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

Well I've ordered a bath today :-) it's to go in this space in the front dormer - it will be glazed where the chipboard is.
It's a large 1800 long boat 'bath freestanding which is going to be coloured to match a vanity unit in Oval Room blue

The situation builder stopped work 2 weeks ago and just heard he is now in hospital (wish him a speedy recovery) Current state of house we have a 6 mtr extension, walls are up but no windows or bifold in as waiting for delivery, roof has massive hole as lantern needs to be fitted, no plaster on walls and no ceilings, electrics or plumbing, whole of the ground floor area is waiting for UFL heating to be fitted and final screed to be done. 1 bedroom is now a temp kitchen / come store room. Garden is like the local tip and neighbour who has given grief from planning to party wall is now complaining that the state of the garden has encouraged more foxes to the area.
On the bright side this has given me plenty of time to stress over the little things, do we need an American style fridge or should I have under counter separate units, what colours paint will be needed, do I still like the kitchen or do I change (not ordered yet) etc etc.

Week 3 of no builders for us, mid loft conversion. We are lowering 2 bedroom ceilings so currently all in a 1 bedroom house whilst the rest of upatairs is a building site. Thank goodness garden is useable despite the scaffolding.
Stressing about money paid for windows too and hoping the manufacturers stay in business...

We have had some progress, our material suppliers have delivered bricks and blocks ( all be it 3/4 of order) apparently our suppliers are clearing the order backlog of those who refused refunds. It has taken much longer than normal as they are reduced staff and taking lots of safety precautions. So hoping this brings a glimmer of hope to those waiting for material.

just had a chat with my builder - the roofers' suppliers are due to open up again soon, as are British Gypsum for plastering. Expecting it to take a few weeks to trickle down to this size of domestic project.

Interesting to hear some of the supply chains might be opening up again. We also need our scaffolders to come back to raise the level though. Currently looking at this view and dreaming of the day it's all finished!

@notreallydumb for the love of god do not get under an counter fridge or freezer. My biggest regret when the kitchen was done last time was switching from a standing normal fridge/freezer to under counter. The space available is awful, you cannot fit anything in them. There is only one shelf in my fridge tall enough to fit tall yoghurt pots or soup. I ended up buying a second small freezer and there are only three of us!
This time I am going slightly mad and getting this one!

www.fisherpaykel.com/uk/kitchen/fridge-freezers/french-door/activesmart-fridge-790mm-french-door-built-in-523L.RF523GDUX1.html

@Pashazade @notreallydumb yes to the FF. we have almost finished our kitchen and got a Fisher and Paykel one. its absolutely wonderful. inbuilt ice machine, cool water on tap. solidly built. a really good investment. we went for the 800 wide so it only has 1 door, which I prefer. if you can afford it, do it

@Pashazade @lightlypoached Now I have FF envy and am seriously contemplating a total rework of kitchen plan ...

I agree with the fridge freezer and not under counter @notreallydumb

We got this one which came into its own this week when we found a mouse in the larder and we moved all exposed items into the fridge and freezer overnight while we waited to get airtight boxes to put all the items in. We fitted loads in! ao.com/product/hb26fssaaa-haier-american-fridge-freezer-stainless-steel-72275-27.aspx

Our build is limping forward but can't get hold of windows which is a common pain I see. Waiting for the roof tiling to complete, UFH and screed in kitchen...electrics and plumbing are underway, not sure on plastering!
Site is busy(ish) as they saw what was coming and bought in supplies but they won;t last forever. Our tenancy is up very soon (place where we're staying while the build destroys a house) and currently paying mortgage, rent, 2 lots of council tax etc. It's crippling and have no income as all my projects were cancelled.
Fingers crossed for everybody eh?

On a wet miserable Friday afternoon stuck in a s**t hole of a partially finished house what should I do ? Mmmmm lets throw out current kitchen plan , start again change where the hob was going and now keep the island free as worktop/breakfast bar, move sink , cheaper extractor (as this could be vented through wall) do away with some wall units make room for American style fridge and tall larder unit change the colour, could work or maybe I could put the sink in the island .....or....maybe.... I just can't decide, back to looking and new fridge freezers

Been looking at slow progress for a couple of days, great all considered. Thought it looked odd, so finally took a tape measure to it. The door is in the wrong place! Normally we would try and find a solution but it impacts the space for units in the utility and without this it's just a glorified corridor.. uuuugh meeting builder to sort Monday morning, just glad I checked now.

@Slightlysulkingtillsaturday Always double check the builders! I've had to point out a few issues (one was a missing doorway altogether. Don't know how they thought I'd access the room??) but largely they have been really good. It's just the clangers you do catch are best caught early on.
Our stud walls are going up and it's making the place look structured finally...

Was reading how the window industry is relying on the installers being the drivers for when they re-open. More demand in placed orders will encourage them to open earlier... They're anticipating an initial spike to clear backlog orders then a lull so have to balance that demand out. Basically, if you want your windows then get them ordered! Use a credit card if ordering your own and not relying on your builder to sort.

@notreallydumb I started out insisting I wanted a big freestanding American FF but it really inpacted on my design choices as my kitchen is quite narrow and the bigger depth of an American FF and floor space around it was messing up the flow. It we put it in the only place where it wouldn't get in the way, it dominated the visual effect.
So my designer came up with 4 basic layouts, 2 with an American FF, and 2 with an integrated full height fridge and separate integrated full height freezer.
I ended up going with the integrated appliances instead and after several months of using the completed kitchen, I am happy that I made the right decision.
Unless you have absolutely no option I wouldn't go for an under counter fridge. Obviously in a small kitchen sometimes it's all there is room for.

Sooo for those in the know, is a Quooker tap worth it? I was anti, DH is becoming more pro, I'm wavering......

@Pashazade It was on my "must have" list at the begining, but since was already have a water softener under the sink, there wasn't really room for all the Quooker gubbins too. I dont really regret it.

One thing I did do for new kitchen was buy a new see though kettle which has a very small minimum boil function which I feel has made up a tad for lack of Quooker

Anyone hoping for any movement this week? I'm particular I'm hoping that we get somewhere with some roofing supplies.
Without roofing tiles it's going to be impossible to fit Velux windows and not advisable to plaster either -
So it's a big bottleneck for us

Ooo our scaffolders are back!!! I'm excited

No movement here still (Scotland, which has an official ban on construction unlike England). Builders have indicated that they'd like to return to work and just maintain distancing but can't get materials still. We're really missing access to the back garden at the moment but are grateful they hadn't knocked through yet.

I realised yesterday that I'll have to extend the insurance to cover the extended build period but have no idea when the actual end date will be now. Hopefully it's straight forward and the insurers OK it, I don't want be trying to find a new home insurer mid-build/pandemic!

Ooo our scaffolders are back!!! I'm excited

You need to get out more..!
Ah, but you're not allowed to!

Carry on getting excited!

*You need to get out more..!
Ah, but you're not allowed to!

Carry on getting excited!*

Ha... true that, I think the baseline as to what gets me excited has shifted somewhat. Honestly not been this happy for weeks! It's very selfish but I can quite happily cope with lockdown if the house is making progress.

Imagine getting materials, particularly roofing and windows will still be a challenge.

Fingers crossed for everyone else!

Nice when work can continue :) you won't get windows atm but tiles should be OK, we just had our last lot delivered