Extension Thread 2022....plaster, panic and pics

[Callmejudith]

Slightly naff title but I haven't had enough coffee yet

@sluj I think cup 100%

Interesting, so 3 of you are saying just one cup on the drawerline and leave the lower part bare?

Yes - I think that will look best.

Single cup for me too.

I guess it depends are there other cabinets that look at the same in the same run. You might want a knob as well then. But if amongst drawers I would just put a cup pull.

DH has conceded and will agree with the single cup pull at the top, thanks to you all. Its good news as I have run out of knobs and pulls anyway, having only included one in my initial count 😁

Hello to all the new joiners at the start of this process .

We are moving on, DH has been working hard all week, it just all takes so long... I am quite impatient though !

We now have the new distribution board in and all wiring switched over to it. DH has installed the hallway down lights and smoke alarms, and finished plastering the bathroom, which we've just mist-coated twice, ready for final painting once I've chosen a colour.

I have ordered colour sample pots for the bathroom, and we're going to start tiling next . I think we have everything we need for the bathroom on-site now apart from the final paint, so we're planning on getting that finished asap, then moving onto the rest of the extension...

Plasterer coming on 17th to plaster kitchen as it's a bit too big an area for DH to manage alone (he is a self-taught plasterer) especially as his old shoulder injury is playing up! Once that's dry, we'll mist-coat that too, and paint it.

We've still got to connect up the new plumbing/radiators to the current system, disconnect an old radiator, finish the flooring in the new hallway, knock out the little bit of stud wall between the current house and new hallway and make good the plaster, put down parquet flooring in the kitchen and engineered planks in the new hallway to match existing, install skirting and architraves, paint them all and sand and oil/varnish the parquet. I also still have 7 doors to sand, fill, sand and paint...

Oh, and we need to make good, plaster, fill and redecorate anywhere that needs it (the whole house...).

Plus a million other 'little' jobs that we seem to keep accumulating/discovering as we go along...

Wandered over from the last thread. 14 week extension and refurb started last August. Well we are still going, although mostly done before Christmas, still missing doors, including a front door, with out which we can’t finish ( no composite for make doors apparently..).

Anyway I have a question- we have refurbed our living room and we were always going to reinstate the fire place with a gas fire with a reclaimed surround sources locally- now we are thinking do. We put up a false surround no gas, or just do it and hardly use it?
We aren’t sure how we feel about wood burners, but don’t think we want one at the front. So the question is gas fire or not….?

so my joiner called yesterday and has covid - it was all going too well!!!! Can't start till next Monday. However he assures me that once they start, the structure for the extension will go up pretty quick. I'm not on site till the end of the month and he said that I'll see a big difference then!

I keep buying wallpaper samples, right now I could re-decorate about 8 times over!! I only have three bedrooms, so really need to start narrowing them down.

@plumstone

so my joiner called yesterday and has covid - it was all going too well!!!! Can't start till next Monday. However he assures me that once they start, the structure for the extension will go up pretty quick. I'm not on site till the end of the month and he said that I'll see a big difference then!

I keep buying wallpaper samples, right now I could re-decorate about 8 times over!! I only have three bedrooms, so really need to start narrowing them down.

That's frustrating!

I was the same with wallpaper samples. I used them for Christmas wrapping in the end

@Sewfrickinamazeballs - I can see me doing the same!!!

@SunonmyFace

I'd go with the gas. Last property had a Victorian style gas fire and while I didn't have it on very often, the option was lovely. I have restored a similar one in my new house, bought from someone locally who was ripping everything out and it's in situ with no innards as installing gas is way out of my budget at the moment. It's literally sitting on laminate until we carpet in a few months and I buy a hearth. However, I do love it even without the gas.

can someone talk to me about vellum windows please: I need one in my hall, utility room and then it was going to be four in the extension, 2 on each side of the vaulted ceiling - now am I better going 2 each side, or one larger one each side. Then for the utility and the hall, do I want solar powered, electric or normal? are there pros and cons of each. I was looking a "Framless Frame" in the extension, whereby it will look like glass is "dropped" into the ceiling, it looks great but Oooooff its expensive!! does anyone have any pros/cons of either! Thanks

Velux windows not vellum!!!!

