Extension and Loft Conversion Build Thread
Discussion
Groundworks - I mentioned it and he sugested that since the digger will be back in Jan to tidy up and he'll get them to do some landscaping he knows we want done at no cost to us. There's quite a bit to do so we shook on it and all is resolved.
Progress has been a bit slower - we were waiting for the steelwork (how Grand Designs!) and the weather hasn't been kind, which is always a risk doing this kind of thing over winter.
They'd hoped to have the roof on by the end of this week but that may not happen now - the chippy was busy on Monday, but yesterday the heavens opened and he had to stop.
They haven't broken through into the loft yet, as they want to make sure they can get it watertight before leaving it which I think is sensible and very much in keeping with the thoughtful way they've progressed so far, we're pretty happy with them all told - can't half drink coffee though!
The sitting room extension and the sewing room/bedroom are quite cathredral like under the skeleton roof - can't wait to get cracking on the interiors.
Progress has been a bit slower - we were waiting for the steelwork (how Grand Designs!) and the weather hasn't been kind, which is always a risk doing this kind of thing over winter.
They'd hoped to have the roof on by the end of this week but that may not happen now - the chippy was busy on Monday, but yesterday the heavens opened and he had to stop.
They haven't broken through into the loft yet, as they want to make sure they can get it watertight before leaving it which I think is sensible and very much in keeping with the thoughtful way they've progressed so far, we're pretty happy with them all told - can't half drink coffee though!
The sitting room extension and the sewing room/bedroom are quite cathredral like under the skeleton roof - can't wait to get cracking on the interiors.
Haven't had much progress recently, we've had a hiatus since Christmas waiting for the bifolds, someone missed the order and 3 weeks lead time turned into 6.
Builder didn't want to start the loft conversion until the extension was further along as he'd leave himself a lot to finish off and we'd be living in more of a building site for longer.
Over the Christmas break I thought I'd get started painting the 'garden store', it's not being plastered internally as it's for the washing machine, chest freezer and bikes etc. so I bought a £50 sprayer from Screwfix - made the job incredibly easy. With the trestles and scaffold boards the builders left onsite I managed to do 2 coats on blockwork right into the pitch of the roof in about 2 hours start to finish.
So much easier and quicker than a roller, well worth the investment if you have a lot of surface to cover.
Roof on and velux rooflights in before Christmas:
Scaffolding down and bifolds in today:
Next stage is for the patio doors that led from the old living room to the garden to be removed and re-used for the hobby room, then the hole enlarged and the extension will then be part of the house. Should happen over the next couple of weeks....
Builder didn't want to start the loft conversion until the extension was further along as he'd leave himself a lot to finish off and we'd be living in more of a building site for longer.
Over the Christmas break I thought I'd get started painting the 'garden store', it's not being plastered internally as it's for the washing machine, chest freezer and bikes etc. so I bought a £50 sprayer from Screwfix - made the job incredibly easy. With the trestles and scaffold boards the builders left onsite I managed to do 2 coats on blockwork right into the pitch of the roof in about 2 hours start to finish.
So much easier and quicker than a roller, well worth the investment if you have a lot of surface to cover.
Roof on and velux rooflights in before Christmas:
Scaffolding down and bifolds in today:
Next stage is for the patio doors that led from the old living room to the garden to be removed and re-used for the hobby room, then the hole enlarged and the extension will then be part of the house. Should happen over the next couple of weeks....
Another good week's progress, all boarded now - the light is amazing in the extension:
Plumbers have laid the UFH pipes and the floor was screeded today:
The metal frame in the background of the last pic will house the inset gas fire, we've gone for one which looks a bit like a multi-fuel stove, you can see by the frame that it'll sit in a fabricated chimney breast 60cm off the floor, the model we went for is this:
Plasterers next week, then we're about done on stage 1. We're slightly under budget too - which is nice.
After we finish stage 1 the builders will start on the loft next and we'll start final finishes on the extension.
We've bought a load of wooden flooring which should just about match what's down in the existing part of the sitting room. Unfortunately the wood merchant doesn't stock the stuff we bought from them 5 years ago so we've gone for the closest we can - the colour and width is identical but the tongue and grooves are slightly higher (about 1mm) which might be a problem as I'm planning to merge the new and old rather than have a line straight across the centre of the room. I have an idea though, and the joiner on site thinks it'll work.
Need to let the screed dry before we can do anything with the floor though so it'll be a few weeks before I have to cross that bridge.
Plumbers have laid the UFH pipes and the floor was screeded today:
The metal frame in the background of the last pic will house the inset gas fire, we've gone for one which looks a bit like a multi-fuel stove, you can see by the frame that it'll sit in a fabricated chimney breast 60cm off the floor, the model we went for is this:
Plasterers next week, then we're about done on stage 1. We're slightly under budget too - which is nice.
After we finish stage 1 the builders will start on the loft next and we'll start final finishes on the extension.
We've bought a load of wooden flooring which should just about match what's down in the existing part of the sitting room. Unfortunately the wood merchant doesn't stock the stuff we bought from them 5 years ago so we've gone for the closest we can - the colour and width is identical but the tongue and grooves are slightly higher (about 1mm) which might be a problem as I'm planning to merge the new and old rather than have a line straight across the centre of the room. I have an idea though, and the joiner on site thinks it'll work.
Need to let the screed dry before we can do anything with the floor though so it'll be a few weeks before I have to cross that bridge.
jrinns said:
Looking good. Intrigued as I'm hoping to have a project this year... Met the Architects who have completed the as-is, the to-be will be 4 weeks time.
Forgot to reply to this, sorry - one thing we found with architects is that you give them a budget for the build, they nod and go away.....and come back with something that will cost 50% more than you said you were willing to spend.It seems to be their DNA, they cannot design to a price (well, OK some can but I've met more of the former than the latter).
When you get your drawings, if you can get them to a builder and have them give you a rough ballpark estimate of build cost before you sign off the drawings then at least you'll know your grand design is achieveable (better still, we got the architects and our builder to sit down together).
Mark Benson said:
Forgot to reply to this, sorry - one thing we found with architects is that you give them a budget for the build, they nod and go away.....and come back with something that will cost 50% more than you said you were willing to spend.
It seems to be their DNA, they cannot design to a price (well, OK some can but I've met more of the former than the latter).
When you get your drawings, if you can get them to a builder and have them give you a rough ballpark estimate of build cost before you sign off the drawings then at least you'll know your grand design is achieveable (better still, we got the architects and our builder to sit down together).
Yep I had the same!It seems to be their DNA, they cannot design to a price (well, OK some can but I've met more of the former than the latter).
When you get your drawings, if you can get them to a builder and have them give you a rough ballpark estimate of build cost before you sign off the drawings then at least you'll know your grand design is achieveable (better still, we got the architects and our builder to sit down together).
This week's update:
I spent last Sunday running Cat6 cabling through the loft and down the wall in the sitting room - we're bringing the 1970s house into the 21st century. I've also run a cable back up the wall into the loft ready for mounting a Ubiquiti WAP on the ceiling between the dining room and the sitting room which should cover the whole house.
The plasterer has been, he couldn't do everything we needed as the gas fire people aren't installing until the 15th, so he'll have to come back for a day to finish off the fireplace, but the majority has been done and we've taken the opportunity to have the existing ceiling skimmed to get rid of the 1970s Artex.
Also this week, Graham the digger man has been back to do the landscaping the builder promised us thanks to the foundation and slab dig being cheaper than expected. We're having a large patio area for entertaining and the remainder will be grass.
The garden has gone from a scrubby mess:
To something much neater:
We have a dehumidifier running in the sitting room at the moment to help the plaster go off, hoping to mask everything over the weekend so my wife can go nuts with the paint sprayer next week, then we can move back into the older part of the room until the floor cures fully and I can lay the wood in the new bit.
I spent last Sunday running Cat6 cabling through the loft and down the wall in the sitting room - we're bringing the 1970s house into the 21st century. I've also run a cable back up the wall into the loft ready for mounting a Ubiquiti WAP on the ceiling between the dining room and the sitting room which should cover the whole house.
The plasterer has been, he couldn't do everything we needed as the gas fire people aren't installing until the 15th, so he'll have to come back for a day to finish off the fireplace, but the majority has been done and we've taken the opportunity to have the existing ceiling skimmed to get rid of the 1970s Artex.
Also this week, Graham the digger man has been back to do the landscaping the builder promised us thanks to the foundation and slab dig being cheaper than expected. We're having a large patio area for entertaining and the remainder will be grass.
The garden has gone from a scrubby mess:
To something much neater:
We have a dehumidifier running in the sitting room at the moment to help the plaster go off, hoping to mask everything over the weekend so my wife can go nuts with the paint sprayer next week, then we can move back into the older part of the room until the floor cures fully and I can lay the wood in the new bit.
Edited by Mark Benson on Friday 1st March 16:11
Following the advice of Hunton and Pheo, we took the dehumidifier out and just had a door open at the weekend. Plaster is almost dry but there are a couple of areas that are still dark.
Problem is, my wife can see the place is taking shape and wants to get on with the pretty stuff (just how many wallpaper samples do we need?) - but I'd rather have it right than have it now. Thanks for the advice.
Problem is, my wife can see the place is taking shape and wants to get on with the pretty stuff (just how many wallpaper samples do we need?) - but I'd rather have it right than have it now. Thanks for the advice.
Mark Benson said:
Following the advice of Hunton and Pheo
I thought they were an outfit of high end plaster drying consultants for a minute there!Mostly just replying to say I'm enjoying reading the thread, don't have much to ask or contribute so far but I'm planning an extension for later this year so lots of what you are posting is very useful indeed.
Bit of a setback - a pond where the footings for the patio should be.
The water company sent a sub-contractor out yesterdayy to clear roots from the main drain leading away from the group of houses, they started the work but as we've subsequently discovered, when it rained yesterday afternoon they packed up and left the job half finished. Obviously the drain must have been blocked by whatever they were doing as I got a call from the neighbour yesterday afternoon saying the drains were flooding.
The water in the picture is run-off mixed with sewage, we await the water company clean up man. Anyone know how to get s
t out of compacted hardcore?
The water company sent a sub-contractor out yesterdayy to clear roots from the main drain leading away from the group of houses, they started the work but as we've subsequently discovered, when it rained yesterday afternoon they packed up and left the job half finished. Obviously the drain must have been blocked by whatever they were doing as I got a call from the neighbour yesterday afternoon saying the drains were flooding.
The water in the picture is run-off mixed with sewage, we await the water company clean up man. Anyone know how to get s
t out of compacted hardcore?Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff