Support thread for those crazy enough to be extending their homes this year!

[ilikeyoursleeves]

Hiya, after hijacking another thread about massive extensions (not massive erections LOL) there seems to be a few of us who are about to embark on building projects this year. So if you are one of them come join in so we can share all the excitement, nervousness and bewilderment at everything that needs done!

We are currently awaiting quotes from builders for a two storey side extension plus a single storey at the rear. We had our first quote in today which is £64k. Not sure if this is good or bad, it will be interesting to compare the quotes when they are all in. We are also awaiting planning permission but should get it fine as our house already has planning for the extension that came with the sale of the house (but we had to resubmit as we have changed it a bit). Awaiting a building warrant too.

I'm very excited but frankly crapping it re the costs as we are going to have to remortgage plus DS2 will start nursery so we will have 2 lots of chilcare costs too.

ARGH!!!

So I for one need my hand held throughout all this process I just keep thinking of the end product and hoping it will all be fine.

What's everyone else doing and when?

Yes I think a lot of folks aren't starting til mid summer? Elibean, yours is coming along so quickly! How many weeks is that since the work started? Is it on schedule? I was thinking it would be good to mount a TV on the wall IYKWIM so do you know if the electrician needs to do the wiring before the plasterboard goes up? Something else for my list...

Any things in hindsight you wish you'd done / known before your work started Elibean?

sleeves that's ace about the mortage, good tto start getting another thing off the list sorted. I was also thinking about a wall mounted TV.

elibean yes please let us know of anything you really pleased about or things that you would have done differently.

I've been quiet because we don't start until July but I still feel I've been very busy with sorting things out.
Buildings control application should be going in this week, and we think we've sorted out the party wall issue but until we have written agreement we're not going to count our chickens. Although I am starting to get nervous since it's only 6 weeks until we start.
We still haven't decided on the exact windows yet either or bathroom suite or flooring but we have decided (mostly) on the kitchen.
Our builder said we should have chosen our windows and roof lantern before they start.
Also got to get the place cleared out pretty soon and throw away sort out all the junk lovely things we've accumulated over the years

Yeeks FMAO you have scared me! We are also about 6 weeks away and haven't done anything yet in the way of thinking about windows etc! We haven't even agreed / signed the formal contract yet although the builder sent a letter confirming his quote and what's included.

I haven't even thought of windows, bathrooms, floors etc, I assumed that would be ages away (ie well into the building work) but do you think I need to think of that just now?

Eek! Don't even know what front door we will get!

Well, our builders started on Monday and three days in it's all going swimmingly! Wonder how long it is before I am back snarling about some foul-up?!

We are using a small company so we have had the same four guys here each day and will have them through the build, one of them is the guy who owns the company and another is his dad. They have dug up all our patio, dug out the foundations, filled three skips and rerouted the washing machine outlet pipe. They are all lovely, polite, make their own tea, don't subject me to Capital radio all day and leave the place absolutely immaculate every evening. Long may it last!

Oh sorry sleeves didn't mean to scare you. We haven't actually signed with our builder yet either , but should be by the end of this week (famous last words)
Our builder said he always recommended to people to choose windows before they start just to get them focused (but apparently most of their customers don't acutally do it until building starts)
And I'm only thinking about thinking about bathrooms & floors etc because I'm so crap at making decisions and need MASSES of time. Haven't actually thought about them properly IYKWIM, but I guess there's no harm to starting now

Annh sounds like things are off to a great start. I can't remember how long should it take.

No worries FMAO I was just concerned that I was meant to be doing more than we are doing at present! Think I will wait til we get the contract through from the builder and take it from there. I have no ideas re windows, I just assumed the builder would buy ones to fit the hole in the wall

Didn't realise July was only 5 weeks away, it seems so close now! We are to start 'mid July' so not quite sure when that is exactly. Need to sort out the house too, chuck loads out and find somewhere to put 5 (yes FIVE) bikes. And a BBQ. And a lawnmower. And lots of gardening crap. Hmm, the garage is quite useful after all!

