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?

We didn't get the cavity wall insulaton after all on Monday because we need a vent in place first since we have a fireplace. Don't know why we weren't told that originally so after all that waiting in for the blokes to come, they had to leave without doing a jot.

Not to worry, we don't exactly need the cavity wall insulation ASAP so we will look into this vent thing.

On a better note, re the VAT rise all I can say is phew thank god it's not rising to 20% until January!!! Hopefully we can get all our work done before then and get the big things like a new sofa etc before we get whacked by the VATman.

Any updates from anyone this week?

I think everyone is too busy sunbathing/making building related decisions

Frustrating, Sleeves, re the vent - but yeay on the VAT! dh was glued to the budget yesterday

I tried to upload some photos but they were too big, I think, so didn't load...will try again later. Its looking absolutely amazing now, because the floors are in (engineered oak all through ground floor anyway, so extended into new bit over heating pipes). When we open the French doors its as though there's no wall between us and the garden - bliss!

One downer this week: we totted up what was left to do (not just to the new build part, but replacing a couple of other windows, new bits for downstairs loo, etc etc) and our total costs are going to be 50% more than we expected Luckily, we can just about manage it.

None of the extra, by the way, is increased building costs - they are totally on budget, as are plumber, electrician, etc. Its all the extra bits we forgot to budget for.

Starting the "knocking through" process tomorrow. We are now living upstairs, when it gets too much we'll be decamping to my dad's.

I'm now planning to shop for a new suite asap rather than waiting for January sales.

Still going well here on the kitchen extension. Roof timbers going on, spaces for the veluxes clearly visible now (very happy with the positioning of them after some discussion about where exactly they should be). We can really see the shape of the room now and looking from he outside the extension doesn't overwhelm the garden as we feared it might. Still not breaking through to the kitchen but the electrician is apparently coming today to move the oven and micro into the garage where they will be reconnected. Not looking forward to that particularly as the garage is now very full of builder's stuff so cooking will be a bit more of a challenge but good practice for a few weeks time when we have no kitchen at all!

annh Sounds very exciting to be able to see exactly how things are going to be. No kitchen at all, that will be a challenge! Take away week I think .

elibean Bummer about going over by so much. What extra bits have you forgotten, so that I make sure I include them .

Builder called today with a start date . Its just 3 weeks time . So so so excited. Please remind me of this stupid level of excitement when I'm pulling my hair out over the mess. I don't do mess and dirt. I might hermatically seal my living room and bedroom for the duration and live in them! Not sure what to do about ds. Last work we did (rewiring) resulted in him nearly in hospital over his excema because he reacted so badly to all the dust and I was cleaning what felt like 24/7. I might have to actually decamp to my parents or something if he gets bad. I can't bear to see him that bad again.

Need to sell the conservatory ASAP now! So much to do and so little time!!!

I've spent the weekend trying to decide paint colours. No I'm not at the decorating stage but it's been a pleasant distraction from all the rubble, dust & frantic box packing.

Hi all,

it is WEEKS since I have been on this thread but quite a lot has been going on. No extension work done but lots of plans etc.

I am on leave this week (just a staycation, a sort of housework-and-gardening-and-getting-my-admin-in-order week) have now had two builders (of four planned) to view the job.

We took up the patio when my drawings guy (not sure he is a chartered anything and definitely not an architect, but let's call him "my surveyor") did all his inspecting to do the plans (£850 ish - all I've seen are two drawings which are a nicer version of the sketch I did on graph paper, but there is also a full specifications document which will come out at the end when council are happy). We lifted the patio because we wanted to see whether it was clearer where the main drain goes. It's not. So an early part of the job will be figuring it out and putting a new access/manhole in.

Surveyor submitted plans on 20 May for the Certificate of Lawful Permitted Development, which is costing me £75, and I also paid £150 for submitting simultaneously to Building Regulations/Control. They said they were going to come round but I'm not sure if they ever did. I'll phone them today I think. Then I had another surveyor to do the calculations for the new lintel where we break through ffrom the kitchen to the extension, and over the bifold doors on the new back wall of the house.

