Extension thread 2021 - countdown to Christmas

[Callmejudith]

New thread for continued celebrating, moaning and commiserating

@NoTeaForMe we are going for engineered wood. Our good friend is an installer and said it would be absolutely fine. I hope so!

@PoshWatchShitShoes are you feeling a bit better about it all now? The mess is just horrible isn't it.

We move back into our place on Thursday. I have some cleaners coming that day to clean all the bedroom carpets and bathrooms so hopefully it'll be ok. Still dusty but ok.

Builder has been doing the manhole move- garden is an absolute mess and DH is panicking but I said the garden can wait, we need the kitchen bit prioritised. Lovely plasterer was back today working hard. Screed was supposed to be happening tomorrow but that doesn't look likely. As long as it's done by the end of the week I'll be happy then it has 10 days to dry before the kitchen goes in.

We also have a velux which I absolutely love.

Velux love

Good luck with imminent kitchen deliveries and choosing.

Love a velux window!

Architects have gone way down in my estimation since we got involved with building. They seem to have no real idea of costs and give falsely low ideas for a quote, then the actual builders come in with numbers way higher and everyone’s upset.

Think our first one said about 30/40k for our loft extension (involved taking roof off and redesigning it, not just a conversion). Came in nearer 100k including a new bathroom. DH wasn’t pleased with high quotes until they assured him the architect was just plain wrong.

Roofer guy did have most of his tools stolen. Out the back of his van while parked at a Toby carvery having dinner. He’d backed right up to some trees and parked right by his friend but they managed someone to squeeze in and grab about 4K worth of stuff.

He’s back at work today thankfully with what he has. His van also died on him, having a bad run of luck.

Plyboard has gone on most of the side roof, he’s nearly finished the upstand for the side skylight - the surveyor is coming on Thursday, 🤞 they can get them in before they break for Christmas.

Does mean the house is getting even darker now as the kitchen side window looks out into the extension which is being boarded up.

Will be worth it in the end

That should be our mantra Living

Just had a call that our oven and hood was coming tomorrow - no thank you! Managed to put them off until next Friday

Tiler in today luckily I was there to tell him the floor pattern.

Looking good for screed too.

I’m off to a lighting showroom hoping to find some nice wall lights

Sounds like everyone is moving along well with their extensions, despite the seemingly inevitable hold ups! I was on this thread at the beginning but got caught up in planning and project managing the builders, so hope it's okay to come back?

Ours is going well currently, the builders have been great mostly, with a few hiccups along the way... we have the roofers here today - finally - after over a week of going AWOL for various reasons. And we have some tiles on the roof! Hurrah!

Had a bit of an alarming situation a few days ago. The roofers had put membrane over the extension and had thought they'd 'tucked it under' the (existing part of the) stripped roof enough, but then we had torrential downpours which led to our cloakroom light fitting having water running out of it !

Luckily, we are converting the cloakroom into hallway, as access through to the extension, and we were going to overboard it to try and 'blend' the ceiling heights anyway (due to lintel position). So, it shouldn't be too much extra work hopefully...but it was a bit worrying waking up to an inch of water in there!

We are now almost at the end of the builders' work, another week or so they think, there's just the roof to finish and then the French doors and windows to go in, and then it's over to dh and I to finish the rest!

We have started inside already, dh has built the dividing block wall between new kitchen and bathroom, and started building the bathroom end wall out of studwork. We are waiting for blocks so he can block up the existing French doors between ds's room and the new bathroom - although ds did say he doesn't mind keeping them in so the new family bathroom could 'also be his en-suite' .

We have planned the layouts for the plumbing, electrics, new kitchen and bathroom. The lintel for the knock-through is in, and we have all the timber and plywood for the subfloor here ready to go.

Kitchen flooring is ordered, and should be here later today - we've gone for oak parquet blocks, which we'll be fitting (all 1340 of them...) and finishing them with oil (I think!) ourselves... should be fun .

Still loads left to order but we are limited on dry storage space as the roof/windows aren't finished yet, so I can't order plasterboard etc!

Itching to get remaining builders stuff done and the scaffolding down and out of the way so we can start doing our bit !

Unfortunately, due to the previously mentioned rising costs of materials during the build, we will have a smaller budget left for finishing everything else, so will have to economise where possible, and I'm holding off on ordering our kitchen until I know what our final budget will be...and we'll be taking our time and completing it all in stages as we have saved up more funds !

@HappyBackHome sounds like great progress. I’m so impressed when people do stuff themselves both me and DH are useless at DIY.

Just been to the Pooky lighting showroom they have some gorgeous stuff. Found the perfect wall lights which you can swivel 360 degrees.

@Callmejudith we would have done the whole build ourselves if we could but time and skills constraints meant we had to have some help!

We are mostly doing a lot ourselves to save money if I’m honest, we sold our 4 bed ex-LA semi to move here and buy a 2 bed bungalow, which cost £50k more to start with and was really too small… but the plot is great, its detached, in the location we want to be in, it’s near to dc school, and we are planning on staying here permanently, so it will all be worth it in the end!

Do you have pictures of the wall lights? I have never seen any wall lights that I like, (based on the brass 2-armed ones with frilly glass shades I’ve seen before )! I would be interested in seeing what’s available these days. We will probably mostly be using down-lights from screwfix on our budget, so it would be lovely to see what others are planning on a grander scale .

We were just debating wall lights and said no, which I'm hoping we don't regret... We use them all the time in our living room. We're having a lantern roof type skylight with spotlights around that are dimable (if that's a word), the skylight has LED lights around, and we know we want a big lamp by where we'll put the sofa. Planning out all the walls with where storage will go, radiators, light switches, there wasn't anywhere obvious to have wall lights. Find these decisions that require visualising something when it's finished very difficult.

