An extension will take six months??? Give me strength 🤣

[Missboo1]

Hi all

We're having an extension completed this year. This includes a three metre rear extension and adding a bedroom on top - this won't extend beyond the rear of the house but instead will be over our existing utility.
It isn't a full width extension either, just half width of the house.

Also hoping to convert our garage into a split office/bathroom, and putting a wall back up in our living room, so our existing dining room becomes part of the new extended space as a "snug"
My husband has spoken to his dad,who has said he believes the work is going to take six months 😞
We are hoping to start the build early July (when planning is confirmed) and had originally hoped it would take 3months.

Because...big issue is I'm pregnant and due in October 🙈

Has anyone had a rear extension and small second storey extension like this and can give me any advice about how long it truly took?

Anyone ever had an extension like this with kids in the house?
We could move in with my parents but I think six months might break is 😂

Any advice?

Ours took about 6 months - kitchen extension with small bedroom on top - sorry!

Hello. Our single storey one took a YEAR. Covid lockdowns and supplies didn't help but I couldn't believe just how long it took to finish the remaining bits

I had a small single storey extension to my kitchen and replaced the kitchen. I had a six month old baby when it started. Scheduled for three months. It took nearly a year. Assume that it will take at least twice as long as the builder specifies, then you can only be pleasantly surprised. And ensure your contract is to pay for the job, not the hours it takes!

First thing that strikes me - have you been talking to builders already and agreed a start date? If not, I think your plan to start in July is optimistic!

Whether you can stay in the house depends on two things IMO:

• Will it be water tight the whole time or open to the elements? If there's a time when there is no roof or back wall, it will be cold in the winter months. No amount of heating will help and that might be tricky with a baby. You will also need a building who will work around you properly - ensuring areas they're working on are boarded up so there is some privacy/security.
• Is the rest of the house big enough to put the fridge in the hall (say) and set up a microwave, slow cooker and stove?

I would be inclined to think you can stay until the baby is born and should then move in with your parents for the winter months.

I’d say 6 months is about right based on a few friends’ extensions.

Three months is unrealistic.
Ours took 4 and it was a lot less than yours

I think 6 months is pretty realistic.
Have you got builders lined up? Are you aware there's a shortage of cement at the moment? And, I understand, other materials.

Our single storey is supposed to be 6 months. So fa4 so good. But we’ve been able to keep the full kitchen. So no real disruption apart from the noise and not having a back ga4den.

Our planned 12 week extension took 17 weeks. That was with the builders doing 11 hour days 5 days per week and sometimes Saturdays. This was pre Brexit and pre Covid so no supplier issues.

Ours should have taken 8 weeks - it took the best part of six months. Not helped by the builder losing interest in the final bits.

We've just had a half width single storey extension (with new kitchen), plus downstairs wall replaced to make a snug. Central heating installed, house rewired and replastered. New bathroom.

It took 6 months, though the 'shell' was completed about 3 months in. They worked most weekends for those 3 months.

After 3 months we could move back in as upstairs was completed (bedrooms and bathroom) and worst of the mess and dust was finished. But there was still a lot of inconvenience and hassle. OK with a teen who was at school all week, I am not sure how I would have coped with a new born.

After 6 months there are a few cosmetic bits and pieces still left, but nothing that affects us living here.

We did a single story extension but it required complete rebuilding of the kitchen and the bathroom and we moved out.

We were out of the house for 7 months and when we went back in it was only just habitable. A year in total. But we used a small firm. I would go for the big firm that can quote for timescale as well as price.

We had double height extension along the side of the house included new kitchen, 2 new bathrooms and bedroom. It took 5 months was supposed to be 3. We only moved out at the point they ripped the bathrooms out, so maybe 6 weeks in total. This was pre Brexit and covid and we got really lucky that we only lost a few days due to poor weather.

We had a two storey side extension. .took 4 months back in 2014. The worst bit was when they broke through bit dusty!

I'm in the middle of this so following with interest.

We are closing in a corner at the side/back of our house, and adding an ensuite above that.

Have your plans gone to the council for planning permission? Have you had any objections from neighbours? Ours had no objections, but still took weeks!

We are now awaiting the structural plans, which again, have taken weeks longer than expected!

Any large trees currently or previously around the house? Before we bought the house, there was apparently a 10m conifer, so the structural engineer wants the foundations dug 2.25m down!!!

We are living in a static van onsite. Would this be an option? Its the best decision we made. Its a warm, clean escape from the main house. We are also doing complete structural works, including a new roof, windows, plastering etc- so alot more than just the extension. Even rooms closed off from the build have dust everywhere!

Best of luck, but have a plan B for a nursery/somewhere clean if the house isnt ready by Oct.

Ours took 8 months over the winter. The builder had other jobs on at the same time so jobs overlapped. We didn’t have a wall and the roof was on loosely over Christmas. Turn the boiler conked out two days before Christmas Day. We had to buy a new one.

We had a side extension (over garage) and then extended out the back double storey - it took 6 months - we moved out for the last three as at one point we didn’t have an entire back of house!

We had a small, single storey side extension that took a year instead of the quoted 3 months. That included our builder becoming terminally ill and unable to work, a pandemic, and finding a new builder who wasn't completely ripping us off due to our desperate situation. Even without such calamities, factor in longer than they tell you!

We had a ground-floor only extension years ago at a time when the building industry was in recession.
Our builders threw everyone they'd got onto our build to keep them in work.
It still took 3 months.

6 months to a year I'm afraid. Neighbours single storey extension with new kitchen took 4 months, my colleagues 2 storey with kitchen and bedroom above has taken a year and has nearly broken her with wfh and 3 teens. Her builders were booked 9 months ahead as good people are booked well ahead otherwise you know they will be on more than one job at a time

Ours was slightly bigger than yours but pre covid. It took 12 weeks total just the builders (then a few more to outfit kitchen/ paint etc.). But, a) we had to wait 12 months for our builder to be free and b) he had a team of 4 who only do one job at a time (part of the reason we waited for him).

Have you got a builder lined up? It's always worth waiting for a good one - ones who are free immediately aren't worth the stress when it inevitably goes wrong.

Sounds about right...
We had a single storey rear extension, and small side extension to go into the garage, and then bricked up the garage door and insulated inside so garage was converted. Kitchen was part of this, but actually we kept most of the original kitchen and didn't move any plumbing etc so not a huge internal job. It took 4.5 months I think. Add on another few weeks for minor landscaping out the back garden as the garden was pretty much a mud-bath building site by the end and we wanted it ready to use in the summer.

I must say, ours was very straightforward and due to the actual plan there wasn't much true building work involved (one wall at the rear was knocked and rebuilt further out) as most orginal walls remain. We were also very lucky that we didn't face a single hiccup the whole time. Many friends extensions haven't been as lucky, and it only takes an unexpected drain move, or pipe issue to delay things by a week or so.

First thing that strikes me - have you been talking to builders already and agreed a start date? If not, I think your plan to start in July is optimistic!

I should coco!! I don’t know where you are OP but builders across the country are rammed at the moment. We’ve just got pencilled into our builders calendar ..... for next spring. Good luck finding a builder who can start before October I’d say!

Yes, I think you're being slightly optimistic - sorry.

Previous extension (double storey rear extension) took about 9 months.

Currently looking to extend a bit more at the side - councils are inundated at the moment - we put in for planning permission at the end of February (all very straightforward / no issues). We're still waiting for approval.