1840 Victorian Lodge Extension East Yorkshire

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East Yorkshire
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I love this forum. It contains a great wealth of knowledge and I’d like to think 95% of the time you get a query resolved sensibly in the end. I have put my 2p worth to many questions, as well as asking a few myself! I thought it would only be right to share this project with you all.


I am a 30 year old aircraft engineer by trade but have worked with my dad on guvvy jobs for as long as I can remember, doing numerous small building jobs, to full house renovations, to landscaping to welding and fabrication, as well as working together on my family home and extending my first house.


Me and the wife bought this property in April 2017 local to us on the rural East Yorkshire coast, near Hull. It’s a 2 bed detached Victorian Lodge – the old gate house / game keepers lodge to the modest estate castle down the lane.


The property was built in approximately 1840. Solid double brick walls. Drafty timber double glazed windows and doors. Wonky interior walls, floors and doors. In the early 1990’s, it received a single story rear extension and side garage. Somewhere either before or after that it sustained heavy fire damage to the roof and first floor after a birds nest charred away eventually setting fire to the roof timbers. This resulted in a new roof and chimney stack being built. The previous owners, although a little dated in their tastes, really did a quality job on the work they did do so we have inherited a decent starting point!

Some pictures of when we bought the house:
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Anyway, fast forward to the year 2018 and we instructed an architect (my dad’s cousin’s son who had just opened his own practice age of 25 – we’re not a close family) to come up with a design to add at least 1 extra bedroom and create open plan living with a new lounger/diner. I had my own ideas but wanted to give him free rein. The designs were not very adventurous and lacked some pizzazz, and ultimately didn’t give us what we really wanted. I then learnt he was only an architect technician, but I felt since I had started this process with him then I should finish it with him, and any new business needs all the help it can get!

Existing plans:
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So numerous revisions later, going back and forth more times than I would care to remember, plus a year break on the project due to our money being needed elsewhere (range cooker/heating/hot water going caput) and a new baby coming along, we have eventually come to the following ‘final’ plan last month! (early may 2020) I think I must have done the AT’s head in to be honest as I just wasn’t happy with little things here and there, revision after revision. I would make clear drawings and notes for him and the new set of plans would come back with some of the changes implemented, but not all. Or something totally changed to how I didn’t want. I used sketchup regularly to try and get the point across and even quoted you lot on one subject! Anyway we are done and I am very happy with the end result!


In a nut shell we’ll be extending the current small second bedroom over the existing kitchen/utility to make the master and adding an en-suite , knocking down the garage and building a bigger lounge through diner with 2 decent size doubles above, bi-fold doors in the kitchen/diner out onto the raised terrace, covered by a full width porch along the rear for all year round outdoor living. Also there will be a balcony off the landing and front door porch.

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My crude sketchup model to show the wife
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Last week the AT has submitted the plans to the council. They are currently being verified before going up for public viewing. Apparently due to the COVID-19 this process is taking longer as people are working from home etc. Bugger!


I am in the process of getting numerous quotes for the works. I have very little money and are a cheap arse Yorkshire man. The plans are quite grand so the build may be done in 2 or 3 phases, and I will most definitely be doing a lot of it my self. E.g. foundations, floors, insulation, boarding out, plumbing, first fix elec’s, etc. etc. I’ll just get a builder in for main shell, roof, the big steels, and electrician for the 2nd and 3rd fix. I feel the house is such a beautiful building and its got potential to be our ‘forever’ home so I don’t want to do it an injustice by cutting corners and plonking a basic orange box on the side.


A few draw backs to the plans are:
•I want to use all reclaimed bricks for the outer skin and reclaimed roof slates so the new works look like they have always been there. This adds a premium and like I said money is tight.
•The big steels are going to be very costly too I imagine. Not had a SE calculate them yet until the plans are approved.
•The land is sloped so the back of the house is 3ft lower than the front, so getting out the ground with be expensive before we see anything for our money.
•Until I start digging around the old garage, I won't know what the existing foundations are like. Will I be able to join onto them? Will I have to fully excavate the garage foundations and floor? Will I be able to have step foundations to allow for the slope? I suppose BC will advice on the visits.
•I want to use windows that are either timber of the new fandangle composite type that look like timber, in the same style as we already have. Again a costly option.

There is a reoccurring theme here. £££. Also the wife is very impatient, and I mean VERY! So things need to happen quickly and again this can be costly if it means paying people. So if things weren't already money orientated, they will be at the end of the year (Dec 31st 2020) when I am being made redundant. That said I will have a pay out to spend – as long as I find a new job pretty much straight away.
 
Now as I am knocking down the existing garage, I need to build a new one. This will be started in the coming month hopefully. A timber frame on a dwarf wall, clad in Yorkshire boarding, with a tin roof. 18x12ft. It will look like a mini barn. Cant wait. But that will be a thread of its own.

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It will be slow journey but thanks in advance for any feedback and encouragement.
 
Thanks for the encouraging comments.

Big ambitions on a small budget I’m afraid!

I’ll keep the updates flowing when I have things to report on.
 
Christmas? is that 2021 or 2022??? will probably start it in the spring now as got to have my regs drawings done and approved which will take a good month or so maybe.

I will update what i can on the regs drawings.

Not got a clue on budget yet. I have asked several builders but they are yet to comment until they see the regs drawings. So a lot is resting on the regs drawings. I will say thought I have very little money haha. I am happy to document quotes and spends as i go along though as i believe its very informative, and not a boast.

I will get the garage/workshop thread going once i start that, and then i might be able to demolish the garage this year if that goes to plan.

But firstly i need to finish my chicken coop
https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/chicken-coop-lots-of-pictures.549956/
 
So I have had regs drawings done and structural calcs. After contacting several builders, probably a dozen or so... I have received my first quote. Months later. Builders round here don’t seem to want work. Anyway. To cut a long story short, the quote is £200k. I nearly choked. Didn’t know what to expect. But was not expecting that!

A second quote is imminent so very interested in what that’s going to turn out at.

I don’t even have half the amount of the first quote so will have to see where I can make cut backs and hope the second quote is a bit lower...
 
Oooof £200k...but it is a massive build! I got quotes of up to £120k for mine, and it’s less than half the size.
 
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