Advice on what to budget for when planning a house extension...

[ilikeyoursleeves]

We are planning our house extension for this summer and are currently in talks with an architect. I am trying to think ahead and do a budget sheet with projected costs for everything but I'm not sure what to include!

So far I have:

-architect
-planning / building regs costs
-builders
-plasterer
-electrician
-plumber for new radiators, boiler, installing ensuite & downstairs loo
-new bathroom & loo sanitaryware
-joiner for new doors and floors
-painter for external house painting
-new decking
-new fence

Ummmmmm....what else should I include?

structural surveyor or engineer - I can't remember 2nd word but they work out the load and foundations.

glazing for windows/doors
scaffolding
roofing/chimney?
boxing in of pipework
subfloor or underlay
hardware for doors/fence/windows

paint for inside and out
curtains

Sorry if i am missing soemthing obvious, but you have no materials

eg you have an electrician but no materials - you need sockets, switches, cabling, distribution board or consumer unit

you have a joiner but no doors, facings,skirting boards, doors, floors and subfloors, flooring , door furniture etc etc

you have a plumber but no materials, only sanitary wear

bathroom fittings

ditto plasterer, also architrave or cornice if you want it

tiler & tiles

other decoration materials

painter for internal work

furnishings

Can i ask - is the architect to be your project manager or are you appointing a seperate one? and a main contractor?

forgot to say, most importantly - contingency

Make sure you budget a large sum for the other costs overrunning. You won't believe the amount of things that crop up that weren't thought of, e.g. foundations needing to be deeper than planned etc.

you havent got materials down - flooring, electrics, radiators etc. that can soon add up.

Sorry I wasn't too clear with my original list! I have had a rough quote from a builder (contractor) who has included all the materials too, he reckoned about £50-55k exc VAT for a 2 storey shell and basic electrics and plumbing, sanitaryware would then we extra as would floors etc.

I was just wondering if there are any glaringly obvious things I had missed. Contingency fund was one, oh dear. And painting inside and out. And the curtains etc, eek.

The architect is drawing up plans just now and will then put them out for tender when we await building regs to come through, I think all the quotes will include most of the basic essentials is that right? (If we go with a contractor that is).

Architect is only being used for drawings, we are going to project manage ourselves as the builder we will prob go with is an old mate of DH's and did DH's sisters extension (fab job he did too).

How did you budget? Did you get quotes from contractors for the main stuff then estimate anything else that you might need down to the last nail etc? Are there any lists on 'tinternet to help with that?

lights, flooring, bathroom tiles, bathroom extractor, blinds or curtains, radiators

Easiest if you know exactly what you want in every room, down to the exact position of the sockets, radiators, TV, electrical equipment etc. Then agree with your builder (in writing) exactly what he is quoting for.

The less precise you are, the harder to pin down costs (as I've found).

One way to make sure you've got everything down is to go round your existing rooms writing down literally everything in them. Because you will need to buy it ALL. e.g. window frame, window sill, window, window furniture, window lock, curtain track, curtain, paint for window, etc etc.

is builder going to be the main contractor and manage all the sub contractors for you? if not you really need to know what you are doing to manage it as a separate trades contract. Its YOUR job to schedule every trade in the right sequence and have all the correct material on site on time

you say that basic materials are included? even if they are, do you WANT " basic" hardware, skirting and facings, cornice, doors, lighting , windows etc ?

if you don't specify what you want you will get the cheapest of the cheap. and every time you change your mind it will cost you .

Our architect came round to survey today and should get the plans to us in the next week. This thread is just what I need right now. We are getting a project manager in. I'm hoping to choose everything for each room before we put out to tender so that our quotes are as close as possible to reality! But I'm guessing we'll still miss things and we'll never know what will be found when they start work and cost more.

I hadn't even thought about skirting boards lol! I guess another thing would be coving as well.

Thanks for the replies Kristina I'm not exactly sure what we will do yet re contractors V subcontractors etc as we are still in the early stages and haven't even got detailed quotes in etc. I understand that we will need to decide on the exact doors, skirtings, finishes etc and I plan to discuss all that at the tender stage- the builder who was out only gave us a rough estimate based on our sq metres and what we are looking for. I'm trying to think of everything we need to consider though so we can see if the quotes cover these! (I hadn't even thought about things like skirtings and windowsills etc....!)

It does seem to get more complicated the more I think about it so I think just having a main contractor will be the best thing, seeing as I will be back at work after M/L and have 2 DS's to look after as well.

What has everyone's experiences been re contractors V subcontractors etc?

Rebl I'm hoping to get our plans back next week ish too! We already have planning permission which came with the sale of the house but we are amending it a bit so it will need to be resubmitted. What are you getting done?

It does all seem so complicated doesn't it but I take heart in that fact that countless others have done it and lived to tell the tale!

We are planning on a large wrap around single storey extension at the back and to side (half way down). Then the front half of the side extension will be 2 storey. We will be getting out of it a large kitchen diner, large family room looking out onto our garden, a utility room, walk in larder, downstairs toilet and cloakroom. Upstairs we will be getting a 4th bedroom which will be a small double / large single size. We are also applying for permission for a loft conversion but we are unlikely to do it but its added value to the house if we ever sell (but I don't feel like I'll ever want to move ever again at the moment!).

