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?

HOORAY for REBL and her gorgeous floor!

for rebl I'm seriously impressed that you did the whole floor yourselves. Don't blame you at all for getting someone to do the laminate one.

ISNT we took ages deciding on the kitchen layout. It's been one of the main reasons for doing the house extension so we started to plan it as part of the whole extension plans to make sure we got the right space. I'm sitting looking at all the boxes right now - the kitchen fitters are due here any minute to get started. We went with an independant supplier in the end because it worked out better than a nationwide and they were really understanding about getting the plans right. We've got a pale blue shaker one. Deciding the colour and style was quite easy but the layout took ages (like almost 9 months of tooing and froing with the kitchen people - they have been saints
Our cooker arrived last week too
Decorators coming back tomorrow and will be here for 3 weeks. Carpet fitters booked now as well, we should be back in in about 3.5 weeks. I CANNOT WAIT

DailyWail how exciting, hope it's going well so far

Sleeves where did you get your condensing tumble dryer from? we need to get one too.

rebl - congrats on the kitchen floor

FMAO - 9 months planning I haven't even thought about it yet! Hope the kitchen fitting goes OK.

Nothing to report back here, still waiting on another 2 quotes coming back.

Fmao I got the tumble dryer from a website called deals4u I think. A sensor condensing one for £ 199 & free delivery! Not tried it yet though, its still in the wrapping as we had to paint the utility room today.

so far we have painted the bedroom, downstairs loo & utility room. It looks so much more like a home rather than a building site once a bit of paint is up! We are just doing all white just now for a base coat before we decide on colours.

Spark is coming tomorrow so hopefully we will have lights on in the extension by then. Oh, forgot to say, they broke through yesterday so we now have our L shaped kitchen diner yippee!

FMAO very very exciting about the kitchen! Pale blue shaker sounds lush

About here - well they're doing the brickwork at a rate of knots. Apparently they can't do bricks if it's under 5 degrees so there is a certain sense of urgency...

DH was talking to one of the builders yesterday and he was saying that the main bloke (who is project managing I guess - he hires everyone in to do stuff) is very careful, he likes to prepare everything so it's exactly right and only then do the next bit. He certainly builds things that look very solid IYKWIM. And we knew when we hired him - we were told, he's very good, and his price is keen, but he does take a long time... So I'll probably still be posting on here in two years by myself!

Anyway the whole block and beam floor is down on the ground floor now, steel are in, walls are going up, external doors ordered and here tomorrow so they can build the frames in.... Still exciting!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Just having a scream cos of this feckin SNOW! No builders can come out so everything is going to be held up. Plasterer was meant to come out tomorrow but it's too snowy to even park a car outside. The laminate guy said he will try to come out Wednesday but if the plastering needs done after this it might wreck the floor.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Can I join?

We are 3 weeks into a 2 storey side extension making the kitchen and 3rd bedroom bigger and a 4th bedroom.

Builders plan to be finished for xmas and so far we are on schedule. I am stressed already from all the questions, organising and phone calls. I am project managing and ordering materials to save us some money and we have a tight budget.

Will all be worth it when finished, I cant wait to be at the fun part - choosing furniture and curtains etc!

Was wondering how you were all doing in the snow?

London - hello and welcome

Update here - second quote came back 71K plus 9K of extras that he said weren't in the plans, plus cost of kitchen on top of that and probably VAT as well!!! So probably 100K, could buy a new flaming house for that.

So unless third builder comes back with something well under these two, rightmove here we come. Am a bit annoyed with the architect really as when he came up with the first set of drawings, we asked him as a rough estimate in his professional opinion how much it would cost, he said about 42K, we thought about 50-55K. We have worked it out and a 4 bed house would cost us 25K more in our mortgage whilst the extension 50K.

Can I join in with an ARGH?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I join please? We have had planning for the last 2.5 years and have decided we are gong to start so so don't have to reapply next year when the 3 years are up.

It will be a 2 storey giving us a porch, utility room, breakfast room, bedroom and ensuite. Surveyor coming to measure up for building reg plans today and we need to get the Party Wall Act sorted as our neighbours are on a higher level than us and worried about the retaining wall collapsing. Am trying to organise new side gate so we can use back door and coming to terms with the fact we're going to destroy our lovely front garden.

Funds very tight so will be project managing it myself and getting different people in for different stages under the supervision of a friend whose Dad is a builder and who has done a couple of extensions this way himself so knows various tradespeople. Am rather nervous about whole thing.

We've moved in .

All our stuff is back from storage and I've just a few more packing boxes to unpack and thats us done. What a journey! I love it, I really do. Has been worth every bit of stress. I will get some photos up later as I want to show it off!

Wow Rebl congrats on moving back and surviving the whole thing. Yes, we need photos!

Welcome to London and WB&N Good luck with all the project managing, it's a good way to save money

Sleeves so sorry about the snow mucking you about so much. It's so frustrating because you can't do anything about it. Thanks for the tumbledryer info btw.

Our kitchen looks fab, worktops coming on Monday so it will be complete. Decorators will still be there though so we will have to wait another week or so before we can move in.

I'm new too! Got planning 10 days ago and a digger arrived in the back garden today. Along with the snow. Apparently our builder wants to be out of the ground before Christmas so we can save a load of money on materials.

Two storey side extension planned with humungous kitchen, study, utility, garage and extra bedroom with ensuite. Oh, and a pantry . So much pantry envy going around....

