Wife and I disagree on whether to delay extension until move into newly bought house!

bt952000

Hi all,

What do you think I should do ?

My wife and I cannot agree.

We are in the process of buying a house built circa 1930. It is structurally sound and needs the following

New boiler
Plumbling
New Kitchen / Bathroom
Redecorate / Replaster
Windows
Bits and pieces

The price reflects the work to be done.

Fine

BUT

She wants a garage conversion and extension done over the garage and to extend the kitchen out the back. We definately need that space at some stage.

We are renting at the moment.

My thinking is that we should get the listed work done above , move in , settle and then decide how the extension etc should be like , apply for planning in our own good time and when ready to do the extension work , do it.

She doesn't want the upheaval of a 2nd work and thinks it should all be one in one hit , even though we would be renting and having to go through the planning process and pay a mortgage.

I have no idea how long a planning application could take for this nor what sort of extra money that would take. It's a standard 3 bed in Dublin. There will be potential delays with planning , architects , builders etc , I reckon while all that time paying mortgage and rent.

She can't understand this and thinks I'm crazy not to do the whole thing in one go at the beginning

So

Who's crazy ?!!!!

sinnerboy

Build then move in

I would move in first and get the feel of the house through at least a half year . Full year even better .

Works you do before the move could be partially abortive by the follow on works of "The Big Project" ( TBP )

Take your time getting to know your site - house and external spaces and how the light plays . Your ideas for TBP will change over time and may have to be reviewed during the planning process .

.

Build then move in

As above, just do the minimum required to make the house comfortable before moving in. then after a year or so move out while TBP is being carried out.

She obviously hates the idea of living in a building site.

Mellor

Build then move in

I'd move in, and only do work that was required immediatly.

I would leave kitchen and al the rest until I did the planning and did that all together.

its not ideal to live in a building site, but its better than owning a house while you rent somewhere else.
The whole process might take a year or more, can you afford a years rent on top?

sydthebeat

Build then move in

Planning will take 12 weeks minimum, 16-20 weeks average. Say 4 weeks to engage architect and prepare design.. so give 24 weeks (or 6 months), before you can realistically start any extension work on site. So thats pretty much minimum time scale. Assume 20 weeks for build.

Therefore you are realistically looking at a year if you want to do the work before moving in.

The extension and schedule of works can be designed to minimise impact on life inside the dwelling, but in the heel of the hunt there will be a building site on site.

The garage conversion can be done immediately, and can be done with little impact on the existing dwelling. Perhaps this can be done as a 'sweetener'??

While its a good time to get construction work done due to falling labour costs, i can see that these rates will be similar in a years time....

Personally i would convert the garage, and/or move in. Then do as SB proposes and get a feel for living in the dwelling before embarking on an extension project. Many solutions to problems are not apparent at first.

Kashkai

Build then move in

I'd agree with the above, i.e. move in, get the feel of the place and you'll find that you'll probably change your initial ideas about what you were planning to do.

The whole planning/building stage will take almost a full year regardless of what you might have heard from architects/builders and while you can live in the building for at least some of this, you'll probably end up moving out as it becomes uninhabital at the "joining" together of the old and the new build.

Finally be very very careful who you engage as architect and builder, i.e. get references and check them out thoroughly. I was badly bitten (actually mauled to near death!!) by a registered RIAI architect and a "highly recommended" builder and the stress caused by poor design and even poorer construction standards took years off my life - hairs fallen out, wrinkles everywhere

Dopey

Don't Care

I'm in the same position myself. We were thinking of doing half the work now and half later. The extension at the back is for the kitchen and doesn't require planning permission. Do that first and then the garage one after a year when planning permission has been permitted.

Do you mind me asking what your budget is for the work? Apologies for going off topic.

mr_edge_to_you

It is actually a tough call. I think you will definitely build a better extension by waiting and seeing how you get in the house. You will have a much clearer idea as to what changes you want and need to make. However a few points you should consider-If you are going to require borrowed finance for the renovations in 12 months time you may find it very difficult to top up your existing mortgage. If you're going to have do this with a term loan you will be under significant financial pressure. It might actually be easier to borrow the whole lot now and get the work done. I would also say that I know people who did similiar massive renovations in city centre and ended up renting while the work was going on because they just couldn't hack the stress! We're living with inlaws while our house is being built. Sometimes you've got to make sacrifices to get what you want.

S.L.F

Build then move in

Definitelt move in then build as others have said you may change your mind about what you want

Poor Uncle Tom

Do whatever is necessary to move into the house, before extending. But it doesn't suit everybody to be living in a house as work is going on extending around them, so make a realistic time schedule for works with your builder and stick to it.

MicktheMan

Build then move in

As above.
When we bought our house 6 years ago we knew that a lot of work was needed but moved in nevertheless and stayed for 18 months before moving out for the major building work. This gave us time to live in the house for all 4 seasons and the final plan was so much different from what we thought we wanted at the start. We're so glad we took this approach rather than diving in at the start.
Hope this helps.

muffler

Build then move in

I can add another option to the poll if you wish - "Divorce"

Problem solved.

mr_edge_to_you

muffler wrote: »

I can add another option to the poll if you wish - "Divorce"

Problem solved.

Muffler, perhaps this should be moved to the Personal Issues/Relationship Issues forum.

muffler

Build then move in

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

Muffler, perhaps this should be moved to the Personal Issues/Relationship Issues forum.

If there's fence mending involved he's in the right forum

Wonky Knees

Don't Care

bt952000 wrote: »

Hi all,

What do you think I should do ?

My wife and I cannot agree.

We are in the process of buying a house built circa 1930. It is structurally sound and needs the following

New boiler
Plumbling
New Kitchen / Bathroom
Redecorate / Replaster
Windows
Bits and pieces

The price reflects the work to be done.

Fine

BUT

She wants a garage conversion and extension done over the garage and to extend the kitchen out the back. We definately need that space at some stage.

We are renting at the moment.

My thinking is that we should get the listed work done above , move in , settle and then decide how the extension etc should be like , apply for planning in our own good time and when ready to do the extension work , do it.

She doesn't want the upheaval of a 2nd work and thinks it should all be one in one hit , even though we would be renting and having to go through the planning process and pay a mortgage.

I have no idea how long a planning application could take for this nor what sort of extra money that would take. It's a standard 3 bed in Dublin. There will be potential delays with planning , architects , builders etc , I reckon while all that time paying mortgage and rent.

She can't understand this and thinks I'm crazy not to do the whole thing in one go at the beginning

So

Who's crazy ?!!!!

You're right about getting a feel for the house, the garden, the neighbors and the movement of light before deciding on the initial design.

She's right about moving into a house knowing that you are going to engage in a major upheaval.

By the sounds of what you are going to do you will need to move out of the house at some point and you will be walking around the house in the initial move chomping at the bit to do some initial work which in the long run may be a waste of time, effort and money.

bt952000

Thanks to you all that posted !

Much appreciated. We are still no futher on in agreement but meeting some builders this week to get their take on it also.

Maybe we will have to add that other option in the poll!!!