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

We're trying to do a small 'fast' extension - the new space isn't enormous, it's just enough to add one room to get us out if s pickle. The planning is in so the 12 week timer has started - we're willing to get the ball rolling on other parts at risk. What's everyone's experience on how long structural engineers and building regs take at the moment? I'm hoping to get the builder in to dig the exploratory foundation holes later this month

@UptownFunkYouUp ah I see. All sounds exciting! Your plan sounds soooo good. Glad there is someone else in greater Manchester to share the journey! Are you applying to the council’s building control?

@didireallysaythat

my SE took 48 hours after site visit. 3 steel beam design and roof timber design. My building reg drawings will have taken about 10 days if he delivers tomorrow as he promises.

@mothergooseinnorthwest

Thanks for sharing your timelines. The architect drew up plans about 24 hours after we rang him, we met with him and our builder about a week later, and submitted the following week. I need the next level of plans to be able to get our plumber on site to move things. Fairly comfortable about doing most of this at risk. The weak point will be the builder - we can't give him a fixed start date and due to nature of his work he won't manage to keep to one anyway.

@mothergooseinnorthwest yes and it sounds like we are at similar stages too, will be good to compare notes as we go.

@didireallysaythat I’m finding everything seems to take ages, the people you’ve worked with so far sound very responsive. We first instructed our architect back in March, we got PP through early June and since then I’ve been waiting for the structural calcs and building regs approval and haven’t been given a fixed date but I’m hopeful for this week for the detailed drawings and no idea how long the building regs approval will take! We’ve done everything in sequence though so if you’re happy to do some things in parallel then that will obviously be quicker so my timescales are probably not very helpful to you.

@intheningnangnong Wow, 23 pages of complaints! Glad all went through OK. I completely get the timing is awful for our neighbours, so am trying to put myself in their shoes. Having an agreed surveyor has actually taken out some of the stress of the situation for me...just hoping the bill doesn’t go too high!

@mothergooseinnorthwest Fingers crossed that your foundations will be fine. Yes, we are sharing the surveyor so cheaper than things could have been.

Highlight of the build so far... our Velux Cabrio went in today. So happy with this view!

Highlight of the build so far... our Velux Cabrio went in today. So happy with this view!

That is lovely birdbrained, the cabrios are so clever and its a beautiful view. It looks like your build is really coming along fast now.

We are still at the walls being removed stage. We had another wall removed today and tomorrow the window in the middle at the rear should come out to make way for bifolds. No idea when the builders are planning to put the first floor in, maybe they are hoping that we will decide it is better left open!

@weepingwillow22 are you having double height glazing? It will look amazing. The space looks so huge!

@birdbrained what nice view you have there! Perfect to have that kind of window.

Our top ranked builder won’t be able to start till next year. The search continues while we wait...

Wow 😮 @weepingwillow22 that is just exquisite!

Beautiful view from your velux cabrio @birdbrained am very jealous we would have loved those but not possible with local
Planning laws

Wow 😮 @weepingwillow22 that is just exquisite!

Beautiful view from your velux cabrio @birdbrained am very jealous we would have loved those but not possible with local
Planning laws

Morning all, we have windows for the 1st floor going in this morning this is exciting as once this space is livable our temporary kitchen will go in there and ground floor work can start.
Welcome to all those joining the madness hopefully you will escape the covid 19 delays.

There is a digger making holes in my garden (well, rubbish side bit full of concrete). Exciting to see a bit of progress!

Morning all, we've got the main steels in that needed fitting between the existing house and new. A pain as our kitchen is about 2sqm big for now but the rest of the steels should be more straight forward! Floor joists have gone in for the first floor and it seems it's all becoming more real.

16 courses of brick to lay before roof trusses. Hoping weather is kind rest of this week 🤞🏼

Anyone still experiencing any Covid delays? X

Yes we are. Bloody 2nd delivery of bricks has been further delayed. We do have scaffolding staring on Thursday though so hopefully not too many delays.

What a lovely idea to have adult space to hideaway and relax in!!:)
Might you have skylights to star gaze up through when in the bath ?
Dreamy.

Gosh things moving quickly for everyone hard to keep up!!

We are still waiting on windows @bez91 but fingers crossed most supplies are now ok.

Jealous of those windows @slightlydustcovered!

Wow @weepingwilllow22. That is going to be an amazing space. Shame you can't keep the amazing cathedral like double height space... very grand designs but not very practical from a cost/benefit/space use perspective.

We have a staircase. Lovely to be able to go upstairs without braving the wobbly ladder. Plasterboard going on rapidly. Starting to see light at the end of the tunnel!

Anyone else annoyed that they will likely miss out on green funding for insulation and double glazing etc? We have done a huge amount to improve energy efficiency of our house with the extension! Such is life...

Snuck a sneaky peak at my new bath today - been wrapped up for 4 weeks. Can't wait to have a soak in it

Oh wow that looks beautiful.

Well we have made a little more progress this week although I was hoping for more. New bedroom is taking shape now and I am starting to measure up to heck what of our old furniture will go where and if we need anything else. Which is fun, although should maybe sort out the practicalities first. New washing line needed.

Beautiful bath @missfliss the bathroom really will be something special. I need to get on and order shutters for our bathroom window, but was trying to wait until I had done the tiling so I got the size spot-on. I think I may just have to start pushing on now

Our bloody neighbour has been out moaning again. Our builder needs to be canonised as he’s rigged up a screen to stop any sight line into their garden from the scaffolding. Love the fact she expects this, but never thought to offer it to us during her extensive building work.

Disaster for us today. The site was robbed overnight. Could have been worse. They took copper, lead and cabling. The builder is now doing everything he can to secure the site but we are vulnerable until the windows arrive. So gutted. And so anxious they might come back.

@birdbrained oh no, that’s awful. People are vile aren’t they. I hope the impact isn’t too great.

@birdbrained oh no that's awful, it's a worry isn't it thinking they'll be back.

We've had a couple of people knock on the door seemingly innocently asking for waste we've left on the front (old dishwasher, fridge and a couple of steels out the skip) they still make me suspicious 😒