Major works in house - do’s and don’ts

[CharcoalJeans]

We’ve got planning permission to extend above a single story extension and will also reconfigure downstairs, knocking through, moving kitchen, removing a pillar and levelling floors

I’m having a bit of a panic after hearing horror stories of soaring costs, runaway timetables and cowboy builders. I’ve never done this kind of work before and keep stressing about the mess, being taken for a ride…

Keep flitting between doing the work to make the most of a home we love (and long term getting a good ROI when we sell) or avoiding all the stress and selling with PP and paying (much!) more to get a house already done.

I’ve got a recommended builder coming round tomorrow to get a better idea of costs - oh wise women of mumsnet, what do I need to ask?

any other advice?

Ask about previous projects and go to see a couple. Have a good chat with previous clients about costs, work ethic, ( I hate it when they've got more jobs on the go and keep flitting off), time keeping, planning schedules and keeping to them, staged payments, supervision levels. If it's going to be a major job requiring detailed knowledge of building stresses/load bearing etc consider getting a surveyor for peace of mind

Where are you located? Where I am (London) it’s much cheaper overall to get a “done” house than a doer upper. We’re about to start work on our doer upper too and it’s making me sick thinking about how much it’s going to cost, what we’re going to do when our budget runs dry far too early etc…

to get our house to an immaculate standard will mean that we’ve paid about 150k more than it’ll ever be worth.

Are you planning to move out but check in daily on progress whilst the work is being done? The reconfiguring of downstairs will be messy and that will drive you nuts if you plan to live there whilst it's happening (friend tried to live in but as it was essentially a building site she eventually decamped to a local hotel!)

I think we will need to move out for a bit at least but hoping that we might be able to sequence it so that we can have a useable
kitchen for example. I don’t know how realistic that is…

@AlmostOver22 we are in Surrey - outer London fringes. The done house will be comparable size to houses on the market for £1..l2m. We bought our house 8 yrs ago for 520k - probably would get £670k now, so that’s a lot of £££ to spend before comparable costs of a new house!

someone mentioned a surveyor… is that like a project manager?

To spend 400k on an extension, new kitchen and internal remodelling goes pretty quickly, so don't be surprised. All work attracts VAT and if you are not experienced in project managing, a project manager, who usually charges 20% plus 20% vat on top of build costs. So say, in Surrey by a reputable contractor, remodelling and redecorating existing 150 sqm at 1000/sqm plus extension of 50sqm at 3000/sqm is 300k, plus 60k project management plus 72k vat is 432k - that would be without actual kitchen cupboards and appliances in Surrey. It would be significantly cheaper (at least 24%) if you manage trades yourself and maybe start with plans from a structural surveyor and have them periodically inspect progress.

We've just done a major renovation. It's expensive but the only way we were going to get the house configuration we wanted. Depending on what you want doing it may be cheaper to buy a 'done' house although that depends on finding one done to your taste? There seemed to be a lot already extended with open plan kitchen/dining room which we didn't want.

Ask about payment schedules. Our builder provided a detailed spreadsheet of costs (it ran to nine sides of A4) and did a valuation every fortnight of work done so far, which we then paid within a week. So the amount varied each time. And there were no upfront costs, we paid the first amount three weeks in. Check about communication - ours insisted on all decisions being in writing and provided written minutes after meetings on site. This avoided no end of problems!

Check who is responsible for getting planning permission (if needed), building control out and a structural
engineer (which you'll need if you're adding beams and taking out walls.

Allow plenty of contingency as something unexpected always shows up once they start knocking stuff down. We allowed 15% and it ended up less than that.

This is all really helpful advice - thank you all

I think we will need to move out for a bit at least but hoping that we might be able to sequence it so that we can have a useable kitchen for example. I don’t know how realistic that is…

We've moved our kitchen into the box room, which thankfully has wooden floors and needs repainting anyway.

Worktop:
https://amzn.to/3MMTuLU

Hob: https://amzn.to/3UAeCHu (you can get induction versions too, and get two if you need four rings)

Mini oven: https://amzn.to/3zRLdyT

Moved the fridge, microwave, kettle etc from the normal kitchen. I can cook anything in modest quantities in there - I would draw the line at a dinner party but we did manage an Easter roast for 2 in the mini oven. Only thing is the washing up, though it can be done in a bathtub if you're not too squeamish.

