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

546 replies

AppropriateAdult · 04/01/2024 19:04

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

OP posts:
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pashmina696 · 05/03/2024 18:31

Gosh - horror stories! We are at foundation stage now and despite lots of previous issues in my house it's mostly good news. A little more foundation work than expected but better ground conditions than they hoped for!

mrssunshinexxx · 05/03/2024 20:27

Double side extension due to start in a fortnight here apparently 14 weeks til finish!

Driverpicksthemusic · 05/03/2024 21:39

mrssunshinexxx · 05/03/2024 20:27

Double side extension due to start in a fortnight here apparently 14 weeks til finish!

Ours is a single storey rear extension. We were planning to go up and out, but costs have gone up so much that it just wasn’t possible. The build will create a new gf bedroom and en-suite and a new dining room, both with french doors onto the garden and relocation of existing kitchen and gf bathroom. We are keeping a gf bathroom, as well as fitting one in upstairs, but it will be fully refitted. Honestly I think going from one bathroom and a separate toilet between five of us, to three toilets, two showers and a bath is one of the things I am most excited about.

We’re also having the whole of the house re-plumbed, rewired, re-plastered and mist coated and all the woodwork made good and primed ready for us to redecorate at the end.

Builder’s initial schedule was 12 weeks, but there’s no way that’s going to happen, no matter how good he is at managing trades. We were very impressed with how quickly and efficiently they did next door though, so hoping it won’t drag on too much. Realistically, we are assuming 5 months and anything less will be a bonus.

Jesusmaryjosephandtheweedon · 05/03/2024 22:00

@AppropriateAdult have you ordered yours yet? We are in Dublin too and found an amazing place down in Edenderry called DWK, our friends used them and I fell in love with their kitchen. Got ours designed and priced at 13.5k including the quartz counter tops and kitchen island excluding fridge freezer etc but we had gone to cash and carry and a few others and we were getting prices of 15/17k and still had to add utilities.

Worth a visit if you haven't committed or paid a deposit yet.

AppropriateAdult · 05/03/2024 22:39

Cheers @Jesusmaryjosephandtheweedon, I'll check them out. We haven't ordered from IKEA yet, just chosen the design. That's a great price - was that supply only or did it include installation?

OP posts:
Jesusmaryjosephandtheweedon · 05/03/2024 23:41

That's supply and fit. The kitchen was my favourite part so far!

Jesusmaryjosephandtheweedon · 05/03/2024 23:44

I got the quartz with a different co called treanor stone tec. They were the best price I could find.

Now I need to fit out 2 bathrooms for 2 grand!

Toooldtoworry · 06/03/2024 05:54

According to party wall surveyor I've done the notification to next door wrong, so looks like I may have cost myself money. Good start!

mrssunshinexxx · 06/03/2024 16:15

@Driverpicksthemusic it's all exciting isn't it ! That will definitely make a big difference for you. I feel confident with our builder he's done 2 at bottom of our road of women I know and he stuck to schedule, I'm pregnant so I'll be putting the pressure on!
We will gain , a playroom, huge master with walk in wardrobe and en suite, one of original bedrooms made slightly bigger , an actual porch / entrance instead of walking into the kitchen , office and garage which we will turn into a home gym x

Driverpicksthemusic · 06/03/2024 18:28

@mrssunshinexxx yes, exciting and anxiety inducing in equal measure!

It will definitely make a huge difference to us. Our house is tiny and this has been a long time coming. It helps when you know the builder, have spoken with previous clients and have seen the quality of his work. Ours is lovely and has been with us throughout the whole planning process, regularly coming round for a coffee and meeting about various things, but still encouraged us to get quotes from other people. He actually wasn’t the cheapest in the end, but we decided that trust and reliability were worth a bit more than a cheaper unknown. We started chatting with him when he was doing next door and his advice so far has already saved us money.

I would love a porch. That was part of our original plan as well, but funds wouldn’t stretch that far. We do have a hall, but it is tiny, basically the width of the stairs and then you are straight into the living room, so it’s on our list to do at a later date if we can ever afford to do more work.

IWishIWasABaller · 06/03/2024 18:34

Hi everyone, can I also join in ? Knocking our current flat roof extension, rebuilding it bigger and then adding another extension onto the other end of the house. Currently waiting for the storage shed to be finished so we can move all the house contents there to be stored and we are moving into a mobile on site then . Hoping to start end of March fingers crossed

sickofbuilders · 07/03/2024 19:31

Still sick of it! Honestly my husband starts talking to me about progress and I just block it out. I’m so fed up of it all. We were supposed to be moving back in 28 March to finally enjoy a long weekend in our home but no, can’t do that. So another £425 in rent for another week in a tiny place with a tiny fridge meaning we can’t properly cook what we like or have plenty of chilled wine (just to add to the fucking misery).

