survival tips for planning and building an extention please!

[cornedbeefpasty]

have decided to extend our home...we are at the very begginning stage, and are still faffing around with plans, costings etc...

would be really grateful for ANY advice, tips etc you can offer!

Try and use builders/trades people on recommendation

Be sure that you are able to 'work' with them (that you're all singing from the same songsheet etc) before you commit to hiring them

I am an architect with 16 years post qualification experience. How can I help?

Spend more time planning.

No, honestly. While everything is on paper, you can make the choices about where electrical outlets go, what sort of brassware you want, exactly how the windows are going to work, what sort of heating system, which floor finishes you'll be getting and how they will detail up against the walls/old part of the house etc, etc, etc.

Once the project starts, if you haven't got very firm opinions about this stuff and have planned (and costed) it, in some detail, you'll be in the hands of your builder. Which might give you a good outcome, or not, but does tend to generate stress and a lot of unexpected costs.

A good way to check if you have enough plans is to mentally enlarge the plans you have by 10, then look at them and see if the detail on the plans is good enough for someone to actually give you what you want.

Also, don't do what I did with my first building project, and work out a budget which had the following main cost centres:

Building work
Electrician
Plumber
Kitchen units
Bathroom units

Spot the omission? That's right, nothing for decorations, floor finishes, brassware, lighting or curtains. All of which added about another 15% to the costs, IIRC

also add in cost of top-to-toe house clean with a cleaning company - it'll be so worth it when it's all done, and you come home one day to the clean house you've spent all that time planning for.

ooh! thanks.

walmer..first things first, how can i start trying to look "outside the box" iykwim for getting the most out of our space? looking at our floor layout, planning to turn a teeny kitchen into a kitchen/diner/utility room..all i can see is the obvious choice of units around the walls...

don't worry...its too difficult to try to explain in text..... any tips or insiders secrets most welcome though!

Walmer - while we have an architect lurking...how much does an architect charge for planning/drawing an extension? How do they work it out? Is there any way of getting architectural students to have a go at your design? We need help but are worried fees are going to be astronomical (sorry cornedbeef for the hijack, hopefully answers will help you too!)

A good builder will get most of the woprk that needs doing outside done and then knock through to avoid messing your life up too much.

Do not pay for it all at the beginning - agree a schedule where you pay certain amounts as bits are completed to a time schedule - this stops the builder pissing off every few days to work on another project.

Keep a chunk of money back for completion - upon which you do a snagging list and only pay over the final bit of money when everything is to your standards and complete.

A reputable builder will let you do this.

Me again.

Try to agree your freelance fees on a "lump sum" basis. Building work as a rule of thumb usually ends up costing more than initially planned but at least with a lump sum fee this is a fixed cost. Individual jobs will vary depending on complexity etc... but you should be able to get a set of drawings adequate for a builder to work off for approximately £7.50/sqft excluding statutory fees etc...

With regards to thinking "outside the box" that's where you need a professional who may be able to see some way of maximising what you have got without costing the earth.

cool. have got an architect, but need him to come over again.

any good magazines available for looking for inspiration?

Agree with MadameCastafiore - my DP likes to get paid in chunks and that means the clients can also look over the work and keep up with what's happening.

Be really certain that you are 100% happy with the plans. So many clients decide they suddenly want different things doing and then get 'funny' because it's starts to spiral the price!

Re: an architect - it depends what you want the architect to actually do - just a drawing? Or do all the Planning, building regs and structural stuff too? My MIL just got an architect to do the drawings for her extension and put in the planning herself - and then got it all through in 2 months!

My DP who is building it is doing all the buidling regs etc - as it's mainly glass so has to be compliant to the new CO2 emmisions so there are lots of complex calculations to be done or it won't get through Building regs. He's happy to do it but many aren't.

So some of it you may be able to do yourself or your builder/project manager may be comfortable with these things. So many ways to do it - the choice is what you're comfy with and cost!

Inspiration can be found in many places even in the homes of your friends. Lots of magazines frequently have articles in them on this topic - even take a trip to your local Homebase/B&Q and take a look at their kitchen displays. I know of a kitchen company in Harpenden, Herts thats a pretty good outfit.

Jeanjeannie,

By "just a drawing" I mean all the drawings required for planning, building control, and construction, including any SAP calcs. Structural calcs, (if required) would be carried out by a qualified engineer, and charged as an expense.

Trade suppliers are often cheaper for materials, or at least you get better quality for the same price.

We're getting quotes for an extension at the moment, so watching this thread with interest.

Look into having a wooden structure for the inner skin and roof - can work out quicker and cheaper.

WOW! Walmer67 - that's very cool. We work with several architects and by 'just a drawing' that's pretty much it No wonder DP rolls his eyes when certain ones are named! Sorry - I didn't mean to sound flippant when I said 'just a drawing'

The most enjoyable jobs DP does is when the architect has done what you've said - and had not just created the drawing for planning but seen through the other elements.

About 80% of all DP's jobs require him to take over sorting everything else out once planning has been acquired. We seem to spend a lot of time doing build regs, control, talking with Struc engineers and SAP calcs. MMmm, just writing it all down I can see why he prefers the architect to have more input!

Glad you approve Jeannie. Any Architect worth their salt should in my opinion be wanting to see the design through to ensure that the original concept is not lost!

Well, I'd have thought that must be one of the most satisfying parts of the job - the building turning out as you'd planned!!

always a bonus i'd say jeannie!

thanks for all your input.....keep em coming!!

We're planning an extension too. We had a very inspiring visit from an architect through Shelter's Architect in the House scheme last summer and will probably follow him up. I think a good architect's fees are well worth it for a really good design, I love it when they get the tracing paper out and work on a layout until it just clicks into place. Better value than some fancy £5000 range cooker.

I work in the building industry myself and would say, good planning (to an obsessive level of detail) and no late changes are a good starter. You only have to watch a couple of episodes of Grand Designs to see where people go wrong.

Homebuilding and Renovating and it's sister publication Move or Improve, are worth reading, they have lots of price information. DH and I hope to go to the Homebuilding and Renovating show at the NEC in March, we are particularly interested in making the extension as energy efficient as possible so hope to pick up some tips.

thanks for that blithe... off to buy meself a magazine today!!