@plumstone
Hard to know without knowing your space
Think about how you are going to use the space and what you want the roof lights for. Are they flat roof lights or Velux type in a pitched roof. If you are going for the latter I definitely recommend Velux brand over others as there customer service is excellent and any problems in the future are usually very fixable rather than requiring replacement.
If they are hardly ever going to get opened then don't expend a Lot of money to do so.
You may not need as much glass as you think as light from above is usually uninterrupted and brighter than the equivalent sized window. You may also need to consider if they need blinds and how they are operated as you can get quite a bit of solar gain from roof lights and it may need controlling
Without knowing the space Utility I would usually go for as simple as possible,
Hallway - depends if it's a feature or not.
Extension - how much other glazing is there?

Thanks @wonkylegs - the hall window is a skylight that is in the roof providing light into the hall - I have grand plans of an electric Velux that could open and provide, but I guess this is not vital. The extension is 6.7m wide and 5m long. Utility 1.7m wide. Ceiling height is 3m.

Extension is going to be Kitchen/DIning room with Crittal doors/windows on the back wall.

Was thinking that in the extension, slate coloured flashing on the outside of the windows and wood on the inside. Same in the Utility room - would really like this one to open as there will be a pulley installed for drying clothes. so maybe that should be electric. I don't want a green house, so maybe 2 smaller ones on each side of the pitch roof as opposed to one larger one on each side.

Hadn't thought about blinds, may need to as the extension is SE facing and the space is super bright in the morning.

Can I ask what you all did about insurance? I've read awful stories about relying on the builders insurance and it all going wrong and their insurer denies cover.

I made sure to tell my house and buildings insurance provider. They just made a note, it didn't cost anything extra.

I took out a separate insurance policy during the works. However my property is a rental and while no one was living at the property except the builder I paid a higher premium. I must say I hadn’t even considered the builders (kitchen fitter and carpet fitter really) could cock up or go bust , there was no structural work and I did all the redecorating. I saw the cover as being against unforeseen events such as burst pipes.

@nomoneytree you need to tell your own house insurer. They may ask for details and a copy of the builders insurance because they will seek to claim through that if possible.
If you are moving out or the work is particularly extensive or risky they my ask for you to take out a separate renovation insurance policy but even this is also likely to piggyback off your builders insurance so it's really important to make sure they have it. It's also another reason the contract and keeping records of all communications is very important. Records are boring and annoying most of the time but essential when things go wrong.
I always advise clients to talk to their insurers first and see what they advise.

@wonkylegs that's very interesting thank you.

We are planning on going with a project manager who instructs the various contractors on our behalf. I guess I need to see everyone's insurance.....

@nomoneytree Can I also recommend you get pdf or photocopies for your records and check dates on them - some contractors are rubbish at keeping on top of this rather than being deliberately sneaky but I have been presented with out of date certificates.

@wonkylegs that is a very good idea. It all seems a leap of faith. There is a story in the papers about a man whose house basically fell down. He checked his builder was insured but insurer declined claim on basis that builder had an undeclared CCJ.

@nomoneytree

Can I ask what you all did about insurance? I've read awful stories about relying on the builders insurance and it all going wrong and their insurer denies cover.

We took out a separate policy with renovation plan. You have to tell them what type of contract you have, who is the project manager etc. About £900 for 5 months. Our existing insurers couldn't cover us for the work.

Sorry not on here so much with work and life getting busy.

Builders stuck working away in the old kitchen. Hoping to get my new downstairs loo in soon! Half term may be interesting with water & power going on and off at random times though.

Hoping I can attach a current photo from what will be the laundry into the kitchen showing the pantry so far: