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

I'm going for one ginormous piece of glass! But there's only one area that needs it and the hob is on the island.......I prefer the glass as it's easy to clean and reflects lots of light and we only have one medium window in the main kitchen area.

We're going tiles for our splash back... I ordered enough bloody tile samples and can't be bothered thinking about other options 😂

I’m not having a splash back I just want a painted wall and a small upstand.

The decision has been driven by the fact I can’t actually decide and my tiny brain has given up.

Here's a question - is it a standard height from worktop height to underside of cooker hood? 700mm 750, 800??

@Loofah01

Here's a question - is it a standard height from worktop height to underside of cooker hood? 700mm 750, 800??

I think it depends on if your hob is gas, standard electric or induction

We had Alusplash instead of the glass we initially wanted, mainly cos budget was shot.
I'm delighted with it, but the colour choice is very limited. Luckily they do a dark blue which is what I wanted

OK, that sounds right... It's a gas one so probably a bit further away so minimum of 750mm probably. Might end up 850 as we have 2.5m high ceilings not the usual 2.4

New issue - if you HAD to pick a Howdens oak internal door, www.howdens.com/joinery/doors?door_location=Internal&colour=Oak, which one?

Another one - are you going for MDF or pine skirting boards? Or even a hardwood? Budget is torpedoed so I won;t be having real oak skirtings so a toss up between MDF or pine.
MDF more uniform but it's mdf... Pine is at least real wood and cheaper but much more prep to finish it off

Are you going to paint them @Loofah01 then I would probably say MDF... think my mdf snobbery stems from Lawrence Lewellyn Bowen and changing room horrors in the 90s. But think things have moved on since then and when we looked at kitchen doors we decided we preferred the painted mdf to the real wood!

@Loofah01 I like the dordogne...

I really hate the idea of MDF but might be the simplest option...

I don;t know why but Howdens have 3 doors basically the same, Dordogne, Genoa and the Holdenby, WHY WHY WHY?! All I want is a 6 panel but they don;t do one.

@Loofah01

I really hate the idea of MDF but might be the simplest option...

I don;t know why but Howdens have 3 doors basically the same, Dordogne, Genoa and the Holdenby, WHY WHY WHY?! All I want is a 6 panel but they don;t do one.

www.howdens.com/joinery/doors?number_of_panels=6&door_location=Internal

I like the Dordogne too

Still no fecking plaster ....

Gah.

Next week apparently.

My bathroom vanity unit is nearly ready though ! Being delivered on Friday.

Also - my front door has a new fox :-)

@missfliss very foxy.. looking really good. Example of DIY gone well. Slow progress this end we have had to get new roof tiles as although the reclaimed tile is easily obtained the bonnets and valley tiles are next to impossible. So we have gone new, builder not that happy as he is responsible for the cost on this one not us. But we have exhausted all other options. Next question and tempting overspend is a sun tube. We are going to end up with a hallway upstairs with only indirect light. We could put in a sun tube, would be a very short tube and rigid mirrored one but... would be north facing. So will it do enough? my gut says do it now as even a small amount of natural light can really make a difference. And I will never come back to it, but it's all £ which is not limitless.

@Slightlydustcovered to me light is very very important - so if it were me I think I would do it.

However you could consider some smart lighting ( Philips light strips) as an alternative?

@missfliss I think I am the same and I agree, we redesigned the whole floorplan as I wanted an actual window on the downstairs WC. I should probably follow my gut on this and push for it. I can always upgrade extras like posh paint, and tiles more easily so structure should be prioritized.. right time to call builder, then husband

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo and yet no oak option :(

Just stopped off at Howdens to look at the Holdenby (which is basically the Dordogne and the Genoa) and after a little dance around 'oh you can't come in or touch anything... it looks fine. Not great, but OK enough.

@Slightlydustcovered We put 2 sun pipes in the kitchen when we first moved in as we had to have the lights on all during the day as it was so dark.
They really did make a difference.
I recommended them to a client who had a landing with no window and it not only illuminated the landing, it also made a difference to the hall downstairs.
The length and number of bends makes more difference than it being north facing. Mine faced south west but were shadowed by trees. They also had several bends. Still worth it.

Beautiful vanity @missfliss can I ask where it's from?

Loving the foxy knocker too!

@birdbrained - it's from a joinery company called Jaxon Joinery - made to my specification

Argh. Fucking windows are delayed until a few days before we move in...

Ordered appliances today, that hurt too.

@Loofah01 that's a shame, ours have been ordered now and we have also been told already there is issues getting stuff through. Our builder has been queuing daily for plaster so we now have 20 bags which will buy us some time without delays. He said there are still backlogs with the big players but he seems to think it will be ok by the time we need more. New house tiles going on and look a good match so pleased with that. Trying not to fall in love with very expensive tiles, and failing a little bit.

@slightlydustcovered it's really buggered a few things. Flooring really needed the windows in but now we're just having to risk it. Same with kitchen fitting etc. The whole place will effectively be unsecured but full of goodies! Decorating will also be compromised. All a bit of a bugger but nothing else to do but carry on regardless...

Too many nice things out there... ;)

@Loofah01 our builder ploughing in despite lack of windows too... plans to board up the windows and crack on basically... don't have any real estimate on when windows will be ready....

Annoyingly our windows were ready to be fitted this week but our builder says we need to get the roof tiled first so I had to tell the window company to wait. We are still stuck waiting for roof tiles to be delivered before anything else can happen.