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!

Plasterers eventually turned up at 9 after a moan to boss builder.

Been in bed with a cold and headache all weekend so did a test and covid. Complete cold systems, only coughing when phlegmy. Can't believe it! First time I've tested positive.

Oh no @GardensandGrandDesigns hope you feel better soon!

Oh no hope you’re better soon!

this week I’d really like the coving guy to come, and go.
then the painter can finish the snagging bits.

I’d really like the carpenter to come back and do the understairs shelving

and I’d love it if my old window came back, or the glass railings arrived, both unlikely though.

we have a sky glass too, wall mounted and no wires, love it.

I’d also say just go for it, never a great time to do it tbh, sooner started hopefully means sooner ended. Not in my case though!

@GardensandGrandDesigns oh no! Hope you feel better soon. Will the builders continue working? When we got covid, most did continue on site but some didn't which was fair enough.

This week we are hopefully cracking on with some plumbing. Other jobs are to get a flooring quote and a tiling quote.

Some fantastic and swift progress on this thread!
@plumstone I’m sure you started later than me but are nearly done! Kitchen sounds awesome.
Get well soon @GardensandGrandDesigns
people - I’ve never heard of a sky glass so am going to go Google shortly.

This week id like the patio finished, downstairs electrics done and a bunch of the smaller but annoying things done, like shower doors. We are sitting in the dark around the table. As my builder and plumber hate each other, we have a standoff happening on a number of jobs. I have made a spreadsheet of outstanding tasks and am going to pin them down this week on ownership of each. We’re so so close at this point, just a month or so left at most surely?!

Boss messaged to say coving guy is due tomorrow.

Tiler is due tomorrow and Wednesday to finish outside 🤞

so some of my hopes for this week may happen, hope others do too!

Does anyone have an option for a fireplace that isn’t gas or wood, e.g. bio ethanol or electric? I don’t want gas as the rest of the house is gas and wood burners aren’t meant to be great for asthmatics. Any thoughts?
(Its currently has but doesn’t work)

We have a mostly fitted kitchen and utility bar worktops and hob, but desperate for a plumbed in washing machine!

We are also having flooring problems in our extension. The newly poured floor is crumbling rather dramatically, and they’ve discovered some rotten boards and joist in the new utility area.🙄 God knows how much that will cost - or more to the point, what has caused it.

The houses/kitchens all look fabulous @plumstone , @Yellownotblue , @GardensandGrandDesigns . And anyone else I’ve missed. Gardens, so sorry to hear about the covid, hope it’s a mild dose 😬.
I’ve managed to sneak into what’s probably the last 2022 thread, we had an update meeting with the builder we chose and he thinks he can start digging the foundations next Monday. So it’ll be a couple of weeks of clearing and packing to get ready for when they need to knock through and demolish the internal walls. There is a 6wk lead time on the windows so he wants to measure and order them early next week. I’m going to have to spend my weekend walking round, admiring windows, and deciding what we think would work best for us.

This week we are hoping for the first batch of glazing, render at the back and finishing plastering on the ground floor. Scaffolding coming down in two weeks, I can’t wait.

I’m busy progressing the joinery in lots of rooms, sorting out missing appliances, finding a front door as well as looking after poor DH who had a bad fall on Sunday and injured his hand, and also looking after my new baby ☺️. Feeling rather sleep deprived but otherwise good.

@GardensandGrandDesigns oh no, get well soon! I had Covid twice and felt really rum forever. Hope yours is short and mild!

Just in to report that we're officially done - our skip got taken away yesterday and am only expecting the builders back for one more quick snagging job. Ours started mid-April and ended up taking 24 weeks for a single story rear extension, rather than the 14 weeks we'd planned for.

It's absolutely lovely coming down to a finished, usable, warm kitchen now. I can hardly remember our awful temporary kitchen, weekly launderette trips, or having to wash up in the bath. Hang in there, everyone who's still at that stage - it's all worth it in the end!

Oh my - the puppy! What breed is she?

The weather has definitely dropped this morning! Thankfully the plumber is coming today which is a step towards warmth!

@Yellownotblue has stolen the thread! What a gorgeous puppy. What breed is he and does he chew kitchens? 😁
@MyBuggyIsOutToGetMe is the concrete floor and the wooden joints in the same area? I hope it can be sorted - what a stress!
@SheriffCallie I have a theory that windows and big patio doors are so expensive because they are chosen before the build properly starts and the haemorrhaging of money start. I know I definitely paid more for doors than I would have in the middle of the build. Good luck with the build.
@HouseyHouse21 any photos of the finished article?

