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!

We are still not finished but inching

Eeek pressed post.

We are not finished yet but inching closer. The list is shrinking and by end of October I'm hoping we can close the chapter on 'the build'.

Agree @CameliaLeaf about the noise. The care home I work in has and loads of building work going on; scaffolding, windows, lift repair, flooring downstairs. It’s just too much for me after all of it at home too.
the scaffolding has at least come down now - swear they chucked every joiny bit (name?!) onto the stones below for maximum noise.

with the wind picking up outside I realise there’s builders rubbish flapping about out there, should tidy it up really.

So the electrician turned up at 8 and said even though I never work on Saturdays I've come to give you internet. Joy overcame me and I hugged him in front of all the builders 😂😂😂
Came home this afternoon and looks like he decided to stay as we had loads of lights appear in the extension! So a shout out to the good tradespeople out there!

@GardensandGrandDesigns that’s lovely! Good bloke. We’ve also had good progress today, part of the scaffolding came down which means the builders were able to install the big skylights in the kitchen. Now for the rest of the glazing to arrive… I’m going to be counting down the sleeps for the next two weeks.

Oh @Yellownotblue that sounds great. Would love to see a pic.

@Yellownotblue I am having a yellow utility! Gone for Sudbury yellow (F&B) it’s braver than I would normally be.

Argh I need to vent. It’s another neighbor one. She’s complained about noise and no warning and vibrations etc and send me audio files of noise etc (quite standard stuff and I understand it’s painful, she works from home right on our boundary wall, I’ve apologized profusely). But bigger grrrr is the fact that they objected to our plans because our building would mean their cast iron guttering would not be accessible for them to maintain/ repair. Planning department overruled objection. She appealed, complained to our architect etc. This was back in April. We had her round in May and it was very pleasant- we offered to replace their cast iron with PVC at our cost so it wouldn’t corrosion etc or need maintenance as a goodwill gesture and they thought that was a good idea. Had them over in august again before the works started to meet with us and the builder to discuss a number of things, including this. Fast forward to now and I contacted them to double check they still wanted the guttering replaced with plastic as it will need to be done next week before the walls go up. She said yes but only if we had written permission from planning department (as she said they insisted way back when that they were cast iron) and was I going to do that or should she!? I am kinda stunned that she is thinking now is a good time to contact planning and ask for written permission - not back in May, not in August but now. We were doing this as a favour to them and I am not prepared to delay things for them to get this permission given they have not moved on this. So now a bit stuck. I feel if we do it and then planning is refused we may need to pull the building down to put back. Not a risk I want to take. And if we don’t the neighbors hate us forever. Argh!

@Littlessweepy that utility sounds gorgeous!

Re the guttering, personally I'd prefer my neighbours upset over wasting more time and money getting more permission from the planning team. I'd email/text my neighbour repeating the timelines. Give them a deadline to agree to the replacement and say the works are happening either way. Neighbour is a CF.

@Littlessweepy we are going Babouche! I'm hoping it will help me feel cheery whilst doing the laundry 😅
Is it worth calling the planning officer for a hypothetical (or getting a trusted friend/relative to do it)? I can't imagine they would have a problem unless you are in a conservation area or listed. In a previous house we changed all from cast iron to pick and no planning needed or building control.

@CameliaLeaf excellent! I thought exactly the same, make a functional often forgotten room cheerful.

sadly we are in a conservation area. I had to get planning permission to prune my own fruit trees, they are very tight. Neighbors already have a mixture of cast iron and pvc all over so so if pvc isn’t allowed they are already in breach. Would they give a hoot about what material guttering is that is behind a building though, I wonder?

@CameliaLeaf excellent! Would love to see pics when done, you are quite near end aren’t you? I am at the to and fro’ with Howdens stage. I thought exactly the same, make a functional often forgotten room cheerful.

sadly we are in a conservation area. I had to get planning permission to prune my own fruit trees, they are very tight. Neighbors already have a mixture of cast iron and pvc all over so so if pvc isn’t allowed they are already in breach. Would they give a hoot about what material guttering is that is behind a building though, I wonder?

Sorry for double post, posting whilst walking!

That does make things potentially more difficult @Littlessweepy . I'm assuming though you had planning approved for your own pvc gutters?

We were meant to be tackling some house jobs this weekend but

*p

Even my phone is clearly saying I need to give up and get back to bed!
Anyway, we are going to have a duvet day instead. Hope everyone else can get a break from the house stuff too

@Littlessweepy your neighbour sounds like a total pain. I would reply, all breezy, - no problem at all, let me know what you want to do by x date otherwise we will assume you want to leave as they are.

You have planning, it's her problem really.

Nope, checked and we are putting cast iron guttering and down pipes in.

Argh, you try to be helpful and end up with more stress! I will give her until Monday to reply (I emailed yesterday to tell her I had. Or asked for pp and we needed to know asap) at which point I am meeting the builder and will know exactly when they plan to build the wall and let her know she has until day before that to let me know otherwise we will be ploughing on in line with agreed permission.

That sounds very awkward @Littlessweepy . It sounds like she has already built to the boundary and is now complaining basically that you’re about to do the same? I would also table a “take it or leave it” approach in moving with no acceptance of liability in case of issues, then step way back.

Well we are back now.. It’s still a long way from finished with only one working toilet and a bath, no power downstairs so we are running leads everywhere but it’s okay. The biggest stress has been the pets so far who can’t roam as normal.

Just need to steady our nerves and keep looking forward..

I'm with you @NewHouseNewMe we will get there!! Everyday it gets a bit better!

Is anyone else finding the cost of everything hugely stressful? I'm not sure that we are going to have enough money left to carpet the house at the end. So much stuff is extra and not budgeted for, final floor finishing, painting of in frame kitchen, outside patio, boarding loft etc etc, ensuite tiles, actual light fittings which are extortionate. I honestly thought we would have enough money left over to buy the kids new furniture!

I'm hoping that we are on the run to completion now (although nothing is in, no kitchen, no bathrooms, etc but they are boarding now and the kitchen and tiles all arrive this week for fitting.

Peak stress, i just want to go home!

I am finding it a nightmare to budget for. Things keep changing - had selected an oven in Sept but it's now no longer available and the second choice, which was already more expensive, has increased in cost by more than £200!

So much is really hard to predict as well. I was horrified at the cost of Amtico last week and looking at alternatives at the moment. Have asked the building company for an estimate for decorating costs too as zero idea how much that might work out at.

We can't afford carpet but going for wood flooring downstairs. I'll buy some off cuts of carpet until we save up for carpet. I don't want anymore debt!!

@GardensandGrandDesigns ask and you shall receive!

Our costs have become a bit gulp making too, we had another shock today with the price of copper going through the roof. I felt quite sick about it all weekend but am in more of a fuck if mood today 😁, we may well hold off carpeting the hall and staircase for a bit and have decided we are going to do our own decorating too as it’s about the only thing we are fit for.

Fab! Looks like you are getting to the end stage too!