What are you getting done?

a gazzilion skips
light fittings
new flooring/ carpets

Hi Nappy I was on your builder thread a while back- how is it all going with the build?

Rebl, yours sounds quite like what we are doing! We are having a 2 storey side extension and single storey to the rear which will give us:

Downstairs- loo, utility room, large kitchen / diner / living area (we currently have a small kitchen diner so the ext will make this a lot bigger and into an L shape)

Upstairs- master bedroom with ensuite (ensuite will be bigger than our tiny main bathroom yippeeeee!)

What's your time scale? We are hoping to start it this summer ish (I think...).

We're hoping to start June / July time. I don't want to start later than August because I want the main outside done before the main bad weather kicks in. We will wait until next year if things don't let us do it this summer.

We've also got a tiny kitchen / diner at the moment and the extension is solving this with an L shape as well. The utility at the moment is the old coal store. Cold and outside!

So a big extension for you as well then. Its quite scarey isn't it when you start to think about it all in so much detail. When we looked round the house we said "we'll JUST extend" like it was something we could DIY!!! Now the reality of the amount of work is start to dawn and there is no just about it! Still, it will be worth it I'm sure.

ilike i think were getting there - i can see it being finished by easter anyway lol!

hi very interested in this thread, we are only at the let's talk to an architect stage just now but good to hear other peoples experiences as your planned extensions sound very similar to what we are after.

I am just scared of living in a building site with 4 young children, we have no family close by so cannot move in with anyone or even camp round their house every day.

Sure is scary! It's when I actually sit down and think about what exactly is involved that I think OMG, but then when I daydream of the end result I smile again. I know what you mean tho about saying 'Ah we'll just extend!' LOL.

Sweetkitty we have 2 boys, one is 2.3 years and the other 6 months old and we are planning on staying put through the build too. Not quite sure how that will work because there will be a corridor built through our current bedroom, making the room so small our bed won't even fit in it (!). So it only occured to me recently that we will prob be kipping in with the boys for a bit on their floor, yikes. We have TONS to do before anything is even built as part of the side of the house needs to be flattened before the extension is built. And the bit being flattened houses the boiler, fusebox, elec meter,washing machine, dryer and front and back doors! So all these things will need to be moved (£££££ ARGH) and patio doors built in the kitchen for access.

My to do list before the extension even starts is masssiiiiiive. What you having done again Kitty? I remember you from another thread but forgot what you are planning.

Remember, also, that if you are going to have more rooms than before, you will need new furniture to fill them with e.g. an extra bed and bedroom furniture.

You may need to do a bit of tweaking to your garden if the house footprint is changing - that might cost a few hundred.

Falling out with our neighbour cost us money (1600) when we had to change a pebble-dashed wall to brick when she wouldn't allow us to put up scaffolding, so make sure you talk honestly with your neighbours before you start (and don't niaively believe them when they say they are totally cool with everything.)

hth

Thanks ihearthuckabees, I have briefly spoken to my immediate neighbour that we are doing the extension this year, she seemed fine and will hopefully be understanding seeing as they only did the exact same extension a few years ago! I am going to go back to hers for a chat and show her the plans though cos we are also having a single storey out the back and I'm not sure how well that will go down!

ahem - how exactly are you going to live in the house with two small children for MONTHS with no heating, hot water, washing facilities, or kitchen? Or safe access to the building?

Seriously, all the camping on the floor in sleeping bags and eating carry outs is fun for the 20 somethings but will be HELLISH for months with small children

kristina, I've plans on how to survive- I think!

We are going to get a new boiler and move it before the ext starts so we will (should?)still have hot water. We are going to start it in summer so we don't need the heating on, we are moving the washing machine under the stairs with temporary plumbing so we can still use it (that's what the neighbours did when they did their ext), and we aren't touching the appliances of the kitchen as the extension part is at the other end of the kitchen so won't affect cooking, fridge etc.

Am I being too optimistic??????

The way I see it is that it needs done at some point so i'd be as well putting up with it sooner than later!

ilike, it sounds like you have thought things through, which is good. We managed with no heat or washing machine for three months starting in March (so it was cold, but not horrendous), and my friends were very good re helping out with washing (my DS did go to school quite often with his uniform sponged down! LOL)

Lack of kitchen would be the hardest, but sounds like you won't have that problem - we only had that for a few weeks and I mastered cooking lots of things in the microwave. Washing dishes in the bathroom wasn't much fun though!!

Re your neighbour, my advice would be don't make any assumptions about how understanding she'll be, but showing her plans is a very good idea. Also, if she's done it herself, she should know how much mess and damage the builders are likely to make, but just try to keep the lines of communication open during the build so that you can reassure them that you will fix anything (like grass being driven over by lorries) once the build is finished. As you can gather, we had a lot of trouble with our neighbour, despite us trying to take responsibility for anything our builders did that she didn't like, offering her compensation immediately for damage to her hedge, grovelling like mad and so on. I think she has mental health problems though (which we didn't realise before), so it's not straightforward dealing with her.