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

[Sewfrickinamazeballs]

Hi! New thread!

@nomoneytreehere would she be interested in a second hand vanity? Or an upcycled one? If your builders could do it. If it's helpful too, we went with a plastic net recycled carpet - Sedna is the brand and were really impressed with their eco credentials which if your daughter is having carpet she might be interested in.

Sorry to those that are feeling deflated. To use a cliche, it really is a rollercoaster. Hopefully you can get some time to recharge over the upcoming weekend and get back to it fresh on Monday.

Everyone keeps saying it will be worth it in the end. We had works done in the past and indeed it was the case. But while in the middle of it now, I dont know if its worth it. Cost has been all over the place. We are told that our estimated monthly energy bill could be around £500/month as well.(and we are not normally at home during the day, school and office).

Its just the cost of it all. We are having a big build and everything is literally ££££.

We are reusing our bathroom suite but im still spending so much money on the ensuites. The pm is hopeless so i dont really know where we are on costs and im a bit frightened to ask.

We are about halfway through - nothing is finished, the roof is half on, windows havent arrived, walls
knocked out but not plastered, stud going up but not complete. I feel like they should have stopped work for a week whilst all the materials arrived.

Big things to order this week. All recommendations appreciated!!:

1. Porcelain limestone effect tiles for all of downstairs;
2. Door for downstairs loo;
3. Tiles for downstairs loo wall;
4. Lights for hallway;

5; wall light for downstairs loo;

1. Lights for kitchen / dining etc;
2. Lights for playroom;
3. Vanity unit for daughter;
4. Black tap for daughter (her choice!)

10. Tiles for daughter and sons ensuite. Need stylish on a budget! 11. Tiles for our ensuite. I want a marble look i think - herringbone in the shower; 12. Tiles from Porcelenosa to match existing in main bathroom; 13. Pendant light for ensuite; 14. Pendant and wall lights for our bedroom; 15. Pendant light for sons room and some kind of up/ Down lights for his walls (vaulted ceiling). 16. Pendant Lights for upstaors landing.

Am totally stressed out! But that was quite therapeutic to write down.

@nomoneytreehere we have these marble effect hexagon tiles on our upstairs shower room floor. They look lovely & aren't slippery.

www.wallsandfloors.co.uk/voronoi-marble-effect-hexagon-tiles-anais-white-hexagon-tiles?gclid=Cj0KCQjw54iXBhCXARIsADWpsG-CBZ8Krf4CUMaQOchJodmgfrQk3qvsRNcSzMhAPePZWYKjpRZbY3oaAteWEALw_wcB

Our tiles for both bathrooms and the kitchen splashback were from Topps and Walls & Floors, they have some lovely options on a budget.

The white and green tiles are crackleglazed (they were called Craquelure, I think) which looks lovely, we've had lots of complements on those too. Downstairs we just have a cheap white metro tile - I know they are a bit Marmite but they suit the age of our house & I like them with graphite grout.

Hugss!

Shopping therapy and a glass of wine by end of day have been saving me the last almost 6 months. My moods are all over the place since the project started, the kids and my husband have been great(helping by not helping), listening to my moans/frustrations, not putting pressure, releasing me completely from household chores, kids engagements, family plans.

Totally agree with rollercoaster. Sometimes I’ve been so fed up can’t make one more decision and was any of it worth it, etc.
then other times it’s exciting and you see your plan come together in reality instead of just in your head.
Even better when someone compliments you on it!

pantry painting is tomorrow so all contents now making a mess on the island and table.
hallway painting started today so all coats, bikes, etc making a mess everywhere.
the dust is relentless.

yey for builders!

TO DO:

The hallway; including taking out the old under stairs loo (gone ✅) and change the wall into open shelves for shoes and school bags

The original old sash window halfway up the stairs - waiting for the glass

Fireplace: hearth (here but waiting for fireplace repair to be done) last bits of skirting, tile repair question, new base plate, new fireback, reinstall surround - waiting for quote from fire specialist - have quote need to respond - have emailed them to say yes please, cheaper than I was worrying about (£1200 for the whole thing) - need to pay a deposit

painting - more done - 2 decorators here and doing - still going!

last electrics (some switches and sockets still to go in) - think they’re all done? New Ethernet cable for DS1’s Xbox upstairs and maybe some other internetty type wiring to finish

repainting the old front door, porch door & side shed doors - decorators to do this week - first coat done, I’m not at all convinced about having a white front door but wanted to match the side extensions garage type doors. Will try and get used to it otherwise will have to get them back to do it again but actually pick a colour….!

security lighting & cameras - waiting for alarm company advice

patio to be tiled - tiles here, waiting for tiler availability - tiler is fully booked for a while…

patio glass balustrade put in (not ordered yet)

second coat of paint in the pantry - decorators to do tomorrow

decide on loo roll holder, towel rail, mirror for downstairs loo. Long bare walls atm - maybe lots of artwork as have loads of framed stuff to put somewhere?

extra flooring to match hallway to go under the stairs & the downstairs loo - have ordered sample to confirm - sample didn’t match, have to take and send some photos

+last bit of bespoke coving to match original - ordered due this week

+last bit of bespoke skirting to match original - here

+replacement new washing machine arriving on Wednesday as other new one was damaged in transit - here ✅ then install then utility is finished

Fix sealant in main bathroom and loft bathroom (sort of snagging from loft build and damage caused by this build)

deep clean post build, need to find a company

whatever else I haven’t thought of yet…

We are using Hartland Abbey Beige porcelain tiles for our kitchen (which is now FINALLY looking like it might house a kitchen one day). I really like the look of them and they’re not super straight edges either which put me off a lot of the limestone effect porcelain that I saw previously. We are getting ours through a local company but I’m sure they will sell online too. This is the link for the manufacturer's website: www.originalstyle.com/tiles/product/IM-0026634

Just checking in. How is everyone?

Our concrete floors that are being dug up which I was told 2 days max is now heading into day 6. The noise is absolutely horrendous and our poor, suffering neighbours. I would be so pissed off. Any suggestions for a please don't hate me gift?

Moving out of the premier Inn on the 20th looks more unlikely by the day. This is definitely the grim part. Also hoping I don't run out of cash before Barclays sends me more...

We are still awaiting the outline quote - manager of the building company caught Covid and is now working through his backlog! I'm now chasing up a structural engineer as might as well get on with getting that work done. The energy saving survey people never came back to us so I also need to find someone else to do that.

But we found a house clearance company so all the vendor's stuff will finally be out of the house today!

Any recommendations for insurance companies who will insure uninhabited houses with structural work taking place? We just have the normal buildings cover for it at the moment and there's a 60 day limit on it being uninhabited. I was wildly optimistic when I took that out!

Oh God, @GardensandGrandDesigns, that sounds awful! Presents: noise cancelling headphones?! Or gin?

We are at the easy stage as it’s still all external (simple single storey extension) but am trying to get lots packed up for storage next week. The difficult bit starts at some point then when they break through!

Am now discovering lead-in times for stuff like flooring…. And can’t decide what to do. We want LVT for a kitchen diner and utility (and loo). I’d prefer wood effect but am concerned about it clashing with the real wood in what will be the snug. We have original floorboards in the hall so wanted to restore those in the sitting room and snug. So I’m now wondering whether we should go with tile effect LVT. Don’t want anything either too dark or too pale, though!

If anyone has any thoughts? Kitchen likely to be pale blue with white worktops.

@GardensandGrandDesigns There is literally nothing that will compensate so I'd hide for a couple of weeks until they're in relative quiet and have forgotten the worst of it. Apparently one of my neighbours cracked when they were breaking tiles and went around screaming about the choice of radio channel. I cannot blame them in the slightest! They're still talking to us thought 😀

Entrance doors - Any ideas that don't take months and will actually result in a person coming to measure, rather than being too busy and only wanting "bulk" orders?! I have a slight preference for composite doors but would consider anything as we have 6 weeks to get one now!

Honestly I can't understand how all tradesmen are so busy with the cost of living soaring.

@GardensandGrandDesigns yeah, that was such a tough one! I felt for my neighbors too. Fingers crossed it wont be too long now, have had the toilets cancelled in 2 weeks today!

@MyCatIsNotFittingMyKitchen similar dilemma here. We are having original pine flooring sanded and polished in hallway so didn’t want engineered wood or wood effect tiles to be adjacent and clash. Wanted something light but that wouldn’t show every crumb. Ended up choosing this. When I was in the kitchen showroom I just asked for whatever they had in the showroom as I liked it - lazy but hey ho, had a million other decisions to make so I didn’t sweat it.

capietra.com/shop/foundation-porcelain-ceramic/riverside-porcelain-perla/

@RidingMyBike We got our renovation insurance through “renovation plan”. I used a broker so didn’t personally compare quotes etc.

Thank you @Littlemissweepy!

Thanks for the advice everyone I am laying low this week and then I'll drop a gift when the dust settles so to speak 🤭🤭🤭

Name change
To do list didn't all get finished but it's a new week
Bathrooms are finally all finished 🙌

I totally hear you all @nomoneytreehere @Newhome321 on the costs being beyond what we initially what we would have spent. We are over double our starting budget from 5years ago.
Current Budget is being hammered in earnest and we are now 26k over with maybe 4k left to spend. Savings have all gone so majority of this is on credit - will be looking for 0% balance transfer deals this weekend. I think one of the depressing things is that we couldn't have got it particularly cheaper - we spent a lot of time shopping for the best deals whilst being mindful this is our long term home (hoping 30years).
Please tell me others are in this position. At least we'll have a nice home to stay in as we won't be able to go out anymore!

@GardensandGrandDesigns we lived in throughout that stage and you just have to grin and bear it as will your neighbours. Agree with the others there's not an awful lot you can do. I would wait until the end of the build and do something then I think - there is still more noise to go.
@RidingMyBike we had to get new insurance through admiral for an extra £400 BUT we have lived in and one of us has slept in the house one night per week when we moved out for a period. Warm blankets and a flask of water needed as no electrics or water at that point.

I am in awe that you managed to live there during that amount of noise and dust!

Regarding finances, my thinking is as long as you don't make yourself bankrupt and can afford to pay back any loans or debt then a couple of years paying off credit cards whilst enjoying your beautiful home is not that bad. We are off to the bank on Thu to apply for more funds as we are forecasting a 50% over spend and even then I'll need the credit card! Personally I'm happy staying in!

So gutted, ours which was planned for early August back in Feb is now late September start so no chance of a pre Christmas finish. Absolutely gutted but nothing we can do. I only hope this is the final push back.
So lovely for those of you on the home stretch, keep going!

Thank you @GardensandGrandDesigns . It was very hard with a non napping baby I won't lie. Thanks for the encouraging words regarding finances too. I'm very cautious with money so it's not usual for me but it has been an exceptionally difficult time to go through building works so I think we've done the best we can for the money we've spent. But do I sometimes think if we'd known at the start how much it would cost, we may have done things differently.

@Martinisarebetterdirty oh dear! We had the same - build pushed from May 2021 to Oct 2021 to Feb 2022. If you can, use this time to research and prepare. Declutter, do lighting designs, decide on fittings etc.

Thank you @CameliaLeaf good advice!

Good progress today. Feeling positive about the last 4 (ish) weeks.
It's coming together beautifully and am happy about my choices. It's not to everyone's taste and we don't have the money to finish the rooms off with artwork, soft furnishings etc. But the base is there and the rest can be done in time.
There are a few things that have slipped since I've been back working but nothing unsolvable or that important that I can't live with it.

Yes I quite regularly have waves of panic about costs. I have not had unsecured debt for over 20 years. We are at double what we initially expected this project to cost. I am not sure that if we knew then what we know now we would have bitten this purchase and project off. CoL crises, horrendous fuel price increases, horrendous material price increases, even council have put up cost of planning application process 200%, war in Ukraine, just could not have have foreseen half this crap 18months ago.

But we are passed the point of no return now and will just suck it up. I was hoping to retire early, I will be working 5 more years than was the original life plan, whilst living slightly beyond my means in my dream home instead 🤪

Our build cost is higher than my mum and sister's houses. If they knew they would be horrified. Needless to say, I am back working full time from September! Like you say, it was predicted to be much cheaper but we too are at the point of no return!