Building an extension on your house - whose done it?

oulton

oulton

oulton

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My better half and I are considering doing a major refurb to a house we dont currently live in with a view to making it our family home, so I was hoping to get some experiences from you guys. We are looking to:

> Turn the garage into a livable room as there is ample drive space for parking.

> Build on top of the garage to extend the upstairs of the property

> Build a good size conservatory onto the back of the house

> Knock down and re-jig quite a few walls inside to make the house open plan in the scandinavian style

> New Kitchen, bathroom, and complete redecoration

I've been watching homes under the hammer to get some idea of costs and time, but what do you think? I cant really get any face to face quotes at the moment because of working abroad.
 
Tory ScumBags!!!!!!!

Oh well as far as I know the insulation was been done a couple of years back and we have a new boiler in there.

Has anyone done this tpye of work recently?

I was thinking a budget of around 30000 for the garage and upstairs extension, 12-15K for a good conservatory and 20K for wall work, floors and decorations...
 
Recently completed a huge project which was to turn an old 3 bed detached into a very large 5 bed detached with all the bells and whistles. The most important thing we discovered was "be really nice to the building inspector". Draw and then discuss your ideas with the local planning office; they should be helpful and give you some idea as to what you should be able to get through planning. Don't be afraid to ask them questions too, no matter how daft or simple it may seem, they know their stuff.
 
Ta for the advice justintime - The job we are planning would seem similar to the one you just did. Can I ask how long the project took? Did you do any of the work yourself? And any unexpected costs you came accross? Also does my budget of

30000 for the garage and upstairs extension, 12-15K for a good conservatory and 20K for wall work, floors and decorations

seem in the right kindof ballpark?
 
Work on £1500 sq m for each floor of the new build, is the garage attached to the house? is it attached to another garage like a link detached, by the time you dig the floor out to insulate it and maybe underpin the foundations as they won't be man enough it's cheaper in the long run to knock it down and start again.

Your other figures seem OK for a good quality but not enough for extravagant work.
 
Aye, just get some quotes. The market is quite competitive at the moment for SME builders at the moment as well because all are looking for more work. And this sounds like quite a major project which most would like to take on.

Much has already been commented on in terms of the side extension with the avenues to take etc, but in terms of your 'Scandinavian' type house as well you'll have to bear in mind that in certain locations it won't be possible to have it completely open of there's a critical RSJ in place. Also don't forget that you'll have your decorating costs ontop of it all as well and presumably you'll want a nice new kitchen as well. My thoughts would be to use the money for the conservatory to get the extension, open plan and decor done first. And worry about the conservatory later. That's if money becomes an issue ofc.
 
oulton said:
Ta for the advice justintime - The job we are planning would seem similar to the one you just did. Can I ask how long the project took? Did you do any of the work yourself? And any unexpected costs you came accross? Also does my budget of

30000 for the garage and upstairs extension, 12-15K for a good conservatory and 20K for wall work, floors and decorations

seem in the right kindof ballpark?
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Your budget doesn’t looks too far out too me. We spent around the 75k mark and I did do quite a bit of it myself. I paid for the groundwork, brickwork, plastering, part P Certification (for my electrics), roofing and gas boiler and then did the rest myself. I did all the woodwork, electrics (just paid a sparky to check it), plumbing for rads & bathrooms & kitchen, tiling, putting up the plasterboard, fitted a new kitchen etc etc. The two things we hadn't accounted for was a block and beam floor and 4 steel beams in the roof the Building Inspector decided he would like us to do half way through the job. That added around £4k to the project but you just have to grin and bear that sort of thing if you want his completion certificate.
 
My dad has just completed the final stages on his 7m by 7m extension to his bungalow.

He is a mechanic, but has done the vast majority of the work himself, with help from friends who are in the trade, such as one who works for a plant hire company and was able to get diggers/tippers over a bank holiday weekend on very cheap rates for excavating the footings, for example.

Being a bungalow, it is a single-storey extension, and has continued the pitch on the roof, as well as a small section of flat roof either side.

The timberwork for the roof, and fitting of the windows are the only bits that my dad hasn't put his hand to himself.

The project has taken 5 years (alongside other necessary work that couldn't be put on hold), but has cost well under half that of the cheapest quote given by a building firm!

I think he'd do it again in a heartbeat if required, he thoroughly enjoyed doing it, however it does require having a very patient family, my step-mum has been very patient with it and had accepted living in a building site for this large amount of time.
 
Confused said:
The project has taken 5 years (alongside other necessary work that couldn't be put on hold), but has cost well under half that of the cheapest quote given by a building firm!

I think he'd do it again in a heartbeat if required, he thoroughly enjoyed doing it, however it does require having a very patient family, my step-mum has been very patient with it and had accepted living in a building site for this large amount of time.
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Your right there Confused; Our quotes were from £120k to £180k so at £75k we saved a fortune doing mainly DIY.
 
5 years for a 7x7 single story extension?!? :-O

I appreciate he's done a lot himself, but Crikey that's a long time for something which can be accomplished in a matter of months.
 
J-FRO said:
5 years for a 7x7 single story extension?!? :-O

I appreciate he's done a lot himself, but Crikey that's a long time for something which can be accomplished in a matter of months.
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The shell was been up, finished and water-tight in less than 3 years, the rest is finishing off the internals - bear in mind too that this has been done 100% with money that they actually had available in their hand - no extra has been added to the mortgage, and nothing has been borrowed either.
 
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