About to start a 6-month extension build...

[AppropriateAdult]

... and moving in with the in-laws for the duration. Come join me on this wild ride!

Moving weekend. Ugh. The bulk of it is done, but the house is full of 9 billion bits of teeny tiny nonsense that need to be shoved somewhere. My kids seem to accumulate random crap at a rate of knots. On the plus side, have found the missing parts of several games/jigsaws that I've been hanging on to for years because I didn't want to charity shop them with missing pieces.
At least the builders will be mainly working outside for the first few weeks so we have a bit of a window to get it all cleared. We're now safely ensconced in PIL's, which is very cosy and has an abundance of fridges and freezers.

Good luck OP. We are starting a 4 month build next week and are moving in with my parents and 2 adult DSis's. With our 3 kids under 10. Have just started packing up the house and I'm exhausted tonight. Need to rent a storage unit now. It's gonna be a cosy 4 months 🤣

Ah, an extension twin! Brilliant. We have 3 under 11 as well, it's intense. They're loving being here, so far at least - MIL is spoiling them rotten, which is grand for now, but can't go on forever...

Moving is honestly my least favourite thing - the only thing that kept me going as I packed each box was imagining unpacking it in our shiny new kitchen.

Builders started today! Realised I could spy on them through the Ring doorbell so spent half the morning doing that while supposed to be working. The hoarding is up. Won't be able to see anything else now I suppose as it'll all be taking place behind the camera position, but it's a start!

The build is moving fairly quickly. Some unexpected extra engineering works have arisen so costs have gone up a little bit, but hopefully we'll be able to absorb them - might have to defer a few finishing bits (wardrobes etc) until next year. Fortunately our architect is very on top of things and tends to get in touch with potential solutions as well as whatever problem has been identified.

Have had a few very stressful weeks dealing with the bank but thankfully all seems to be sorted now. Would not recommend this particular crowd!

Living with PILs has been totally fine so far - the house is very comfortable and, though I do obviously tidy up after ourselves and do all our own cooking etc, my housework load has reduced considerably. Did accidentally dye some of their bedlinen blue by bunging it all in the wash with other stuff so will have to replace 😳

How are you getting on, @Jesusmaryjosephandtheweedon ?

Ours only started last week so not really got going yet. Just demolishing old extension and starting to dig foundations. No major snags so far although looking like a full rewire is on the cards.

Moved in with my family a few days ago and going fine so far.

Hopefully neither goes too far over budget+

No, you've just started on a 9 month extension build but don't realise it yet.

Ask me how I know...

@AppropriateAdult following along as interested! What issues were you having with the bank?

Ha! Yes indeed @VeniVidiWeeWee. Am mentally prepared to be here until the autumn.

Just really poor communication mainly. We went through a broker so it was hard to tell who the problem was with at times, but the bank would come back requiring some small amendment to the various costings forms etc we had to submit, then days would pass and they'd require another change (sometimes contradicting the first one), then another interval of days and something else would come up. Repeated ad nauseum. It could all have been done in one email, but just ended up being really protracted over weeks and weeks and we were running out of time to formally sign contracts with the builder. All sorted now thankfully but hugely stressful at the time.

@AppropriateAdult that's so annoying! Did you manage to get a home improvement loan for the full amount? We are hoping to move soon and want to find somewhere that needs renovating - do the classic kitchen extension. So much to think about!

We did an equity release remortgage (we're in Ireland so not sure if things work exactly the same way in the UK?).

@AppropriateAdult oh yes you can do that here too. Best of luck with everything and I'll be looking out for updates!

so exciting! My question is - how did you know it’s the right thing to do?! We’re stuck between extend and move but neither option is ideal and it’s all so much more expensive that we imagined 😖

Exactly where we are at the moment, @Namchange101 , but leaning towards "move" scenario - or at least will put the flat on the market and if it sells for what we want/need, hopefully we can find something decent nearby...

Good luck for the ones who were brave enough though! 👏

Just moved back in after a six month refurbishment and extension.
It is worth it. Most definitely.
The last month feels longer than all the other months put together.
The novelty of shopping for house stuff wears off.

Good luck all.

I know We largely bought the house because it had a big garden (for a suburban house) and a garage to the side, so there was plenty of room to extend. We like the area, kids are happy in school, and we've already done some work to the original house and lots on the garden, so we would have been reluctant to leave all that behind.

The other thing is that it's rare to find a house to buy that has everything the way you want it, so even if it's 'done' it's unlikely to be exactly how you'd do it yourself. So this was an opportunity to design things the way we'd like them.

On the flip side, everyone says what a stressful process it can be, and even though we're only a month in - and our builder has been really easy to work with - I can completely see that. Fingers crossed it will all be worth it in the end.

This is great to hear! Congrats on finishing, enjoy your lovely home.

Can I join! I am packing for - 6/7 renovation starting in 2 weeks - moving to a rental and the sorting and the packing is exhausting!

Please do! It'd be great to have a virtual support network through the inevitable stresses and pitfalls.

We aren't renovating all our rooms, and our rental is small, so we have the option to leave stuff in our house whilst it's being renovated - however I am struggling to work out how to insure these items?

Well we are 5 weeks in now. Our old smaller extension has been demolished, brickwork of new extension is up, floors poured and drainage works done. Next.is to get roof on, windows are ordered so they should go in then and then internal works will start.

All was going swimmingly until this week when the walls of the structure went up and neighbours on both sides complained it was too high. It is exactly in line with the planning permission. I was accused of not being transparent in the planning and even though the measurements on the drawings were 100% on target we had somehow hoodwinked people into believing it was smaller. I was gutted and so stressed, discussed with builder and architect and agreed a small change to slightly reduce height at our own expense and resulting in lower internal Ceilings, went to talk to neighbour and she shut the door in my face. I'm not the better of it. Since spoke to neighbours partner and carried our reduction work but im still upset and wondering if we will be friendly after it. The joys eh! And we've done nothing wrong. They had the opportunity to object at planning stage.

Wow that sounds stressful. Are you tempted to stuck with the original height after how rude they have been?

I was tempted but in the interest of being able to hold my head high and say I compromised and didn't get everything that I wanted and to keep neighbourly relations on a somewhat friendly level, I instructed they reduce the height. Am now waiting on an apology for the accusation and door being closed in my face but I think I could be waiting a while.