I've become quite zen about the whole timetable good job too given we've been cooking in the box room for 6 months

In any building project it is always variation (ie changing your mind) which costs. So be absolutely certain about where you want things to be.

Dont stint on numbers of electrical sockets in each room - it is far cheaper to put them in at the start than to add them later.

We’ve just finished a full house reno (but not extension) and only moved out during the demolition week (we just went on holiday) We managed with a kitchen of microwave, airfryer and fridge, it was the lack of washing machine I found harder, but my sister came to the rescue with that.

We had decent builders, the only issue was something which I gave in and changed as they said building control wouldn’t pass it the way I wanted it, and I’ve since discovered that was nonsense, but the way I wanted it would have given them half a day’s extra work so it was about an easier life for them.

I very much discovered my balls with this job! It was eye wateringly expensive, cost double what it would have cost a couple of years ago, but we either did it and paid what it cost, or we didn’t do it, and that’s the choice you have to make

Get yourself some copies of Homebui,ding &Renovating magazine, and Self-build if it’s still publishing, and read the stories. Lots of useful info.

Get the builders insurance certificate as you'll need this for your house insurer.

Think about all the details you want now. You don't want to be making a decision about how many lights and where the switch will be at 7:30am on a Friday morning when the electrician rocks up.

You can get REALLY big plastic bags you can fit a four seat sofa in, a piano in - don't under estimate the distance plaster dust will travel.

And whatever you think it's going to cost, it will be more.

If the builder uses expressions or words you don't understand, ask him/her to explain. No one was born knowing what footings/steels/consumer units are.

We had an extension built a few years ago and before that we had done some major renovation projects. A big lesson learnt was keeping the site clear and tidy. Every night after the builders had finished for the day DH would go out and tidy up, restack bricks, pick up any litter etc. Keeping the building area clear meant that they could just crack on the next day.

Make sure you have a contract (JCT Homeowners should be fine) since, without a contract, you won’t be covered by the contractors insurance. See copies of said insurance. Do not pay any money upfront. Get a very detailed programme (literally day by day) with staged payments, so payments are only made when that stage of works is completed.
Design out everything, do a very detailed specification (down to type of skirting board, paint brands, sqm of tiling and price per sqm for tiles, door handles, hinges etc) and make sure it’s all specified on the quote, since it’s changing your mind that costs money. If you are having a new bathroom for example you want to know brand of sanitary, taps, tiling areas etc. Get references, visit previous projects and speak to previous clients. Look up the company on Companies House to check if they are solvent and have a good track record of being so.
Are they registered with Chas/Constructionline/Safe Contractor? Do they have ISO accreditations. What are their plans for welfare (believe me, you do not want them using your toilets!) And you should not be cleaning up after them! That is their job and part of what you pay for.

Buy this book: www.amazon.co.uk/Extend-Your-Home-Right-First-ebook/dp/B09Z9S6TJC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=270DWI2B7U6QO&keywords=how+to+extend+your+home+and+get+it+right&qid=1681373206&sprefix=how+to+extend+your+home+and+get+it+right%2Caps%2C101&sr=8-1

Read it cover to cover before you start. DH works in the industry and this book has been very useful for him and his clients. We have a copy of it in the bathroom at the moment for some reason!

Some things in the quote they won't have the detail on initially so we had estimated amounts allocated for things like tiling, doors, skirting boards, decorating, kitchen, bathroom fittings. It's the details that add the costs so we found they'd quoted assuming tiles were £35 PSM but we found it really difficult to find much we liked at that price (we did manage it!), whereas the allocated amounts for doors we were careful to keep within that. Decorating was specified at up to three colours of Dulux so if we'd wanted more colours or Farrow & Ball it would have cost a lot more. Kitchen they initially allocated £6k to kitchen for units/worktops and £2.5k to utility room and we came in at £8k in total. But it could have been a lot more if we'd chosen lots of 'solutions' for storage or gone for a higher end kitchen (ours is Howdens mid range). Check that fitting of everything is included - we were charged £160 extra at one point for putting up things like loo roll holders and towel rails (and some other things outside) which we'd have assumed was included in kitchen/bathroom cost.

Check your house insurance is valid for building work, particularly for structural work. You may need specialist insurance, particularly if you end up moving out for more than 30 days. We used Towergate Insurance.