Extension and Loft Conversion Build Thread
Discussion
We toyed with the idea of aircon, but decided against as it's only going to be used as a bedroom and bathroom.
A friend has it in their loft conversion and it gets used a couple of times a year so we filed it under 'nice to have'.
It's been warm up there over the past week or so, but not unbearable.
A friend has it in their loft conversion and it gets used a couple of times a year so we filed it under 'nice to have'.
It's been warm up there over the past week or so, but not unbearable.
Mark Benson said:
We toyed with the idea of aircon, but decided against as it's only going to be used as a bedroom and bathroom.
A friend has it in their loft conversion and it gets used a couple of times a year so we filed it under 'nice to have'.
It's been warm up there over the past week or so, but not unbearable.
Surely all the velux let a nice flow of air through? A friend has it in their loft conversion and it gets used a couple of times a year so we filed it under 'nice to have'.
It's been warm up there over the past week or so, but not unbearable.
I would hope so, there's enough of the buggers! (wife and architect ganged up on me about them, I didn't think we needed so many)
Update - staircase has arrived and is going in next week, just in time for a party a week on Saturday so at least drunk people will fall down a set of stairs, rather than off the scaffolding.....
Update - staircase has arrived and is going in next week, just in time for a party a week on Saturday so at least drunk people will fall down a set of stairs, rather than off the scaffolding.....
maccas99 said:
OK, good to know, we are planning a loft conversion putting two bedrooms and a bathroom with the kids going up into the bedrooms so I will look at options. Was also thinking about putting the integrated window nets on so the bugs don't get in....
I'm just building a kitchen extension with a vaulted ceiling, when the doors are open to the extension all the bugs come in and congregate in the top of the roof, opening the velux lets them all out 
As predicted in the last update, the stairs went in last week and we had a party on the only wet day of the heatwave 
Stairs went in without too much of a problem, Jon measured up and got a specialist staircase company to make them, the treads are quite high and the stairs quite steep, but it means they fit into the space without encroaching into the corridor at the bottom, which we preferred.
Ian fitting them:
And installed:
Which was useful as on Saturday we had a party and the extra space and accessiblity came in handy:
As mentioned, it was very wet and rained all day, fortunately with the new outdoor area we have somewhere big enough to accommodate a 6x3m awning we use as a pop-up garage for the race cars which at least meant the 50+ people that came weren't packed into the house. Also, the artificial grass meant that those children who didn't care about getting wet could play out there and not come back in muddy.
This week has been final boarding and door casings, Ian and Colin the chippies have just finished and Rich the plasterer comes on Friday, when he's back from holiday.
Bedroom:
Landing with eaves access, my wife will have a dressing table here:
And bathroom, we have a nice cast stone sink to go on this old washstand (I'll spray the legs a better colour and have bought some brass pulls to match the taps etc.):
Stairs went in without too much of a problem, Jon measured up and got a specialist staircase company to make them, the treads are quite high and the stairs quite steep, but it means they fit into the space without encroaching into the corridor at the bottom, which we preferred.
Ian fitting them:
And installed:
Which was useful as on Saturday we had a party and the extra space and accessiblity came in handy:
As mentioned, it was very wet and rained all day, fortunately with the new outdoor area we have somewhere big enough to accommodate a 6x3m awning we use as a pop-up garage for the race cars which at least meant the 50+ people that came weren't packed into the house. Also, the artificial grass meant that those children who didn't care about getting wet could play out there and not come back in muddy.
This week has been final boarding and door casings, Ian and Colin the chippies have just finished and Rich the plasterer comes on Friday, when he's back from holiday.
Bedroom:
Landing with eaves access, my wife will have a dressing table here:
And bathroom, we have a nice cast stone sink to go on this old washstand (I'll spray the legs a better colour and have bought some brass pulls to match the taps etc.):
So - no updates for a while, sorry about that. Big one this time, but the pictures aren't great - sorry.
Lots of painting and finishing done, lots more to do - we have a hard-deadline of 23rd December when the in-laws come up from Wiltshire to stay for Christmas though, so it's all hands to the pump.
What's been done since last time I updated?
Builders have finished, plumbers have finished and I think the electricians have now finished - we're on our own.....
My daughter's new room was knocked through from two smaller rooms into one and a bathroom added:
As you can see, Emily has gone for lots of downlighters as she thinks all her friend's bedrooms are too dark to play properly in. I give it 5 years and she'll be going through her goth phase and want them all ripped out.
I got her and her mum busy painting the bathroom:
Which I'm currently in the process of fitting out (nearly finished, more pics to follow):
Upstairs we've moved into the bedroom but it's not finished, paint on walls but carpeting and furniture to come so I'll leave pictures of that until it's done.
I did finish the stoop in wardrobe though, and it's remarkably useful for such a small space.
I got the electrician to put in downlights and an LED baton, which I've fixed a spare piece of living room flooring (suitably fettled) in front of to light the commercial clothes rail below - all our shirts are on this rail. At the end, I butchered an old Ikea bookcase as extra shelving for jeans and jumpers etc.
We got a surprising amount of stuff into such a small space:
So then on to the upstairs bathroom:
We're pretty pleased with this room, it's the first real usable room from phase 2 and it serves it's purpose (wife's relaxation room, she can spend hours in the bath).
First off, the bath. Oh, the bath.....
After my wife officially gave up with the stripper and primer, declaring the bath 'crap' amd demanding we spend £1700 we no longer have on a brand new one, I got to work.
The problem was, it was never meant to be seen I think, the surface was rough and covered in casting marks so I set about it one weekend to see what I could do. First job was to get right back to bare metal, several of these discs did the trick:
But it left a scarred and scratched surface. So.... several grades of emery cloth disc later:
Still not perfect, so a skim with car body filler and a sand, we're ready to use some high-build primer (years of arsing about with rusty cars paid off in the end):
So finally, several coats of Jaguar Pacific Blue.....
....and many coats of laquer, and we're done.
Meanwhile the bathroom has been painted in a similar shade of blue by my wife, and it all comes together nicely (trap needs boxing in, on the list....):
The door to the boiler - looks like a full-length mirror:
but give it a push and it opens for boiler access (pleased with the way this came out):
Meanwhile, still painting and bathroom fitting. Will try to update more than once every few months
Lots of painting and finishing done, lots more to do - we have a hard-deadline of 23rd December when the in-laws come up from Wiltshire to stay for Christmas though, so it's all hands to the pump.
What's been done since last time I updated?
Builders have finished, plumbers have finished and I think the electricians have now finished - we're on our own.....
My daughter's new room was knocked through from two smaller rooms into one and a bathroom added:
As you can see, Emily has gone for lots of downlighters as she thinks all her friend's bedrooms are too dark to play properly in. I give it 5 years and she'll be going through her goth phase and want them all ripped out.
I got her and her mum busy painting the bathroom:
Which I'm currently in the process of fitting out (nearly finished, more pics to follow):
Upstairs we've moved into the bedroom but it's not finished, paint on walls but carpeting and furniture to come so I'll leave pictures of that until it's done.
I did finish the stoop in wardrobe though, and it's remarkably useful for such a small space.
I got the electrician to put in downlights and an LED baton, which I've fixed a spare piece of living room flooring (suitably fettled) in front of to light the commercial clothes rail below - all our shirts are on this rail. At the end, I butchered an old Ikea bookcase as extra shelving for jeans and jumpers etc.
We got a surprising amount of stuff into such a small space:
So then on to the upstairs bathroom:
We're pretty pleased with this room, it's the first real usable room from phase 2 and it serves it's purpose (wife's relaxation room, she can spend hours in the bath).
First off, the bath. Oh, the bath.....
After my wife officially gave up with the stripper and primer, declaring the bath 'crap' amd demanding we spend £1700 we no longer have on a brand new one, I got to work.
The problem was, it was never meant to be seen I think, the surface was rough and covered in casting marks so I set about it one weekend to see what I could do. First job was to get right back to bare metal, several of these discs did the trick:
But it left a scarred and scratched surface. So.... several grades of emery cloth disc later:
Still not perfect, so a skim with car body filler and a sand, we're ready to use some high-build primer (years of arsing about with rusty cars paid off in the end):
So finally, several coats of Jaguar Pacific Blue.....
....and many coats of laquer, and we're done.
Meanwhile the bathroom has been painted in a similar shade of blue by my wife, and it all comes together nicely (trap needs boxing in, on the list....):
The door to the boiler - looks like a full-length mirror:
but give it a push and it opens for boiler access (pleased with the way this came out):
Meanwhile, still painting and bathroom fitting. Will try to update more than once every few months
princeperch said:
Great work on the bath !
Easily overlooked but obvs make sure you have a carbon monoxide alarm up there too.
Smoke and CO alarms were installed by the electricians on the landing just outside the bathroom - I know smoke alarms are mandated by building control, not sure about CO but for a few quid, why wouldn't you?Easily overlooked but obvs make sure you have a carbon monoxide alarm up there too.
Wife painting again today, she's finished Emily's room and is now on the downstairs corridor - it's going to be intentionally dark in a mustard yellow and with some of our pictures illuminated by spots.
I also forgot to mention, we sold the van; in total it cost us £1400 to buy, tax, insure and get through an MOT but it's saved us (we estimate) around £2.5k in being able to buy from ebay/facebook etc. and we sold it for £950, £150 more than we paid for it - well worth doing and it's been really useful for tip runs, going to the woodyard, builders merchants etc. too.
Edited by Mark Benson on Tuesday 19th November 14:40
littlebasher said:
I don't hate you, the plumber however......TBH, the plumber was a bit hit and miss, he was the only trade we had on site that I was not 100% about, he and his lads always seemed disorganised. I think there was a reason we couldn't use the really shallow trap, but I'm not 100%.
We got the final invoice from Jon over the weekend, and plugging it into the spreadsheet, the job has come in pretty much exactly as estimated:
The 'Excluding Extras' line is quote vs actual (£90,341.81 quoted, £90,710.08 invoiced), the line in yellow is what we spent including the work on the garden; landscaping, patio and retaining wall (£97,239.80 quoted, £96,450.08 invoiced).
It's nice to have come in where we expected.
In fact, plumbers aside I can't fault Jon and his team - they just did what we wanted, on time and budget and with no fuss or bother. It shows the importance of getting the right builder and having a dialogue.
Working from home helps I think, I was on site most of the time so decisions could be made and issues talked through at the time they occurred, but Jon was also helpful and flexible and would always look for the best solution for both of us.
We were away for the weekend so no progress to speak of, but we'll be cracking on this week so I'll update in due course.
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