Have decided on a 3m wide bifold door set. Not sure whether to have three or four doors - you pay by the door, not the overall size. It has to function as the back door of the house, need to think about which way to hinge it, so three wider doors might be better to get buggy in, etc. The extension is going to have a huge Velux window (135x140cm), but only one as that keeps the complexity of beams and stuff to a minimum.

Internally we're having a futility room off the kitchen. It'll have a sort of window over the loo to get 'borrowed light' from the extension - probably in glass bricks, so I need to consider whether they are sufficiently sound deadening. Although apparently it's not essential to have two doors between kitchen and toilet, so many people think that it is that it's sort of the done thing. Anyway we'll have an Eclisse sliding door to the utility room with washing machine and tumble drier easily accessible, and then a normal door to the wc and basin.

Am now pretty set on a Howdens kitchen. Should probably get a designer round asap. Husband wants drawers, lots of drawers - "cupboards are the lowest common denominator of storage" he said, terribly seriously, after having nearly thrown an AIBU-worthy strop about where the hob was going to be ("I'm not going to have it where I have to stand at the hob with my back to everyone, I want it where I can show off and make terrible jokes talk to people while I'm cooking dinner for all the friends who are suddenly going to start coming round you")

I just want a larder cupboard. And an american fridge. And recycling bins. And utensil racks on the wall above the hob - a clear wall with no wall cupboards. We think we have got enough space to do that.

Engineered wood flooring, probably oak, throughout - continuous from the extension into the kitchen and futility, and the front hall and living room too. (Can anyone give me a reason this isn't a good idea?) Engineered rather than laminate because it will stand up better to possible warp effect of underfloor heating that we'll have in the extension (only there, as the rest of the house is a concrete slab floor - 1950s council estate).

Um, what else. Brick on the outside. Outside water tap and electricity for boot washing and garden entertaining/lighting respectively. Cat 5 cable everywhere (inside) so speakers can be installed neatly.

With a wood floor, do I need to have a non-wood kitchen, would it look wrong? what about painted wood cupboard doors (sorry, drawers drawers drawers ).

Next builder's arriving in 45 mins. Must phone council. Need cup of tea, all this excitement! And then I will read other people's stories which I have been skipping over a bit.

Lexi your excitement is infectious! Just to say, our floors are also engineered oak, throughout downstairs (futility, loo, study, sitting room, kitchen, extension) with underfloor heating in the extension bit. Looks absolutely lovely, now all in.

Re wood kitchen: I agree all wood would look odd. But we have a bit of wood interpersed with cream gloss, and dark brown compressed quartz worktops, and I think its going to look great. We'll stick in some green glass splashback to give a gentle bit of colour, but keep the theme natural. HTH.

Annh, great going for you too - all very exciting!

We're now waiting on last bits of plastering her and there, rendering/paint for outside, various bits for downstairs loo, finishing bits for both fireplaces....a painter/decorator is coming to do the whole of downstairs starting next week (!) and shelving units etc are going up the week after in sitting room.

And we've given our notice on our rented house...that makes it more real than anything else: so far its felt like a massive 'project' but now its starting to feel like our future home!

Lexi, we're also having a sliding door between the loo and the coat cupboard-y bit...and a frosted glass window high up opposite the coat cupboard to bring natural light in, too. Not worried about sound, though, as loo has its own window - coat cupboard noises not worrying

Yeah our noises would be from loo to extension, which would be odd in the middle of dinner!

So, are gloss kitchen finishes hardwearing enough in a house with toddler(s)? It's the obvious contrast with wood floor and dark worktop, but does it stand up to a little person with a penchant for bashing things?

Oh it is all happening am so

Update here not much to update still awaiting planning permission. Architect said it should be fine having spoke to bloke from council. thet have come out and looked at the light issue and said it is fine.

Lexi - wow those are plans, I want (in my new 7m kitchen - you should see how small it is now) white units with wood worktops and light wood floors or maybe Amtico or Kardean tiles, like you same throughout utility, kitchen/dining and playroom. Don't know about lounge yet. We currently have lounge/dining room but we are sealing off the lounge and bringing down the existing wall and extending out.

rebl - 3 weeks wow wish it were me I am of the thought if they start sooner they will finish sooner.