Got to pick colours for the hallway and kids’ room and I literally cannot be arsed

and why do decorators have such an issue with little greene and F&B?! We’ve been told not to pick from those (after we did for our extension)

pashmina696 · 08/03/2024 06:14

@sickofbuilders apparently it's because you can't slap it on like dulux and it can require an extra coat, I will be using it - it's my house and even if only as it's much more natural, let's the walls breathe and doesn't smell!! Decorator will apply the paint I buy!! I have already picked the colours😂

Namchange101 · 08/03/2024 18:14

@Driverpicksthemusic can I be really cheeky and ask how much yours is quoted for? Your situation sounds like us - have just had all in quote for double storey but it’s double what we thought we’d be paying and we just can’t do it so thinking we may have to settle for single. We have a builder we thought we could work with and he’s been designing but he’s already charged us extra for drawings with no notification - when we asked it’s because he doesn’t usually do so many drawings. So not filling us with confidence to go back and say actually scrap it all and get rid of the first floor! And DH was revising his drawings in between meetings and has basically designed the whole thing anyway as he wasn’t coming up with any solutions to problems or asks…
We’re only at drawing stage and I already can’t be arsed - that doesn’t bode well does it 😆

Driverpicksthemusic · 08/03/2024 19:23

@Namchange101 our quote has recently been revised, because of massive (unnecessary) planning delays holding everything up, so costs of materials etc have all shot up as well. Essentially the most recent quote was £10,000 more than the previous one.

The whole thing will be just over £100,000 including design and drawings, unless anything horrible is uncovered once we start building. Our plans were done by an architectural technician, but still cost around £4,000, although that included them dealing with the planning department and doing our Building Control application and build over self-certification with the water company. If I am honest, they more than earned their money as we were very indecisive initially. We’re in the West Midlands.

I understand the cba feeling. It’s taken us 14 months so far since our first enquiry with the AT, so it will have been 15 months when we actually break ground. There have been points were I have just wanted to stop the whole thing, but there are elements that we desperately need as a family, so that’s not really an option. I think if I was just doing something to make the house bigger/nicer I would have throw in the towel late last year.

Namchange101 · 08/03/2024 19:28

Thank you! Appreciate it. That would be much more manageable - our quote is almost 3 times that. Bonkers.

Driverpicksthemusic · 08/03/2024 22:57

@Namchange101 size might make a difference though, as it essentially works out at just over £3,000 per sqm. Our extension is 25 sqm, but the extension bit doesn’t include a kitchen or bathroom. We have a fair bit of steel going in, but nothing massive, so no full width mega steels or bifold doors. A lot of our work is around reconfiguring the existing layout of the house and renovating it all.

We deliberately kept the design simple and although the kitchen and bathrooms are moving, they are still in the right areas for existing plumbing and drains, which saves a lot. Our builder was great for advising us on things like this through the planning process.

We haven’t gone for an ‘all-in-one’ building company either. Essentially our builder is doing some work himself, but also acting as project manager and bringing in different trades that he has known and worked with for years and considers reliable and trustworthy. I think doing it this way is supposed to work out cheaper as well, but you have be sure you trust the project manager.

We were told a year ago that it would be at least twice the price to do a double storey extension, so heaven knows what it would cost now. Beats me how anyone manages it without going over the ceiling price for their properties these days. Two houses on my parents road have just been gutted. All big 4/5 bedroom detached houses. Dad told me today that they literally pulled out what looked like brand new bathrooms and skipped the lot. They must have money to burn!

RunAwayNow · 09/03/2024 10:53

Please can I jump on?! We're about to sign contract for work to begin in April. Single storey downstairs extension, some internal reconfiguration to move kitchen and utility, and big dormer on existing loft conversion bedroom. All in all it will take us from 4 beds/1 bath to 5 beds/3 bath. Nothing massively fancy, we're not going to have swanky bathrooms etc. It'll just give us the space we need to live more comfortably, WFH more and have people to stay more easily. The builder will mostly project manage it all (he's highly recommended by 3 sets of friends). Sounds quite similar to yours @Driverpicksthemusic !