For all of you (I haven't read the entire thread) - what have I forgotten? What are the things I really need to put in/do while we've got the right men around? For some reason all I can think of is an outdoor tap.

Hello to all the new folks! London I can't believe you are only 3 weeks into a 2 storey extension to be finished in a few weeks time OMG! We are having a 2 storey side & single storey rear and it's been going on since July and still won't be done by Xmas I think. What stage are you at ATM? Good luck with it all :)

odisco I hope you are getting on OK with all this snow. Outdoor tap is good. Also, tell your digger bloke to not dump a whole load of shite on top of your lawn and then trample it in over several months so you will not be able to remove it . At least get them to lay plastic sheeting down if they are leaving loads of stones on your lawn! Are you living in your house during the build? Hope all goes well.

wynken good luck too, when do you think you will be starting?

rebl I am most that you have moved in. Well done on surviving it all, do you have any photos???

News here- we now have our flooring down and it looks great, makes such a difference! We ended up just getting laminate but it's seems fairly hardwearing I think which is what we need with the 2 boys. The plastering is now finished in the kitchen diner and we should be able to paint it soon I think. The sofa is in position but still covered in plastic as there is loads of dust about. We bought our table in Ikea at the weekend (extendable one and seats up to 10!), it's black / brown and I have ordered green chairs from Dwell to go with it.

The snow is a nightmare though and no builders have been up today or Friday. Tell a lie, the gaffer came up on Friday as the next door neighbours pipes were frozen! The builders had dug up their pipes in summer then forgot about them so they have been lying out in the open, hence they froze. Thankfully they are fine now phew. I just want this damn snow to go now!

ilikeyoursleeves it does seem a bit crazy!!

Last week was slow as it was below freezing hhere and bricks couldnt be laid. Lots of little jobs instead - SSE came to move the electric meter (£285 for 1/2 hour job!), scaffolders did 2nd lift, bought insulation for the roof and ordered joists and steels.

This week blocks and bricks have to go up to roof level, joists in, roofer here to do roof, electrician starting and plumber here thurs - sun (from france believe it or not!) doing boiler etc. I think me and twins will be moving out!

Fingers crossed for good weather for everyone this week :)

Well we're now back in and I'm very pleased to say I love our "new" house. We have an amzing kitchen/diner. We even have space for a sofa as well as the dining table so we haven't really moved from this room. We've still got masses of things to do and boxes to unpack and hooks to put up etc

I might even have to change my name. We haven't quite got the hang of the underfloor heating and we were roasting last night!

Hope all is well with everyone else. No doubt the weather has caused a certain amount of havoc

Merry Christmas, brave fellow-extendees

Just popping in to wave at Rebl and FMAO (congrats on moving back in, both!!) and Sleeves (fingers crossed for no more snow, and the rest finished soon - sounds so much further on than when I last 'saw' you though!) and everyone else I shared the thread with over the spring/summer...

...we're firmly bedded in to new house, and all our fears about the extension being cold were unfounded: underfloor heating and one big vertical rad more than enough, tis the warmest spot in the house regardless of N facing orientation! Looking forward to christening the place with a big family meal tomorrow.

Will be re-joining you in early spring when we serve our tricky neighbour (yes, she of the 'I'm telling my MP about your extension/won't talk to party wall surveyor/I want brick not render' saga) with another party wall notice re starting the loft conversion in the summer...

Meantime, merry christmas to all and hope you all have a warm roof over your heads regardless of the building stage you're at!

Hello all and a belated merry Christmas! Just popping on to say we managed to have our Christmas meal in the new kitchen / diner and it was great. DH did all the cooking for 13 people (yes, 13!) and they all loved the new space. It didn't even seem cramped with everyone in it either. We still have loads to do decoration wise but at least the main internal works are done. We had a bit of a falling out with the gaffer a week before Xmas as they weren't turning up and were using the snow as an excuse (despite the fact that I could get about fine in my car) but they pulled out all the stops and worked their butts off to get most things done before Xmas. Things still to do are weather permitting now, some roughcasting to finish & decking to do, mainly. We are waiting til they are all gone before we get our new carpets so the place still looks a bit grubby, stains on the old carpet and wallpaper half off the wall but hey it's cosy and huge and FAB!!! Well worth it I reckon :o

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas in their new or nearly new pads :)

Our architect tells us we need to replace all our internal doors which seems an unnecessary expense to us. We are planning a single storey & part 2-storey extension at the rear.

Can anyone confirm whether this is true?

Happy new year everyone! Hope you are all well. No news at all here build wise but we had a crap new year as DH broke his ankle while jogging on NY day then I go food poisoning on the 2nd, so not a great start! We've not done any more decorating or anything, the most I've done was a bit of grouting and I put some rollerblinds up today.

Any news from the other builds?

Flipflop I think that is a load of crap TBH! We have just finished (nearly) an 2 storey and single storey extension and didn't replace any existing internal doors. The only reason I can think to replace them is if they need to be fire doors.

Happy new year everyone!

Well we now have a roof, plastered walls and ceilings and mess starting to be tidied up!

Tomorrow skirting boards go on, then I can gloss before carpet is laid on friday.

I am just starting to feel a bit nervous as the money is fast running out and there are a few people still to pay :(

flipflop we have not had to replace any internal doors and we have the old hollow brown doors!