Extension thread 2022 part III.. celebrations, crises and will it be finished for Christmas?!

[NewHouseNewMe]

3rd thread of 2022 - can't believe I'm still here!

Thank you! So confused about hardwood, softwood, moulded, core etc!

There's an amount assigned on the outline quote for £80 per door including furniture for it but I'm mystified at what they can get for this looking at the basic door prices on Jewsons!

Morning All,

So my joiners finished yesterday!! All pictures and mirrors are up. Painters have confirmed they will be done by Friday night, and my Electricians are coming on Friday to finish off. I am aiming for a weekend of deep cleaning, which will make me very happy. Just need a plumber to finish off the downstairs bathroom, and plumb my bath in.

Joiner also applied (not sure if that's the right word) the reflective film to my bathroom window, I can now pee confident that my neighbours won't get an eyeful. Its bizarre stuff, just looks like a mirror when you look at it from the outside. From the inside it looks like you're looking through sunglasses, I have lost a bit of the brightness in the room in the morning, East facing, but I can live with that.

Re Doors, i picked what I worked with the style of the extension, and then got the joiners to source, probably the most expensive way to do it, but I couldn't face more decisions.

So stuff is happening that never even made it to my list, oh well.

TO DO:

The hallway; open shelves for shoes and school bags


The original old sash window halfway up the stairs - waiting for it to come home, have been told it will be soon


stripping back the old front door and oiling


oiling 3 new doors


security cameras - have a new number to contact

patio glass balustrade put in (not ordered yet) - have sent details to the boss builder guy as the company need certain measurements now the tiling is done, boss guy is due to take final measurements soon…


Downstairs loo: pick a mirror. Long bare walls atm - thinking maybe a large wallpaper sort of mural thing? Needs a shorter tap for the basin, has been ordered - shorter tap installed, perfect ✅

Broken tile in upstairs bathroom to be repaired


Broken edge of tile in kitchen to be repaired


Snagging list of tiny things - mostly decoration

Step outside side extension - ✅ looks good

Type 1 down over the front garden/extra parking area - ✅

deep clean post build, need to find a company

I'm so jealous @plumstone I just want to be done. even though we are at the end I feel like the electrics 2nd fix is going to take months!

I’ve reached the pissed off that we still aren’t finished stage. Mood not helped by seemingly a 2-3 day working week from all trades concerned over last few weeks. We a literally days from finishing if they all got it together!

plastering should be finished by the end of this week and skirting/architrave/doors next week - but waiting to hear re electrician and plumber dates, and tiling for shower room - the bedrooms are very close to being usable though!

I’ve had someone in to measure for carpet today and booked painting for December (soonest date we could get) - so I WILL be completely finished by Christmas!

Fingers crossed for Xmas finishes!

As I suspected, downstairs back was being built too high. Luckily they hadn't finished so can fix the windows/wall. Thank goodness we spotted it. Now concerned about side patio bit and whether that will be ok in height (particularly as it has a drain cover thing in it!).

Need to be v careful over next week as all steels arrive and they cannot make a mistake with them especially with new structural directions. It's quite a tricky build so I've asked the architect to do a few more site visits which is racking up the bills! Argh! Better to get it right now though as the rest should be ok from here.

I'm also v jealous of snagging lists!

@RidingMyBike don't forget door furniture too. I've been thinking about whether I want it to match (in colour) the window pulls (I think I do). I didn't realise how many internal doors we had till we had to pay for them all!

Thank you! So many bits to remember and they all add up. I was looking at the bathroom bits and bobs in a shop today - how much are hooks and loo roll holders?!

For reasons I can’t understand things have gone very weird here. It started off with an email from our interior designer about 10 days ago saying “because we have lost so much time, x and y is going to be more expensive, we will have to charge more for this and that etc” and my reply was a dumbfounded “I didn’t realize we were behind schedule”. I feel so stupid. I never had a “schedule” other than, it’s a 6 month project, 3 months outside for the exterior work and 3 months inside afterwards. She and the builder are now saying they don’t know where I got that from. The reason they believe we are behind is because we haven’t moved out yet and didn’t let any work happen before we moved out. Despite the build being on week 8 I am now being given a completion date of July when it was supposed to be Feb. So 6m becomes 11! I am scrambling like an idiot to try and move out. Could have moved out from the start but was told that wasn’t necessary until month 3. Honestly, advice to everyone - make no assumptions- demand everything in writing. :(

If it's of any help, it's exactly the same here. The foreman is coming this afternoon and I will be asking for more momentum to get our job finished!

