2 Storey Side Extension with Lift!

[Chris0655]

WEEK 29
There's been a breakthrough! From the dressing room to the master bedroom. This is before windows, and plasterboarding...

The dressing room was boarded,

and plastered before breaking through.

The view from inside the bedroom. Before,

and after...

Starting to board the doorway. Looking through to the dressing room and wardrobe.

 

[herbert111]

Really enjoyed reading through your posts. Looks fantastic, I'm sure you're probably almost over it but would really hope you carry on posting updates

 

[Chris0655]

We are using a pocket door system for the walk-in wardrobe. Basically, this is a sliding door that slides into the frame of the stud work. The door stud work frame is an off-the-shelf product. In this case by Rocket Pocket doors, who are quite a bit cheaper than the market leader, Eclisse. You guessed it - the budget is running out!

The frame and studwork are then plasterboarded. Thy provide the screws to go through the plasterboard into the horizontal metal supports. If I'm honest, the metal framework once boarded is not as strong as the timber stud framework. But as this is only a walk in wardrobe, it's not going to get bashed about, so shouldn't be a problem.

The door will be hung later.

 

[Chris0655]

Here's an update of progress with the kitchen/breakfast room.

The first thing to note is that when we knocked down the old utility room, we were "wowed" by the space it opened up.

Before roof, floor and plasterboarding... You can see the outline of the old utility room with the lino.

And after windows and doors...

So, we had a rethink on the layout. The original plan was to split the room in two, creating a separate utility room.

But, the openness felt so good we had a rethink, and ditched the separate utility room in favour of a "utility cupboard". This will house the washing machine and dryer behind closed doors and have space for storing laundry, powders, grundies etc...

This is how it's progressed.

After the knock through...

If we find that not having a separate utility was a mistake, then we can always stick up a stud wall, where it was originally intended to go. There is already a water supply in place, and drainage too. Plastering will be finished today, and electrics tomorrow. Hopefully!

 

[Jack_Kada]

Wow that looks like a really thorough project - Well done indeed!! Dare I ask your budget for this. I can only imagine it is massive

 

[Chris0655]

Thanks for your comment.

"How much is it going to cost?" was my first question for this project. Which I guess is the same for most people. So, I have always intended to give a guide on costings to help others.

We have not quite finished, but we are 95% there, so the costings below are pretty accurate.

I did some initial research on basic build costs - foundations, walls, roof, windows, plasterboarding etc. This suggested a budget for the basic build of around £1,400 per sq m of new build, and half that per sq m for refurbishment, plus VAT. We will come in on budget. This project is approx. 45 sq m new build, and 22 sq m refurbishment. Then all the finishing costs on top of that.

Planning/drawings.......£2k
Basic build costs........£74k
New heating system.....£8k
Electrics.....................£4k
New floor coverings.....£5.5k
Decorating..................£2k
Lift supply & install.....£18k
Kitchen amendments....£2k
Garden patio & wall......£2k
Garage Door................£2.5k

These figures include VAT, where applicable. It scares me when I add it up; so, I'll let you do that!

With all the furnishings, furniture and electronics, to add to the total above, we will probably end up about £8k over what I had originally allocated.

The build has been a bit more complex than expected, and we have had a few unplanned extras; but that was always going to happen. So, keeping the overspend under 10% is acceptable, and within contingency.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jack_Kada]

The lift is a lot more then I thought although the other areas are less then I would have expected.

Can I ask why you wanted one so badly?

I am also interested in how the boiler was 8K - Which one did you go for and do you have any further breakdown of that?

 

[Chris0655]

Unfortunately, for me, the lift is a necessity rather than a luxury. It is in fact the reason for the whole project. I have a rare muscular dystrophy which is steadily making me less mobile. Eventually I will be confined to a wheelchair, and won't be able to use the stairlift we currently have. So, the lift will give a degree of future proofing for when that happens. It will give me access to all areas of the house, and a route outside, even in a wheelchair.

I did a lot of research into the lift and discovered that here are many types of lift available; the cheapest being a "through the floor lift" c. £10k This wouldn't work for us because of the height it would have to travel and the fact we wanted 4 different stops.

The next cheapest is a platform lift c £12-20k. The type you see in Halfords. These are a bit industrial looking.

Cabin lifts (like you see in hotels) are more expensive still, and the quotes ranged from £24k - £40k. They also need more headroom because of the mechanism at the top of the lift shaft. This was a problem due to the roof profile we had planned, which gave only 250mm clearance above the lift shaft.

So, in the end we went for an up-rated platform lift, which has a wrap around cabin. It looks and feels similar to a cabin lift, but quite a bit cheaper.

 

[Chris0655]

The £8k for the heating system is for more than just a new boiler. Our house was built in 1973 and was fitted with a warm air central heating system, both upstairs and downstairs. Whilst I like this system, it has some downsides - controlability - so we are converting it to be warm air downstairs and radiators upstairs, and relocating the whole system to the garage :

• New system boiler - Vailant ecotec s637 c.£1.4k
  
• New unvented hot water cylinder, relocated to the garage.
• 9 new radiators upstairs and associated pipework.
• New Johnson & Starley "Aquair" warm air heat exchanger for the downstairs warm air circuit.
• New zone based control system - Honeywell evohome.

I don't have a full breakdown on costs, but can tell you that the evohome cost £800, and the rads £900.

The picture above shows the Aquair unit (left), and the system boiler in the middle. There's still quite a lot left to do - ducting and pipework, and the evohome system isn't fully installed yet.

We don't have a condensate drain installed yet. But we do have a bucket!

 

[Ian H]

That sounds a good deal for such a big job, especially as it looks so well done too

 

[Chris0655]

We have lights !

In the breakfast room...

In the bedroom.... (also with skirting board)

And, in the media room....

And stairs, too...

 

[Chris0655]

I have not updated for a while. Works have ground to a halt. Same old story - the builder has run out of money! Anyway, we managed to get most of the decorating and flooring done before Christmas.

Here's the flooring going down in the kitchen & breakfast rooms. Amtico Spacia Bronze...

And here's the mess we're left with in the garden.

We've got another set of builders starting soon to finish off the project:
Garden clearance and patio
Garage ceiling insulation and boarding
Soffits, fascias and guttering at the back
Odd jobs inside

Probably about 3 weeks work.

 

[Ian H]

Same old story - the builder has run out of money!

How does he manage that? Is he saying he under quoted you?

 

[Chris0655]

How does he manage that? Is he saying he under quoted you?

In a nutshell "yes". Although there is a much longer story to it. And, he's been working on another job since October.

We got completely fed up with being strung along, so we said enough is enough, and told him to go.

 

[Chris0655]

I do have a question re the insulation of the media room floor, i.e. the ceiling above the garage.

The approved Building Regs drawings specify 150mm Celotex, above 2 layers of fireproof plasterboard. But there is no mention of ventilation, or vapour control layers. Is this going to risk condensation build up? The garage is unheated and poorly insulated.