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!

I don't think I'd have dared do that! This was the bank we have current account with so she could see our outgoings and income! It did occur to me we could legitimately try again the day after final rental payment has gone through and already change the address to our permanent home so no need to even mention the rental.

It's crazy, isn't it?! If I knew how long it was likely to be it would help. All the floors are up and UFH going in plus structural work and there's currently no toilets, bathrooms or kitchen so it'll be a while before we can get in - I mostly WFH and have a lot of meetings so building site isn't the most practical place to be!

@GardensandGrandDesigns I’ve sent you a pm (or at least, tried to).

Today started well. After months of delay, the glazing company finally turned up this afternoon and installed a huge architectural glass window on the top floor. It weighs a ton and was tricky to put in place. I was so happy that we finally have one weather tight room. It felt momentous.

Fast forward to 10 pm, and I get a WhatsApp from a neighbour. You guessed it - the window was not secured and it slipped and crashed on the pavement below.

I’ve gone through every emotion in the book - angry at the morons who didn’t fix the window properly, panicked at the delays this is going to cause, nauseous at the thought of what could have happened if someone had been on the pavement when it happened, relief no one got hurt.

The glazing company got a piece of my mind, I got pretty emotional on the call 😳. They are also in disbelief that it happened. They are coming back tomorrow and have said they will do everything to replace it urgently. But the domino effect has already started - without the window we can’t finish the cladding, so the scaffolding can’t come down, etc.

This has been my lowest point in this project. I feel exhausted and in overdrive.

Our amazing contractor drove down with a builder at 11pm to come and secure the site. There are still some good people in the world.

@Yellownotblue I am so sorry to read your message, I can't believe it. It feels like why can't anything just go right. We have had so much glass break by builders and at the glazers yard. It is all so frustrating, worse than that, soul destroying. I'm sending you a huge hug X

@Yellownotblue you poor things. Huge hug from me too. This is the low point, it goes up from here and will be amazing when it is done.

Oh gosh @Yellownotblue that sounds horrific but hopefully this is the real low point and it's upwards from now on. And you're right, it could have been so much worse, so thankfully it wasn't.

@Yellownotblue that's awful I hope they fix it asap and thankfully no one was injured!

We have just finished week 5 of our double garage conversion. The garage will then join our dining area to make a family area.
We are then adding a bifold to the dining area.
The most exciting part this week is the steel is in and plastering has begun.
We are just waiting for building control to sign off the steel so that the screed and plastering can be finished. Then they should get started on the bifolds next week.

We've been through so much worse in 2017 with a large extension. We didn't necessarily have bad builders but the main one was a liar and unreliable.
This time our builders are brilliant, turn up every day, organised and respectful of our home. It has been so much easier to live with!

Although our builders will be done mid December, we then have a decorator and our handmade kitchen of Christchurch isn't due until January so that won't be completed until February. I still need to find a kitchen fitter 🤦‍♀️

We're also choosing colours at the moment as B&Q have 3 for 2 on paint!

Omg @Yellownotblue you poor thing. What a shock. Hope the glazers can find out what went wrong and yes thank goodness no one hurt.

@RidingMyBike that is such a vicious circle. We are in the same position. We had to move out as no builder would quote with us in it (and tbh we couldn't have stayed as whole house gutted) but then the rental market went mental and we have a dog (and no one rents to people with dogs) so we've ended up in a stupidly expensive Airbnb! There isn't much you can do other than take the max loan. It's super frustrating.

@Yellownotblue oh my goodness! Thankfully no one was hurt 🙏. Good luck with dealing with the fallout.

Also about to embark on 2.5k per month rental, eye watering!

@Yellownotblue that is so shocking. I'm so sorry that has happened to you. Its a leap of faith entrusting people with your home and when something lime this happens it makes you question everything.

Hopefully given the circumstances they will rush out a new piece of glass for you so you are not too delayed.

Yep, we've been talking about at what point we could move into the house to end the stupidly expensive rental. We were a work relocation last year so the rental has been our proper address for ages whilst we were buying the house we're now renovating - electoral roll, bank everything etc - so all of that needs to be changed to the new house address in order to not be at the rental, if that makes sense!

Been to see house this morning and feeling really pleased with how much has happened already. We're only 1.5 weeks in but it's completely stripped, walls that are moving have gone, windows that are changing have been blocked off and the drainage for new loo is going in. Most of the first fix electrics seems to be in too.

@Yellownotblue , that sounds horrible. What a setback. I hope once the the shock has worn off, that it’s easier to focus on the positive of no one getting injured. The company should put a rush on this since it’s their fault, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this doesn’t delay you too much.

Thank you all for your kindness 💐, this camaraderie is really helping me. I’m still trying to process what’s happened.

The glaziers were back on site this morning. They can’t explain why the window fell, they swear the window install was done by the book but they are taking full responsibility and apologised a thousand times. They also think the design of the window is fine. But if it’s not the design or the install, what caused it to crash? They said it’s a freak accident - but if it’s happened once, could it happen again?

My PM is reviewing the design with a view to making it even more secure. Lots of calls going on today between everyone involved. I feel drained.

@Yellownotblue , what a nightmare. Sounds awful - such a relief nobody was hurt. Hope you have wine/tea/chocolate/whatever you like lined up for tonight.

