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!

Kitchen wise we also went bespoke with Drew Forsyth (Hebden Bridge company but being fitted in London), we are also really impressed with the White Kitchen Company too but wanted to go somewhere who would coordinate everything for us.

@Willitbeworthit welcome and good luck on the long journey!

we’ve got a mid-range German kitchen, it’s being fitted next week - I will let you know if it’s any good. Waiting for it with baited breath 🙂

Oh and we passed our 9 month anniversary a few weeks ago. I am so ready to be done now! Sadly the builders are not

Thank you for the warm welcome and kitchen recommendations! I think I have underestimated how much the kitchen is going to cost 😕. Sorry for being nosey 😉, those who have chosen a kitchen company other than Howdens, how did the quotes compare to a company like Howdens? I have a champagne taste but a lemonade budget 😁!

Martini - I've had a look at the white company website, they look like what I'm looking for! I will contact them for a quote next week.

Yellow - do you mind saying which company you are using?

We did get a quote from Howdens awhile ago, perhaps I need to revisit and get another quote.

Welcome, @Willitbeworthit. Hopefully your build keeps to schedule and I’m sure it will def be worth it.
For our kitchen, we used a local kitchen design shop and the brand is Nobilia. Won’t be delivered until end Jan, but pleased with the customer service so far and the showroom quality is fab. It’s costing £25k but we didn’t hold back, and got everything we wanted. We didn’t quite with howdens, etc so not sure how it compares, sorry.
We spent today looking round furniture shops, as we will need to order soon if the new dining table, sofas, etc are to arrive around the time the build is due to compete. The whole space is being designed from scratch, and we need to tie the zones together, but it’s so difficult when we can’t decide on a style. We have choice paralysis atm.

@Yellownotblue so much solidarity. I'm literally down to the last £20k and still need to pay plumbers and electricans for 2nd fix and tiler for bathrooms. Tiler also doesn't like my tiles. Tiler has also dropped bombshell that he can't finish tiling before Christmas which means plumbers and rlectricans cant finish. Also seem to be compromising everywhere and our budget for outside is long gone. So stressful.

We had a quote for carpet (not fancy) from John Lewis for £15k. Not going with that and am now price buying for basically the cheapest i can find.

Gosh £20k is basically half my original budget 😂. I'd find a local recommendation for carpets, you can get some lovely stuff for a fraction of the cost from elsewhere.
We have about 1k left so the delay in fitting our kitchen is helping as we can save quite a bit out of our salary to pay the decorator and carpenter. We should just about do it although we're selling a car to make our outgoings a bit cheaper.

Morning all, Horrendous weekend, managed to break my toe in the middle of the night going to the bathroom, for the first time in 30 plus years didn't put the lights on, and whacked my foot off the vanity unit in the bathroom. The pain was incredible. Put the brakes on Saturday's projects which was two tip runs, to get the front room completely empty, and the last of the rubbish away and move the spare carpet upstairs, as well as usual cleaning and tidying. 6 fecking weeks before it heals, and no high heeled shoes this side of the new year. 6 weeks is up on 31st December, so I may have my highest and sparkliest on for midnight.

Really no clue why this is annoying me so much, I haven't worn heals since Christmas 2019, back when the world was "normal"!!

Still waiting for the plumber to finish off the shower room and the electricians to do the compliance certificate, however have totally lost the notion, since I'm confined to the sofa. Its completely pain free till I decide to walk.

I got my kitchen, utility, work top, taps and all appliances from Wren, really pleased with them, but was limited in where I could go, as I needed somewhere that had a 12 month buy now, pay later option, to conserve cash, for trades.

I've started another thread but oh my god the cost of the gas underfloor heating. I'm not sure if its just not been calibrated properly but it seems to be running at over £20 a day on low and not even on for the full day.

Have any of you looked to see what it is costing? I thought it was meant to be more efficent!

Plumstone, oh god that sounds awful. Hope it heals quickly. Typical, just when you need to be able to do bits and pieces!
nomoneytree, I’ve no idea re the wet ufh, but £20 a day does sound expensive 😬. How many hours a day should it be on, will you be able to reduce this considerably once the house is ‘lived in’ and heated through?
We’ve managed to make an unexpected saving of circa £1k. Went to choose flooring at a local store today, and ended up preferring a laminate to the engineered wood options we had originally short listed, so decided to go with that. The money will immediately be spent on something else so I’ll not celebrate yet, but it was nice to save money but not have had to compromise, as with some other decisions recently.

