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?

Hello. Can anyone join in this thread?

Our extension is starting next week - date tba. It's basically a kitchen extension with a new master bedroom and ensuite on top.

I have been putting this off for 13 years,and am absolutely terrified.

We're finished! The skip went yesterday, and today we had our first builder free weekday since 29th march. All in all, it went really well, builders were fab, and any niggles we had were dealt with quickly. We stayed in budget, despite tweaking the plans a bit. Our new favourite game is "Guess which new room I'm calling from" Great fun!

Welcome butterbur, you are welcome to join the thread, c'mon on board for the rollercoaster ride My extension starts next week too (Monday) although we have already had the electricity meter moved and fusebox moved. Demolition of the garage should be on Monday! Sounds like we are doing a similar project- we are doing a 2 storey side plus single storey rear- kitchen extension with new bedoom and en suite too. And I am also terrified!

Things wound like they are progressing well annh, not too long til you get your lovely new kitchen!

vonny hoooray! Sounds like you had a great experience! What do you still need to do? Decorating etc or has that been done? Any photos?

rebl how was today? Did your skip arrive?

ILYS We still need to decorate, lots and lots of decorating. Also need to get flooring for the new downstairs rooms, but we're not going to rush it, main thing is having all the lovely space. Oh and we need to get a sliding door for the utility room. Probably lots of other stuff I've forgotten about!

I am so of all of you starting, finishing and maybe even in the middle of building work, seems a while away for us right now.

So it looks like we are going to have to wait on the other house being sold before we can start any work, it's just gone on the market so fingers crossed it sells fast. With Christmas and Winter it looks likely it will be towards Spring next year am also thinking we are kidding ourselves trying to live through it all with 4 DC?

ILYS - next week fabulous! Have you got a storage container? We were advised to get one to put everything in it we can save it from dust etc

vonnyh - great news. Would you say the extra space is worth it all now?

Oops better go DS is crying

sweetkitty I do understand the frustration, we had to wait for all sorts of things to get to this stage.

Vonny, hurrah!! Congratulations - I think decorating seems so much more fun after building (than when its just bog standard 'oh we need to repaint the kitchen' type stuff).

Welcome Butterbur and good luck - I was petrified when we did our loft two years ago, having put it off for ages. It wasn't as bad as I expected at all, gave me the courage to attempt an extension.

We have the loft company round this morning, quoting for the next phase am feeling a little daunted. Extension is beautiful though, work surfaces arriving next week and stuff out of storage today...

Elibean I'm so of you, getting all your stuff out of storage today and having your beautiful extension all finished. Can't believe you're getting the loft looked at already!

The builders are getting on really well here. We have 2 polish guys on the job and I've never seen people work so hard. They only stop if I give them a cup of coffee which makes me want to give them more because they work so hard! Today they've just given the kids muffins because we're being so nice giving them coffee and biscuits. Feel a bit like I'm being mean now because I've only given them the Tesco value bourbons. Nothing special. DH is suggesting we give them a 4 pack on Friday to thank them for working so hard. What do people think? There was an English lad working with them Monday and Tuesday and he had attitude and didn't work anywhere near as hard as these 2. The project manager has been making them stop work for breaks but today he's not here and I'm making them stop.

Hello everyone can I join in? I am sitting here chewing nails about finances, etc, have been approved but already arguing with DH about best way to spend it.

We are having a small kitchen extension done and finance is for that alone, money is very tight. DH wants to go the whole hog and get fitted kitchen as well, I say lets keep any spare for the unexpected and make do while we save up for a second hand fitted kitchen over 6m or so. He doesn't believe we will actually do this and will be sitting here in 3 years still without a fitted kitchen.

Am also worried how long it takes - baby#4 due in December and we gave the go - ahead to the builders but they and the architect have gone on holiday and we will still need to wait on council permission after that.

Any words of wisdom appreciated

rebl, lol, you sound like me - I kept feeling guilty about our builders working so hard in the heat and brought ice creams (which they didn't really want) and doughnuts (which they did)! I think whatever you choose to give them will be appreciated, but I would stick to soft drinks during the week

You're not far behind us, you know - the stuff coming out of storage is the surplus we couldn't fit into the rental house when we moved last September. Most of it is to be sorted and either got rid of, or found a place for...we still have our entire rental house to empty on Aug 31st

But it is lovely seeing an end in sight. Though with the loft project now looming, 'end' is debatable

Welcome frankenfanny (good name, btw!) no words of advice, but congrats on forthcoming #4 and all the decision-making. I would guess, time-wise, it depends what they have told you and how much you trust them?

Hello frankenfanny. Maybe look at the Ikea freestanding kitchens? They're cheap as kitchens go and would make finances easier. Then you can save for your fitted kitchen to be done in a few months or 3 yrs time.

Thanks folks.

I think just knowing there are others going through the stress and coming out unscathed helps!

FWIW I thought we could manage with a freestanding sink and cooker unit and dresser (probably from Ikea ;)) as I don't need to change any white goods. But is it better stress- wise to get it all done in one or get the builders away as soon as (finances aside)? And at the minute I can't get my head round kitchen designs.

