Extension 2020 part 2: pandemics, plaster & plumbing

[birdbrained]

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...

Sorry to worry you. Thinking about it it might have been more to do with the fact the floor in the existing house was not level with the screeded floor in the extension. We had a few issues because we did not have much height for insulation etc in the existing house floor so we had to use a low profile underfloor heating kit that came with its own screed. Hopefully this should not be an issue for you.

Our screed levelled nicely over the UFH and yes it goes off very fast, we had to leave it a few days before putting LVT down. Then I think we had to wait 48 hours after the flooring went down (adhesive used) before we could test the heating.

Oh dear @Loofah01 that sounds uncomfortable. I read somewhere that builders get frustrated at finishing time because they are no longer making much of a profit on the job (the main stuff has all happened) but things like tiling are the most visible elements so customers get most involved and demand perfection. This squeezes the remaining profit margin even further.

We have got walls starting to go up, with insulation! The original part of the house has no cavity fill and it was really noticeable in summer on the south corner - we could not cool that room down at all. I have also been doing some draughtsman work to put down precisely what we want for lighting, sockets and audiovisual cabling. It's been fun! I have actually taken out sockets from the number on our architect's plans, and I wonder if I'm unwise to do that. Is more socketry always better?

Common error is apparently too many sockets @TyneFilth so you may have done the right thing!

Our builder cocked up his costings so became very difficult about half way through the build. I just want him to finish stuff properly (he's had to redo multiple things) and get the fuck out of my life.

I would say loads of sockets are good but it's more important where they are.
Now we are finished, I would say I am happy overall with the number of outlets we have but there are several we have never used. I also wish I'd put one closer to the kitchen table as I can't use my laptop there without an extension lead.
It depends how good you are at visualing how you will live in the space.
In my defence, one of the "never used" sockets was placed to power a reclining sofa which we have yet to buy. Mr WhereDoes loves the old sofas. I hate them.

I would also really put some thought into your socket plates as they are much more prominent if you are doing a kitchen.
I chose gorgeous ones. Well they were gorgeous in the showroom. They look cheap in our kitchen and they were NOT cheap.

@weepingwillow22 I tend to worry about everything that's why I am rapidly going gray

@TyneFilth, Loofah etc wiring diagrams sockets not even thought about them yet and we have supposed to have given that to the firm doing electrics last week !

Oh dear its Friday 13th and I want to go and bury my head under the bed clothes . DH has been on the roof to look at the upstand for the roof lantern and apparently its wrong about 35mm to big , firm fitting the lantern has said no problem DH has said no big problem frame will be twisted so big argument with fitters ending with DH telling them to get off the site reminding them we are the customer not them. Screeding firm are due this afternoon hope that goes well .

@Loofah01 I am with you just wish trades would do what they say they can do without coming back and either saying "oooo that's going to cost more" or "mmm we can only do this if we do this and that will effect this " F**K me don't they work on houses day in day out you would think that they would have done the job before .

Where did I put the gin

@Loofah01 I sympathise, we are having similar issues with ours. When we complained they had built the extension too narrow they agreed to do various bits for free for us as part compensation. They are now trying to get out of this and things are going so slowly. The electrican has been doing 2nd fix for nearly two months. Too make matters worse he had a falling out with his colleagues who will not tell him where in the walls the wires are. In one wall he has made 7 plug socket sized holes just to find them.

Sorry to hear of everyone's woes, we have been ok I think living on site helped us massively as we spotted and fixed a few things as they were being done. Also was able to make a couple of changes at no extra cost as they hadn't yet started. We have one ongoing snag we are holding money back for which is they installed the wrong glass in the w.c it's not privacy glass. They will be replacing this at their cost as was their mistake. And no I won't be happy with a stick on film.
Kitchen is going in and house is making slow but good progress.

I might sound unreasonable to be fair. They did a very good job up to first fix but they're clearly builders builders not builders and other trades. It's where they tend to fail and the chief bod is fuck all use in conflict or discrepancy - he just disappears until someone else sorts it.
I doubt any build of our size would have been error free so overall not bad but I'll be damned before I use the same team again!

Sorry to everyone who is annoyed and stressed!

Our architect seems to be a bit crap. I asked him to work in one or two skylights and he's put in a huge 1.5x3 one which is going to cost an absolute fortune. I've gone back and said can you put in something that is an industry standard size. It's literally like he just drew a new rectangle on the drawing!

Draughtsman creates the plan you want; architects create the plan they think you want...

@Loofah01 We employed architects. They did not provide any design input at all which was fine by me. However it also turned out they did all the drawings wrong, did not account for the timber frame in the existing house and forgot about the steels for the vaulted ceiling. They helpfully went bankrupt just as the build was about to start. I would happily employ a draftsman as long as they were competant.

