Extension thread 2021 - countdown to Christmas

[Callmejudith]

New thread for continued celebrating, moaning and commiserating

Result! DH would be the same but would have no idea where the money would actually come from.

Thankfully the money is earmarked for something else that can wait...landscaping, patio, garden office building thingy. So that's sad that I'm now wasting it on RCD boards and extra steel and deeper foundations and new ceilings instead 😆 Quite worried £24k will actually be 50k by the end.

Had more good news that the skirtings can't be fitted and decorated until the floor sanding has finished!! So I reckon we'll have the builders with us till 18th December...a month longer than planned 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

@nomoneytreehere I think that's a real concern heading into building work. Our spec was so detailed and specific, I wasn't expecting such an overspend. But when the electrician says you're not going to pass the inspection cos of xyz, and the structural engineer decides now you need to do abc plus blah blah...there's not much choice. Also our architect fucked up quite a big measurement that caused issues 🙈

Oooh I am so loving all the pictures

@Indecisivelurcher glad you sorted the fridge!

We are building the shed today - that's in 200 pieces 😂 - and my back is already sore!!

This is my main worry too @PoshWatchShitShoes. It’s impossible to plan for every eventuality particularly in older houses yet those extras add up.

@PoshWatchShitShoes that's great news and I'd have added the extra thousands when I told my husband!
We've rearranged the kitchen unit pile in our sitting room this afternoon so can light the log burner.......heat downstairs for a month!

At least we have some heat.....

So toasty @MissFritton65 👏 🔥

Can we talk about sinks please? I am debating whether or not to add one to my DIY order but they seem a bit too cheap to be true ! They do come with an undermount brace which seems to be unusual but good.
We want a 1.5 steel undermount one. I like the look of the square ones but I'm also wondering how easy it is to clean those sharp corners.
I've put a general post out for help but I know you will all have a handle on current products and will have been researching this too.
Any advice? Thanks, as always

I await everyone’s answers. I have no idea yet about sinks. I need a kitchen and a utility one.
Thinking bigger in the utility.

Currently have a 2 x full size Belfast which sounds beautiful and I would have dreamt of them before but they do chip and the underneath bit around the edge is disgusting no matter what I try.

Don’t know what I want though, and DH prob has different ideas 🤷‍♀️

I haven't updated anything as we have had a relatively quiet site for over a week now. Tomorrow things will kick off again with the plasterers putting in the insulation in the loft conversion which they reckon will take them 2 weeks. Then plasterboarding afterwards. Im assuming that plastering will start last week of November. I'm hoping electrician will then start 2nd fix so that we have some lights in the loft for night diys. Electrician is the plasterer's son and I believe he is labouring on the insulation job.

Then we can start painting the loft ourselves before our Carpenter installs the skirting and architrave.

We had the waste pipes and manholes dug over this weekend by a groundwork company ready for the plumber to connect into.

We are still waiting for dormer windows and veluxes are apparently not expected till mid December which means the plasterers can't finish the job to the walls/ceilings with windows.

Unfinished doors - Are they better sealed with lacquer/whatever we decide to get before they hung or afterwards whilst they are in their positions?

We have a 1.5 stainless steel one which I really like. DH thinks the sink could be bigger but I think it’s fine.

We have our quooker tap in - it’s a splendid thing.

Spent all afternoon emptying boxes into the new kitchen, so much space. DH and I still obsessed with storage solutions

Dusting and hoovering - Is anybody else like me or am I the only one? Or am I being awkward? I spent an hour today hoovering the loft in preparation for the insulation starting tomorrow. There was a lot of saw dust from the carpenter laying floors and electrics/plumbing 1st fix where they drilled through the joists and studs. They will have the temporary board down for a bit to get their materials up to the loft which I assumed a lot of the mess will migrate down to the rest of the house. I understand the insulation will create a fair bit of dust but hopefully it will be contained in the loft with the sealed plywood in the stairwell.

@sluj we have stainless steel undermount double deep sink for the kitchen plus a "champagne trough" for the island which my husband bought in Ebay (brand new) and superb quality. He is brilliant at getting bargains!

Where’s everyone at heading into next week?
We have tiles on our utility floor and the kitchen is supposed to go in this week. I really hope it does as worktop templating is booked for Friday.
I’m letting myself start thinking about the extra bits and pieces I’ve been putting off as it felt like we’d never get to the end. I’ve found the tiles I’d like for the small patio we are creating but they are going to cost 3k 🙀. It wasn’t budgeted for and the rest of the garden has cheap concrete slabs so DH was a bit shocked when he realised how much it was going to cost. So I’m on the hunt for a cheaper alternative.

