Extension thread 2022 part II...demolition, delays and decisions, decisions, decisions

[Sewfrickinamazeballs]

Hi! New thread!

Thanks all, luckily we have enough time as the screed is going down on Friday and kitchen not going in until October so I think we will be ok.

I went to site today, the scaffold was going up all around the house to roof height (we are having our roof replaced). The house is just a shell but progress is amazing really. I'm really starting to see the space we are going to have and had to pinch myself!!

The plumbers have laid the underfloor heating pipes wrong and we will have a cold patch where your feet go when sitting at the island. This is despite me going and speaking to builder and agreeing exactly where it needed to go. So frustrating.

I'm getting our kitchen from handmade kitchens and currently am stressing out about the surround for the fridge as they don't do the thing of sculptured beauty that Tom Howley do and instead suggested I get the fitter to make something. I'm not sure I'm willing to put such a fundamental bit in the hands of the fitter. The fridge people (fisher and paykel) make a surround but it's over £1000 and stainless steel.

Am also totally unsure what to do with windows. We are having black on the rear but think I would prefer to keep the front white. Dh thinks everything should be the same front, side and back. Literally can't make a decision.

Most expensive week ever this week - think it was around £30k by the time I paid everything. Felt a bit sick.

@nomoneytreehere that is so frustrating about UFH. Is it not possible to remedy it?

I’m with you on “most expensive week ever”, we’ve had invoices for the cladding and glazing in addition to the contractor and project manager. And a few ‘small’ ones for good measure. It’s eye watering.

I actually chickened out of reconciling the budget and spreadsheet it was such an expensive week @Yellownotblue @nomoneytreehere!

We weren't able to get ufh in our existing hallway due to various issues so we're going to have to take off our shoes directly onto cold tiles. Such are the compromises of a build.

Can anyone please talk to me about carpet underlay and what the absolute best on the market is? I was looking at Wilsons Plushwalk 12mm Carpet Underlay as it has a 3. 3 tog and 48db rating but wondering if anyone had anything better they knew of.

I don’t want to depress you @GardensandGrandDesigns but our big doors are taking 10 weeks post signed off drawings..

@GardensandGrandDesigns our sliders too 8 weeks from ordering.

Should have also mentioned that the quick fry screed allowed the floor to be laid in a week (we waited longer for other reasons). It's worth getting them to lay the screed on a Friday afternoon so you can go away for the weekend and let it dry.

Quick dry! Hate my phone

@nomoneytreehere we have anthracite at the rear (sliders and bedroom windows) and white on the front so it still ties in with the other houses on the street. It looks good to me. I think the important thing is not to mix on the same facing. We were lucky as we replaced every set of windows so could choose the colours.

Ok I will be phoning them first thing! It will be Autumn then! Need to get booked in for measuring today.

I don’t know if it’s going to be the same for you but ours we’re quite fussy when they could measure in terms of brick finishing etc. But it didn’t need to be plasterboarded unlike the kitchen.
Windows, doors and kitchens are my moments of nerves- will it all fit? Thankfully the windows went in first time and I’d really recommend this company (based in Herts but cover London). We had used a local supplier for the first batch from the same manufacturer and I absolutely do not recommend them.

Ok @NewHouseNewMe dish the dirt! Brand names please as I'm comparing quotes from St Alban's and Harpenden glazing suppliers. It's so much money I don't want to get it wrong!

I will be ringing round to check solidor front door prices today. The quote I have is £1600.

Thanks everyone!

The company I would happily recommend is HBD Systems in St Albans. Every window went in first time as specified with only one sticky one to be resolved. A tiny problem in the scheme of things.
The window company I wouldn’t use again is in Enfield (hint hint). I can give a private summary to anyone who is thinking of using them but not one single window went in first time.
I don’t know how the Aluminium company put up with it.

Just off the phone from Jack @HBD and definitely sticking with them now. He has been the best during the sales process. Still no updated quote from the other one. Lead time 8 weeks.

Thanks for the recommendation.

