The builders are in.....share the ups and downs here.....

[nappyzonecantrunfortoffee]

Been as though a few of us have the builders in i thought we could share our fun and try and get through the mire together (even though pavlos stories scared me half to shit).

SO were getting an extension built and they started Wednesday - they seem canny and we have a digger in our garden, guinea pigs at the back of the garedn i have to risk life and limb for to get too to feed and mud - loads of mud - my wellies are caked in the stuff from my guinea pig feeding missions!

Our foundations are all dug out now and most excitingly a mixy truck load of cement was barrowed round the back in to them. Wheres everyone else at?

Oh Nappyzone, I am dribbling at the thought of being nearly finished and having my study back to MN in peace. DH is threatening to pack my computer away - he's been threatening it for the whole build but I've managed to move it from room to room so far. If he takes it away I'll only be able to get the odd half hour on his laptop when he's not working. Not sure my credit card can take an impulse laptop purchase this month!!

The kitchen is 'Geneva' - shaker style oak coloured doors. We toyed with high gloss but DH is unadventurous classic. We were lucky that with the sale, credit crunch and the Magnet designer being a friend of the builder, the kitchen came in at about 50% less than the list price. It's the one thing we've splurged on, the bathrooms are on a pretty tight budget.

Taffetacat - relaxed Sunday lunches sound fab. Not sure I will get much help with the clearing up, but it will be nice to have a kitchen big enough to prepare family meals.

I'm thinking that we will need a whole new set of house rules to go with our shiny new house. I'm working on that one. DH thinks I'm mad. But I'd like to spend more time having relaxed family lunches and less time dragging the kids around at weekends. I'd like to make our bedroom a more 'adult' space and ban the kids toys from invading it. And just really simple things like plates going straight in the dishwasher.

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I think the thing is, the kitchen is nice now so people like being in there. Its not that my lot like clearing up. That would just be odd. Its open plan so they feel guilty. Esp if I clatter the plates a bit and let out the odd huff.

The house rules point is a good one. I am quite anti rules as I am a bit crap at upholding them, tbh. Also, I think the temptation is to be a bit precious about it all as its all spanking new and special. My DH is a bit of a Victorian Dad more houseproud than me, so there are a few rules, namely:

• no sitting on the coffee table
• no launching a la space rocket from the window seat, having removed the cushions for use as landing mat
• no using new sofas as trampoline
• food and drink at kitchen table only
• shoes off virtually outside the front door.

Actually this last one is a bit embarassing as when my DC go to other people's houses the adults are always bemused that they can't shut the front door even in a blizzard as my kids are removing their shoes in its path.

feck, seems the pump has been runing and running and runnning even when ch not on so dh touched it and its mad hot - just rang the plumber and he said to turn it all off - whats chances of there still being hot water for me in the morning kept warm int he tank??

Cake i cant see yur kitchen online - link me it im nosey . Our builders apprentice leaves today because builder has no more work and the builder said he will be finished in a day or so but . Plumber here and my bath is working i am so having a bath tonight!!!! Sparky only needs to put spots in downstairs room but skiing till thursday so he will fin of then which is no great shame. So were almost done and me and dh arent divorcing - small miracle!! Still no downstairs flooring decision or kitchen decision!

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Having issues ... again . this is my thread

Having issues ... again . this is my thread

oh bloody hells bells - hope someoen comes along useful to advise soon. My instinct says the architect or structural engineer is liable - surely they have insurance for such instances? Then again in the building game i find they can just charge whatever the hell they like and we end up paying for any mistakes (the client) small or large.

I hate all this - i just want them gone now - now its at the end there are a few snags one being height differences in old and existing ground floor (12mm) which builder sees as nothing but will cost us £200 to put right putting down ply to even out floors in readiness for wood flooring so it flows with out a step. Yesterday builder hit us with another £100 for something done ages ago we did not know incured a cost and now dh has done him a snagging list which he has left for me to deal with while he tittles of to work. I cant do confrontation an a couple on the list i feel like mixing up some cememnt myself and doing them. Dh has his back up now basically and yesterday i got the whole moan on and off on how he (the builder) has doe this for free as not made anything - i dont think im that naive but then i am a bit of a soft touch and like to be everyones friend where as dh isnt that fluffy about things. Plumber here today as well thank god so im not totally alone with it all.

The main thinig i want doing is as per spec the perimieter flags being put back down but i thik he has no intention at all doing that.

What's the latest extensionettes? You have an audience you know

Were all happy again here - lovely builder just puttign some ply down to address our floor height issue and plumber coming back to fit a shower pump (he came turned our water off and drained it all away then had to nip out - 2 hrs ago!!!) , eleccy coming back to fit some downlights and give us certification and thats it - after tomorows titivation and finishing off i am fairly confident we will be builder free as building regs man been out also and signed job off complete pending elec cert !!!! wooo hoo! I wont beleivei t till it happens though and today the skip is apparently going so no mor musical cars yey! .

Now i have to pick a kitchen for dh to fit oh and soem kind of wood flooring so that should keep him out of trouble till at least the summer

Extensionettes!! I love it!

Nappy I'm so jealous of you.

Structural engineer visited on Weds and confirmed that the wall is structural, so we need another RSJ. He really p*ssed me off tho, didn't apologise once and we are still waiting for him to email the builder with the specification for the new RSJ. But we are intending to claim against him for additional costs incurred.

