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...

[Itwillbelovelywhenitsdone]

Hi, Can I join please? We have just had the builders start - demolition of the horrid 70s conservatory and digging foundations this week. And there’s a loooong way to go! We are having a two storey extension, and a garage conversion with first floor en-suite.

[Thethingswedoforlove]

Itwillbelovely- you are a week ahead of me. We start our work in August 10th. How long are you expecting yours to take? We are dojng a loft and a bedroom expansion. Expecting it to take 16 weeks. Plus decoration on top of that. So still hoping to be done by Christmas.....

[Itwillbelovelywhenitsdone]

Well the builders say 2.5 months which would be mid October, but I’m not holding my breath! I can’t imagine a time when it is actually finished... it has taken so long to get to this point that it seems impossible to imagine it ever ending!

[birdbrained]

Welcome newbies! May your builds be lockdown free!

Ok so general consensus seems to be warm light... And ok to be a chicken and go for white. Honestly even just choosing a shade of white has been hard enough!

Lots of progress here. Top floor plastered and has had its first mist coat. Friday the concrete floor for the kitchen was finally laid. Builder is hoping to start on second fix in the bathrooms next week.

Custom made vanities arrived and my tiles so very happy about that.

Delivery for the windows... August 13th apparently. Of course due the same time as the kitchen.

Have flooring booked for 7th September. And bloody determined to move in by the 15th. Though starting to realise things still won't be 'finished finished'... will they ever be? 😂

[Thethingswedoforlove]

Thanks bird. Must be so exciting to have the end vaguely in sight!

[Jeb86]

For those doing ensuites or bathrooms - what styles are you going for? It seems monochrome is “in” at the moment, and does look gorgeous! However...busy, messy family with a load of colourful plastic crap I’m not sure we can pull it off 😂

[missfliss]

@Jeb86 we are doing an en-suite. Probably not much help though as is not main family bathroom ( grown ups only).

Monochrome does look nice - I hear those Matt black fittings are hard to clean though.
Crittall shower screens and herringbone white metro tiles with dark grout could work well?

[birdbrained]

Crittall shower screens and herringbone white metro tiles with dark grout

@missfliss ha this is literally what we are doing... so hard to ignore Instagram trends!

@Jeb86 we are going for brushed stainless steel effect taps from the cross water mpro range. Figure it might be a bit better at hiding marks than black...

[missfliss]

@birdbrained we are going for those but in grass!

[missfliss]

Brass not grass ...

[Slightlydustcovered]

Well we could only afford the 2nd story if we didn't spend anything on fixtures and fittings. Our plan is to save up and redo in a few years. As a result my taps ( bristan ) came out of a skip, and I cleaned them up. The sinks were all being given away free. Same for our massive shower tray. I have bought a bath for £10 and a shower screen of eBay for £7. Tiles ( white) are off eBay again. We bought toilets as I work related to water I refuse to have push valve toilets so had to buy new to get what I want. And the ensuite shower new as going in a wall so not easy to change. Still need to find a screen for ensuite but am currently bidding on one so hope it comes good. So as a result I have 3 functioning spaces for less than £500 in total. However they are not what I would have liked!. But I can have fun choosing nice stuff in a few years when my monthly childcare bill reduces. If they turn out ok I will live with it and goon a fabulous holiday when this pandemic ends

[birdbrained]

@missfliss love the look of your bathroom btw, quite jealous... I wimped out on colour in the end...

[birdbrained]

@Slightlydustcovered that's super impressive and resourceful. I work in sustainability and have been such a massive hypocrite throughout the build buying so much new stuff. We did hope to reuse quite a bit of stuff but the builder has not been super helpful in this regard. We had a window we wanted to reuse but the opening they built for it was not the right size. And he refuses to use any of our old internal doors because they were a bit wonky so hard to rehang on straight frames... I'm really worried that by the end we will have ripped all the character out of the house and will be left with something quite bland... And a lot of this is also going on a credit card for now...

[Slightlydustcovered]

@birdbrained yes I hope it will work out ok, it does feel a bit more of a sustainable way. We are very lucky with our builder, while we were waiting for our slot he would message us to see if we wanted anything he was going to put in the skip, so we have grabbed a few bits. We give him a few quid for the effort he then needs to remove carefully. Everyone is happy.

[Loofah01]

@birdbrained A lot of the character has been torn out of our place. When stripping the walls initially we found the signatures and dates of the people who built and then lived in the house above a corner fireplace. I made it very clear that I wantd to keep the fireplace and the legend but turned up one day to find it in rubble; to say I was steaming would do it credit. It's just a reflection of the communication ability of my builders - feck all.
That said, however much character is removed, some is kept and becomes that much more important and you still have the chance to create some new character.

[Loofah01]

We've hit something of an impasse. Although we're in now there's still odd jobs that need finishing off before more progress can be made, ie completing everything. The other stuff that needs doing like the garden can't be done as we've literally run out of cash and my work dried up as soon as lockdown hit :( It's miserable being so close but not reaching the line!

[babyguffingtonstrikesagain]

Hi everyone,

We are 4 weeks into a 20 week project. We have had a conservatory, downstairs bedroom and downstairs loo demolished to make space for a 2-storey side and rear extension. We're extending our living room down stairs, moving the staircase and adding a snug and utility. 2 new bedrooms upstairs and an ensuite.

We have so far alternated a week at home with a week away at parents/in-laws which has worked quite well as we have limited access to the garden here (which the kids aren't appreciating).

All fine so far but I'm sure I'll be needing some moral support along the way, especially when it's time for the breakthrough and when some actual decision need to be made!

Nice to know that we are in it together!

[babyguffingtonstrikesagain]

This is where we're up to so far!

[missfliss]

More paint on walls - yellow this time ...

[babyguffingtonstrikesagain]

It matches the colour of your cat's eyes!

[missfliss]

Ha.
All our decorating is based on Rosie 🤣

[Pashazade]

Just wondering if anyone has successfully sold their old kitchen on eBay? If so any tips, nowhere near ready to sell it yet, I'm currently waiting for plaster to dry in the new one, but feel like I need to be thinking about stuff as I can't actually do that much that is practical right now.

[SheriffCallie]

Just popping on to introduce myself, and ask some advice from people further along in the process than we are.
How did people arrive at the ‘ready to build’ stage. Did you have a set idea of what you wanted, have plans drawn and then save for that work. Or did you have a strict budget, and go back and forward with an architect until you had a set of plans that were achievable.
We had a consultation with an architect to get views on feasibility for an extension for a kitchen-diner-living space. He commented on the setting and views, and how great an upstairs lounge would be to make the most of these. We agreed he could draw up plans to reconfigure the space completely, and we love these but realistically it’s out of our budget. Anyone else have this? Not sure whether we wait, and save (for ages), we if we can compromise on some aspects to reduce costs, or something else. We plan t stay here forever, so that sways me to wanting to spend. What has everyone else’s experience been?

[SheriffCallie]

I’ve been following everyone else’s projects from several threads ago, even though we aren’t anywhere near starting yet 😂
It’s really heartening to see people nearing the finish line.

[birdbrained]

Love the paint and the cat @missfliss!

Sounds frustrating @loofah01... we are also low on funds, trying to work out what we can scrimp on but also really just want to finish things properly.

Looks like good progress @babyguffingtonstrikesagain!