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!

@mrssunshinexxx yes to an en suite! It'll be the first time we've had one! It's not massive but I'd rather compromise there than steal more from the bedroom which will have floor to ceiling windows. We've managed to get a walk in shower in there so hopefully it won't feel too tight.

Need some help! So I’ve attached pictures of snug. Backwall is little Greene sage green. Remaining walls in little green Portland stone with white woodwork. Cream carpet. Sofa similar to that in photo and will be against sage wall with the horse painting above.

we have a sum of 1500 in quote for shelving along one of the Portland stone walls. Builder says that will only get us mdf (we are not in uk and build costs here are around 4500 per square foot) not wood. I wanted like a walnut/mahogany wood but we’ve run out of cash. DH thinks we should paint the shelves black. I see where he’s coming from as frame of horse painting black but I think a brown as would tie in more. What do you think?

@sickofbuilders I’m probably not much help as my instinct, if I couldn’t have the feature that I wanted, would be to paint the shelves the same colour as the wall.

Just had a quick read back, but am shattered, so apologies for not addressing everyone.

Mammoth weekend of sorting and packing. Everything hurts and I am absolutely exhausted, but we did make a lot of progress.

Our meeting with the builder on Friday went well. Apparently they are ahead of schedule now. He wants everything done and dusted by mid July, as he has a holiday planned. So that’s a good motivator for him. We went through our kitchen plan together and he made a few suggestions. We were planning to order it over the weekend, didn’t get around to it, went to double/triple/quadruple check everything today and ended up with yet another list of questions to ask him tomorrow. Nothing major though, so will probably get the order in tomorrow afternoon.

As others have said I am now brain boggled from looking at endless fittings and appliances, reading reviews etc. I thought it would be fun, but I am so sick of it now.

Bathrooms are a nightmare aren’t they? So many options and all the considerations around waste configuration and things like that. We have a bathroom, a shower room and cloakroom to fit out and other than the wallpaper for the cloakroom and the bath I chose ages ago I am at a loss. Feel like I could do with a break from thinking about it, but can’t afford the time now with the build moving quickly and lead times for a lot of things having gone up due to the easter/spring sales.

@Driverpicksthemusic w have en-suite and wc to choose we've offered shower panels yesterday as there was a big sale and I've got all bathroom stuff in my basket ready to go but I keep wobbling on choice. I'm going quite bold because I just think how often do you get to plan your own house ?!

I'd be tempted to paint the shelves the same colour as the wall to not add in anything else.

Sorry @sickofbuilders I'm no good at the paint colours, I dont think I would do the shelves black though. If you have to paint I would go white or same as wall.

Sorry I'm re- reading again there, is it a unit you are having made? I would definitely do it same colour as the wall if painting anyway.

@mrssunshinexxx I’m similar. I don’t want to play it safe and regret it, but am not sure I have the confidence to go for what I really want. Not helped by my dc expressing horror at some of my ideas. Apparently it’s fine for them to want ombre or tie dye walls in their bedrooms, but not for me to want anything other than a clinically white family bathroom.

Our builder suggested panelling instead of tiles, but I haven’t been able to find any I like. Dh is keen though, as it eliminates the need for grout cleaning and reduces the chances of mould developing. I have been trying to nudge him towards large rectified tiles instead, but they’re expensive, so I’m currently losing that battle!

I ended up having to compromise and not have an in-frame kitchen in the end. I was gutted, so I put my foot down on colour and style for the final choice. Although the dc actually chose the same colour as me when I laid out the samples, only dh chose a different colour, so he was outvoted. I’m having a solid wood shaker style in Little Greene Delicate Blue with oak worktops and a full depth butler sink. (Dh wanted F&B Lulworth.) I have a sample door in it and am really happy with it as my final choice.

Today’s fun is all about finding a cooker hood that will fit in our chimney breast. 😕

Have you looked at Elica extractor hoods? We had one fitted in a chimney breast and it was really good.

I am going for large rectified tiles in our bathrooms, I do like the look of Reeded or fluted panelling and I think it's possible to get a water resistant finish but tiles are definitely more of a fit and forget option.

@pashmina696 thank you. Yes, I actually found Elica extractors this evening and it’s between one of their models or a Bosch. The problem we have now is, I can’t be sure of the available depth until they’ve opened it up, so I will just have to pray somewhere has one at the right price with swift delivery when the time comes. Our builder tried to talk us out of having a range in the chimney, as he did our neighbour’s house and they backed out when they saw how much brickwork had to come out, but it’s the only way the space will work for us.

Dh and I actually did agree on some tiles for the en-suite, but typically they were the most expensive ones we’ve looked at. I am seriously tempted though, given we both agreed straight away that we liked them. The only wall panels I liked were the ones that look like acoustic panels (can’t think of the right name for them, but vertical slatted design)
but dh didn’t like them.

