How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

Are these sorts of tiles as much of a bugger to clean as they look?

Lol yeah have that and an ex.t bath saved in my moneygun bathroom doc

^ Shampoo dispensers on the floor. Absolute savages. Must be in Scotland.

😅

So worktops have gone in:

Carpenter on Saturday to put finishing touches on flooring and cut some access holes for gas for the hob. And peel off the protective film from the units.

Plumber next week for plumbing and gas connections.

Happy with the worktops, it is overall a bit brighter than our first choice so maybe ended up being better off!

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Ex.t baths are definitely moneygun!

I think the most extravagant part of our extension was the zinc roof.
Gaggenau ovens are fancy, but ended up being effectively free after buying and selling.

My level is in reality Amazon Chinese imports for £50…

(I actually own one of these as a cheap replacement for reliable bath temperature for kids)

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Arte forme you bunch of jokers.

@Tenderloin we've done two different property renovations (currently on second) with our daughter - first was pretty easy with the wee one being 0-10 months and in a city we could get out and about doing stuff. Second (ongoing right now) has been hell on earth, living in a smaller place (albeit lovely), back of the house removed which meant walking to the kitchen was going outside, three walls knocked down and endless fucking holes/tools/builders/general danger everywhere - we're just about to have new stairs put in and a bathroom installed after a bedroom partitioned and then we're done. We've been in the house the whole time, and the house is tiny.

My 3 year old, while boisterous is actually quite respectful of things so if we good afford nice things as part of the renovation we would (we're on a tight budget given the scale so everything is budget).

That said the few nice things we do have I still get pretty uptight when I can see the damage being done (see brand solid wood flooring full of dents already) - if buying that nice flooring will stress you with inevitable damage from toys and shit I wouldn't bother, go for something that is on par but much cheaper and you'll stress a lot less.

Game changer when we got the unvented HW system. Set and forget, pretty much. Not quite Chinese import, but I got a £70 job from Toolstation, I think.

Yeah, unvented HW tank and thermostatic taps and showers are the best.
Our plumber said our existing boiler was shite, so was surprised at the quality of the HW tank.
Nice new Worcester boiler and underfloor heating with dual zone Hive now.

Appreciate this - very helpful context. I’m glad we’re moving out for the works as the extent of them is pretty large.

Change of plans, screw subway tiles we're going with a slate/concrete look... Inspo and actual tiles we'll use attached... Was getting a bit worried in the shop as all the tiles I really liked were (of course!) REALLY SPENDY... Then I found these, cheapest in the whole place, rated level 3 anti-slip and can also go on the walls, perfect solution... Heart says go with the darker 'anthracite' but will probably go for the lighter 'steel' option, might be too dark otherwise...

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Dark tiles are nice, much prefer them to subway tiles.

Starting to move in.

Walls and woodwork still need some paint, and updating furnishings.

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home owners thread >>>>

It was this a few months ago:

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It looks much better now, less 'industrial accident'

True, but this thread was meant for practical knowledge shares, well that was my hope for it anyway because there is so much to learn when doing these things...

I'm almost done now, but I have had quite a few learnings along the way:

LVT - They say some varieties can tolerate subfloor imperfections, but not as well as they make out. Its pretty smooth and level, but I can feel a bit of flex/hollow feeling in some areas.
In hindsight I would have liked to self level the whole area up to the hallway, but was budget/practicality/time meant not.

Screed - I didn't realise how long it would take to dry. Had knock on effects on ordering kitchen, choosing and ordering flooring, and organising contractors later. When a builder says they'll have built your extension in 4-6 weeks, I naively thought we'd be able to get in and fit kitchens, decorate and move in soon after. Add 40 days of screed drying, then lining up kitchen measure, kitchen fitters, flooring and it takes quite a bit longer until its usable.
I started the extension late May, and hopefully will have the gas hob connected and gas signed off, kitchen sink plumbed in this week (approx 4 months). Decorators coming end October.

Living without kitchen/boiler - Pretty grim. The wall knocked down in the above picture was where part of my kitchen was, and you can see the boiler on the left. That all came out beginning of June. New boiler was commissioned and kitchen installed beginning of September. 3 months without a kitchen and immersion heater water, and no washing machine with a 5 year old and 18 month old was challenging.
I'm extremely fortunate to have been able to buy my mum a small house walking distance away last year (having family close by for both our and her health and mental wellbeing was a big priority with Covid uncertainty) and we've had huge support with running washing loads, some cooked meals, washing children, childcare etc.
The kids have been fine really, but I think only because we've been able to drop them off to grandma when everything got a bit too much. Both myself and my wife are rather worse for wear, health, diet, stress levels etc. Will be glad for it to be over. Mental load is very high.

Garden: Wrecked. Builders were pretty good and tidy, but 4 months of diggers, material storage, scaffolding, heavy foot traffic has wrecked it. Landscaper coming this week to relay patio, level everything and returf as the grass has now been overtaken by weeds and is unsalvageable.
Also, In hindsight, I would have done the slabs at least much earlier, as the bottom part of the white render is showing the effects mud, sand splashing. Hopefully it will clear up with a jet washer.

Budget: We have miraculously stayed pretty much on budget from our estimates at the start of the build. We started just as the materials shortage / price increases were coming in and our builder was extremely good at sourcing materials, windows, bifolds and them arriving in time.

Work distraction: I get very easily distracted, and quite nosy, so I've not really got much work done in the last 3-4 months. From getting stuck in to help where I can without getting in the way, to going back and forth to Howdens etc to make sure the kitchen fitters/electricians have what they need on the day, so they don't have to come back in a week.
My office is downstairs just by the work going on, so extremely noisy and I found it difficult to concentrate on work. Also with the office being a dumping ground for stored kitchen stuff, it became a horrible place to get work done.
I should have got a bigger storage unit and dumped all the decanted kitchen stuff and boxes in storage.
Self employed while working from home during an extension is not easy.

Veluxi installed

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How many days now? Looks amazing!

They started on the 9th, but today is day 14 of actual work going on.

Be good to start using the space and not have the bathroom in boxes in the living room, but it’s all nothing compared to having the kitchen done.

So we had our new loft staircase installed last week. When the guy came round to do the survey they needed to know what type of flooring we're having and how thick it will be so they could calculate the correct height for the new stairs. I'm sure at the time either he or one of the loft company team said this was so they could get a flush level with that final flooring height (we are getting reclaimed and refinished pine boards which are 20mm thick).
Yesterday I noticed that there is only 22 mm from the floor joist to the top of the last tread, so that means the sub floor will be flush with the last step but then we've still got 20mm of pine boards to go on top of that. When I brought this up with the loft guys they said the floor fitter will sort out that junction with a wood nosing but I can't see how that will work with the bullnose end of the last tread already there?
He also said the floor thickness was needed for when the carpenter hangs the doors not so that the steps were flush with the final floor height. Is he just trying to fob me off or is this standard practice and I must of just assumed the whole flush with floor level thing?

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