Freezing, it's supposed to take 10 weeks to 6 Aug and then the kitchen fitters arrive. Had a bit of a moment yesterday when I got a letter from the kitchen shop confirming our kitchen arriving on 3 September and being fitted commencing 9 September. Given that we will have no kitchen for at least some portion of the build, the idea of waiting a further 5 weeks with no furniture after the end of the build was not appealing! Turned out to be a typo on the letter - phew! Kitchen will be fitted as soon as the building work finishes.

Hey all. Our builders have been working for nearly 4 weeks, but bear in mind they are doing extra bits (opening fireplaces, knocking through downstairs loo and making window, putting brick where old garage door is etc). In that time, they have dug and laid the foundations, put in a very difficult steel (hidden, not sticking out), knocked down walls, built new ones, insulated and built roof, and now they've put in (9) veluxes and the floor insulation. Still a way to go yet, they should be done to a plastered shell in 2-3 weeks.

Yes, electrician wanted to know where we wanted possible TV, computer, sky v virgin cables, etc. Also dimmer/not dimmer, outdoor lights, circuit for outside shed.

Nothing has gone wrong yet, builders are great (but then, the main one is a friend). One thing they've done which I'm very grateful for, is they set out a line on the lawn beyond which no builder is allowed to dump tools/bricks/crap of any sort. Its about the line where our new patio will go, and it means our lawn is untouched and undamaged - rare, apparently!

Not got to the stage of knowing what we could have done better yet! But promise to tell you when we have

annh, congrats on having started! Glad your builders are lovely too

I'm still here

Still nothing happening, contacted the architect the other day, he is waiting on drawings from teh structural guy, then puts them in his drawings, then off to teh council for building regs approval then.... Bingo!

Reading everyone's stories with a lot of interest

Just checking back in, things bit hectic here with a newborn.

Extension wise - the council are asking for an extra £106 for "advertising" as there is a foot and a half of land between ours and the back neighbours, we don't know who owns this strip of land. it's basically where the two fences meet there is a gap, probably as the builders didn't want to flatten the land as neighbours fences are about 2 feet higher than ours. Anyway architect is sorting it out.

Spoke to neighbour on close side (we will be building up to half a metre away from her fence) and she said no problem at all as they only have one small hall window on that side anyway, she said build what we like which is good.

The property we are selling to part fund the build is still not on the market though (don't ask) so that could stall things.

Sweetkitty, we had exactly the same dumbass fee thing, we had to pay £80 to tell the council that they owned a tiny strip of land opposite our house, which they knew anyway what waste of money. Not even sure where they 'advertised', doubt anyone even saw it.

Good news that your neighbours are on board with your extension plans. I didn't realise you were selling to fnd the extension, is it going onb the market soon?

Elibean, can I have your builders please?

Nothing happening here, feel a bit in limbo, just waiting for the mortgage to be finalised and the building warrant to come through really.

Have a good weekend everyone!

ilikeyoursleeves - we were always planning to extend or move even before we decided to have no4 as our third bedroom is tiny. Anyway MIL died last year and left DP half her house so we are selling it and using the proceeds to fund the extension, lucky in one way but definitely not in another. It means though nothing else on existing mortgage hopefully and once it is finished we should get a better mortgage rate. Just the hell of living here during the build now.

How is that newborn of yours, sweetkitty? Sounds like you're moving ahead, in spite of annoying bits. Good luck with the selling, hope it goes fast!

Sleeves, yes, if you live in SW or W London, but not till I've finished with 'em

Just realized they're a few days behind schedule now, which only matters because the floor has to be sorted before the (separate) floor people come in mid June to lay the wood. We thought we'd better stick to teh specialists because they have to match the old part of the house, tricky job. Thankfully, two of the builders are planning to work tomorrow, so seems they're trying to get back on target.