From my weekly wish list, the patio is progressing well with all slabs delivered yesterday. The noise of the breaking of concrete is pretty bad so I feel so sorry for my elderly neighbours. The painters are back. But no sign of the main guy who I need to pin down on a list of things or plumber/electrics.

Morning All, Plumbers are back, tiler is back. which is good. Have told me they will start painting the pantry tomorrow. this makes me very happy! yesterdays problems include, the waste pipe for the bath is wrong, so the plumber has ordered another one - hopefully in and fitted by the end of the week. And I have had to put the carpet for the stair runner and the upstairs landing back to the 2nd November. I need the two newels and bannister on my stairs, stripped and stained, and then the treads sanded and painted. New spindles also need fitted.

I had been advised that this would all be done by the 17th October - I was not convinced. I was right!!!

@Yellownotblue that puppy is a wee doll. What breed please

@HouseyHouse21 I am so jealous - I want rid of my skip so I can park in my drive way, drive up to the back door and actually use it!! However I will join you on the kitchen appreciation. Its so nice isn't it??

@MyBuggyIsOutToGetMe I feel your pain on joists, I and when I say I I mean my builder, discovered rotten ones under "spongey" floor boards, in a downstairs room, fortunately it was always going to be the last room done, however the decorating and furniture budget for that room went on fixing that, so once the door is stained, the door will be shut till next year and I save up some more pennies!

@NewHouseNewMe I started pretty much a year ago to the day. Was always told it would be a year, and to be fair I moved in 50 weeks after they started. Admittedly, it would have been easier on me and the builders if I had given them another week - however by that point, I didn't care and will be living in a bit of a guddel till the end of the month.

Aw thank you everyone! He is a Havanese and a very sweet little guy. I’m hoping to have him housetrained and over the puppy chewing stage before we move to the new house 🤞🏻

Boarding is still happening here. My kitchen has arrived but the plaster wasn't dry so we had to get a dehumidifier. Tiler is there today tiling half of the kitchen so that they can get the kitchen units in ready for the worktop template on 24 October.

Stressed beyond belief as money is running out fast and there seem to be dozens of people on site that i will need to pay on friday.

I can't seem to work out how to add pictures....

Here you go. Progress!!

So... building regs. I need to talk to the council about our project starting and get the ball rolling.

Any top tips? It's a renovation, not an extension but we are moving things like drains and some walls.

@nomoneytreehere How beautiful! No wonder you’re delighted. Lovely.
@RidingMyBike every council is different. Mine runs a two way track: one for quick and easy renovations/simple extensions which can be quickly applied for and another that should have weeks of notice. We forgot to do either (ownership issue) and had to go down the 1st route even though the 2nd was more appropriate. Worked out in the end but was stressful.

Today the builders uncovered the boarded up bay window in preparation for glazing arriving Friday. I managed to salvage two bits of old newspapers that were once used to bulk up the frames and add insulation. One is from July 1975, and the main topics are energy crisis, house prices and sea pollution - it’s pretty depressing!

The other is from 1941! Headlines about Churchill, Hitler, Belfast bombings, Vichy regime and so on.

I felt like we found a treasure. I’m going to try and preserve and frame them.

@Yellownotblue that is a lovely find. We found loads of the builders pipes (smoking) when we excavated. And a proper tombstone for "toby" who I'm hoping was a pet dog. We are all just a moment in time.

On more depressing news I don't think I like the kitchen tiles. Too gray. I thought they were limestone coloured. Until i looked at the photo I took of them in the showroom which is clearly gray.

Its too late though. They are being fitted tomorrow.

@NewHouseNewMe we had a gas one (Vogue midi) fitted a while ago but there were definitely quite a few bio options at the time - do you have a local fireplace shops as they should have some on show to see.

@nomoneytreehere love the black(?) Frames
The room looks so spacious - is that the kitchen?

Going to try and tackle some of the jobs this weekend but contemplating paying one of the trades on site to do a bit of side work for us. I just want to get everything sorted and feel like home.

@CameliaLeaf yes black. I wanted heritage (crittall) but i couldn't afford it so went for this and have been wishing i went for plain white ever since so its so nice to hear you like them!

I really do like them!
Is that the room where the tiles are going in? Maybe they will look more muted against the black possibly?

I really can't wait until I don't have to think about builders/materials/scheduling ever again!