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Extension 2020 part 2: pandemics, plaster & plumbing

537 replies

birdbrained · 28/07/2020 19:02

Original thread: Extension / loft conversion thread 2020 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/3783237-extension-loft-conversion-thread-2020

Hopefully during the course of this thread the plaster will be in abundance, the windows will arrive and houses will be put back together...

OP posts:
Thread gallery
144
bez91 · 29/09/2020 18:22

Sorry should read £43.99 per ms2

Pashazade · 29/09/2020 18:44

@bez91 see attached photo for my quote, entire space is 45 square meters but minus probably 10 or so for where the cabinets are. Sorry I don't have break down for tiles separately but they were Amtico wide planks LVT. Oh I'm in the south east for rough area pricing!

Extension 2020 part 2: pandemics, plaster & plumbing
Slightlydustcovered · 29/09/2020 21:01

So I have spent more hours than I care to remember on my knees sanding, filling and waxing the floor but I have finished. It will dull a bit over the next week but at least it's protected from kids and builders. We are almost ready to get rid of our builders and then it's over to us. Upstairs is waiting on carpets being fitted in stages over the next few weeks and kitchen due end of October.
@bez91 The lvt quotes are coming in at roughly what I was being quoted, I am still trying to work out what we do in the hallway downstairs. I love a checkerboard entrance but not sure it suits a 30s style house.

Oh and I have come up with an electrics plan to sort out the wall lights with the sparky today and am going in from floor above tomorrow to get them separated . £100 well spent I think the switch will be slightly off but I would rather this than no control.

Extension 2020 part 2: pandemics, plaster & plumbing
TyneFilth · 30/09/2020 13:14

Hello again all. I went quiet for a bit after introducing myself on this thread, but this week we started our project. The schedule says 20 weeks....

Yesterday the temporary rearranging of gas/elec/water supplies was done and today has been all about demolition. Slightly too much demolition as it happens - they've gone through our internet cable despite us having labelled and warned about it. DH is a bit hopping mad but he had a desk in his local office booked anyway so he has gone there to escape the chaos. The lead guy on site says they're getting the electrician to come and fix it, so I hope this is just a small blip.

Attached 'before' photo from Monday morning...

Extension 2020 part 2: pandemics, plaster & plumbing
TyneFilth · 30/09/2020 17:34

Omg after writing that, I've had more of a nightmare day. Turns out we have forgotten to inform our insurers and mortgage company so I am having to backpedal madly. We might technically be uninsured at this moment.

The internet got fixed though, so that's something.

Slightlydustcovered · 30/09/2020 23:43

@TyneFilth welcome back. We all have those days. I've had a few recently. Grin

weepingwillow22 · 01/10/2020 04:24

@TyneFilth If it makes you feel any better I only remembered to call our insurance company 4 months into our build, the day before we knocked through!

Loofah01 · 01/10/2020 09:58

@TyneFilth

Omg after writing that, I've had more of a nightmare day. Turns out we have forgotten to inform our insurers and mortgage company so I am having to backpedal madly. We might technically be uninsured at this moment.

The internet got fixed though, so that's something.

If that's all the worries you have then you're light years ahead of most of us! Be more worried about building control not being informed etc by the builders (or whoever is dealing with that)...

I'm back onto the DIY planner, this time for my utility room. My dad has very kindly donated some cash and we're being careful with it but I'd really like the utility completed. Not such a simple job as there's pipes and controls and all sorts in the room but I should be able to get round it using studwork and removing the back panels to the units so everything is accessible. You can tick a box for dry assembly which will make the install a bit easier too :)

positivelynegative · 01/10/2020 10:51

We have finally smashed away all the old house and now it’s only upwards!

Good luck with the utility @Loofah01 I’m also going to have too much project at the end of our cash!

Loofah01 · 01/10/2020 15:07

Cheers, I'm going to have a bash at installing it myself - they say it's so simple so I'm going to test that!

Loofah01 · 01/10/2020 16:53

Utility coming in at 2.6k with worktops, sink and taps, no appliances. Not too bad.

UptownFunkYouUp · 02/10/2020 14:26

Best of luck with the project TyneFilth.

Can anyone tell me an approximate cost if getting wet underfloor heating installed per square metre?

Also, for those that have it, is it good?! Just trying to decide whether or not to spend the extra on UFH in the downstairs part of our extension or just stick with radiators. It will be a reasonably big space at 8x7m if that's relevant.

positivelynegative · 02/10/2020 18:31

The bigger the space the better it works. I’d not do a large open space without it. No idea on the cost though as all part of our build.

weepingwillow22 · 02/10/2020 18:45

We used this system because it does not add much to floor heights in renovated areas. You can see prices here.
shop.nu-heat.co.uk/products/lopromax-underfloor-heating-kit-onezone
You also have to factor in the cost of insulating underneath, possibly levelling on top with latex and ideally ditra mat to deal with any differential movement if tiling.

weepingwillow22 · 02/10/2020 18:47

I can't tell you if it is any good yet. Our system is not being turned on until monday and then the temperature is only gradually over the next few weeks.

TyneFilth · 03/10/2020 08:46

Can any of you advise me on window and kitchen delivery timescales? I spoke to a guy at a local showroom yesterday who said that their workshops had no problem with materials for units and doors, but appliances had been a bit of a problem this year as so many of them come from continental Europe. We won't be ready for kitchen fitting until February at least, so I'm thinking of buying appliances well in advance and storing them (we have a secure and weathertight garden office with enough space). We only need to buy oven and induction hob, but we haven't done any research into which oven (double, or two separate, and warming drawer?) And DH is worrying about warranty if you buy it but don't fit and test it straight away.

On windows, our schedule has them going in the first week of January after a two week site shutdown over the holidays (I see we don't have the Chr----as emojis yet!). I've asked two companies for quotes and specified that date. What are the chances....?

@UptownFunkYouUp on the UFH, I don't know about prices but would agree that for a room that size it is by far the best way to achieve consistent and even heating. We had it in the small extension we did ten years ago (3*4m) and the feeling under foot was lovely. I'm now umming and ahhing over whether to get a wet UFH system for the original rooms of our house which have suspended timber floors - our new room will be a concrete screed but opening into a kitchen in the old part. You can get dense foam like celotex insulation with ufh pipes through it, which you fit between the floor joists with a foil insulation/reflector below it. I want to avoid going from warm extension floor to cold underfoot in the kitchen.

thistimenextyearplease · 04/10/2020 10:43

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to join you all. We started our extension last week. 5 years in the making. We are doing a double storey extension on an end terrace in the south. We'll be going from a 3 bed, 1 bath 72sqm to a 4 bed, 3 bath 160sqm house. We're desperate for more space now with 3 kids!

We hit a few snags already with the foundations and ground conditions but seem to have found a solution, with extra cost of course Smile.

Has anyone had UFH upstairs at all? We're having it put in downstairs but currently debating whether to do this upstairs too.

thistimenextyearplease · 04/10/2020 10:45

@TyneFilth our builder has said there's a 9 week lead time on windows at the moment. So your January timescale seems realistic if ordered in the next couple of weeks.

UptownFunkYouUp · 04/10/2020 16:05

Thistimenextyearplease wow - more than doubling your space, that sounds amazing! Best of luck with it all.

I don't suppose you know the per metre cost to supply and install your UFH by any chance?

Loofah01 · 04/10/2020 16:46

We doubled our bungalow too, went from 100 to 200m2 and haven't done the loft conversion yet! It's a killer on the wallet though :(

Loofah01 · 04/10/2020 19:07

Curtain shopping recently... fucking awful job lol Went to 3 department stores (debenhams, house of fraser and M&S) and found precisely zero curtains, not a single one in the place! Just where are people buying their curtains from as it seems bloody difficult to track them down. Ended up in Dunelm today and after a few arguments that only petty soft furnishings can trigger, we have so new 'drapes'. Now have to figure how to attached a curtain pole to insulated plasterboard.

Pashazade · 05/10/2020 07:31

@TyneFilth I would definitely order your appliances now if you've got space to store, I was lucky as I ordered mine the moment lockdown eased at the end of May, but even then had to go with the showroom display model to get my dishwasher as there were just constant delays on delivery (it is a Bosch). I had the dishwasher delivered at the beginning of September and there was still no sign of the original order coming in. Other items that did come in were Neff and Fisher &
Paykel but I've no idea if make has a baring on things right now.....

bez91 · 05/10/2020 08:00

@TyneFilth yes I'd agree with @Pashazade we struggled for our fridge/freezer big time!

We're nearing the end, well moving back in. Kitchen being fitted today, main bathroom next week just waiting for electrics being connected hopefully tomorrow and second fix joinery.

Got most of the decorating done downstairs but as soon as it's liveable we're back, I don't care if we have no flooring for now 🙈

Loofah01 · 05/10/2020 10:39

We got lilke that toward the end @bez91, even ended the contract on the place we were renting to make sure we HAD to move! It gave everyone a good focus on getting a move on, even if it did require a few salvos before the builders got the point. All worked out :) (Much to the disgust of the lettings agent bitch that was constantly threatening 'action' and 'consequences' if we ended up needing to extend because of the building work running over. I really hate lettings agents)

TyneFilth · 09/10/2020 19:45

I have footings!

Extension 2020 part 2: pandemics, plaster & plumbing
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