Your builder or architect may be able to open a trade account and get you a discount on the tiles ??

Well, the kitchen has been ordered. Had a final meeting with our builder about it today to make sure it was right and managed to shave £600 off the cost, which was a great result. Also ordered the sink which, as luck would have it, was in the sale with a good discount, but we still needs taps, a dishwasher, wall lights for above the worktop and dh and I need to agree on some handles.

@pashmina He’s not keen to open any new trade accounts, unfortunately and his suppliers are pretty basic in terms of what they offer. I want a bit of luxury in my en-suite, so I’m going to have to source them myself. We think we may be able to get the cost down by only having the tiles we love on the long/room-facing wall of the shower and seeing if we can find some that will work with them on the two short walls (shower is going to be a recessed walk-in design).

It's great when you can shave a few quid off a quote. Any savings are welcome as something else always pops up.

Our kitchen is going in today. So excited to see it. That was my favourite part of the build. A brand new kitchen with anything we wanted in it. Can't wait to see it this evening. They may not fully finish today but nearly there. Then we have a few bits to be finished in the bathroom and then painting and snagging. Hope to move in in about 4 weeks.

@Driverpicksthemusic it's always worth asking again - depending on the supplier you can get a decent discount - or wait for some bank holiday sale? Depends when you need them.

So, we’re six weeks in and this week I have started to struggle a bit with living on site. The dust, the noise, the mess. We/I am still packing boxes. (Haven’t started packing dd’s room yet and I am dreading it, she has so much stuff.) I’m sleeping in the front bedroom on a mattress on the floor, surrounded by lots of furniture we can’t store until the home office is built up the garden. Dh has been away all week with work. 😡

He did come home, briefly, but got short shrift for complaining about what a hard week he’s been having, staying in a luxury hotel, all meals provided, comfy bed, en-suite to himself etc, while I am surrounded by brick dust, camping out, no kitchen to speak of, builders upstairs, in and out of the kitchen and outside the back windows. Feels a bit like being under siege sometimes.

I have also had to deal with two floods this week, one from the plumbing under the kitchen sink, when the external pipework was knocked by a ladder and pushed the internal pipes, loosening them, and one from the back bedroom radiator, which didn’t turn off properly when they removed it to overboard the wall. Not their fault, it looked like it had turned all the way, but hadn’t and the water only started spraying everywhere the next time I used the hot tap downstairs. I didn’t find it until 9pm, so it quite a mess by then and the water was edging scarily close to our wifi router!

Still, the room for the upstairs bathroom has been created and they are doing the electrics and plastering the bedroom behind it at the same time, which took me by surprise, as they suddenly needed to know precise socket locations, when I am only in the early stages of planning the furniture, as we are going to need to be canny with storage in there. Managed to work it all out, I think/hope, if not I guess we will just have to live with it.

My new kitchen sink should be arriving any minute, it’s absolutely peeing it down and I have to go outside to take delivery, unpack and check it while the courier is still here.

All in all a bit of a moany, poor-me post, but nothing major, just a grumpy day and things are still moving forwards at a pace so, onwards and upwards!

Ok, so news. Party Wall Certificate being issued next week. Build maybe starting sooner than the 10.06. I have pretty much ordered everything 'additional' that I need. The rest is sundry stuff like toilet roll holders and that kind of thing.

I am now terrified and excited in equal measure.

@Driverpicksthemusic I feel similar ! We are also about 6 weeks in probably same again to go if not more. They knocked through to existing house yesterday so we had to move all my daughters furniture out of her room and squash her in with my other child and they aren't sleeping well together. My husband also works away and sent me a pic of him paddle boarding after work yesterday , lucky git!
Just keep repeating it will all be worth it because it will. Also haemorrhaging cash!
Roof going on tomorrow / this week windows after that. Plumber coming mon for first fix
We are going on holiday next month for a week so looking forward to that but also abit anxious about a load of tradies in my house when not here

@Toooldtoworry brilliant news! I can relate to your terrified and excited feeling. You sound really organised and top of everything though, so I’m sure it will all go smoothly.

@mrssunshinexxx I am doing the same with the ‘It will all be worth it’ mantra. I keep focussing on Christmas in our new dining room and being able to invite my parents to join us for the first time ever.

I know I shouldn’t be grumpy about dh being away, after all he’s the one working to pay for all this, but it is hard when you see photos or they tell you about this amazing meal they had last night while you are camping in a building site.

I can also relate to ’haemorrhaging cash’. Made myself so stressed yesterday updating the spreadsheet. We haven’t had to pay for anything new or unexpected (yet) but it’s still scary to see money flying out of the bank account so quickly.

