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 am lurking on this thread as we'll have to do some DIY on our 1950s house when we finally get they keys (note to self - never buy during a pandemic...)

We don't have funds for a renovation yet, and it is fine as it is for now, but it does have some "interesting" features that will need to be DIYed out of it. It is that long since we've sat foot in the place though, I can't even remember what is what. Hope to get keys in next few weeks.

Have any of you watched "Your Home Made Perfect" on BBC2? I get great ideas of how we can jazz the place up which I then have to scale back

Another decorating tip - if you can, get the trade version of the paint, it's definitely better than the regular stuff!

Scaffolding came down today!

We still have a long way to go ( not least as we still have a skip!) but it does feel a bit like getting our house back.

@AnnieJ1985 welcome to the thread. I always watch that show. No one EVER chooses Robert'a designs. Poor chap.

@missfliss I'm very impressed at how undamaged your garden is

I was thinking the same. Our garden looks like a battle took place on it and we’re only just building the walls.

What garden lol mine's just compacted mud now

I was pleasantly surprised how well our garden survived the building works but we are fortunate to have a large block paved area at the front where they made all the mess (and cleaned it up beautifully)
My builder has just changed his company Facebook profile pic to one of my finished kitchen. Which is a bit cheeky as although he did the extension at the non-kitchen end and arranged all the trades (electrician and plumber) to prepare the space, the actual kitchen units were installed by someone else.!

After lockdown putting a stop to things, we now have a start date 😬 look forward to months of a building site!

@Inabarunderthesea

After lockdown putting a stop to things, we now have a start date 😬 look forward to months of a building site!

Oh goody, we can watch the fun and games commence! :)

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo that's a bit cheeky. Not sure how I would feel about that. @inabarunderthesea that is exciting it does go quickly though.

We are moving back in tomorrow hopefully we will have hot water then. Once this is done we can isolate in our "1st floor flat" and they can get on with knocking down the internal walls downstairs and getting the big steels in. I think I will stop being on edge so much from here as this is the point where I can finish the project myself. As all the structural work will be completed.
Need to order my floor in the next week, we are being a bit experimental with a reclaimed wooden floor. I have been advised to buy some type of wood sealer for boats.

@Slightlydustcovered. Yeah, I did think should I ask him to remove it but I think I'll let it go. He's already got the same photo on his FB page as part of a before during and after summary of our build, and most of those photos are his blokes directly doing the work. And we couldn't have got to installation stage without him.

I think if you are happy with the work I would also let it go. Have you shared a finished kitchen pic. If your happy to I can't remember seeing it?

The building work before, during and after

Living in it

Wow that looks great. What a transformation.

Wow, looks great. Was it worth it?

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo Good to see another finished project :) Can't wait to be there lol

Bamboo flooring going down as we speak. Have it in the two hallways, loo and dining/kitchen area, about 85sqm all told I think so it better be OK!!

Love it @wheredoesthetoiletgo!

I'm having a grumpy day today. No one onsite, so another day without progress...

Having a tiff with the company that were employed to translate the plans my architect brother drew up into building regs. They insisted on an additional fee to come out and measure the property- fair enough. But the builder subsequently found they had fundamentally stuffed up the measurements. We think the assumed cavity walls when they were solid. This has thrown everything off and has meant lots of adjustments on site. I got in touch with them and they've said it's not their problem because the builder should have told them the measurements were wrong. Not even a token sorry, or here's your money back for that site visit. The fact that a company specialising in architectural and structural drawers won't take professional responsibility for not being able to measure really irks me...

Rant over... only a few more hours until gin o'clock!

Nup, completely that company's fault and nothing to do with your builder at all! Bloody cheek. If they can't tell the difference between solid and cavity walls then they should be out of business. Threaten small claims.

I already have @Loofah01... let's see how they respond. Part of me wants to pursue it on principle, part of me thinks I have enough stress right now so should just let it go...

@birdbrained It's a slow old process and the forms are pretty straight forward using the online system. Think the filing fee is something like £250. Once it's fired off you might forget all about it lol
If you send a final letter before action they've had every opportunity to cooperate; be sure to make a cogent argument and include the facts as you'll include all communications as a part of the claim.
I suupose it depends on what's it's cost you but yes, completely appreciate the other things to focus on!

@Slightlydustcovered Was it worth it? Yes, definitely.
It cost a lot if you consider that the actual extension was The World's Smallest Extension , less than 2m x 3.5m plus a knock through into an existing TV room .
It has absolutely changed how we live in the house... We don't use the smart living room at all now but we might do when we are finally allowed visitors (there is more seating in there)
I underestimated the sheer upheaveal and dirt and dust, but we were lucky that nothing really went wrong or unforseen beyond the kitchen floor being dreadful under the old tiles and it took a lot to level it.

Your extension looks great wheredoesthistoiletgo and looks so much bigger than 2 x 3.5, it must be really well designed.

That sounds stressful birdbrained. We discovered part way through that our structural engineers had not done the calcs for the vaulted ceiling despite the glass apex being in the design. Also a lot the calcs were wrong as they had not taken into account the existing house was timber framed. When we went back to them we discovered they had gone into administration. Luckily the builder knew a structural engineer who quickly redid them for us but it resulted in 6 more steels being added to the budget.

We had an existing week as the downstairs sliding doors were installed. Upstairs to come next week.

@weepingwillow22 That looks amazing!
I like the narrow windows on the side elevation of the extension bit