We’re all pretty useless at DIY too, I used to turn my hand to some things but cba anymore if I’m honest. I know it’ll be done better by a professional than my bodge job.

The side roof skylight hole is ready for the surveyor tomorrow.
They’ve started on the pitched bit at the front, I didn’t really want it and think it’s a waste of time but Planning liked it as it makes it look old/in keeping so I’ve had to roll with it.

The roofer (who I really like) says Monday will be his last day. When he left after the loft I knew he’d be back but this is the last roof I’m ever building lol!

The floor in the extension is all done. They’re building up the underneath of where the bifolds will go. And the boss guy wants to come and measure properly for ordering tiles.

All moving along nicely. And the sun is shining. A good day 👍

I haven’t really thought much about lights, the lantern will have lights around it, lots of spotlights elsewhere. Haven’t planned for wall lights.

May need a lamp or something. Can’t tell how dark it’ll be once we open up. Used to be a very dark rear of the house. All of this work should make it lovely and light 🤞

I spent 3 hours on site this morning. Some big issues 😭

We had a pile of radiators that had been removed from different places. One of the radiators was new-ish and lovely (and expensive) and I was planning to reuse it in one of the new bathrooms.

A couple of weeks ago the foreman asked me what to do with the "old radiators". I waved my hand towards the pile destined for the skip and told him to "dispose of them". I very clearly in my mind meant those radiators that I was specifically physically gesturing towards... he took this to mean all of the radiators!!!!

He threw away the one I wanted to keep 😭 It's now going to cost me £500 to replace that one radiator.

It's my stupid fault, as English isn't his first language and he wouldn't have understood the nuance of where I was pointing. I'm so pissed off with myself.

I also wasn't on site yesterday and a big decision was made about where to site something in line with drawings. But once you see it in position it's 40cm in the wrong place and can't be changed. I now need to be creative to find a suitable work around for something related to this and pay even more.

So today I want to cry!!

5 weeks down, 7-9 weeks to go!!

@Callmejudith would love to see your light choices. I'm not near any showrooms, so stuck with online orders and crossing my fingers 😂

The first photo showing two smaller lights is the style we’re going for. The light can swivel almost 360 degrees.

The second is the finish/colour we’ve gone for which matches our kitchen handles

Interestingly the finish is called brass but the handles are “industrial silver”

I appreciate the stress you are going through; it's only since we have distanced ourselves away that my husband and I fully realised we needed a break - we are 7 months in. We are home in 4 days to goodness knows what but making the most of the next few days. Take care and rejoice that at the end it will all be worth it!

Our builders have said they will be laying pipes for the underfloor heating next week and will need to unplumb our washing machine and temporary sink. Knowing them they won’t re-plumb them until the new kitchen is in.

@PoshWatchShitShoes poor you! It's such a horrible feeling when you realise they haven't understood what you've said and there's nothing you can do!

We have the plans from the architect. The top floors look good as long as we can rebuild the illegal upstairs extension.

Downstairs neither me nor dp can decide what to do. We either maintain a line of sight from the front door through to the back which we had in old house. Or we have to block that line of sight with a toilet/utility room behind it and then the second reception opens up into the kitchen (at the back) but you have to walk through the 2nd reception room to get to the back. We both said we wanted line of sight before we saw the plans but now we've seen them, if we have that, we have nowhere to close off a utility room! Argh. We are going back to the architects today to see what they think.

Oh no @PoshWatchShitShoes that’s so frustrating. I would probably have cried over the radiators. Is the 40cm mistake something that you can learn to live with?

@StrongArm can you post pics of the options? I’m not sure about having to walk through the reception, wouldn’t that make it a corridor (and always have to be tidy)

After not turning up for 2.5 days, there are lots of busy builders here today - hurrah! Bifold doors are going in and stud wall going up. Kitchen and flooring both booked and patio being discussed.

No sign of tiler. Amazing how many “family emergencies” these people have. Also plasterer buggered off without finishing what I’d asked.

We’re moving back into the house today. I rushed around this morning to get the kids to school and came back to the flat to get the last bits and (notD)H was just lying on the sofa. I am absolutely sick to the back teeth with his laziness.

Sorry people, I'm gatecrashing your thread to ask if anyone has any recommendations for architects/builders for a kitchen extension in East London?

I can tell you a builder NOT to use though I don’t think they cover that area

StrongArm- depends on the flow I guess. We could’ve blocked off one doorway for potentially a better use of one reception room but then would have to walk the ‘long way round’ to get into it. Decided against it.

A lady I follow on Instagram who lives in London has had a horrendous time with a company called First construction so don’t use them!

The surveyor came for the side skylight and back door. He is a grumpy sod, complained the skylight hole wasn’t the same as his order, but was the same as the plans. Only 10cms wider but he was moaning I might not be able to get an opening one now. I just said it doesn’t matter. As time goes on I think less matters! 😂

The boss guy is coming tomorrow to help me measure up tile area. Actually starting to feel like it might come together, one day.

A bird has pooed on our brand new velux. That sums my day up.

@Callmejudith

A bird has pooed on our brand new velux. That sums my day up.

Oh dear

@Callmejudith oh bugger, but I do keep hearing bird poo means luck. Hopefully easily cleanable and don't forget to buy a lucky dip 😂

I've chosen some very beautiful wall paper for our bedroom and now I'm choosing cushion fabric...

Should probably be counting sockets and switches and ordering those, but the interior decor is more fun 🤩