My kitchen sink has arrived! Our electrician helped me bring it in, unpack and check it and I am so pleased. It’s huge and so heavy, but absolutely beautiful. Feels nice to have something new and lovely for the build, instead of bricks, wood and insulation etc. The service was really good too, so I am now thinking I might go back to them for some of our bathroom fittings.

Dh, dd and I are away at a music festival across bank holiday weekend. One of our adult dc will be house/dog sitting for us and I was feeling a bit guilty about them having to camp here, but then I realised 1. I desperately need a break from the house and 2. They have been at my parents house for weeks, enjoying a lovely bedroom to themselves and all mod cons, so on balance I think they can manage one weekend here.

I think our roof is going on next week, then they’re building a temporary stud wall between the front and back of the house downstairs and knocking through (hence the need to get plumbing in upstairs for us first. We have a complicated steel beam configuration, as we’re taking out the back corner of the house, but thankfully they’re all relatively short pieces. It will be nice to get an idea of the space once they’re in.

It's exciting seeing the new spaces, I was upstairs today planning the bathroom layout, I am so excited to have a lovely spacious bathroom after the tiny one we have been living with. I also need to choose a front door and maybe need talked down from choosing a beautiful red!!! Company said 90% of colour they do is anthracite and remainder black or white, but it's just seems a wasted opportunity not to be a bit bold..

@pashmina696 We had a red front door for years. I had a children’s book called ‘The Red Door’ as a child that made me wish I had one of my own.

I used to find it useful when giving people directions. Everyone else around here has dull doors, so I could just say ‘it’s the house with the red front door’. I loved it, but it was painted over in black when all the outside woodwork was repainted. Interestingly, dh who was all for the black, now says he misses it and wants red again when we replace the door.

I think our new bathroom will only work with one layout, but it’s still going to be a million times better than the old one. I need to discipline myself about what style I’m going for though. I thought I had decided, but came across a different style that would still complement the overall scheme, so now I’m flip flopping. It’s so hard when you have no input from anyone else. Dd has a great sense of style, but is not remotely interested in helping me pick.

@Driverpicksthemusic thanks - it is hard with no input!! I went back to one of the tile shops today and think I am close to making the decision... and I am not getting much choice with my layout either due to steels and soil pipes!

I have to decide the door colour by Monday and I am swinging to red! Thanks!

@Driverpicksthemusic are you me ?! lol! The bathroom picking has done my head in we've finally picked and it's been ordered but it took some doing I didn't go as bold as I planned in the en-suite but have gone more brave in the downstairs cloakroom x

Work starting Tuesday ... squeee

We hit a major issue last week with the floor, builder put it down, and there were problems everywhere with it. I've had to get him back to pull it all up, and now he says the floor isn't level... then why the f did you put down the laminate when you knew that?

Had to get kitchen company back out to pull out the island so builder can lay the levelling compound and start all over again. Needless to say I am not happy and down almost 2k with the levelling compound cost, the extra kitchen costs and the additional labour. Expensive mistake we now have to work out with the builder. Painter due next week so need it all done and skirting etc back in by then.

Please god then that will be the end of it.

@Toooldtoworry That’s brilliant. Keeping everything crossed for a nice smooth build for you.

@Jesusmaryjosephandtheweedon that sounds like an absolute nightmare. Surely you shouldn’t be out of pocket if it was their mistake?

I am absolutely done tonight. Supposed to be going to a music festival tomorrow. Dh has already gone and I was getting a lift over when one of my older dc comes over to dog-sit tomorrow, but I just can’t do it. I feel totally drained, embarrassingly tearful and just don’t have the energy to walk miles around a festival site, let alone party. We have been every year since it was a tiny event with just a couple of hundred people and dd was just under 1 (she’s now 15 and the festival has a capacity of 15,000) it was our scattered friends annual get together and the highlight of our year. This was going to be our last year, as dd has GCSE’s next year, so we can’t go and the festival is becoming more and more commercial and ridiculously expensive.

This week has just finished me off. Builders everywhere, inside and out. They are absolutely lovely and really considerate, but it’s really affecting me. Also lots of cutting through brickwork and plastering upstairs, so everywhere is permanently covered in dust, including me half the time! I think after years of poor health and then caring for my disabled dc, which had us both stuck in the house for a few years, this house has been my safe space and now I feel invaded and like I have nowhere to just breathe. I was really looking forward to and hoping the festival would give me that break, but now it’s here I am too shattered to manage it.

Dog-sitting dc and my mum have been trying to persuade me to sleep on it and see if I feel more like going tomorrow, but I honestly don’t think I can. Half of me thinks a long weekend with no builders here (even if it is a building site) and time and space on my own is more like what I need, but realistically I will probably end up packing up dd’s room.

Two weeks till we move into my PIL’s. I was dreading it, but I can’t wait to do it now.

<<shuffles away muttering ‘it will all be worth it in the end’ on repeat>>