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

Hello all, I’ve been reading this thread for a while as we are currently drawing up plans for our kitchen extension. It is going to be 2.5m across the 6.5 metre length of our current kitchen dinner. The room is north facing so I’m concerned about light.
How did you decide what size and how many velux roof windows to go for? The price doesn’t seem to go up too much so my current thinking is as many big ones as we can fit but is that right? Thank you

@Postmanbear
Can I ask how much you have been quoted for your extension? Is it a single storey? We are thinking of extending ours in a similar way and the footprint of the proposed extension would be very similar and so very curious.

Thanks
Matt

Welcome @postmanbear exciting, friends on the opposite side of the road ( true north facing) put in a 7m by 3m and have 3 medium size velux windows. It's fab. We are south facing but as we are going up can't have windows the whole way across. I think the back of ours could end up a bit darker than theirs. In short I am sure it will be fine. We are having roof tile issues builder is doing a trip to a rec yard today to see if he can get any. Otherwise that's another delay.

@Postmanbear our single storey extension is a very similar size 2.6 x 5.9m we are south east facing. See plan, 3 velux, a fixed glazed screen (not sure how wide yet) and sliding door to the side. Bit nervous it may be a greenhouse so we may reduce the fixed glazed screen width

We are midway through a 10 x 3m extensions and is north west facing. 7m is a pitched roof with 3 velux in. I am amazed at how much light they let in. Thoroughly tested thanks to the delay of our sliding doors so the room was boxed in so no other light apart from these velux windows. We finally had our 6m sliding doors installed yesterday and now the light in there is immense.

This was taken at 7pm last night

@Postmanbear do they have to be velux? you could have one or two much larger apertures as ceiling lights/windows - images.app.goo.gl/Bu9StVoXruiPUaAB9

Wow @Rhica look at those doors!!

This question is going to sound like "how long is a piece of string"...

During lockdown we have been thinking about doing a single storey extension (all within permitted development). Now, I've heard that basement extensions are v v expensive, but when we are doing the rear extension how feasible would it be to have a room under just the extension. Would be a useful place to put the boiler/utility room/bikes/garden stuff.

Is this completely loony? or has anyone done anything similar?
In SE london, so any guesstimates on price per sq m would be helpful!

Any recommended architects would be great

Issue would be the foundation of the existing building more than digging a bit deeper for the basement room. Very good idea in London and probably cost effective to do it. No idea on cost of adding the basement room but new build is v roughly 2.3-2.7k /m2. I'd add a goodly amount for alteration to foundations!

We are M4 corridor wrap around 2 story with garage and my guess is we will have spent £130k when we finish all in. Build is about £2.3k m². Just keep telling myself I would never have afforded the house ready done . The stamp duty alone was crippling. I do know of someone who had problems with their basement extension and drainage in Windsor, afew years after itwas do e when we had that really wet year. It worked out quite a bit more per m2 in the end as it was a more complex build.

@ElizabethMountbatten be very careful, around here we would never get that past planning. We have also had to step in and they have been out to check. Also check I you move walls, does that impact anything else structurally it would have impacted our steels if we had.

@ElizabethMountbatten Go with whatever the building inspector says, anything else and you'll be in a really tough position.

@weepingwillow22 and @minniemooblue- joining the autistic child whilst building work happening club!

We made a kind of lounge safe space den when we needed to, but he has been surprisingly ok so far !

@honest123. Ours is 2 storey and works out around £1900 per sq m incl vat but excluding kitchen and flooring. We are in the SE just outside the m25. I think 2 storeys work out a bit cheaper per m2 than single storey.

@minniemooblue and @missfliss Thanks for the reassurance. It sounds like it is doable with an autistic child. My son is sensory seeking so I think the main issue will be put up a barrier to keep him out of the way of the builders. Not sure how things are with airbnb bookings at the moment.

This might help you on basement extension costs
architectureforlondon.com/news/basement-extension-costs-in-london/

Around £4000 per sq m, ouch

Thank you for all the advice on veluxs, looks like we will go for 3. We have considered having a fixed glass pane but not sure how to make that look ok as we do want veluxs as well for airflow as there will be no other windows in the kitchen other than French doors.

@Matt83 we are looking at 20k ish.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether now is a good time to book work in? When we had work done on our old house (post 2010 recession) it was much cheaper than now. The news is saying there will be another recession so trades might be cheaper in a year? Or do you think with all the new builds they will be ok? It’s a big amount of money to commit. We are also getting a new patio which is quoted at £14k.

@ElizabethMountbatten it may be totally ok and no issues, around here I think it's something people try to do on purpose to gain extra space so they are hot on checking. One of the reasons our build is a bit more ££ is due to the extra steels for the second floor. Our room is 1.55m wide at the top and will form ensuite , a bit of bedroom and bathroom as we have internally moved everything.

get anxious at the amount of money they are spending?

I seem to get a headache every time we make a decision which would be costly to change. 😀

we finally have to sell (when DH and I can no longer manage the stairs!) i

I have an alcove earmarked for a future phase vertical personal lift. I only want to leave this house in a box.

We have an InSinkErator. Wouldn't be without it. It does take up some space under the sink but we are so used to being g able to flush all sorts down the sink.

I've been lurking on this lovely thread for ages. We submitted plans for garage conversion and single story extension to pre-planning approval a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed.

No we can go right to the boundary for foundations which means the wall is 15 cm in. And 30 cm in on the side we are semi detached to.

We are stepping back and stepping down. Originally submitted to planning without this and they stipulated we had to. Don't get me started, our neighbours did the same extension albeit in 2004 and didn't have to step and there is a house a couple of streets away (exactly the same house as ours) having an extension done now which also doesn't have to step back or down

@bez91 yup we are the same all rules changed in last few years, anyone who did an earlier extension could go out the full width, at least 6 on our street done to full width, they were also allowed a flat roof. Bit irritating actually, I try not to think about it too much.