Glad to help @GardensandGrandDesigns

Let me know when you find the best price for a Solidoor - I’m also on the search. Do you think there is an option to buy one and get the builder to fit?

@Sewfrickinamazeballs yes that's what I think we should do. Black on the rear and white on the sides and front.

They are laying screed on Friday but we aren't living there. Won't be able to visit over the weekend though as it's the whole of downstairs. They are resistant to moving the underfloor heating pipe as it's already been pressure tested (and it's a massive area).

I haven't gone anywhere near my spreadsheet in over a month......

I have to confirm the window plan ASAP. Arrghhhh.

@nomoneytreehere we also have black on back and white on the front (partly as we didn't have the budget to replace everything so as we only had one new window to the front we matched it with the existing).

Still searching for a bed .... you know when you've found the one but don't want to pay that price! And so the hopeful search continues

@Yellownotblue @nomoneytreehere

Don't do what I did recently. I worked out my average daily spend for the project. £1935 per DAY

Solidor Turin £1585 best price so far.

@Sewfrickinamazeballs omg that is horrific. I'm trying not to think about it at the moment.

Sorry for all the questions but has anyone had a water softener installed. Which one? How much did it cost? Did the plumber do it? Thank you.

Would anyone like to weigh in on my final kitchen plan before I press the button? It's fairly compact (about 4.5m run of units along the wall and 2.8m island) so I'm wondering whether I really should be sacrificing storage space for that second dishwasher after all.

Hope it all shows up ok... the sink would be a full size 800mm one, there just wasn't one in the planner. And the extractor is built into the middle wall unit.

There's also a separate little utility with sink, washer, dryer and a couple more cupboards.

All comments welcome!

(It's not like I've agonised over it for a year or anything!!)

Hi @nomoneytreehere we are going to have it with Harvey, semi-detached town house, 3 bathrooms and its £2750. It will be installed beginning of July(couldnt remember the exact date). The thing I concern most is the water pressure as we have low pressure on our street even I have already got an additional pump and cylinder added in for it(Plus the usual megaflo). They have a drinking tap offered free of charge and we love it as I havent got it sorted out when we moved in last year. Will report.

The plumber came today to fit the radiators and we pointed out to him that there shouldnt be pipes sticking out for these Milano radiators. He indeed forgot about it in his first fix. Among the other (major) things, I surprisingly felt ok about it. Indeed, compromises have to be made. I made an error in ordering the pocket door so there will be a gap now in the living room.

Ok I might be controversial here @HouseyHouse21 but I think go for the 2 dishwashers. Let the shops store the food storage not you! Unless you are very rural then the shops are never far away for anything urgent or delivery. I really like your plan and are those the colours you've chosen?

I really like your kitchen design particularly the bin/dishwashers and sink all together. If you've spent ages on it then go for it!

Next stop tile company recommendations please!

Thanks @BlueMooMoo I like your thinking. We aren't preppers or anything, so the storage should be ok for the 4 of us. It's already a bit more space than we had in our old kitchen, and with an extra fridge-freezer and wine fridge as well.

The only times I really lamented lack of space before was when we were entertaining, but the extra fridges should help with that.

Yes, colour-wise it's DIY Kitchens' cashmere and carbon - it all looks quite brown in the 3d view but the samples are actually quite a nice grey-beige in real life. They're also a v. cost-effective option if I want matching carcasses... I've had to make so many compromises to come in on budget! 😥

We're going cashmere as well. It is quite different on the sample compared to the planner pictures.
The Charterhouse tiles have started going down and I took a picture but it looks a bit crazy as the bright yellow tile mat makes everything look very groovy 😂

@GardensandGrandDesigns we've used totaltiles, n&c tiles, topps tiles, boutique stone, stone super store. All have been pretty much the same and pretty decent. Totaltiles we had quite a lot of breakages - over 25tiles but they sent the replacements the next day. Stonesuperstore had 2 breakages BUT only offer replacements if over 5% of total order and offer a refund instead so make sure you order the additional 10% or discuss with your tiler about cuts.