Positively, the upstairs is nearly there. Plumber spent the day doing preparation work so that the new bathroom can be fitted. He thinks that the power shower from the old ensuite is too old and scaled to be re-used as we had planned, but hey, what's another £300 at this stage lol!

Dilemma, your builder sounds lovely. How is it going?

Excellent stuff - sounds like we are all making progree all of a sudden........ my pump went in tpday and my plumber is finito and so hes paid up , all fingers crossed eleccy comes tomoz and finishes off then i can get on with my life. Plumber was overjoyed i gave him 8 cans of lager to say thanks and said nice things - hes been my fave - such good crack if a bit hit and miss coming. He did however move his van today while skip was removed and parked on my not so friendly neighbours drive and failed to move it again so when she came in tonight from work she was fuming and proceeded to scream at me which i can understand why she would be upset but jeez she went off it - i was a bit shaken by the snooty witch . Dh was going to replace some of her roteen old fence that between us and them as a goodwill gesture but she can stuff it now grrrrrrrr

Cake we were held up gettign new measurements for an Rsj for abut 3 days but when measurements came in he literally just went and got it like it was on a shelf lol as i was expecting some wait for it to be made saga next.

had enough now, want them all out of my house.
there must have been 15 people in and out yesterday

We'd like to embark on a pretty major extension too... Have planning permission and a building spec. First buider coming to quote next week.

Suspect it will be twice what we can afford though . Any recommendations for cheap builders in SW London/Surrey?

skinsl i have felt like this for 2 weeks now - its a sign end is in sight though because they all final fixing and finishing off but yes i sympathis its manic. Im waiting for my builder to return then paying him up and thats it - no more breakfast with the builders! Eleccy gonna be here all day then coming back on Monday to do outside work because its raining and muddy lol. No big deal though only an outside socket and light. I have started the big clean - jeez its dusty - going to treat myself to some new cushion covers in attempt to block out the last 15 weeks of mess

titchy, not recommending my builders to anyone!sorry
actually I think their work will probably be ok at the end of it all. It's really the lack of communication and co-ordination.
however we do have a problem that is potentially devastating. Seems there is a main beam above the new stairs and they havent left enought headroom height. Building inspector is due to tell them if the shaving off they have done leaves enough height. If not then it doesn't bear thinking about what they will have to do to fix it.
then we have to choose the bathroom and tilesand some fire doors. And we have run out of money!!!
glad you are nearly there nappy!
cake- its just the inconvenience of it all, how long will that set you back?

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cake - so sorry to hear about your probs. I so know where you are - we nearly had to cancel DD's 3rd birthday party last summer as the builders ran over by a month. We just had it in the garden in the end and any loo trips were accommodated by our neighbours ( whose daughter is DD's bf ). Can you work around the builders at all or do it at a local friend or relly's house instead?

titchy - cheap and good don't often go together with builders. you don't have to pay over the odds, but do be very wary if you get a quote much cheaper. they either won't do a good job or will bump up the price as they go along, IME.

dilemma's last posting re moving back in really struck a chord with me. we moved back in after 7 months probably 2 months too early. If I had my time again, I'd have been more patient and stuck it out in the rented accom a bit longer.

Good luck again to you all. Its normally worth it in the end.

From what ive heard today yes going cheap isnt always the best - our builder was telling of a few builders he sees in the merchants who have quoted low to get the jobs then when they have started dipping in to their own profit just walkig of the job if the custoemr hasnt coughed up anymore. The exact has just happened to a lady i work with - sounds really mean. Its stressful enough really. The money just goes doesnt it! We put up some light on a bar in the kitchen to save some money on even more downlights and the light isnt as good as anticipated so looks like we will need more downlights after all - its endless!

Any news cake?

Hi Titchy - DON'T DO IT!!! Only joking, but imagine your most stressed out state and then double it, that's how you will end up feeling. I'm sorry I can't recommend a builder, we're not in your area.

Nappy - I'm so jealous of the stage you are at. Your neighbour sounds a nightmare tho.

Skinsl - OMG, that sounds terrible. When will the building inspector give his verdict?
The bathstore sale ends on Sunday, we managed to get a bath, panel, sink, WC and shower screen from there for under £800.

Dilemma - one problem just seems to lead to another, doesn't it??!!

We've survived the day here. Had the plumbers in working on the bathroom and heating, at one point there was a 'whoosh' and then heard them swearing, next thing I knew there was water pouring through the ceiling - they'd accidentally cut through a mains pipe . DS1 was well excited because it was raining in the kitchen!! It's turned out that all the pipework upstairs is pretty non-standard, so they've had to re-do a lot of it, but at least everything will be in order by the time they finish.

Finally got the measurements from the structural engineer today [f'ing wanker emoticon]. The RSJ needs to be more substantial than he said when he visited, and we now need to build a pillar to support it. I'm beyond objecting to the aethetics, I just want it done. We have to move all our stuff out of the kitchen and dining room over the weekend so they can get started on Monday...

This is always the thread I look out for. Thinking of you all.

You'll be all sorted when we start our building works in May.

Erm, Toots, I wouldn't be so sure. I'll probably still be here in July whinging about the brickie lol!!