Question - if yu are having a double storey can they do downstairs first then upstairs or do they knock through both at the same time?

Lexi, my youngest is 3.5 girl who doesn't bash much (on purpose, does tend to fall over and drop things!) so not sure. I can't imagine its that fragile, though?

sweetkitty, I'm so glad your architect adn the council bloke thought light issue not a problem - not surprised, but still must be a big relief: roll on permission!

Hmmm, I may leave kitchen choice to DH as he is most interested in that part, and will do all the looking into bash-resistance of the various finishes. It's "my" project (for financial reasons I own this house on my own and he owns the flat he lived in before we were together) but clearly this is our joint home so sharing out the things we choose/decide is probably a good idea. We tend to be quite good with that - I'll choose something and present my findings so he can agree. Or not

Our kitchen will be 2.5m by 3.9m, utility 2.5m by 1m off one end. The kitchen is currently only about 2.5x3.4 because there is a breakfast bar, and then a 2.5x2 area of clutter by the back door (those dimensions don't add up, but that's because of stud walls etc)

Slightly freaked out by these stories of builders with long waiting lists and neighbours objecting... we know our neighbours only a little (we moved here in January) and they seem pretty relaxed. The extension is on the north side of the house so as far as sunlight goes it will affect our left neighbours on summer mornings and right neighbours on summer evenings, except that our right neighbours already have a conservatory so when they sit outside they are further down the garden IYSWIM so probably won't be affected.

We haven't yet done the party wall thing or given any sort of formal notification to the neighbours. We're not actually sure that the left neighbours own their house - it might be Housing Association. They're nice but not the brightest sparks, how can I word a letter to make it clear that it's the owner who has to be given the opportunity to object talk to me about the project?

Elibean my left neighbours are in the same position as your raggy clematis lady, sort of... except that it's not a flower bed they have on their side of the fence it's three Akitas, one about to have pups! So I may be in the position of needing to amend the positioning/type of that wall so that my builder doesn't get mauled...! Although realistically we are going to have to take the fence up because the posts are on my land, only just but it does indicate it's 'my' fence... oh, is that going to be a battle?? We'll need to put a reasonably strong fence six inches onto their patio I guess to keep the dogs in check. Yikes.

sweetkitty I think that if they took off both storeys of the back wall of your house it would fall down!! They must need to build the first storey, put a new lintel/beam over the opening with your existing ground floor room, then beams for the extension's ceiling/floor that tie to the original house, then go up the next storey. In fact it's the sort of thing you should specify - as you might have to live there, you should be asking builders how they're going to minimise disruption for you with toddlers and a newborn. And how they're going to move as quickly through the 'no kitchen' stage as possible!!

hey (oh I fear this is very mumsnet...) who wants to share meal plans for 1-2 weeks with only a bathroom sink, and a george forman grill, microwave, toaster and fridge in the hall/garage/living room??

OOH OOH AND I almost forgot, I saw 'application permitted' for my Certificate of Lawfulness on the council website yesterday yay! just as I was phoning to ask whether they'd been round. Now I need to tell the building regs side when I am going to start! (will depend on builder availability natch).

Lexi - although it is a 2 storey extension there is only one part of an external wall coming down at the side of the kitchen. We did debate keeping it for a while but eventually decided if we were going to do it we were going to do it right and get a new kitchen whilst we are having it all done. The new kitchen will be 7m by 4m. Another thing is we are not touching any of the bathrooms (we have 3, one bathroom, a downstairs loo and an en-suite) so that cuts down costs re plumbing and new suites. I am thinking a lot of it will be building the shell of the new extension before knocking through the doorways IYSWIM. Am also having the windows moved in our bedroom and the kitchen to the side of the house from the back, I find it bizarre saying "oh just move this window from here to there like it is a picture!"

The kitchen is definitely my domain, I like the look of the ones in Ikea, I think it is the analness in me everything in a certain place. I have a 6, 4, 2yos and a newborn so it will take a lot of abuse.