@plumstone poor you sounds so painful. Thank goodness you don't need a cast!

I just got the quote for cleaning the bricks and that's 1k over. Fgs!!

@plumstone sending wishes for a quick recovery!

we have reached a Mexican stand off with the builders. They are adamant we can’t move back as planned, but won’t give us a date for completion. I told them I have no choice, we will be homeless otherwise. They are still not budging. I don’t know how this will end 😁.

Oh no @Yellownotblue surely you are nearly finished so can move in when you bloody want to!

@NewHouseNewMe have you got any answers about your gas ufh. That is insane.

@plumstone how's your toe? That sounds so painful and last thing you need!

How is everyone's week going? We've had no one at the house yet and pushed back getting our things back from storage until 1st Dec so the carpenters can finish. Electrician back tomorrow and then carpenters on Thursday. Kitchen and utility worktops also being installed Thu. I want to put the tree up but we aren't ready yet and it is still Nov! However the "Christmas tree floor socket" is staring at me and yes the builders and electrician mock me for having a dedicated socket for it!!

Ouch, @plumstone , that sounds awful! Isn’t it amazing how much toes and fingers hurt, as well? Wishing you a speedy recovery.

I don’t know if I dare say this but we are finished! Signed off by building control and apparently all the snagging was completed today. They spent weeks dragging their heels - I am not exaggerating when I say I could have done the painting faster - and then sent the final invoice, which I pointed out we wouldn’t be settling until snagging was completed. I have never seen them move so fast 😂.

We now have a slight dilemma: they lost our keys. They were apparently thrown in the skip along with the old patio doors. I do actually believe this, as the workman who did it had to tell me to my face.🙄 We would not be unreasonable to insist the lock is changed, would we? Or rather, to deduct the cost of changing said lock from the final invoice with discussions? I don’t actually believe the keys are still circulating but I think we should get it changed and it would also teach them a lesson about being so casual with keys (they have been a nightmare - my top advice for anyone doing this is to get a key safe). DP thinks I might be being harsh (aka he hates confrontation)….

Personally I'd say pick your battles, I don't think it's worth the effort to end on a bad note. Just my opinion though!

@Baxdream , that isn’t bad advice - and I don’t want it to end on a bad note. Though they said the snagging was complete and it isn’t, and have ignored my questions about whether some stuff is showing an underlying problem. So I am not paying until that is bottomed out and the actual snagging list completed.

Those of you who’ve had new walls newly plastered, how common is it for said walls to have creases in them and bubbling? We have a number of patches of bubbling (as in raised round lumps) and one wall with creases that could be seen from the other side of the room. The builders have ignored my question as to whether this is an issue but fixed only one of the patches that was pointed out. I don’t expect even new plaster to be completely smooth but I do feel the finish isn’t great - and I’m irritated this is only being remedied when we’ve raised it.

Things like they painted the architrave in the new downstairs loo but painted round a chunk where the old latch was taken out and have just ignored a bit which looks like a nail was pulled out. It just doesn’t look newly decorated!

@MyBuggyIsOutToGetMe I am so jealous of you being done! It feels like we still have a mountain to climb.

On plaster - our newly plastered walls are perfectly smooth, it’s like touching glass. In fact I’ve been rubbing them loads as they feel so nice ☺️. I wouldn’t be happy with creases and bubbles, it sounds like the builders need to fix that as part of the snagging.

We are having the most ludicrous list of delays at the moment. The stair nosings, which are two weeks late, weren’t delivered on Monday as they forgot to load them in the van. They swore we’d have them today, but their driver decided to go awol to watch his home country’s World Cup game 🙄. We need the nosings to finish the stairs, so the skirting can be done, then the painting etc.

One of our windows has also gone awol, as well as the fencing. Our electrics couldn’t be delivered today as promised as “it’s a large order and will take too long to pick items from the warehouse”.

I went to Ikea yesterday, hired a man and van to drive me back with my loot, and he nearly got us killed when he burned a red light at a level crossing. Terrifying.

The main glazing contractor has disappeared again, we’ve been advised we should sue them in the small claims court as they are refusing to finish the job/rectify the long list of defects.

This project has taught me that I can withstand much greater levels of stress than I ever thought possible. I guess that’s the silver lining!

Have to say our plaster is smooth like glass too so definitely keep that on the snagging list before you pay.

