My extension thread

Yes indeed. Mind you there could be an argument that they should have kept the cat indoors whilst that "threat" was there if I was going to be awkward about it. I'm not going to be paying for anything and I suspect the builder will say the same. If the cat ate it off my yard then it's not my fault and he would have to prove that it was eaten on his yard.

Sorry I'm just totally ****ing ****** off
 
I was hoping to post some photos without the scaffold being up but not quite there yet! The scaffolders turned up at 9am yesterday and started taking it down. They are a law to themselves as they just seem to start and go all over the property and the neigrabroadours without even a word - the first you know about it is that you can hear the noise.

Anyway, they got about 3/4 of it down by 11am and then disappeared and didn't come back again, so I'm waiting for the rest of it to be taken down now.
 
Depending on the space that's available, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. It's a bit of guesswork at the moment until the dormers are properly built as to how much space there will be. The builder seems to think there will be space for 2 bedrooms and a bathroom though
 
Unless your neigrabroadour becomes completely disagreeable then it's worth a small amount of expense to keep them onside. Remeraber that they did not object to your planning application. It may be in the future that you wish to apply for permission for something else there, and you wouldn't want an aggrieved neigrabroadour putting in an objection.

On the subject of planning, did you have any issues getting permission? One architect I spoke to seemed to think that applications to vary roof pitch are controversial and likely to be refused, but I'm not sure I agree, particularly in the current economic climate. How did you find the experience other than time consuming?

Keep the photos coming I'm finding it very interesting. Where are you locating the new staircase to access the loft? In my house it will require some creative thinking as the existing staircase runs through the middle of the property and the upstairs hall landing is not sufficiently large to have a second flight up. I will need to either alter the lower staircase or cut in to one of the upstairs rooms.
 
Main problem Decadence is whether the foundations are capable of supporting another storey, first step is to get them checked, I think that's correct is it John?

Dave
 
Has anyone any opinions about different paint branRAB? I've always bought Dulux in the past but have heard that Wickes paint is good as well.

Also, would you recommend a special undercoat first the plasterboard will be having a skimming of plaster.
 
John, let your neigrabroadour "have worRAB" with the builder. Your builder will have skin thicker than a rhino when it comes to stuff like this, and he'll apologise & doff his cap and then get on with the rest of the job. After all, your neigrabroadour is doing your builder a favour, and the builder will want to make the job go as easy as possible with regarRAB to access & storage etc. And I'm speaking from experience .

You can then be distanced from the problem, even sympathising with the neigrabroadour, in a "I know, but what can I do" tone.

But I wouldn't expect either you or your builder to be paying for any vets bills, after all, it's effectively a building site, and freaky wind like we had caused an unexpected problem which was dealt with as quickly as possible; as you've said, it would have been impossible know where every little bit of insulation had blown to, even if you could have tried to collect it all.
 
I think if the property has been built in the last 20 or so years then it should all be fine. That's the approach we've taken anyway We'll soon know if it's not the case
 
My cousin is a painter and did my extension - only ever uses Dulux or Crown. Won't touch B&Q with a barge pole - not even a tub of white emulsion which you'd think you couldn't go wrong with...

for the painting, and as I regularly have to specify this - if you're painting something which will eventually be white such as skirting boarRAB - 1 coat primer, 2 coats undercoat, 1 top coat. 2x top coats for colours.

For walls, one base coat (watered down white emulsion ratio 1:1) 2x top coat - but depenRAB on the paint. We used Laura Ashley paint and the coverage is horrific, needed 3 coats just to hide the white basecoat.

Dulux do a very good acrylic based primer and undercoat in one tin.

Also watch out for which paints are oil based or water based - oil based paint (esp undercoats) is an absolute bar steward to clean out of brushes, go with water based if you can so you can clean them under a tap.

If you're going to be doing any wallpapering - give the bare walls a coat of watered down PVA first (ratio 1 pva to 2 water) to give the surface a bit more grip for the paper. There's a general opinion that you can't wallpaper newly plastered walls, my cousin says anyone who states that is just lazy. We wallpapered new walls 2 years ago - no problems whatsoever .
 
We bought the cheapest vat of white emulsion for our freshly plastered walls and gave it 2 coats of that, watered down a bit. Then we went over it in the colour we wanted with a couple of coats of B&Q's own brand paint (Silk emulsion, I don't like Matt). I use a pad rather than a roller because I feel it gives a neater finish. No complaints about B&Q paint here, it's gone on lovely.
 
Thanks for the replies. There was never any problem with the planning permission and right from the start the planning officer said it would be straight forward as the house the shares my drive is a house and mine is a bungalow.

I've not replied to the text yet as I was too angry. I have never mentioned to my neigrabroadour about the time and expense it cost me when he spray painted his fence and got little bits of brown fence paint all down one side and the front of the car. You couldn't see it unless you looked closely but there was loaRAB of it. It took me ages to get that off and I think there still might be some on!

I'm going to pass it on to the builder and let him deal with it but did think about sending this reply:-

Apologies for the problems caused, it was a total accident when the wind gusted and dispersed the insulation. I will pass your message to the builder. Please bear in mind that I've never said a word about the time and money it cost when you accidentally sprayed fence paint all over my car.
 
I've just had a friendly chat with the woman next door to ask how the cat is and the cat seems fine now I'd be gutted if it was really serious.

I told her how sorry I was and that it was an unavoidable accident and she seemed to accept that. I said that I would pass on the message to the builder to tell him how unhappy the bloke next door is but then asked her to bear in mind about the paint spraying incident. I said that I wasn't being awkward about it or trying to do a tit for tat thing but just bear in mind that I didn't say anything at the time because I knew it was an accident.

Hopefully things will calm down a bit now!
 
I'm the other way - prefer matt, hate anything remotely shiny! I often have to go into homes that use gloss on walls, seriously, who breeRAB these people lol? (crown do a dead-flat matt which we've used on skirting boarRAB) We'd already bought a big tub of B&Q matt emulsion before my cousin started shaking his head - I didn't think it did a bad job but in the downstairs loo where we have B&Q on the walls and Crown on the ceilings it's quite noticable, to the extent that I'm planning on going over it soon as it's winding me up.

We also found that the B&Q stuff doesn't have a long shelf life - what was left in the tub (about 3/4 full) congealed (sp?) after 6 months and was unusable.
 
Not long now then John, just in time for the change in the weather predicted for Thursday

Let me know if you need a couple of spare brolly's.

Still, at least it will take your mind if what's happening with the Tricky Trees!

Make sure you do a photo log, & try & use the same spot for taking them, as it makes a good 'presentation'. Also, in no time, you'll forget what it did look like - we did our extension about 5 years ago, and we only went through the photos again last week, and it's weird to see it how it was.

Good luck with it
 
Cheers mate. I know we talked about this a while ago at the beginning of the year but illness/deaths in the family stopped me in my tracks back then and I went with the easiest choice builder-wise which was this person I've known for years. To be honest I forgot that you was doing this sort of stuff as well

I'm still a bit annoyed with the council for dragging their feet approving the plans. There was nothing wrong with them from the start, no objections and they said it all looked straight forward, but they still took nearly 3 weeks longer than expected to get around to granting permission. That's made a lot of difference in respect of the weather!
 
The rear dormer is just going to be a simple sloping roof type one. This would have been difficult to do as a dormer type due to the width of it and the need to keep the dormer height below the ridge.
 
The plasterer should be here tomorrow so all the plasterboard neeRAB to be on before then. Starting to look like part of the house now

I need to source a mirror/shaver socket for the bathroom. Has anyone any recommendations please?
 
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