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

Much more exciting is the fact I have just purposely gone over budget and we have gone for a fancy pants velux. It means it self closes when it rains and is remote controlled. Useful, as it's so high we couldn't open it otherwise. Bit worried about it being another thing to go wrong but our builder showed us his and it looks fab.

@FinallyHere It's a good idea to future proof during the build so that you don't have to move.
However we live on the very outskirts of a very small town / very large village and at some point we will want to move closer into the middle of town near the shops.

Got it @Wheredoesthistoiletgo 😀

I am learning so much on this thread. Windows that sense rain and close sound perfect to me.

I would be very keen to know if anyone has any fly screens for such windows. We live near lots of lakes and find a lot of flying critters so that the simple fly screens we have in place are invaluable. We used to have secondary double glazing and use similar panels for fly screens. Would love something closer to the windows to regain window sills and also for bus type windows.

This thread is fantastic! I'm so glad I found it. We are hoping to do a 2 storey extension early next year when we can release equity on the mortgage, though I worry the current climate will mean that's a difficulty to do.

Has anybody in the North West (Manchester) had a double storey extension? What was the cost? There's a builder currently doing work on the house behind us and he said for the shell to go up, £30k. It just seems very low and I don't want to get over-excited if it's going to be 10s of thousands more than that.

Welcome @TokenGinger £30k for double storey does sound cheap but then there will be a lot of work on top of the 'shell'. Does that include any of the pipe work, wiring, plastering etc? What about windows. Bathrooms and kitchens will also be additional.

Our 2 storey wrap around extension will be around 45sqm. It will costs us 120k incl VAT to get to 'second fix' including windows, doors, plastering etc. But prices seem to vary a lot and there are definitely some on this thread who are doing it cheaper!

Good luck

Wow! £120k! That's the value of my house 😱

He said it'd include electrics etc., but no bathroom. I think we need to get some plans drawn up and get proper quotes before we go ahead with planning permission to check it's going to be affordable.

I think our first step is to get it up and have two usable rooms, then in future years sort out a bathroom, new kitchen etc. I think we'll need to do it in phases.

Lovely to read updates and welcome new joiners. Another painful week where only progress is fascias and guttering.

Hoping for plaster and last window next week.

I hate the weeks of limited progress.

I’m going to sound daft here, but when m2 sizes are quoted, is that the size of the footprint i.e what is touching the ground, or the extra space over each floor?

@tokenginger. Welcome. I think if you budget £2k per sq m you should be ok. Maybe a bit less for 2 storey and because you are outside London/SE. If yiu find a smaller builder/subcontract you might be able to get the work done under the vat threshold to bring the cost down. You might want to consider putting in the pipework for a future bathroom/kitchen even if you don't install it now as it will be more expensive to rectify later.

We are having a frustrating week waiting on roof tiles - the builder thinks 14 days. Frustratingly I found out yesterday that our windows are ready and could be fitted next week but the builder wants to wait until the roof is done. We have battens and fascia now though.

@weepingwillow22 Look at that beautiful garden. Thank you for the advice :) I need to get my tape measure out, haha. Our house is only small so the area to extend out to is only small, too, so I'm hopeful it won't be too expensive.

@missfliss I don't want to be mean but there's a pallet of plaster on the driveway right now...
@intheningnangnong usually people mean the 'new' bit. eg a 45m2 is 45 sqm of newly built 'stuff' and the cost varies wildly but in the region of 2.3 - 2.7k per m2

I met the sparky on site today to decide on downlighters. He had two versions, a flat surface white one and a white one with a flat surface lol I then felt very stupid after telling him I'd supplied 3 exterior wall lights for him... he said there's 6 needed! I hadn't even noticed the others. Straight to Amazon for me

@tokenginger This might help you with costs
www.self-build.co.uk/extension-cost-guide/. It is showing a bit less than I mentioned at £1.5k per sqm for 2 storey

@Loofah01 stop with your plaster boasting !

@intheningnangnong. The sq m refers to total each floor added together. So 40 m2 could be 20 sqm ground floor plus 20 sqm second floor.

@Loofah01 ours is hard to really work out as it’s also the renovation of the rest of the house. A quick back of a fag packet says the price we are paying is about right. ... thank god we didn’t go with our first builder who increased the price by 34% 3 days before he was due to start

Thanks BTW !

[quote missfliss]@Loofah01 stop with your plaster boasting ![/quote]
But it looks so good on the wall! haha! (I am truly sorry, I know it's horrid waiting on such a basic thing) If only I had windows :(

@Loofah01 no joke - by complete coincidence and quite unexpectedly the last window has just arrived !

It's karma!

Last window is in...

[where's the party popper emoji??]

@TokenGinger I was advised that the ‘second fix’ normally costs the same as the first build. Next door just got a wrap around extension for 60k but they wanted another 60k to complete the job so they've decided to do it themselves. Equally my friend was quoted 20k but finished it’s come to 40k.

@weepingwillow22 progress looks good!

@missfliss must feel so much closer to finish with all the windows in.

Anyone got any recommendations of window companies? Or ones for French doors?
DH is keen to get aluminium and to replace all of the ones on the back at the same time.

I'm slightly in love with you extension @weepingwillow22!

I need a hand hold - and some wine. Builders went ahead with knock through despite no windows or roof tiles. It's a bit of a mess at the minute! Loving our new bedroom view though...

@birdbrained That is brave but at least the weather is lovely at the moment. I half wish we could do the same and crack on with things. Your angled window looks great.

@postmanbear Our windows will be aluminium, I should be able to tell you in a few weeks if they are any good. They are ALUK are we also looked at Alitherm 300 which seemed good also with a slim profile but were a bit more expensive. To be honest I found the whole window business a bit confusing as there are manufactuers, fabricators and suppliers so one brand of windows may be made to a different specification by a different fabricator. We are using a local company to install. They seem quick - 4 weeks lead time, some of the companies were saying 12 weeks.

I just let my builder sort the windows as a part of the quote. I read loads around the Alu windows vs pvc and decided on balance to go for pvc. slightly better insulation around the frame in cold weather but admittedly not much in it. We're having anthracite outer with white inner, uPVC everywhere bar the bi-folds which are aluminium.