I do trust the builders, they are recommended by people we know, but they have a reputation for being a bit slow.It would help to keep them chivvied along if I knew what an average timescale for a small single extension is- they said 6 weeks but that didn't include planning permission or fitting kitchens.

Hi all, been awol lately cos our broadband and phone line is gone! Bt are coming out tomorrow but I think the builder some how did something to the phone cable when they dug the trench last week. Thankfully they said if it's their fault they will obviously pay for any repair. But of a pain though esp as dh works from home and needs the net. So I am writing this from my mobile phone!

The demolition started today and we now have half a garage. The labourer guy has knocked half of it down with a sledge hammer! He said it's prob just as hard using a machine, looked like such hard work though. Plumber will move our washing machine tomorrow then the french doors will ber in by end of the week hopefully.

I'll write more when my I can get back in my computer, it's too awkward typing on this phone, hope everyone else its doing well.

sleeves what a pain with your phoneline. Hope its fixed tomorrow. Sounds like things are certainly getting started with you now.

We're just into our 2nd week and have a very very deep trench round the whole of the back and side of the house. They've been demolishing and digging in pouring rain for everyday since the job began. I do feel sorry for them. We've found our 1st unforeseen, a leaking drain. Just spoke to the project manager about it and how much more its going to cost and he said, don't worry, he had budgetted for 1 broken drain and 1 re-route and we're not going to have to reroute by the looks of it so we're going to be under budget on the drains . I certainly like that . He's going on holiday for 2 weeks on Wednesday, I'm going to miss him and his ability to keep me happy and informed. He's leaving me with phone numbers and email addresses and a schedule with what should be happening in what order and said to email or call if its not happening and he'll sort it.

Also got our 2nd unforseen, a hedge!! Its sort of falling over. It would appear that it was totally being held up by our excess ground level (us being about 2ft higher than nextdoor because they've already excavated at a previous time). This hedge does look rather forlorn perched on a 20cm wide strip of earth. Needless to say the neighbours have been round. We're paying to get rid of the hedge, that won't cost, we've got skips galore and builders here and the hedge is falling down on its own accord. They're paying to put a new fence in .

At least this week is quiet compared to last weeks jackhammering my roof down. Just very muddy and very wet.

Yippee I am back online! The BT lady came out today and fixed the line, turns out the electrician last week put a nick in the phone wire and that's where the problem was . She also said that the phone cable is under the bit of the house being demolished and where the new foundations will go, cue me panicking thinking it will be more ££££££££££££££££££ to reroute it but thankfully the builder said they can just work round it, phew.

Today the labourer guy is busy knocking down the rest of the garage and the plumbers are temporarily plumbing the washing machine into the kitchen. They moved the tumble drier into the living room and it actually looks fine as I have put it behind the sofa so you can't really see it. Skip and portaloo should arrive some point today too. I thought it would be a busy day of blokes here so I have the day off work and the kids are in nursery so I am enjoying the peace too!

Rebl, that's good you don't need to pay for your leaking drain- makes you wonder how much builders budget in for 'unforeseens' eh? Did you get your bathroom and ceiling all fixed?

Hello to frankenfanny (fab name) I hope your plans go well and can get things moving. I can empathise with the tight finances, we have a budget and can't go over that, thankfully the builder has a fixed price so I am hoping nothing unforeseen happens to make us go over that.

Sleeves, glad the phone line is fixed - having had puter problems, and now my mobile has either mysteriously vanished or been nicked (from kitchen, during the night?!? Only one other thing missing, dh's mobile - my bag/purse untouched, computers ditto. V odd.) Reminds me how dependent on technology I am these days....phone line = lifeline!

Rebl, sounds as though its all going well. Our PM went away for 3 weeks, and the relief when he came back..! Admittedly, he's my brother so I could text him in emergencies, but I didn't like to. Hope it all goes smoothly while yours is away.

Kitchen fitted here, apart from fridge which arrives Thursday...few more bits to do, but we're on schedule

Hello, do conservatories count as grand enough to join the club here? It is a biggish one - a long dining room

Well, we are in the second-last week of the build here and all is going well. We have two different underfloor heating systems going in and the second one was laid yesterday and the screed is going down today. The decorator has given everything a first coat of paint and the kitchen designer came yesterday and measured up to make sure everything still fits. The actual kitchen arrives next Tues for fitting to start the following Monday. The end is in sight and I am getting so impatient! I just want it all to be done now. I am finding it really difficult to carry on in the garage and it's not helped by the fact that the boys are on holiday from school now and we have also acquired a cat on Monday who has to be kept in the living room for a month to acclimatise. There is plaster dust everywhere, the only bit of free space in the living room is full of gear for the boys' camping trip at the weekend and I am having a bit of a sense-of-humour failure! However, I keep telling myself it's only a few weeks to go and it will all be worth it!

Nice to hear how everyone else is doing.

Annh, wow you are nearly there! Hang on in there! Must be a great feeling.

House mum, welcome to the club! What stage are you at with your long dining room?

Not much to report from here, the garage bricks are slowly piling up in the skip, the workie has been hard at it all day so far. Portaloo arrived today so I have told dh that he has to go in there now for any particularly rank toilet episodes.