@Yellownotblue that all sounds a nightmare but well done for not letting it get you down. Hope you have a better day today!

My objective today - don't talk to the electrician because he has so much to get done today!

Definitely keep on at the builders re plaster, mine, like others was like glass once finished. I kept touching it, and at one point seriously considered keeping a wall as it was, as it was so nice!! Bubbling is a hard no.

Thanks for all the messages, toe is on the mend, basically getting up, getting to couch, staying there till lunch, make lunch and then spend the rest of the day on couch. Pottered about way too much last night after I finished work, and as result it really ached by the time I went to bed - lesson learnt!

Spoke to the electrician again, really need the compliance certificate done so I can get the completion certificate, he agreed and again promised this week. He did state that he wouldn't send his final invoice, till it was done, so the ball is firmly in his court.

Have finally cracked and am getting DB in on Saturday to put up shelves, loo roll holder and towel rail in the shower room, getting a tradesman in to do this seems impossible so DB said he'd do it at the weekend.

@GardensandGrandDesigns I had to stop all conversation with tradesman till they finished, as I felt that I was becoming the delaying factor in the last couple of days they were here!

Hope everyone has a great day!!

Thanks for the feedback re plaster, good to know I’m not being a diva! We have been incredibly lucky as we haven’t generally had the kinds of dramas and delays you have, @Yellownotblue , which sounds like a nightmare (and totally appreciate the knock-on effect of everything). We are not delighted with the finish overall - if you’re paying to have a door decorated, I feel like it goes without saying you should fill in any holes without waiting for the client to ask.

Any other views on pushing for a lock change? I am still inclined to but would welcome other views - my DPs are insisting the locks must be changed and DH is indifferent (he is at the stage of wanting it done yesterday and last week would have been better 🙄). I just don’t see why we should suck up another £100!

@Yellownotblue we are also duffering ridiculous delays. The tilers disappeance means the ensuites won't be finished before christmas and i have to decide whether to recarpet soon and move home without them or wait until practically february. So annoying.

On a positive note i got a new fully remote job yesterday so will be able to just sit in my new study all day long soon!!

Congratulations @nomoneytreehere that's fab news. I'm also fully home based in my new promotion which is why we've spent a fortune doing up our house too.

We had a nice surprise this morning. Three carpenters turned up unexpectedly as the rain stopped them doing another job. They are finishing off doors and the new staircase. I so hope the carpenters are all done this week.

Congrats on the new job @nomoneytreehere

I have the revised costing and revised schedule but won't be able to go through it till tonight. Everything just seems so slow. The windows are delayed 6 weeks which means the building won't be water tight by Xmas which is what we wanted as they will stop for 2 weeks then. Sigh!

Talking shower heights tomorrow - all seems odd since we are so far behind but I guess it's good to get everything firmed up. Target completion still April.

@Yellownotblue I fear we will have the same issue as we have to move back in in March as the Airbnb runs out and there is literally nowhere to rent on the market (particularly with a dog!)

Congrats on new job @nomoneytreehere !

I am happy as I’ve just found out I’ve been accruing holiday for a year working at the care home, I’m bank staff so thought I didn’t get holiday and mentioned it in passing yesterday to the bosses boss who is on the case to sort it out now. Office lady is pretty useless but the main HR people are on it now.
and I’ve reduced my days to just 2 until I start my new ambulance training course, so means I might even get paid to sit at home which is a weird one for me!

re the keys lost in the skip - I asked my painter for his view. We both agree if the keys are just random ones with no label and not in a skip of stuff with your address on, then just get them to cut more keys for you.
if they’re labelled or you think there’s a serious risk of address being with them somehow, then get them to sort out changing the locks.
for tradesmen it’ll be way cheaper for them to do it than you.
and you may never truly relax without doing it.

also, the plaster should be perfectly smooth and strokable like others have said. Has it been painted? Is it a reaction to the paint somehow? My guy here today says that sometimes happens. But needs to be resolved.

painter still here, obvs. Nearly finished he says.
then onto oiling the new doors, some sealant around the bifolds, and hopefully still doing something with the original front door.

no sign of anyone to fit the glass railing parts…
or the original old window coming home….

and, I went to change the Qettle filter and pulled the housing off the wall, and couldn’t change the filter, so waiting for them to come back and sort that too!

Discovered yesterday that the total amount doesn't include the £5k energy saving grant which means we should be able to get the grant and the whole thing will cost £5k less which help with the unexpected costs that have come up!