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

Ooh @weepingwillow22 that is exciting !

@missfliss looking really good now, good to see a build coming together.
@weeping that is exciting

We are making slow progress but brickwork is almost complete, and I can now see my new bedroom view

@Slightlydustcovered that's lovely and green ( your new view!)

That's a big old extension - will your house be huge after? Exciting

It won't be huge but will make a real difference. We have gone for it a little with a kitchen utility downstairs and a bedroom and ensuite upstairs. The rejigging of layout means the family bathroom is now much smaller. But we would rather do this and have a 4th bedroom. Only a standard 1950s semi size wise.

@missfliss that looks ace!

We are over a week in and hit an issue, foundations being dug our today and they've hit a real soft spot which appears to be never ending. Building inspector coming out again tomorrow to take a look.

Anyone else had this? Paranoid we're going be be paying thousands more for a pile to be put in as I assume it's not an easily resolved issue

@bez91. Our footings were 2.4m deep. How far down are they now?

@intheningnangnong I'd say they're at that now in that section and still soft argggh

Ours were also 2.4m down they were concerned about a tree in our neighbors Hegde which meant we would have needed to go further. Our builder shrugged and said I've had to do worse. Then our very lovely neighbors cut their tree down for us, as it was on its way out anyway so we didn't need extra. Only posting this as my builders reaction did instantly calm my fears of this too. Hoping to pass the good vibes forward.

@Slightlydustcovered thank you! I'm assuming worst case so if it's anything else it'll be a bonus

@Slightlydustcovered I feel like you're my extension twin... quite similar builds I think. We also have a similar out look from the new bedroom. Roof rafters went on today which felt exciting...

@weepingwillow22 those are quite some steels! Is that going to be vaulted? Will be spectacular.

Yes @birdbrained remind me what you are doing upstairs?

can i ask for some flooring tips? had my hear set on some Parquet style LVT for our new bedroom and bathroom - quote is abut £1k more than bargained for.
Does anyone have any experience of this sort of flooring? is it lovely? are there cheaper alternatives?
i think its the labour for the parquet individual LVT tiles that brings the price up. Its Polyflor Camaro if that helps - Cambridge Oak

Update following building inspectors visit.

Solution is either 2 raft foundations or piling. Our builders can do the raft foundations apparently without a specification according to the inspector but obviously need a specialist contractor for pilings. Builders have had to down tools for now until we can work out costings pretty gutted and apprehensive!

Slightlydustcovered @intheningnangnong

Oh no @bez91 not the easy fix we were hoping for. As it's 2 raft foundations I assume these will be smaller than your footprint. I would also assume the raft would have a minimum size? Hopefully it's sorted by chucking a bit more concrete at it and won't delay you too much.

Thanks @Slightlydustcovered 😊
Think the builders are slightly apprehensive about doing the raft foundations without a specification drawn up by an structural engineer which may take even longer to get done. Hopefully the piling contractor will come back without blowing our contingency budget haha!

Oh blimey, that's a blow. I have no idea of costs, but hopefully not as bad as you're thinking.

@missfliss I love that pic, but no clue I'm afraid on product.

@bez91 Hopefully if you need him the structural engineer should be quite quick atm. We had to have some calculations done for our roof and they were done the next day as they were not very busy due to covid.

@missfliss I don't have any personal experience of that type of flooring however a friend has it in her kitchen and has been pleased with it. The only thing she did say was that it fades a bit in strong sun but I think most flooring does. We have engineered wood parquet in our living which has faded a bit near the patio doors.

@birdbrained Many thanks, yes the upstairs will be vaulted. Our previous house was vaulted everywhere upstairs and we really missed the high ceilings when we moved. We have been saving for 10 years to finally get it done.

@missfliss at around £17/m2 that polyflor stuff is around as cheap as you'll want. Never had it but decent alternatives will be more pricey I would guess.

I've just passed all the tiles details for our various rooms of the new build :) feels a big step after filling my office with tile samples!

@Loofah01 - most of the cost is in labour really since each piece is individually laid - herringbone parquet takes a lot of work. Probably 3 days for the space we need.

I've decided to go ahead anyway - it will look like this :-)

Will look great once it's down. I hate labour costs lol

Just back from site and they have all the finishing plaster they need now :)

Any news on costs @bez91 ? Hope it's not too damaging

@Loofah01 yay for plaster! Am hopeful we might be able to start plastering next week sometime

@missfliss just above 7k inc VAT so around about what we were expecting for piling but still didn't want to blow contingency on day 8
Only the side elevation requires it as per building control but tying in the 2 types of foundation may prove tricky so we're just piling it all, the specialist contractor starts in 2 weeks.

Really exciting seeing everyone's ideas, can't wait to be at that stage