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

[Sewfrickinamazeballs]

Hi! New thread!

@Newhome321 glad to hear the mental load is wearing a bit easier on you. I know it's hard when you've invested so much emotion and time and money.
One of my compromises today was not having the tiles exactly centred from the front door as it would leave a very thing and awkward tile cut on the left hand side.
The other one was the staircase bannister which I still dislike but I've managed to find a slightly better newel cap at least. I'm going to have a gallery wall at the top of the staircase anyway so hoping my eye is drawn to this rather than the hideous hand rail.

So today's update: glazing spec all signed off including sliders and they can measure next week. Lead time 6-8 weeks for sunflex.

Flooring negotiated and within 10k (seems a lot to me but it's 88sqm. They are measuring Thu. 8-10 week lead time.

Today felt like I had to make a lot of decisions v. stressful.

2 weeks till we move into a Travelodge 😳

P.S. thanks for the tiling suggestions. Was there one with Mandarin in the name too or have I imagined that??

Mandarin Stone

@HouseyHouse21 , I also like your kitchen plan and particularly the sink/dishwashers/bins combo.

Silly question as I’m also planning two dishwashers, so I really should know the answer 🙄, but can you run 2 dishwashers at the same time? Or does that require too much water?

@nomoneytreehere I’m also looking for a water softener. The Harvey ones look great, but a lot more expensive than screwfix... I wonder what’s the difference.

I will ask my project manager at our weekly meeting tomorrow, he seems to know everything 😁. I shall report...

Thanks @Yellownotblue

@Yellownotblue I'm having 2 dishwashers (and two washing machines). I think as long as they are on separate taps and you have good water pressure that you can run everything together. I have to have some ridiculously expensive pump (£3k) as well as megaflo apparently. I thought megaflop meant no pump but apparently not.....

Downstairs bathroom is in!

The eagle eyed among you may spot the lack of overflow on the bath. The template for drilling this was missing, & our fitter didn't want to risk invalidating the warranty by drilling it at the wrong height so we are waiting for a replacement template to arrive.

Drench were wonderful with our upstairs shower room but it's frankly been a bit of a shit show this time with the delivery issues, damaged bath, missing template & the wrong radiator valves being sent (although to their credit they arranged next day delivery of the correct ones).

@AwkwardPaws27 lovely Victorian look!

Eventful day here too - we just realised that the builders have built one extension floor 20 cm too low - so the ceiling below is also 20cm too low. This has all sorts of implications on stairs, windows, tiling, joinery etc. The PM is going to get to the bottom of this. I hope this doesn’t take too long to fix, we’ve been tracking the programme so far, I don’t want to fall behind.

I also realised that one of the new windows, in its current location, will be really hard to reach and open. Now I’ve got to decide if we move the window, or change the way it opens. And I need to decide this very quickly. Decisions, decisions, decisions...

First fix is confirmed for next week, yippee.

Slightly envious of the two dishwasher folk. Sounds like a great plan.

As for us, it was more decorating today. Should be finished by Friday (they are super quick and only come for a few hours in the evening). More skirting a to go on, and the patio is still being laid. I need to get them to adjust the edging sleepers as they have put them in the wrong place effectively cutting the patio corner off, so that's my job first thing.

Just finished putting an IKEA pax together for my DD's room. I think trying to bend an aluminium curtain rail to fit the bay window was beyond us after a long day at work then doing the wardrobe, whilst cooking dinner and entertaining the kid whilst the decorators were here. We made a mess of it and I ended up throwing it in the garden in frustration.

Sooooo much to do, I don't know where to start really, but can't get cracking on a lot of it as they are still very much in control of the house between 6.55am (landscaper) and 7.30pm (decorators).

Balls! That's quick a big miscalculation! How did that happen? Hope it can be resolved relatively easily. It's certainly a problem for them to solve (and find!).

I don’t know how it happened. The contractor and PM are meeting tomorrow to discuss - I’m off to a wedding so can’t be there. The PM is kicking himself that he didn’t notice it sooner. He thought the drawings were wrong, but they’re not, so we don’t know what happened.

The floor has been up for a couple of weeks, and the timber frame and walls have been built on top. He thinks it shouldn’t be a huge job to rectify... I just have to wait and see.

Meanwhile I just had a huge row with DH about heat pumps. <— sentence I never thought I’d write 🤔

@Sewfrickinamazeballs any recommendations for curtain rails/poles? Does sound like you are in the flurry of final finishes and ikea pax are particularly hard work!
@Yellownotblue hoping it can be fixed easily. That is a significant oops.

@Yellownotblue hopefully they will be able to sort it out for you. The day before yesterday everyone was looking stressed as the roof steel (craned in) was was higher than our existing ridge. I went yesterday and it was in the right place. No idea how they sorted that but very glad they did as it was ££££ and weeks to arrive.

I've come to the conclusion that I have to go to site every other day at least to spot the fuck ups. Our PM is useless (other than sending invoices) but the site manager is amazing so I'm overall happy. They corrected by underfloor heating apparently.......

Am now stressed as our bedroom isn't wide enough (we have borrowed a bit for the back of a wardrobe and also our en-suite). I might post a pic to see if any of you have any bright ideas....

Finally looked at my spreadsheet. We've spent over £100k and the house is currently not capable of being lived in, holes everywhere, no roof, no bathrooms, no kitchen and no electrics. Arrrghhhh so stressful.

