Side Extension: Completion!

We had at least a month where the extension was on 'hold'.  Timber for the front was on special order.  The joiner's van broke down.  We went on holiday.  The interior was pretty much done, but no electrics and a few snagging pieces.

Finally!  The timber arrived.  I spent about ten hours over several days painting it.  The architect had specified Sikkens in a graphite grey to match the window.  I called the Akzo Nobel hotline and spent about 30 minutes finding out what products were the best for the Siberian Larch.  Each piece of timber needed to be primed (four sides) and then coated twice.  

There were a few false starts, but then the timber finally started getting attached!  They put up a net for insects, and we were in business.

The architect wasn't super happy with the placement, so the guys made the adjustments.

And then it was installed!

I primed the new pieces and painted everything with another coat or two, cut down that weird wire (left from the old garage) and we are done!

One of the neighbors told me our house looks like Center Parcs!  (A holiday resort with cottages, apparently with timber cladding.)  The neighbor is eight, so I think it's a compliment.

Inside things are pretty much done as well.  The skirting (baseboards) got installed.  We had a little hiccup with the stringer for the stairs.  Originally, it got installed with skirting, and I wasn't happy with the finish.

But it has been redone and I like the finish just fine now.  (I do need to do some more paint touch up.  I feel like I've been painting for a month!)

Ideally we'd have consistent flooring between the kitchen and the extension.  But we do not love the dark bamboo in the kitchen (it scratches so easily, and shows) so we'll just keep it like this for now.

One half of the extension has seating and toys.

And the other half has a sofa with the TV.  I still need to work on finishing touches, but the hard work is done!  The cat has adapted to the new space quite well.

I mailed the building certificate application yesterday (we finally got the second fix electrics) , so we'll see what building control says.
And just because I like numbers, here's the final costs.  All in (this does not include furnishings or the landscaping.  The garden work has been partially completed, we're trying to do some ourselves and a the professionals should come in June) the cost is just under £40K.  That means the build was £1,448 per square meter, which is what we'd been told from the beginning.  (£1,500 psm.)

Build	£26,136
Ground Works	£11,082
Planning	£1,880
TOTAL	£39,098

And the timeline:
September 2013:  Planning application submitted November 2013:  Planning application approved February 2015:  Building warrant application started July 2015:  Building warrant application granted July-Oct 2015:  Quotations, change details per budget, confirm builder November 24-25 2015 :  Garage Demo
December  14-18 2015 :  Dig Foundations
December  23-24 2015:  Excavate Back Patio
January  8-22 2016 :  Foundations and Drains
Feb 29- March 30 2016 :  Framing, block work, roughcaste, interior
April 7-8 2016:  Skirting and gutters
May 4-5 2016:  Cladding, skirting, snagging
May 6:  Completion certificate form mailed!