Overview
We moved into our home 11 years ago. At the time, we knew we wanted to extend but were unsure what we wanted to achieve. We had also just had a baby and naturally had very little time or enthusiasm to start any major home renovations. So we updated the space we had, put in a new kitchen and bathroom, updated the decor and then moved in knowing that one day we would extend the space. Fast forward 8 years of discussions we finally arranged a meeting with an architect.
The extension consisted of:
A double storey side extension to house part of the kitchen, as well as the utility, office, master suite with ensuite and dressing room.
A full width extension at the rear of the house to extend our kitchen space and after discussions with our architect, we also extended part of the front of the house to make space for a porch, downstairs toilet and to convert a box room to a fourth double bedroom.
Timescale
We started the project in May 2018 and completed on time, 7 months later. For the first part of the build we continued to live in the property. The kitchen was ripped out after three weeks, which left us being creative with a microwave oven in the lounge and washing up in a bowl in the bath. Every night was a mass clean exercise just so that the kids could have a dust free bath. Looking back now, I wonder how we did it but surprisingly at the time it didn't feel that bad. I was always focused on the end result of our extended home, which allowed me to deal with the mess and disruption. When we knocked through we made the decision to move into my parents given I also work from home and needed some space away from the building noise. I know that not everyone will have the luxury of this, but this would be some advice I would offer if you had the option, simply to provide some separation from the building work and day to day life.
Budget
Our initial budget was 100k but we quickly realised after our first meeting with the architect and as a result of making some changes to our original plans, that we would need more. We did increase our budget and also added an extra 20% contingency to accommodate any potential issues we may have faced. We came in on budget as a result of meticulous planning and budgeting. A spreadsheet was updated almost every night as costs of internal materials such as the bathroom accessories etc were added.
Keeping to budget was largely achieved through our decision to design our kitchen space ourselves. By designing the kitchen and buying direct from trade, we managed to get a higher spec kitchen, with some alterations thrown in such as a reduction on the size of the mantle to work around the beam, at a third of the price quoted from kitchens retailers. We sourced our quartz worktops direct from a supplier and negotiated a great rate with our kitchen fitter. Our fitter was very precise in his work, he quoted for the job up front not by the day which meant we knew what the total cost would be and it helped keep the kitchen fit to plan and on time. He was also a perfectionist so the finish on the fitting was of such a high quality.
Largest Expense
Our most expensive cost was the windows. As we were changing these from white to anthracite, we needed to not only purchase new windows for the extended area, but replace the existing ones. We had a large set of bi-folding doors to pay for, we installed two floor-to-ceiling windows in the kitchen, two large velux windows and we added a large gable end window in the master suite. Add in the cost of the stone cills, this was by far our most expensive part (outside of the main constriction of the house clearly).
Obstacles and Challenges
We were really lucky with the build and didn't face too many issues aside from some with the plumbing which were quickly rectified by instructing a new plumber. The only other small issue that had potential to delay the build was that after an amazing summer, the day we started with the new roof, it rained. Thankfully, this only put the roof back a couple of weeks and didn't affect the overall plan.
Looking back, is there anything you would change?
Looking back, we feel really fortunate that we were able to turn our vision into a reality. There are a few things we may have done differently, such as replace the kids bathroom whilst the build was taking place to avoid further work (and disruption) later down the line. We would possibly move our downstairs toilet to the under stair space to allow for a larger porch/ bootroom. However, because we lived here for so long prior to undertaking the work, we really knew what we wanted.
Do you have any tips for someone looking to do something similar?
If I could offer any tips to people considering an extension it would be the following:
1. Employ a good architect - A good one will see your vision and be able to guide you on where suggested improvements could be made. If we hadn't, we would have had a less workable upstairs space and a box room instead of a fourth double bedroom.
2. If you can, and your circumstances allow, live in the house for a while before diving into your renovation. You will most likely change your mind from your initial plan and it is most probable that the revised plans will suit your needs better.
3. Consider the timing of your renovation - You will naturally be driven by availability of trades; if you can plan any core exterior building work in the summer months, you have less chance of delays as a result of poor weather - I know this is obvious but if you are that keen to get started this may not enter into your consideration
4. Go as big as you can - Now this will clearly depend on your budget and financial circumstances, but if you cannot achieve your perfect home renovation within your budget, could you delay for a further period of time to allow you to save a bigger budget. It will cost a lot more to extend twice than to wait and do everything in one go and you don't want to look back and say 'I wish we had done ....'.
5. Do your research on everything related to your build. Talking builders specifically; the most expensive quote should not necessarily be excluded. If we had we would not have taken on our builder. Read the full details of the quote. The quote from our builder may have initially looked a lot higher than others, however this included everything down to the finer details of nuts and bolts. The other quotes, which initially appeared to be much cheaper, were extremely vague in certain areas of the cost.
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