One of the joiners is on hols this week so nothing will happen til monday re installing the french doors & sealing up the house for the next demolition bit. It is all very exciting though, esp seeing how big our garden is now that the garage has gone.

Hi - 4 weeks to go until they start digging up the patio, 8 weeks until the kitchen fitters start hacking tiles off the kitchen walls - the aim is to have a refitted kitchen and new dining room by October half term!

Welcome Housemum, long dining room (with lots of glass!) sounds lovely. Our extension looks a lot like a conservatory, since we've gone a little ott with velux windows (9) and doors

Sleeves, lol at your dh and portaloo orders! From what I've heard (from builders) no one wants to go in them after the first week or so, apparently they all hold on or go to the cafe at lunchtime

Outside rendered now, ready to paint, and patio limestone slabs about to arrive - just the old garage door to change (into brick) at the front of the house, but the extension is done apart from worksurface and splashback. Very exciting, so want to move in! Not least as we had night time break in on Sunday night here in rented house, they only took two mobiles but must have cased the joint for future break in....really unpleasant, especially as we were all upstairs asleep at the time

Hello again, I do tend to go away with long absences...

I still don't have my fourth quote, which is from the recommended builder. I chased him and he says he'll try to get to me this weekend.

I've canned two of the other quotes. They just seemed to have thrown figures down on a page and I didn't really think they were taking my project seriously. The one I've kept going and gone back with a few clarifications on is the home extensions company. My last few questions to him (he's clearly the office guy, maybe the owner/partner) will be about insurance, qualifications/standards and trustworthiness of his guys who'll actually be on site.

Have got full Building Control approval today, my surveyor tweaked and tweaked the plans and specifications to make it fulfil all the council's requirements.

Have reviewed the money situation and the maximum likely value of this house in this area, and pretty much decided that bifold doors are overcooking it. We're going to have a big velux in the roof but a pair of normal french doors and then fixed windows to the sides - so all together we'll still have a 3m-wide glass wall in our 4m-overall back wall. Just not fully opening.

Now... back to read everyone else's progress since I last checked in! Am a bit weary of this and we haven't even started. Hope your stories gee me up a bit. Or maybe the chinese curry I'm about to phone and order will do that...

ohhhhh. vonnyh finished, others in the throes... I'm quite jealous now!

I did the party wall thing and I feel like a bad person. I looked at the rules and saw that you hand over a formula letter and can only start in 30 days. Spoke to my structural engineer about whether both neighbours needed the letter about 'going deeper than your foundations within 3m from your boundary' and he basically said he wouldn't bother with any of it.

So I'd prepared all the official letters but then [scaredy-cat emoticon] sent DH round to schmooze both neighbours with the 'hey, we're doing the extension, wanna see the plans, happy with all that yeah?' which he did and they were completely happy for us.

Engineer said that some people get spooked by formal letters and start thinking they need to get their own surveyor and all that achieves is we all spend hundreds on surveyors. The Party Wall Act was meant for new high-rises going up beside old buildings in London, but was expanded to outside london and all types of development only in the 1990s - and totally driven by the Surveying industry (obv., to earn themselves more money!!!)

So, although I feel bad at sort of having ducked the process with neighbours, we know we are going to do the build properly and it won't damage or devalue their properties which is the acid test really.

One other thing though. In the course of this I wanted to work out whether both neighbours are owner-occupiers, and I couldn't find land registry sale data for either. On one side they have a conservatory so I'm pretty sure they do own. On the other, they've only been there for 7 years and there is no sale on that property number at all ever. So I looked up the Housing Association properties list and theirs didn't appear but I think it is rented. And similar ones on this street cost £93 pw while my mortgage costs me near 800 a month... argh. none of my beeswax obviously, I know I know.

Just checking in, nothing else happening here.

For those not in the know we have just got Planning Permission for an L-shaped two storey extension side and rear. Now we are onto Building Warrant, still hvae to sell a property to fund part of the build as well so cannot see it happening this year TBH maybe start of next

Am so jealous of ann and others seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and even those starting actual work.

Also checking in here.
I was hoping to be able to say that the party wall is all sorted now but unfortunately it is not - grrr.
Although I'm told by the surveyors it should be ready very soon. It's so frustrating because I have no control over it. Builders are putting back the start date again because they're taken on another job while waiting for us to sort out the party wall, and now they're overrunning on that one too. Blardy hell I'm annoyed.

Lexi I totally hear you on the whole PW thing but only speaking from my experience, I would at least get confirmation from your neighbours in writing. We spoke to ours and verbally they all agreed to it, and then 1 week before the build was meant to start they had second thoughts and got the surveyors involved, which has delayed things by about 6 weeks (and added costs too) Ours is a slightly different situation because no-one acutally lives next door and the owners are local diocese who lease to the county council. Personally I'm glad the surveyors are involved because it's a more complicated situation than just regular neighbours, but I just wish this was all sorted out properly beforehand so we didn't have any delays.

Sleeves glad things are happening now, even if a bit slowly

Elibean sorry about the break-in, its always horrible. When do you move into your new house? Should we be putting the champagne on ice yet?