . Seriously must have had 10 conversations and as many emails to try and get a sensible solution. It was as though no one had ever worked with ufh heating before (except they all have, many, many times). I did almost lose my shit over that one.

What was your experience?

The screed was done by the plumber (or they arranged it at least). However, the screed was 50mm thick and sounds different to what you have got? Was a specialist contractor who came with like a small lorry from which the screed was pumped.

Ours was concrete floor laid, then a load of insulation to which the pipes were tacked and screed then poured over and levelled

Hi all, excited to be joining this thread!

Current house
1960s mid terrace with 3 bedrooms
Small galley kitchen, lounge/diner

Planned works
Remove wall between kitchen and lounge. Build 3m single storey extension for new dining kitchen. Build wall with sliding pocket doors to create living/playroom. So we have a small living/playroom and large kitchen/dining/living room. Bifolds to garden.

Stage
Internal walls down. External shell in progress.

Costs
18k for extension to plaster including steels. 4k Bifolds. Then kitchen, flooring, appliances, decorating etc etc on top.

Reasons for doing work
We needed a new kitchen