Got my kitchen tiler confirmed for next week, which will be good, as I need that done to get the shelves up, and the bar for hanging all my kitchen utensils. Really annoying having them all just sitting on shelves.

Cannot seem to get hold of my plumber which is beginning to irritate. Everyone else is great at coming back to me by text or calls within 24 hours, but they are enigmas!!

DF has announced that he will be visiting next Friday, so that is the deadline, for that was always called Phase 1. Phase 2 is the front door, and lobby, Phase 3 Front Garden and painting the front of the house, Living Room, Phase 4 Back Garden and downstairs spare bedroom. Phase 2-4 will be next year.

Deadline Phase 1 will be missed as on the 2nd November I get my stair carpet and upstairs landing carpet down. Want everything else totally done before that - apart from the hall window which will be God Knows When!!

Today I really need to buy a tape measure, this will be my fourth, I have no idea what I do with them, but i get one home, and then it mysteriously vanishes.

Because I have nothing else to do/finish, i spent yesterday evening working out how to decorate my office, currently all decorated in F&B Setting Plaster, with all my ikea home office furniture, and now i'm thinking F&B Green Smoke, and a built in desk built with reclaimed wood and black metal. I have lost the plot, this is the only room that is actually completely finished, and us dust free!!!

Our builders only started this week, so safe to say we will not be in by Christmas :). Was surprised to see how much has been done already, site cleared, trenches dug, concrete poured. It’s a proper building site already.
Plumstone, i’m glad to hear someone else will be approaching this in phases. We had initially planned to do everything in one go, but at the last minute decided not to maximise borrowing, so some bits will have to wait.
The current phase is extension, and reconfiguring the internal space to make it more open plan. New kitchen, downstairs flooring, and windows throughout the house. And landscaping the back garden after it’s been churned to bits.
Phase 2 will be a gradual redecoration of bedrooms, and stairs and landing. We’d hoped to stretch to new utility cupboards and worktop in this phase, but every penny is accounted for so it will have to wait.
Phase 3 will happen in a year or so, once we sell another property, and it will involve full re-rendering of the house, and adding an outside shower area (we live at the beach and sand is the bane of my life).
Also, we will have minimal funds at the end so new furniture will have to be put on the credit card, which makes me anxious the direction the economy is headed 😬.
@GardensandGrandDesigns and @Timwith2noses , I hope you get the final
push you need to finish.

We are also breaking work into phases.

We were going to do it all in one but soon realised we would probably run out of money and end up with a half finished house. So now we are concentrating on Phase 1 which is the loft and renovation of the main existing house.

Phase 2- my new kitchen and wrap around single storey extension will have to wait 😢
Phase 3 will be the exterior - rendering, porch, drive & garden.

We were going to try for phases, but ended up with only 2 big ones in the end.

Phase 1: loft extension and new first floor bathroom 2017/2018
Planned Phase 2: rear extension aimed for 2020 - Covid
Planned Phase 3: side extension & new patio - planned for 2022

when they started on the rear it became clear we had to do the side and patio at the same time so it’s been one long phase. Started April 2021, nearly finished now.
so ended up finishing at the same time frame overall.

Driveway and extended dropped kerb is for the future when we face the spend and builders again - although I know it will be short lived compared to the other stuff.

Evening all

It's been shit today. No literally.
We heard what sounded like a blockage last night so today the builders lifted the drain and it was overflowing with well.. shit. 🤢🤢🤢
It's all fixed now (I promptly took the kids to the nearest cafe for hot choc until we got the good news phone call) I must admit it still stinks upstairs.

In other news we had "the chat" with the builder who installed the rooflights about reinstalling the roof lights and he took it as well as we could have hoped for!

Electrician and kitchen fitter here tomorrow. Still no sign of the carpenters they are MIA. However if our utility units all get fitted and the oven installed I will be very happy.

