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

Oh @weepingwillow22 I'm sorry you're in limbo however as my build twin you'll be pleased to hear we are also having issues just the same, you're not alone. We haven't even got a complete roof yet. The 1st floor is done but not 1 tile on the ground floor. Although they built the hole for the posh velux yesterday for kitchen and It's massive.

Hello everyone 👋🏻

We are still plastering here. The new loft rooms and landing are all done, it's the last bit of the loft stairs and existing stairwell to do.

Some fire doors have gone on so far and skirting and stuff has arrived.

I think a bit more plumbing due this week and next.

We've decided to pay a decorator - it's a lot of money - but there is so much to do with all the hallways and landing and fire doors and balustrades and ceilings. We are just swallowing it.

I'm thinking reading some of your trials that I struck gold with architect and builder, the structural engineer said my architect is a proper architect because he gets the structural stuff and my my builder is seriously tidy! They're working at their previous site today avoiding the sun bouncing off white walls here as the next stage is tiling! Can't say I blame the it's sooo hot!

WE'VE GOT WINDOWS!!! There's only one lazy fucker putting them in but they're there.

@Loofah01

Yay for windows !!!

We are nearly fully plastered :-)

We have bricks!!!.. not seen them yet but arrival confirmed.

Windows, plaster, it’s the building equivalent of harvest festival

@intheningnangnong

Windows, plaster, it’s the building equivalent of harvest festival

😂👏

Harvest festival while on acid and gorging on ambrosia!

Felt so good about the windows I called the builder and tore a strip off him for being a messy bugger and just how the f* am I going to get the rooms painted in time for the carpets being fitted on monday? Hey presto - 4 extra bodies on site (will believe it when I see it) tomorrow to complete certain works, clear mess and clean :)

It's my own fault, I forgot I'm actually quite good at bollocking people.

My builder is lovely too - I have no issue with being assertive if there are issues but would hate to have to really tell someone off be have them working in my home. Ours is only a small company - 2 core team members who use the same electrician, plumber and roofers.

I'm very lucky I think - sorry to hear you have a poor relationship with yours loofah- what do you think the issue is with yours? Are they trying to do more jobs elsewhere and neglecting yours?

I think it's actually healthy to have "words" early on in the build so that they know you're not a pushover.
I mostly got on fine with my builder apart from him not telling me when no-one was coming in on a certain day. That wasn't major as I'm retired but I used to get up at 6.30 to move the cars off the drive so builders could park, and if they didn't turn up I had missed a lie in!
I'm grateful that my biggest disaster was him bricking up a door and then finding that the window wouldn't fit in the gap left. That's what happens when you put windows in "on the wonk"

Not so much a bad relationship @missfliss more of a situational problem. We're moving in next friday and the place is a shithole; carpets go down on monday and they haven't finished the bloody skirting boards or architraves yet! Have to at least get those filled and painted saturday which is massive work and impossible with all the mess. So have fired a salvo to get them to get a frickin move on which appears to have worked.

ah yes I see @loofah - how stressful. so many dependencies. Everything crossed that it works out, and I'm pleased you had the desired effect.

I am basically accepting that we won't be actually using our loft until mid august. They are finishing plastering still, decorator due later in July, then flooring - the bed that we ordered in March isnt due for delivery until end July...

I don't disagree @WhereDoesThisToiletGo re showing that you aren't going to be messed around early on in some cases. I hope this won't come back to bite me but I do have a good relationship with ours - I knew one of them in a different capacity before this work (his wife used to childmind our son before school!) so I know them to be very decent and there is an ongoing neighborly relationship there.

Can I join? Single mum. About to buy a terraced house but need to add on a dining room, build in a downstairs loo and other bits.

Ah the joys!

Question : I may be able to get some work done before I move in, I'm sensing this is a good idea? LOL

Lol oopsiedaisy. I would definitely recommend getting as much done as possible first. We lost our kitchen today and have finally partially knocked through. Whole wall to come down on friday and then we might get the first floor joints in next week.

Hi there. New to MN but this is the kind of thread I am looking for!
We are planning on having a rear extension done. Planning done, council approval done, drawings done.

We are dismantling a conservatory adding an L shape extension to the back. About 18m2 in total. Quite a bit of knock through, three steel beams needed. We will have a 45m2 open plan area as an end result.

The reason for it, the conservatory isn’t all year around use and I want more kitchen space. We have a narrow kitchen.

Budget 40k + 10k for new kitchen and other finishing touches. I think our budget is reasonable for where we are and not looking for particularly high end finishes. Talking to builders and tradesmen now, two estimates in at 60k and 68k for the build. Loosing a bit of heart there. Am I the only one who think that outrageous? We even said we will take down the conservatory and they can start ground work straightaway.

We are in the northwest.

@weepingwillow22

Lol oopsiedaisy. I would definitely recommend getting as much done as possible first. We lost our kitchen today and have finally partially knocked through. Whole wall to come down on friday and then we might get the first floor joints in next week.

Don't bother with first floor joists - leave it as it is and enjoy living in a cathedral!

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo I was thinking the same. I might go out there later and start praying for faster progress!

@Oopsiedaisyy@mothergooseinnorthwest welcome.

Mother, costs vary. We range on here for price but at my costs you should be about £45k + flooring + kitchen etc. But I'm in the south east and not a cheap area. So I would keep looking. Our quotes ranged from £110k to £207k for the same work. We had 7 in the end. Oh and for us for calculating our steels ( we have 7) average about 1k each with 2 smaller ones evening out the monster. Also be wary of builders that can start straight away, you may get lucky but generally a busy builder with a waiting list is a good sign. It's all very exciting and new we are 4 months in to construction and although very painful at times I would still chose to do it again.

@weepingwillow22 that space is amazing. Make sure you get lots of pictures before it evolves in to your house.

@slightlydustcovered thank you for the advice. And your build sounds so exciting!

We are waiting on other builders, five came out to see the property and 4 are still to quote. Fingers crossed that more reasonable ones will follow. We are hoping these two just over quoted because they don’t particularly need work.

Glad I found this thread. A great read so far.

Just jumping in to say we are very nearly finished but we decided to put in air con to our loft conversion and it was far and away the best £1400 we spent. It’s 19 degrees in our loft and 26 in every other room of the house....

@mothergooseinnorthwest general estimate for new build is 2-2.7k per sqm. I would be stunned if you got 45sqm for 60k.

@Loofah01 I read that as the extension was 18m2 which would end up giving them a 45m2 room. If it's not then ignore my last post it's very wrong.

@mothergooseinnorthwest I think we were quoted 53k for a 21m2 extension and we are northwest. That included 4k budget for kitchen. We went bigger in the end so spent more

I'm doing a 7.2m and hoping for around 12?