Extension started, fit out advice?
Discussion
Work has started on our extension, it’s a 6 month programme and I’m starting to think about internal details (the sort of thing you say “I wish I’d done that” when it’s finished!).
It’s a 2 storey extension, dressing room and boot room downstairs, en suite bedroom upstairs.
Anybody have advice of details / things they wish they hadn’t left out?
It’s a 2 storey extension, dressing room and boot room downstairs, en suite bedroom upstairs.
Anybody have advice of details / things they wish they hadn’t left out?
Looks lovely!!:
A few things we asked the builder to do the architect hadn't drawn in.
A few things we asked the builder to do the architect hadn't drawn in.
- His and her sinks
- Additional water pump to ensure the hot water from the cylinder is always piped to the ensuite shower.
- Ethernet cabling.
- Full height glazing to maximise views out.
- Power to the Velux windows for blinds - Velux
- AC - 100% must do if you have lots of glazing.
- Get the chippies to built you wardrobes when they are onsife, cheaper than going to a separate company.
- Under floor heating in the ensuite - Though we don't use it because I'm tight
).
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 17th September 06:45
dmsims said:
LooneyTunes said:
A very small nightlight/LED in the en suite to give just enough light to use the toilet in the middle of the night.
That or use dimmable bulbs with a presence sensorTbh, I think a small LED, probably coloured so as to help but not kill night vision, along the lines of those used for washing light across a stair tread but used as a down lighter above/near the toilet would be as good (and cheaper). It’s what we’ll be doing in the bathrooms in a project we’re working on.
High end hotels often have feature night lighting in bathrooms which looks great, but too often the intensity is wrong and/or the designers haven’t thought through shadows.
gareth h said:
Is there no access to the bedroom from the existing upstairs? So will you end up with 2 stairways?What partly drove us to do extensive renovations on our house was that the old layout had 2 stairways to access the upstairs rooms. It made the flow of the house feel odd.
Probably too late now as the structural drawings will have been done, but a connection between the rest of the upstairs space made the feel of our house much smoother. You would also gain floor space in the new extension as you wouldn't need a new set of stairs.
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 17th September 07:09
gangzoom said:
Is there no access to the bedroom from existing upstairs? So will you end up with 2 stairways?
What partly drove us to do extensive renovations on our house was the old layout has 2 stairways to access the upstairs rooms. It made the flow of the house feel odd.
Probably too late now as the structural drawings will have been done, but a connection between the rest of the upstairs space made the feel our house much smoother.
That was something we considered, but we would have lost too much space from existing rooms, and the existing stairs are very narrow and steep, so planning forward our bedroom will be much easier to access (we see ourselves being here until we pop our clogs)What partly drove us to do extensive renovations on our house was the old layout has 2 stairways to access the upstairs rooms. It made the flow of the house feel odd.
Probably too late now as the structural drawings will have been done, but a connection between the rest of the upstairs space made the feel our house much smoother.
Dual heated towel rails (elec and c/h). We had rails installed connected to the c/h which meant that they never heated during the summer months. We're an active family and often may have more than 1 shower a day - towels were often damp. Just had some more work on the house done and the contractor added power to them and it's been great.
Dressing room lights on a PIR sensor. We have a walk-in wardrobe and had them installed and it's been great, as it's not a room you dwell in and are often coming and going with stuff in your hands.
We had electric underfloor heating installed in all our bathrooms and just never use it. Again, they're rooms we don't dwell in and heating an entire floor for several hours a day for what will be a few minutes use seems wasteful, just to make your feet warm before getting in the shower.
Dressing room lights on a PIR sensor. We have a walk-in wardrobe and had them installed and it's been great, as it's not a room you dwell in and are often coming and going with stuff in your hands.
We had electric underfloor heating installed in all our bathrooms and just never use it. Again, they're rooms we don't dwell in and heating an entire floor for several hours a day for what will be a few minutes use seems wasteful, just to make your feet warm before getting in the shower.
Which way does that glass roof face?
I love that kind of thing, but these days, it needs to be done right, with serious insulation and solar blinds or whatever.
Definitely a case for some kind of power and automation to the blinds.
You need to have researched this far more than I have!
Also, I'd be having a large number of solar panels in the roof and decent integrated aircon and ventilation.
There are many houses in our price bracket with two sets of stairs due to history of extensions and 'modernisation', and we've binned off every single one of them as being too compromised.
I love that kind of thing, but these days, it needs to be done right, with serious insulation and solar blinds or whatever.
Definitely a case for some kind of power and automation to the blinds.
You need to have researched this far more than I have!
Also, I'd be having a large number of solar panels in the roof and decent integrated aircon and ventilation.
There are many houses in our price bracket with two sets of stairs due to history of extensions and 'modernisation', and we've binned off every single one of them as being too compromised.
OutInTheShed said:
Which way does that glass roof face?
I love that kind of thing, but these days, it needs to be done right, with serious insulation and solar blinds or whatever.
Definitely a case for some kind of power and automation to the blinds.
You need to have researched this far more than I have!
Also, I'd be having a large number of solar panels in the roof and decent integrated aircon and ventilation.
There are many houses in our price bracket with two sets of stairs due to history of extensions and 'modernisation', and we've binned off every single one of them as being too compromised.
I agree that this needs some thought. We have a sun room with two vaulted windows. We fitted battery powered electric day/night blinds and they are excellent but we still ended up having tinted film fitted to the roof windows. During peak summer sun it was just too much sunlight. I love that kind of thing, but these days, it needs to be done right, with serious insulation and solar blinds or whatever.
Definitely a case for some kind of power and automation to the blinds.
You need to have researched this far more than I have!
Also, I'd be having a large number of solar panels in the roof and decent integrated aircon and ventilation.
There are many houses in our price bracket with two sets of stairs due to history of extensions and 'modernisation', and we've binned off every single one of them as being too compromised.
The film tint made a massive difference.
UFH is also worth considering.
OutInTheShed said:
There are many houses in our price bracket with two sets of stairs due to history of extensions and 'modernisation', and we've binned off every single one of them as being too compromised.
The planning permission we submitted listed the removal/change of stairs in the house as a key point, as it really meant a huge amount of work. Like the OP we faced a similar dilemma, in the end we took OUT a large family bathroom with huge bath/walk in shower to make room for new stairs. The end result was well worth it, but spending ££££ to REMOVE or REDUCE existing rooms to make way for new stairs is a reason why so many extended houses/bungalows end up with 2 set of stairs. gangzoom said:
OutInTheShed said:
There are many houses in our price bracket with two sets of stairs due to history of extensions and 'modernisation', and we've binned off every single one of them as being too compromised.
The planning permission we submitted listed the removal/change of stairs in the house as a key point, as it really meant a huge amount of work. Like the OP we faced a similar dilemma, in the end we took OUT a large family bathroom with huge bath/walk in shower to make room for new stairs. The end result was well worth it, but spending ££££ to REMOVE or REDUCE existing rooms to make way for new stairs is a reason why so many extended houses/bungalows end up with 2 set of stairs. There's a real difference between a 'decent sized house' and something which will only ever be an 'extended small house'.
Forums | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff