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

[Sewfrickinamazeballs]

Hi! New thread!

Ours are from Sunflex. Very impressed with how light they are.

@GardensandGrandDesigns and @Yellownotblue thank you so much. I'll try and get a quote and hope they're within budget 🤞

Sorry to those of you having issues, especially with moving drains when you hadn’t budgeted for that - good luck!
our scaffolding was meant to go up Monday, they finally rocked up yesterday, did half then ran out! So back now hopefully finishing it off so work can start properly on Tuesday.

Boilers…..I am being educated on these. Vendor proudly told me when I was buying house he had installed a top of the range new combi boiler weeks before he put house on market. Hive enabled thermostat etc. There are no mains showers in the house and we have never had a bath in house as no side panel and no plug. I assumed we’d just have to move the boiler and not replace since so new and “amazing”. Now plumber is saying combi boilers won’t support our water outlet needs - 2 mains showers, a separate bath and 3 bathroom sinks, a utility sink and a kitchen sink. Or if we have the shower running and someone turns on the kitchen tap it will affect shower temp and pressure. I definitely don’t want that. Has anyone found a way round this without needing to put in a separate hot water cylinder which apparently can’t go in the attic?

Don’t know about the boiler question sorry. We have a water tank in a cupboard in the upstairs bathroom, doubles up as a towel storage/semi airing cupboard.

tilers continues today with the steps, they probably have a couple more days to go.

carpenter working away on dado rails and skirting, slow going.

loo roll holder put up in the downstairs loo, yey! Towel rail left to do.

time for a quiet weekend when I need to work on whatever I’m holding up; contact glass railing company, chase dishwasher repair man, decide layout of shelves under stairs, decide on some coat hooks for understairs coat bit.

Evening, is anyone stopping work on Monday in respect of the Queen's funeral? Our plasterers are due to start (booked in weeks ago) and shouldn't be very noisy but I'm wondering if the older people down our road will complain.

How is everyone paying for their building work?

We're at detailed quote stage and are prioritising what we can afford to do now and what will have to wait. We're financing via savings, small interest free loan I can access via work, home improvement loan/credit card and I think there is a £5k grant available towards an air source heat pump.

Ours was about £20k from a recent windfall (DH had shares in the company he works for, totally forgot about them til they were sold, so we got money unexpectedly from that) & £60k extra borrowing on our mortgage.

I think our builders are taking the day off.

Having said that, my understanding is that only noisy works are prohibited on bank holidays. So if you are doing other work (such as decorating, plastering, or tidying the site), you can do that whenever you want, including on bank holidays and Sundays. Just saying…

My lot are taking the day off. I work in a care home so will be working as normal.

we have paid for building works with a combo of inheritance (both my parents died in relatively quick succession), credit card loan & borrowed money from my brother (his inheritance) that we will have to pay back at some point…

Thank you @Yellownotblue for confirming. We have 2 of the young guys that want to work and I guess as self employed it's the only way they get paid. The older one is taking the day off. I've messaged boss builder requesting radio is quiet, no shouting and no noisy work. Hopefully no probs with the neighbours!

We are paying for ours with 2 lots of remortgage and savings. Looking like we will need a loan at the end too!

All our guys are taking day of on Monday, concrete then being poured Tuesday for the foundations.

Paying cash (partner and I sold a house each to buy and renovate this one), but no doubt some borrowing near end as we don’t have any contingency in the cash pot.

@Littlemissweepy we've never had more than one bathroom without a cylinder too. Not sure how else it can be done with a gas boiler with more than one bathroom.

Unfortunately we've also found a waste pipe that wasn't on Thames Water's drain map while digging foundations so have had to stop (again!). I guess better they found it than dug right through it. They are contacting them but it may take a few weeks to resolve (as you need permission to build over it as I understand it). It's a huge pipe so how it wasn't on their map I don't know.

Just sorting all the roof lights and glazing. We're on a railway line and under a flight path so pushing to have triple glazing everywhere

Thank you - really helpful to find out how others are financing it. We're a bit freaked at how quickly prices are rising so feel like it's better to borrow more now to get it done than wait for indefinite period and save up.

We'd decided on an oven three weeks ago but couldn't order it yet as nowhere to put it. Now the one we wanted is no longer available and the alternative we'd seen has increased by £200!

@Littlemissweepy I’d say a combi boiler won’t meet your needs indeed and sadly a cylinder is needed. Combi boilers are great for flats, small houses and low occupancy houses but otherwise won’t be suitable. There are now horizontal cylinders that lie flat and don’t need full height spaces. Alternatively our cylinder in the last house was about 4 and a half feet tall and was plenty big enough for 2-3 bathrooms.

It depends what the combi was purchased to do - we had one installed in our old house, a large 4 bed detached, and it was brilliant. But it was powerful enough to do what was needed for the number of radiators/bathrooms and we'd had all the pipe work and radiators replaced as well.

Just to let you know roof maker who we used do quad glazed rooflights!

Ooh that sounds good @GardensandGrandDesigns - who were they if you don't mind me asking?

The brand name is roof maker 🙂

😂😂 I thought you meant your roof maker lol. Thanks I will look them up :)

Hi all, I’ve been quiet but just spent time catching up and some of you are having such stressful experiences! I hope everything is on it’s way to being sorted for you!

It’s been slow on ours, a couple of weeks with no activity due to other stuff they had to do urgently but last week seemed to be back on track and things are starting to take shape upstairs. Downstairs is done, painting completed and it’s looking very lovely - money well spent there!

Financing - we had £70k from selling a property that we had let out for a few years and when we remortgaged we borrowed the same again. We think we are going to finish with £10k remaining in the pot (thereabouts) - and I’ve probably over budgeted trying to be very careful! Watch something huge and unexpected crop up now!!!!

Next week - our main guy said he’s not working on Monday, but the landscapers said they aren’t bothered about the bank holiday so should be here to start the patio.

What do you all DO with your child(ren) whilst planning all this stuff etc? I ended up taking a day's leave last week so we could have five hours finalising decisions in Howdens and a bathroom showroom whilst 6yo at school! The previous Saturday's visit to the bathroom showroom consisted of us taking it in turns to follow 6yo round showroom whilst the other talked taps etc. She did manage 30 mins of sitting reading/colouring initially but that was it.

We have done exactly as you described! It's not easy.

Mostly we do online @RidingMyBike - I Pinterest the hell out of everything and generally have a good idea what I’m looking for so physical shopping doesn’t take too long.

Can't believe it's time for a THIRD thread of the year! (Sorry for the crap title)

www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/4637273-extension-thread-2022-part-iii-celebrations-crises-and-will-it-be-finished-for-christmas