We had electricians on site today and now have kitchen lights. I am really not sure about our pendant lights. DH and I had different opinions and he essentially vetoed all my preferred choices. And what we’ve got looks enormous. I actually made him rescue the packaging from the skip as I’m half tempted to see if I can return the shades for smaller ones…. I am hoping my eyes might adjust to them having not even had bulbs there since they were put in…

@Yellownotblue that would really concern me too - the fact they can't figure out what went wrong!

We order the kitchen next week but it sits in storage till end January. We just better have got it right.

Steels still not here - I will feel much happier once they are in because the structural work, bar the new joists we need, will then be nearly over!

Morning all

No one has turned up this morning. Everyone warns you that the end drags on as your builder moves to new shiny projects. Boss builder is always on hol which doesn't help either!

I've messaged him this morning reminding him of all the big stuff still needing to be done - reinstalling roof lights correctly, finishing our mechanical ventilation, boxing in etc etc
It could all get done in a week if he just send the builders to our house more than once a fortnight!

On to positive news...
Kitchen fitter is scheduled to be here Tue and wed to fit utility and entrance hall storage. Wood is being delivered tomorrow (found another leak in ufh pipes yesterday) and second fix electrics should be done by end of the week. However, lighting designer has cocked up on a couple of fittings. Oh it's all so stressful, I just want to sit on a sofa and watch TV but every day no one turns up, getting our stuff back from storage feels like it's never going to happen!!

Good luck to everyone this week in particular @Yellownotblue looking forward to hearing that your glazing is on its way.

Uneventful day here. Building control came and signed off on the foundations, and the builders arrived 30mins later to flatten it all down with a vibrating thingy. Took 10mins, if that, and now everyone is away and nothing else will be happening. I emailed our builder this morning to ask for rough plans for the week, really hope it involves doing the block-work around the sliding doors so that the kitchen fitter can then do a proper measure up before submitting our order. Apparently their prices go up by 18% in Jan, compared with the usual 2-3% so I’m keen to get it all ordered and a deposit paid now.

I also find this stage infuriating @GardensandGrandDesigns . We are at the stage where no-one excepts liability, things were excluded from the original scope but long forgotten, and my house is still crawling with workmen.

My good news is that the kitchen is in and is beautiful! The bad news is that until the stone comes, I’ve no plumbed in water or sink and still can’t use the oven or sink. So basically I’ve a fake kitchen. Sigh. Our electricians show up when they want which is annoying. We had 3 plumbing leaks too so am so frustrated with it all.

We could finish if only everyone put their heads down and worked but they don’t. When in the early stages I didn’t envisage the pain of this phase and thought it’d be different for us.

@Yellownotblue OMG that is horrifying! I’d be in bits too and would have some nightmares. What is the glass like?

So ignore all the progress I mentioned happening this week. We have possibly 4 holes in the ufh pipes (all because they had to chisel the screed as they forgot the perimeter insulation and hit the pipes) idiots! So builders are here now chiselling more screed ready to fix the pipes. It's an absolute pig's ear of shoddy work when it comes to our floors. Question to you all - would you discuss with the builder not paying full price for this work? They have done such a terrible job.

This now means kitchen fitter can't fit the utility until we've done another ufh pressure test. So push the flooring laying back and then everything gets pushed back. It's a royal fuck up!

@Yellownotblue i could cry for you - that sounds awful, I really hope you are feeling better.

Friday - no electricians, but painters finished - they hadn't been gone 20 mins, and i managed to chip paint of the bottom stair, hopefully carpet runner will cover it, i'm not holding my breath.

Saturday - I came down with a cold, and have felt hellish since then.

Sunday - cleaned all my extension windows, so much brighter without a layer of dust, spent the rest of the day on the couch, watching the West Wing

Today, Tiler arrives to do the kitchen tiles, I am 8 short, FML. had to order a box of 40, which won't be here till Thursday, so they won't be finished till Thursday night. My lovely shiny canisters for Tea, Coffee and Sugar from Paper and Ink arrived - I love them. Bar stools are also meant to be arriving - but the rate I'm going, probably only ordered 2 and not 3!! - attached some pics of finished hall and kitchen without tiles, which are going above the hob

Ooh a shiny finished house, you lucky thing! Looks absolutely lovely.

That is looking great @plumstone - love the colour on the walls, what is it?

Well the good news is the windows have been lowered so now the back end of the house doesn't look too high!

They can't progress further now till the steels arrive and the architect signs off the structural work (hopefully soon but of course it's half term and our architect seems to take every school holiday off!)

I noticed all the pipes have arrived so hopefully re plumbing the whole house is next

@NewHouseNewMe , that is our situation too! “Fake kitchen” just about describes it, doesn’t it? We are lucky as we can use the oven and the fridge freezer, but am desperate for a proper sink downstairs! Though the vanity in the downstairs loo is now plumbed in, which is amazing. I’ve found the lack of running water and a sink for dregs of drinks, etc, more irritating than the lack of cooking facilities.

We are focusing on sanding and sealing floors in the original part of the house this week, on which many other things are hanging (decorating then removal of stuff from storage). Hoping for skirting boards and woodwork. I am kind of regretting getting our builders to decorate the extension as their handyman does it and is clearly fitting it in around other things - I swear I could have done it faster and to the same standard 🙄

@plumstone , that looks amazing!