I'm beginning to really really want to move in, now!

Oh he is just utterly scrumptious thank you

Does anyone know if there are stipulations on how many car parking spaces you have to have on your property? We currently have a driveway in front of the garage (so two car spaces I guess), but the garage will be getting demolished and not rebuilt. So that would still leave the driveway. I was thinking about building a fence round the driveway to exclude it from the garden IYSWIM so the kids could be contained in the garden and the car outside the fence. However, if we build the fence at the other end of the drive (ie so the drive is within the fence, in the garden) our garden will be a lot bigger. We wouldn't actually use the driveway as a drive as we could park the car outside on the pavement, but I'm just wondering if we are actually allowed to do this? Maybe we could pave it, saying it's a drive but then never use it like that? But then we'd need to have a car sized gate!

Hmmmmm any advice?

Sleeves I didn't know there were any stipulations about car parking spaces for a private property but don't take my word for it. I think I'd probably go for a fence round the whole garden & driveway, with a car sized gate that you close when the children are outside playing, but there are benefits to both options, so no obvious choice to me.
I hear you on the 5 bikes issue

Some progress here, we just signed our contract and paid the deposit. It's really going to happen! I am now getting busy on freecycle trying to de-clutter as much as possible!

Sweetkitty lovely to hear about the scrumptious newborn.

Elibean hope you get back on schedule. Sounds promising if they're prepared to work a bank holiday. Our builders have requested to work saturdays so feeling hopeful they might even finish early

What's your start date FMAO? Remind me again what you are having done, I keep forgetting who is doing what!

I need to send all our documents to the mortgage people tomorrow so they can send the paperwork to us to sign. Nothing else happening here...

Start date is 5 July.
We're doing a single and double storey extension. Basically knocking down our lean to utility room, extending our current kitchen and knocking through to our dining room to make a big kitchen/diner and a downstairs cloakroom and a non-leaking utility room. Upstairs we're adding another bedroon with an ensuite. Roof will also be replaced at the same time. It's a 5 month project in total.

sounds fab LMAO

I got all excited when I found our planning application online, the council have 2 months to approve it, it's been a month already.

If they say yes it's building warrant next???

At what point should we start thinking about builders quotes?

I would say start now with finding builders and getting a quote, if you have the energy. The good builders are usually booked up quite far in advance, and it's good to get your project into their radar IYSWIM.

Builders should be able to give you an estimate at least from the planning drawings, and you can find out when they might be able to start.
We eliminated a couple of builders at this stage based on either the estimate or their availability.

Ooo that's right FMAO, you are doing what we are doing, pretty much. Although our builders reckon 3 months.... I'll add on another couple of months in my head then!

sweetkitty yes start getting your quotes now as it can take forver to find a builder and book them in to a time to suit you both.

We're spending this week waiting for buildng control/regulations to come through before the builders can start on the 'footings' whatever the heck they are.

We had a stomach churning experience coming home on sunday from a weekend away to find a strongly worded note from a neighbour about the positioning of the skip and some of our building waste but DH has done his special calm talking to them and I think it's ok now. Really don't want to fall out this early in the process.

How did I miss this thread.. I'm week 2 into a 16week (hopefully) project. Single story 3m extension to rear with pitched roof. Revised front elevation. I live in a small terracd house and am having an extension at the back which will double the size of the living /dining room. I'm having the kitchen knocked into the porch at the front, losing 1/3 of my gargage to create space for a downstairs loo and moving the front door.

I'm having problems with one set of neighbours...they didn't like the fence being taken down and the builders dropping off bags of cement in the road to be carted round the back of my house.

I'll look through this thread properly later & hopefully glean words of wisdom & advice.

Should have added...the extension is now built up to 1m in block work, another layer to be added to today plus brick work. I'm going to be a pain & ask the builder to move the doorway 10 inches to the left, which means taking down a section of blocks and building it up un the other side. Better to change it now than wait a few more days!