We think it'll be around 150k all in. It will take us over the ceiling price for our road but it'll mean we are in our forever home in an area that we absolutely love with lots of our friends on the doorstep. Long term prices will keep going up around here as it's well placed for schools, transport etc, so not too worried about that.

But we have to move in with my parents for a while, that's the bit I'm nervous about!! (Although really glad they offered!)

Ilovemyshed · 09/03/2024 18:00

sickofbuilders · 07/03/2024 19:31

Still sick of it! Honestly my husband starts talking to me about progress and I just block it out. I’m so fed up of it all. We were supposed to be moving back in 28 March to finally enjoy a long weekend in our home but no, can’t do that. So another £425 in rent for another week in a tiny place with a tiny fridge meaning we can’t properly cook what we like or have plenty of chilled wine (just to add to the fucking misery).

Got to pick colours for the hallway and kids’ room and I literally cannot be arsed

and why do decorators have such an issue with little greene and F&B?! We’ve been told not to pick from those (after we did for our extension)

Its because its rubbish paint and really hard to get a decent finish. There are so many better quality paints on the market and you can match colours. F&B and Little Greene are the worst.

Jesusmaryjosephandtheweedon · 09/03/2024 22:26

Well I am in the horrors today, went around to the house earlier to grab something one of the kids needed for beavers and got harassed by the neighbour. Giving out hell about the size and height of the extension. How I never told her how big it was going to be and how she didn't know we were going to build in the side passage right up to the party wall, she is living in a nightmare, she is looking out her sunroom at the Berlin Wall.

I just explained that we had been through the planning process transparently and if she had wanted to make an objection she should have done it then, the extension is built, the roof is on the windows are in. It is not moving. Told her I had to leave and I'd be back later to talk.

Went back and she told me she had contacted her architect and solicitor about it and was seeing what she could do. Told me she wasn't an immigrant and shouldn't be blocked out by a wall (wasn't sure what to say to that to be honest)

Anyway I apologised that she felt that way, reiterated that it was already smaller than we got.permission for and would be rendered .and I could paint it if it helped anyway. Burst into tears at one point with the stress of it. Jesus people if you weren't happy say it at planning stage not when I've sunk a hundred grand into it. I'm raging. And wouldn't mind but she also has an extension and the apex of her roof is higher than mine is.

I need wine!

pashmina696 · 11/03/2024 19:25

@Jesusmaryjosephandtheweedon hope you enjoyed some wine! Your neighbour will have to come to terms with it - it sounds like it will take some time.

I am having a utilities nightmare, need to find my water meter and where the electricity supply comes into the house - neither are proving easy.. water meter buried underground- electric supply not where it is on their map! Builder spent ages digging holes trying to find them... suppliers finally agreeing it's their responsibility to find them! Hours on the phone ...

CountryCob · 11/03/2024 19:42

@sickofbuilders I feel the same as you. We have made it back into the house but it took much longer and the clear up afterwards was/ is not fun. No builders today after a full week of second fix last week, waiting for a decorator time frame and doing what we can, at this rate we will have finished in desperation before they can turn up, taking up all free time. Naturally we are still paying £££££ for storage, don’t know where things are and have lots and lots of blinds to put up. Also waiting for wardrobe man visit. As I say every day never again. My recommendations for those starting are builder specific mugs - sets of 4 from Asda etc in earthy colours. Henry the hoover, ideally the big one. Massive amounts of patience and a good answer to the “when are you going to be finished then” question from neighbours ( not when are you finishing your fencing etc Q back - when you have builders in only your house is up for debate)

CountryCob · 11/03/2024 19:44

@pashmina696 we are still waiting for the water meter to be found after 5 engineer visits and have to do specific works to enable that so more on the builders/ DIY list. Power needed a road closure, I remember ages on the phone explaining it over and over again

pashmina696 · 11/03/2024 20:08

@CountryCob OMG what are they doing to find it? - I have seen the water meter previously but it's totally hidden and buried quite deep- I am hopeful they will easily locate it.. but the electrics is proving tricky but my dno surveyor reckons I didn't get the best tracers and he is sending the better team out next time so fingers crossed. Can't imagine getting the power turned off for the whole street makes you very popular with your neighbours...

CountryCob · 11/03/2024 22:39

They need to send a noise down the pipe so we need to make it so they can, we have one end but not another, in terms of the electric we knew where that was coming in but it needed to move and they wouldn’t work on it without a closure, the neighbours still had power thankfully….