I'm hoping that things are going to move forward very quickly over the next the fortnight as we are moving out on Wednesday. The schedule shows the internal wall to be knocked out, the sliders are going in on Thursday and the rest of the windows later in the week. Both bathrooms are also being completed and the UFH going in downstairs. The kitchen needs to be in before 13th Dec as they are templating so all go here.

Have had a look at sinks, maybe stainless steel one and a half could work. I think inset rather than undermount as that’s the bit that I can’t clean now. Although I accept it looks tidier.

This week for us:
Get site ready for screed, then screed being poured on tues

If dry enough to walk on, then lower bits of plaster boarding
Lighting around roof lantern.

Think I need the kitchen guy to come to measure officially this week don’t I? Don’t want a delay just cos I hadn’t organised it.
It’s all provisionally ordered just not definite.

Hi all,
New here and looking for some advice. We are planning a renovation and extension and getting a lot of conflicting advice about whether to go for heat recovery ventilation and underfloor heating. Or a really good gas boiler. Either way the house will be v insulated. The UFH is a lot better extra and the builder thinks it’s not worth it.
But others have said we are mad to install a new gas boiler when they will be phased out soon.
So confused by the whole thing! Any advice appreciated !!

@PoshWatchShitShoes I'm sorry about the huge overspend. I'm glad you have it somewhere to take care of that bill. I wouldn't know where to get that kind of money. After reading your update I quickly checked my spreadsheet to ensure nothing like it is sprung on me. Mine shows a £500 overspend do far but still waiting on figures from the electrician and plasterer for the extra work we added to the spec. Hopefully it is not 1000s.

@Terracedtardis this week in our loft conversion ;

1. insulation, plasterboarding and plastering

2. I hope to order the radiators this week.

3. stairs guy takes final measurements before making them.

4. return our stuff from storage beginning of next week to put into the eaves storage space.

Happy Monday all!!

@Terracedtardis this week is plastering upstairs and second fix of the bathrooms. Our tiler was there all weekend finishing our bathroom...I can see his hours by the alarm settings and he left at 11:53pm last night!! Unfortunately he's now gone to another job this week, as the kitchen screed isn't dry enough to put the tiles down 😭 That means they're a week behind on the kitchen fitting.

The kitchen units are being painted starting 29/11 and that's when I'm having the worktops templated too. They'll just need to do longer hours and get on with the fitting quicker, as I'm not losing the other trades I've booked directly.

Today's to do list...

Just realised that the spray painters are collecting the radiators today and I haven't decided all of the paint colours!!

Also, I've got a lot of different bits of furniture at the upholsterers and I haven't yet ordered any fabric for him, so that's urgent!!

Same with curtain lady, paid a deposit and haven't decided or ordered any fabric for her to make blinds.

I also need to order the wallpaper for our bedroom!!

Today is also "do a spreadsheet day". Wish me luck. Fuck fuckity fuck, I hope I'm on top of the things in my head that I've already ordered 😂

@PoshWatchShitShoes amazing that tiler turned out to be such a hard worker after being a dickhead! Definitely do your spreadsheet on google sheets then you can update from your phone easily.

This week we are on countdown to door and skylight install on Friday m. Builder was “ill” at the weekend so couldn’t come and do the bits that the door installer has specified. Need to ring the main guy at 8 and double check who is coming.

Also off to IKEA this morning for more storage boxes. Also fancy a dymo labeller

So today might be the last day our builders are here! They've got to do the skirting, put some cupboard sides in the utility, fix the wc and 2 rads they put in last week that are all dripping, and put 2 other rads in.

After that we are in the hands of the kitchen fitter starting later in the week. He's a good bloke, he did my kitchen and bathroom originally 5yrs ago, rescued us when the company we booked went bust and left us with nothing. Talks too much though I'll need to hide ;)

Have had a mare with the new dining table and chair set I purchased off eBay, the gap between the apron and the chairs is a piddly 2.5" so can't sit at the table properly! That's a 2.5" gap for thighs! Ebay seller has eventually said they'll give me a refund if I get it back to them, so am hoping kitchen fitter will do that for me!

The end is really in sight here now... Touching wood as I type!

@Indecisivelurcher that's so exciting to be nearly rid of builders!! Mine are lovely, but I can't wait for them to go 😆

Good luck with your IKEA expedition @Callmejudith. We nearly went yesterday...until DH said we'd just dash in and grab xyz. So he's not allowed to come with me, as I like a potter about slowly and buy everything I never knew I needed!! 😂

@Indecisivelurcher that’s so exciting!!

Oh gosh yes you have to potter in IKEA it’s the law. This was DH’s work yesterday