Overview
We were lucky to inherit our home which was built in the 50s by my husband's family. No work had been done on the house since it was built. Originally we planned on knocking it down and starting again, but our architect advised against this as the house was structurally sound and had potential.
The house already had 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 2 living rooms, kitchen, utility and pantry. The proposed works included a L-shaped extension, giving 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, dressing room, 2 downstairs toilets, office, bootroom, kitchen-diner, living room, playroom, pantry, utility and plant room.
We completely gutted the house, including digging up the floors. The work comprised new windows, rendering, new front and rear oak porches, a ground source heat pump with ufh heating, fully insulating the walls and floors, new electrics and plumbing.
We employed one contractor to undertake all the work.
Timescale
The work took just over a year to complete which was slightly over the original programme, as we had some delays with windows and bar weather.
We were originally planning on living in our old home until the work was completed, however we sold it much quicker than we expected (in a day!) This meant we had to live in a static caravan while the work was done. We had the worst possible year of weather while living in the caravan, including the 'Beast from the East'.
Budget, expenses and bargains
We kept a very close eye on the budget throughout the work. In total we spent £265k including landscaping. This used up all of our contingency.
We invested heavily in 'the boring stuff' like our our ground source heating system, solar panels, insulation, windows and doors. Where we live is very exposed so we wanted to ensure the house was always warm without costing a fortune. We made a conscious effort to invest in things that would stay in the house forever such as the internal doors, good quality skirting and flooring, but cut back on things we may change in future like bathrooms, utility cupboards, office and pantry.
Our electrics came in far more expensive than we were expecting at over £16k; this was even after cutting back on things (the TV in the bathroom never happened!).
We completed the garden the year after we moved in, but even then landscaping was significantly more than we predicted. Our patio, paths and dry stone walls cost £12k which was much more than we thought. We had black limestone patio slabs, which we later found out bleach in the sun and should be treated when they are laid.
Our joiner was amazing and built many things which would have cost a fortune if we had gone to a 'bespoke' specialist. This included alcove cupboards, the dressing room, pantry shelving and office. Many things were built from MDF and then painted.
Our kitchen, although not cheap, was far cheaper than some we had looked at. I had originally wanted a Tom Howley kitchen, but it soon became apparent these were out of budget. We got a local cabinet maker to closely copy the style from a number of pictures. I found out what type of granite is used on many Tom Howley kitchens (it's called ivory spice) and my friend, who owns a granite factory, was able to source it from India. Our kitchen, including the granite cost just over £15k, significantly cheaper than a designer one.
Obstacles
Initially the planners were concerned with the size of the extension in relation to the size of the existing house. However, with it being a working farmhouse we were able to argue the case for needing the boot room, office, extra downstairs toilet and 5th bedroom with ensuite.
We had a few problems with our window suppliers causing delays. It is worth noting that all upstairs bedrooms must have a window you could escape from in a fire, so make sure you consider this if you are having a feature window; you have to have an opening window.
Our ground source heating and ufh supplier also did our plumbing, as they offered a guarantee for the system as a whole. Looking back, we should not have used them to plumb the house as it quickly became clear they weren't specialist enough to carry out plumbing works. In fact they made a bit of a mess, so make sure you get a reputable plumber.
Looking back, is there anything you would change and do you have any tips for someone looking to do something similar?
We kept a monthly spreadsheet of our costs so we were constantly tracking the budget. It can quickly spiral and things get tight by the end, so you need to know exactly what you're spending from the start.
One of the biggest disappointments is our render. After less than 3 years is is very stained on the prevailing weather side (it is going green). The render manufacturers all claim 'self cleaning silicone technology' but I would question this as ours is pretty awful already and many people I've spoke to have similar problems. A huge tip for anyone who is having ufh. Make sure you leave it switched off for at least a week after tiling your floors and then very slowly turn it on. Our supplier switched the ufh on too soon and too hot after tiling, this resulted in the adhesive not curing properly. All of our kitchen tiles now have to come up and be refitted.
I regret playing quite safe with our tiles and wish I'd gone bolder with some more pattern. I found choosing tiles very difficult as it's not easy to picture how they will look in place.
Spend plenty of time thinking about where you will want sockets. I wasn't ready quickly enough for the first fix and ended up rushing where to put them. I'm some rooms I now have a few too many and in others, not enough. If you can, have AMP5 sockets for your lamps.
Don't underestimate how much window dressings cost and leave money aside if you will need curtains straight away. Luckily we don't have neighbours, but we had to hang towels from our apex bedroom window for 6 months as the curtains didn't leave much change from £2k! The same goes for light fittings, I was shocked at how expensive these were so I kept a keen eye on the sales.
Also, don't buy too many paint sample pots...they cost a fortune and it just becomes too confusing!
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