[quote weepingwillow22]@Loofah01 We employed architects. They did not provide any design input at all which was fine by me. However it also turned out they did all the drawings wrong, did not account for the timber frame in the existing house and forgot about the steels for the vaulted ceiling. They helpfully went bankrupt just as the build was about to start. I would happily employ a draftsman as long as they were competant.[/quote]
Yikes. Not surprised they went bankrupt by the sounds of it! I used an architect too but he was very thorough and nothing structurally wrong and a couple of good suggestions which saved us at least their fee (I think...). I always recommend getting comparative quotes but if someone has a definite idea then there's no real benefit to using an architect over a draughtsman. Both can do drawings, the structural stuff is done by external structural engineers and anything electrical is simply marked up for the sparky to figure out.
Unless I'm missing something else of course!

We had a draftsman who fucked up the the application. I asked him if 3.2m was too high for eaves and he said no, it would be fine. We got rejected for exactly that reason. He paid for the second application but it meant we were delayed by 6 weeks. I spotted a few mistakes in his measurements in that process but our builder seems to think the end result he produced was really good with loads of details. So fingers crossed. We just broke ground today after demolition of the old kitchen. So far so good. But still just week 2 in what’s predicted to be a 18 week built.

Our builder told us yesterday that the grey window frames we want are hard to come by at the moment and he might only be able to get white. Anyone else hearing the same? I'm wondering whether it's more likely that he has priced for white rather than there is a supply issue...if so, I don't mind paying the extra as this was a detail we haven't been explicit about but just wondered if anyone else is hearing similar?

Also, on a slightly related point, he has asked me do I want the bifolds to be grey on the outside but white on the inside, or grey in and out. I'm not sure...what do others think? Would be really great to see photos if anyone has gone for white on the inside.

@mothergooseinnorthwest breaking ground is an exciting milestone...your foundations will be in before you know it! Our slab was supposed to be poured today but we were rained off so it's happening tomorrow instead. They are predicting we'll have the first storey built by Xmas. It feels like a long slog ahead.

@UptownFunkYouUp Are your windows aluminium or pvc? Ours are a mix of black and white aluminium. We were told the two tone ones take 3 months instead of 2 but the ones that were either black in and out or white in and out would take the same time. I think it might depend on the factory and how popular certain colours are although I think anthracite is usually one of the standard popular ones. Our builder wanted to charge us more money originally for black wibdows so we went with our own window supplier who was cheaper. Our bifolds are black in and out and I think this looks better than white in our room.

Due to various calamity's on Friday the 13th the floor did not get its final coat of screed. Which was just as well as the storms over the weekend blew the cover of the lantern upstand and we ended up with about 3inches of water everywhere. So for the last 3 days we have been drying out . Plumber has advised that we put of final screed until we are water tight. Window company boss has been round to look at the upstand and his team will be around Thursday to make adjustments. Hopefully we will be watertight next week if we get a couple of dry days.

@ Weepingwillow we went for Origin Bifolds in black took 4 weeks from site visit to being fitted, friendl of ours ordered bifold and windows in aluminium from same supplier 2 weeks ago and has been told they will be fitted before Christmas they did want the Crittall type but were told there was a 3 month delay for those

@UptownFunkYouUp I have two colour bifolds, grey outside and white inside and they look exactly as you expect. From inside they look normal white and outside they have the contemporary anthracite grey look. You don't notice the other colour whichever side you look from.

Our bifolds took a good six weeks and that was back in June. We have anthracite both sides and I really like the way the dark edges frame the view of the garden. The photo is from before the garden was finished.

Hey everyone, I've not posted for ages. We're mostly finished and have been living back in the house for two months. Mostly we love it but there are of course annoying snagging issues which have dragged on.

One question I have for those who used DIY kitchens - particularly Stanbury in Cobham blue. We've had quite a few problems of the paint chipping already. Annoyingly to reveal the white undercoat. Has anyone else had this? It makes me worry about what the kitchen will look like in a few years time!

I've had two but completely our fault. Dragged a pan over the drawer edge for one and similar for cupboard under sink. They should have included some touch up paint in the delivery for these things...

Had our first building control visit today. No need to dig any deeper for foundation. Concrete tomorrow. Phew. It rained so much after it was dug, felt like we have a moat .

On a grimmer note, boiler didn’t like being moved and stopped working, house has been without heating for 4 days now.

@birdbrained also thinking about getting Cobham Blue but in Luca for the kitchen. Our sample door scratched really easily, other colours seem to be fine. Not sure if it was unfortunately coincidental or that particular colour is more prone to chips and scratches.

Think this is the one I have in the WC www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/grohe-solido-bau-skate-complete-wall-hung-bathroom-suite
Everything feels really well made