Sorry I read back my last message and I meant the internal knock through bit oops.

Am going to phone architect next week to chase it as that has been 8 weeks since planning app went in (same day as DS was born)!

Hi all, been away for a few days so just catching up with all the action! Loads seem to have been happening on the thread, all very exciting

Lex you sound very excited- well done on the application being permitted.

rebl what's your start date? Sounds like we will be knee deep in dust at the same time!

News from here is that the builder is starting on the 14th July!!!! That's only 2 weeks away! The electric company are moving the meter that day and the builder will ben coming out to dig up a trench etc for the wires at the same time. He said that they are nearing the end of another job so are raring to go. So we will need to now get all the crap out the garage and from the cupboards that will be getting ripped apart in the demolition stage.

I am excited, nervous, disorganised and frankly feeling waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

I have had me my first quote! Reasonably sized company, with an office and 'estimators' and all that. So they sent a project outline too, showing this should take 40 days. I'll use that if I go with one of the less project manage-y ones.

So it's £23,964.13 inc VAT, but not including the kitchen units (hmm maybe not the fitting of those either), appliances, loo and basin, underfloor heating and the bifold doors. And he hasn't mentioned the Velux window, but said on the phone that with the bifold doors alone we've gone over the guideline 25% fenestration-to-floor-area...

I guess that's something to go to Building Control about.

I am reserving judgement until my other three guys give me some costings.

arses. it's lexilicious. namechanged for something else.

Welcome back, Sleeves - sounds as though you will be hitting the next exciting bit at the same time as us (kitchen being fitted that week!) and 14th July seems soo close to me, too.

littledutch, good going - the bits not included sound fairly standard to me, they're not included in our build either (folding doors v expensive, but lovely now they're in!). Good luck with other quotes.

I am slightly in that we're moving into our building site in 8 weeks' time. Doesn't quite seem possible atm (no faith, me).

Neighbour (she of the clematis) is after our builders to dig her a flower bed now. I went over to give her some home grown lettuce as a peace offering. But at least she loves the old brick wall we agreed to put up on her side...

My "extention to rear & revised front elevation" is looking great....from the outside. Work on the kitchen starts Monday....3rd & final internal wall to be demolished. The dust is a nightmare, everything is covered in a rust coloured film. We're moving in with my Dad for 2 weeks & then we're away on holiday for 2 weeks. So it should (fingers crossed) be finished barr the decorating. Choosing carpet next week.

Hi everyone

I've been away for the last week so got a lot of catching up to do.

Things here are turning a bit pear shaped. Builders were meant to start next Monday, but they have delayed the start date again. It will be delayed by another week - slightly annoying but since they now reckon they can do it in 14 weeks as opposed to the original 20 weeks, we can cope.

But worse than that the next door neighbours have now started a party wall dispute at the last minute. We're furious, as it seems pretty clear to us they are just objecting for the sake of it. We now have to get surveyors in at a lot of extra cost and it will probably delay the build even more.

Sorry for the me, me, me post. I just need to rant a bit.

Oh FMAO what a total pain! Can't believe your neighbours are starting a dispute now, surely they should have said something earlier? What do they hope to achieve anyway given your builders are due to start soon.

Talking of neighbours, what is normally the thing to do re informing them of start dates etc? I have mentioned in passing to a few neighbours that we are starting mid July but there are also a few who I've not said anything to. I feel I should say something as there will be skips etc in the cul de sac that will affect a few folk.

I was also thinking of getting the neighbours next door something as we will have scaffolding in their garden- is it best to do that pre, post or mid build?

Hello, sorry been flat out at work.

Our building has been ploughing ahead - now up past first floor joists in the two storey bit and the utliity room has all the walls in so I can stand in it and imagine what it will be like not to have the washing airer hanging about in the kitchen.

Builders have so far been reasonably prompt and hardworking (though one morning I swear I got a whiff of cannabis when the bricklayers were on their own). One query from us about the height of the front window, but touch breezeblock, it seems to be going ok so far...

I have found (and misplaced online) the perfect tiles for our bathroom if you have a chance to look at my other thread and help me find them again.