What are your top tips or regrets for house renovation and extension?

[CirclesandSpirals]

We’re about to start our house renovation with extension. Our budget is doable, but tight since the cost of everything is spiralling.

What are your best tips, biggest regrets, or things you wish you had known before you started your renovation? Anything that might save us money or time or regret is very welcome.

Someone above commented on bi-folds Vs sliders and letting dogs out. Does the first opening section not work like a regular door?

Anyone else also prefer sliders instead of bi-folds?

You can source an awful lot of stuff very cheaply on Facebook marketplace, e.g a 2nd hand kitchen, freezer, microwave etc

That was me. Yes, the first opening door is just like a normal door- but everytime the dog wants to go in and out, we need to open it, rather than a slider which could be left open just enough to let her through.

As also mentioned, they fly off the clips in a gust of wind and slam shut. Possibly we can tighten the clasp but I'm not sure how.

Top tip: just buy a new build
Biggest regret: this reno

Half joking....sort of. Tbh although things have gone wrong / additional things needed fixing, these are not things I could reasonably have foreseen and sorting them out now will future proof the house. It has been something of a voyage of discovery and a constant balancing act between optimising the solutions and not bankrupting myself. It's an old house and there was tonnes of obsolete pipework and wiring to deal with, the roof was shot plus we did get scope creep where we started thinking "well if we're doing x we might as well do y at the same time"

In retrospect we possibly should have just back to bricked the whole house so if you're looking at that level of reno (major plumbing/ wiring work), at least consider it.

Most important thing: who is project managing it? Is the builder managing the budget and all the other trades or is he just doing the building, in which case you're the PM, so make sure you have time/ bandwidth to do that. I massively underestimated how much time and work it would be to manage the multiple trades. I chose to use my own plumber/ electricians/ decorator and the builder and roofer were 2 different companies. I don't regret doing it like that but there are implications if you go down that route.

I’d say treble the electric sockets and make sure you’ve got them on at least two sides of each room

I’m just coming to the end of a six month refurb of everything /plumbing/electrics/reconfig of walls and moving bathrooms etc/side extension.
aArchitect was ok - but builder absolutely superb /real professional and anticipated small things that could have been annoying - total heath and safety -tools/supplies etc all immaculate and tidy -kept neighbours happy -I really lucked in with him. He was more expensive than builders others had used, so lots of people telling me at the beginning I was wasting money -but all the finishes etc are superb.
He and his men were here yesterday (back holiday in the UK) and will be in Monday (also bank holiday) so I can get back into the house as soon as possible.
Agree with pp -don’t source your own plumber/electrician/kitchen fitter /let the builder use his people.
All the new walls and underfloor have been fully insulated and all the new piping lagged.
so house is warm and quiet (live under s flight path /can’t hear the planes now.

Glad to see you’re using an Architect. We’re viewing houses at the moment and are being very specific about the location. A couple of lovely house have come up, at top budget for the location, but have really awful, awkward extensions.
DH is retired Architect and refuses to consider either of the houses even if the price was reduced, due to the cost of rebuilding/ modelling the extensions.
Hope it all goes well for you.

We chose sliders over bifold mostly because our builder didn’t recommend them. Also a friend had them and complained the weather was rarely good enough to open them (she also didn’t like kitchen islands). I like that sliders are very quick to open and that you can open them a little for animals to be able to get in and out, also little children or if you just wanted a bit of fresh air in a room.

Unforeseen issues mostly.

The previous owner had indulged in hidden diy electrics (without being an electrician) so a full rewire was needed.
Things like using inappropriate materials so things didn't last. Repointing done with bathroom sealant. Home plumbing that was incorrect and had to be ripped our and replaced. Illegally fitted calor gas fire. A DIY header tank in the loft. I could go on.

I think we're just about finished now, one more job to do. 😊Take it steadily, don't lose heart, do one thing at a time.

And ask for recommendations for tradespeople.

I wish I'd posted my floorplan on here for critiquing. I spent ages thinking about what should go where and flow etc. Ended up making changes during the build but I really think I could have forseen that better if allowed posters to challenge my original plans. And it was only a single storey wraparound extension.

what is it that wasn’t 100% right with your floor plan if you don’t mind me asking

what did you find awkward/ awful about the extensions? Any more insight would be very welcome

This is a great post!

Hi,
In the first one the extension was across the back of the house, about 10ft in depth, but it was stepped down and divided into two rooms. There was no apparent reason for this, it also had a huge flat roof. So it needed completely remodelling.
The second had two extensions, both well constructed and hipped roofs, but at opposite ends of the house, making it a U shape and disrupting the internal flow. The area between the extensions became dark.

Don't go all open plan.
Don't have bi-folds as the only way to exit/enter the kitchen.
Really obsess over lighting - it makes all the difference.

We had an architect friend visit, and he advised us to place the island across the kitchen overlooking the garden. We would have put it the other way, and it would have taken up so much space.

We had to make sure that the builders were sticking to the plans, and we had a few hairy moments. They were great builders, though and worked to a strict timescale and budget. We did need a new circuit board put in though, to accommodate the extra electrics.

We had USB plug sockets fitted, which have been very useful. Our kitchen fitter was fabulous, like a previous poster mentioned, he stacked the skip meticulously and worked very tidily. That was a godsend as the house was in chaos.

I ran a tight ship and had everyone booked in on a Gantt chart for their jobs, and fortunately, it went to plan. We started at the end of July, and it was finished, floored and decorated by mid-November.

Planning is key, and remember, it is your money. Good luck.

I'd agree with planning your lighting - we didn't really think it through well enough.

Have a contingency fund - with us it was £20K on underpinning a wall.

If you have bifolds make sure there's enough room to walk round them and open them without furniture in the way.

Be nice to your neighbours while it's going on.

As many plugs as you can and as much work surface.

Small pull out cupboard under hob for sauces, salt and pepper.