We got our blackout roof blinds (bedroom) from 247 blinds and they are great quality for the price. Ordered the curtain pole from poles and blinds, and again great quality, super quick delivery. I've used blinds direct in the past too and they are good.

Hope problems can get ironed out 🤞

I’m getting fed up with the tilers now, they’ve put the washing machine outside and say they hope to reconnect it inside tomorrow. Meanwhile I have laundry piling up. And I can’t just walk into the kitchen as now they’re grouting and cleaning tiles. And their work means the utility can’t progress and even if the dishwasher repair guy gets the new part he can’t get to the machine (or fix the washing machine which also has a slow leak).

it’s just a stressy kind of day when patience has worn thin, and will pass I know. Maybe the feeling of reaching the end of yet another week. End of term is fast approaching and that was meant to the deadline for them all to clear off…

@LivingInaBuildingSite I feel your pain. Our builders have been great but probably not been as careful as I would have liked with our existing utility appliances (which we’re reusing in a lip service attempt to manage costs plus they were not that old). Unfortunately the tumble dryer now has a crack at the bottom meaning water isn’t collecting in the condenser and then the washing machine has a fault so now not working. I’ve also got covid so to top everything off I’m feeling like rubbish but having to leave by 8am so I’m not here when builders are. Thankfully I’ve got a uninhabited second home for a family member I can escape to. No kitchen was bad enough but now no laundry facilities is breaking me. 😭😭
We are seeing progress but some niggles coming out too, American FF too tall for the housing, doors will be too close to the radiator so need to change pipe work. We’ve got two large 1000mm larder units in the high run of units and now noticing issues with doors opening wider than 90 degrees so will need to figure out some fixes for these. First world problems though.

Our en suite was tiled this week and I just don’t love it, We went with tiles DH liked as the ones we had agreed on and I had coveted were out of stock, they had quite a specific look so couldn’t be replicated with anything else I could find. Once the remaining walls are painted and the rest of the bathroom is in I’m sure it will be fine.
@BlueMooMoo I saw a great curtain pole on Dunelm for bedrooms that wraps around to the side, so provides more blackout coverage. I’m sure these are a thing, I’m just maybe late to the party with it. Will see if I can link.

@BlueMooMoo link below
www.dunelm.com/product/room-darkening-blackout-25-28mm-metal-extendable-curtain-pole-1000149687?colour=Satin+Steel+%28Silver%29

Thanks @JoanDarc @Sewfrickinamazeballs I'll take a good look tonight (or try and sleep!)

Have finally pressed go on the bed and now need to confirm a mattress.
Delays on paint now holding up progress.

Hello @BlueMooMoo - was having a scroll and saw that you'd put together a plan for your lighting & socket setup a little while ago. Do you have a plan you could share, or any tips? That's next on my list, before the electricians come next week.

@JoanDarc fancy sharing a picture of the ensuite tiles? I'm sure they're lovely!

Where did you get your bed from? I'm currently on the hunt. Our bed doesn't fit in our new bedroom (sloped ceiling, tall headboard) and after 6 months on an IKEA day bed mattress I've had enough!

@HouseyHouse21 sorry I did the plan on paper so don't have a copy but here's roughly what I did.
One double socket per wall as a minimum. Walls where the beds were planned had 2 double sockets spaced superking size apart.
Ensured tv socket/aerial per bedroom on the opposite wall to the bed wall - ideally ticket into the corner.
Primary guest bedroom had sockets raised to mid wall for disability/accessibility ease.
Kitchen has double socket each end of the island which will be cut in and colour matched. 2 double sockets in the larder cupboard. 2 double sockets in the main appliance worktop corner.
Double socket at the top and bottom of the stairs.
Think about your Christmas tree so you have plugs for fairy lights *or other key cultural/familial celebrations
Kids playroom has 2 double sockets per wall to allow for future gaming/laptops for homework type setups.
Additional Internet sockets per floor to allow for improved WiFi range and also wfh/gaming needs.

Lighting.
Spotlights for kitchen/hall areas
Pendants in entertaining/bedrooms
Wall lights by beds/or lamps
Led strips up the stairs and in the bathrooms (think about led mirrors or loo nightlights)
And then pendants for showstopper type style lighting.
I marked out the lighting zones as well and the stairs and hallway are triple switched as our the bedrooms and parts of the kitchen.
Outdoor lighting - security light on each corner. And then each entry is framed by a light on either side. Side back door to garage will have security light also.

Ah, we went with the four poster ottoman bed in oak from getlaidbeds so that may not work for your space.
Mattress is either the kaymed 2200 k3gel or the 2500 with gel top layer. To be honest I'm not sure which is better or not so I might ring kaymed tomorrow to find out as the websites aren't clear.
We've been on the sofabed for WAY too long. Can't wait to get into a bedroom.

1 week till the 4 of us move into one room in a Travelodge for 8 weeks! 😬😳😳😳😳
Hopefully our marriage survives.

Hope all the people who were having issues yesterday had a much better day today too 🙂

Things have sped up suddenly here.
The kitchen fitter/joiner has a big job on in July but an opening next week. We ordered the kitchen (Howdens Chelford in Fir Green) yesterday, they've put a rush on and it's coming on Tuesday. Kitchen fitter starting on Wednesday!
I've rearranged all the appliances to come tomorrow instead of in a week or two, the flooring guy is coming on Saturday to prep and apply a latex screed, & it's suddenly feeling very real.
We just got back from B&Q on a last minute run for ceiling roses. It's the little touches I seem to forget (& forget to account for on the spreadsheet...).