On a final note tomorrow is the day the valuer is coming to do their final valuation. If they deem it unhabitable still the bank have said they will close our application and we really need this money to finish the build and pay family back. Keep everything crossed for me!

I finally saw the plumber!!! SO happy. He informed me that the person who is doing my stuff is away for a few days - Half term!! He could have told me this last week when he was here, and I wouldn't have spent this week stressing, and calling!! Anywho, apparently it will all be finished soon - whatever that means!!!!!

Really hoping the electricians turn up, then by the time they finish, the painters will have finished, and that will be pretty much done.

Builder appeared yesterday, and started stripping and plastering the lobby at the front of the house, I assumed that this would start at some point, but not this quick!

Painters have just arrived!!! Today will be a good day!!

Fingers and toes crossed for you @GardensandGrandDesigns - when will you find out the verdict??

fingers crossed on the mortgage valuation @GardensandGrandDesigns

I am so fucked off with the whole party wall thing and wishing we had used the same surveyor that we did last time (we used one recommended by the architect). The 2 party wall surveyors (ours and next door's) have been 'debating' something for weeks . I just asked the architect what the cost was if we just paid next door what they wanted and it was £400. Cost of letting 2 surveyors argue it out over the last few weeks. Thousands. What a corrupt system. Of course the neighbours don't care how long it takes as we are paying their surveyor. Anyway, £400 agreed and all sorted and I hope that's the last I hear from either of them!

Gardens, fingers crossed for a good valuation.
Plumstone, sounds like it’s all go at yours today :).
I’ve one last work call to do and then meeting DH at the kitchen shop to finalise and pay deposit. Anyone else go way over budget on the kitchen? I’m justifying it by telling myself it’s the focus point of the whole downstairs but sometimes even I have second thoughts.
Our first building control check is on Monday, so it will be a good chance for me to ask the officer if we can knock a stud wall down that we hadn’t initially thought that we would. Builder seems to think it will be no bother, but it took us two years to get through all the planning and building control hoops, so I worry that our council are just particularly awkward.

@BananaChunk , OMG that’s so frustrating. Glad it is sorted, but gutting to have spent so much extra when it was easily resolved.

Oh @BananaChunk ☹️☹️☹️ these things are so frustrating! Pour the wine until you forget .

Well done on all those that have made progress, we are another week forward. You can probably tell because I'm in a rare good mood but the valuer confirmed we are habitable! We only need the house to be worth 80k less than it was pre- extension and Reno so if it's not then I have bigger problems than a bit more borrowing! Hopefully all get sorted next week.

Have a lovely weekend. Nothing happening here until Tue now.

Ugh ugh ugh got turned down for the home improvement loan as outgoings too high - because we're spending £2.5k a month living in rental whilst also having work done on our own house. So think we'll have to take out smaller loan, move out of rental as fast as possible to lose that cost, then apply to borrow more?!

It is bonkers - pointed out that the cost vanishes as soon as we move into our own house and loan becomes extremely affordable but they'll only consider our costs as they are now.

Yay, Gardens, that’s a good outcome. And yes, if the extension has devalued your property to that extent, you have much bigger problems :).

@RidingMyBike, that’s very frustrating. Yeah, the best solution is to take the max that you will be approved for, get the house into the best shape possible and then move back in before extending your borrowing.
I’ll be able to give you tips as we are living in throughout 😬. The rental market around us is crazy and we wouldn’t be able to rent anything short term, other than an Airbnb at £1000 a week (tourist area) which would massively hit the already tight budget. So we are prepping for a few months of hell 😢

Can everyone share their lighting for open plan areas. I need inspiration. We’ll need lighting over the island, dining table and a large living area, so three separate ‘zones’ in an L shape.

@RidingMyBike now this is why I don't work in finance and this is just my opinion but I wouldn't have declared the temporary rental. If asked about it, I would have said that was our last month and not a future outgoing. Our nursery fees were 2k a month when we remortgaged a few years ago and I told them grandparents were moving closer and now taking over childcare. Blatant lie but you know what you can afford.

@SheriffCallie if you send me a PM I will send you our lighting plans done by a very respected lighting designer. She has zoned our large kitchen diner lounge and it's the best money we have spent.