Once upon a time (Christmas 2006 ish...) a foolish man (me!) decided to extend his house rather than move.  Even more foolishly he decided to everything himself (except those legal bits to do with gas and testing electrical circuits) If you're sitting comfortably I'll begin. First I drew plans and got planning permission - this took till the end of March.    So, planning approved, I finally start digging at the end of May - I didn't have building regs approval of the plans (time issues and some mis-information from their end) so I started it on a Building Notice but in hindsight this speeded up the process. This is the patio before I started (25th May) and my apprentice Mary: I dug the trenches by hand, all good exercise in the baking sun of late May. I had specified 450mm trench foundations (as per building regs) but my inspector said "We don't do it that way... 600mm strip foundations are normal." Anyway he was happy for me to widen them out at the bottom to 600mm. Most builders just dig 600mm trenches and fill them with a huge mass of concrete - it's expensive to get bricklayers to do below ground work hence builders choose the easier concrete fill. A bit of shuttering here and there (where drains will be and over the sewer pipe). I had boxed the sewer pipe in rather neatly as per building regs but my inspector said "We don't do it that way... no loading over sewers ... shutter it so that there are no foundations over the sewer." I did mention the building regs method but it's quicker just to change it and get on! Oh, and skip number 2 on 1st June! Trenches approved, the concrete finally goes in (£423 for 4.5 cubic metres) on 9th June. Nice to watch someone else work for a while. The patio started to come up - it has been useful squared paper up to this point. The foundations marked the change in the weather. I didn't realise we were on for the wettest summer ever from this point! 28th June - The brick and block have arrived - half a day is spent just moving the brick to the back of the house. The bricks are London Brick Company ‘Heather’ bricks - originally a cheap brick they now cost 56p each! Then I can set out the brick and blockwork. 29th June - The hardcore goes down for the kitchen floor and a canopy has to go up (8m x 5m) so I can make any progress in the summer monsoon. My assistant helps mix mortar for the bricklaying (just joking!). More digging for the sewers, this was the worst bit, not because they were sewers, but the spoil heap hit epic proportions (despite the 2 skips so far) and the mud situation was just horrible - it takes until 5th July to complete and approve the sewers. Actually cutting a section out of the sewer and adding the new is quick and relatively 'clean'. I use modern Marley plastic roddable gullies. The drains had taken careful planning (redesigned early in the build) so that we could use the existing kitchen drain without interruption! On 2nd July, after torrential rain, I came down to this little puddle in my awning! 9th July - Compacting the sub-base and infill over the sewers. A layer of compacted sand (blinding) to protect the DPM. 11th July - The existing walls are cut where the extension joins and a DPC and insulation inserted. I used screw in wall ties rather than the usual starter plates - the Building Inspector said "I've never seen those before" but he approved them. Brick and block up to DPC level and the damp proof membrane is down. I've made a wooden tamp for leveling the concrete floor when it's laid. On 13th July the concrete floor is cast (another day watching others work!). Brick and block start to rise and the cavity wall insulation goes in. I'm using 50mm Celotex with a 25mm cavity - fortunately the Building Inspector is happy with this. My brother Ian helps with half the brickwork and a bit of block so progress is fast. 27th July - A little wood, sharp sand (for the floor screed) and insulation arrive. The floor insulation (100mm Celotex) goes straight down - later increased to 120mm when I realise the house floor is higher than I expected despite having knocked some bricks out to check! The 'special order' interior wall insulation (20mm) arrives to add to the insulation mountain. 3rd August - The main roof purlins (225mm x 75mm) go up. I could lift them in and out single handed which was useful as I had to take them out again and pack the house end (by 8mm) to get them level (what a perfectionist!). I was discovering that the original house (1978 build) was far from level. The windowsill uses aerated block in brick size - how cute! 5th August - The rafters go on. 7th to 10th August - Brickwork just about finished. 10th to 20th August - Fitting cavity wall trays - what a pain! This shows the platform I built to access them and the marking out. But my mortar was harder than my bricks so avoiding damage to adjacent bricks was impossible. The canopy had to go for the final bit of the walls. The canopy came in useful again. The gable ladder is completed. 21st to 23rd August - The first layer of Celotex goes between the rafters (held with special plastic clips) then the second layer of Celotex goes over the top of the rafters. The nails are 'aiming' points for fixing the counter battens. This shows the roof sandwich - with the counterbattens on top, the upper layer of Celotex (60mm) and the rafter layer. There is a big insulation 'end stop' at the right to support the insulation. The second picture shows my test piece with one of the 'Inskew' helical fixings used to fix them together. 24th August - The first Velux frame goes in - these are S06 size just over a metre square. The frames are easy to fit single handed but with 2 of us lifting the windows in it was a bit scary - they are top heavy .. and very heavy! Packing out the eaves with more insulation and an extra 20mm goes inside between the rafters (as well as the 60mm already there!) - making a total of 140mm across most of the roof. 25th August - The breathable membrane (felt!) and tile battens go on. 29th/30th August - Window frame goes in and the underfloor heating pipe. The pipe is tie-wrapped to a wire mesh sitting on concrete spacers - never tried this before but it's quick and works well. The dry-mix floor screed then covers it. 1st September - A 'vapour control layer' is fitted then the ceiling joists. The walls have dry-lining battens (22mm) fitted with 20mm Celotex between so the plasterboard is virtually up against the insulation - this gives a more thermally efficient wall with a more solid 'feel' to it. It is also handy for fitting the electrics i.e. cut channels in the insulation for conduit and fit backboxes with a only a tiny rebate required. 5th-9th September - The roof tiles go on; later the ridge goes on, the last pic shows how to cut dentil tiles (needed to pack the large gaps) from the roof tiles. The Veluxes required careful installation - I had to cut the overlap lips off the tiles to just fit the Velux exactly into the tile spacing. September - electrics - lots of them. In the ceiling I have two 12V lighting circuits with LED lighting in standard MR16 downlighters. The connectors visible are brilliant Metway push connectors (with 2 'in' and 2 'out' terminals for each wire) which made wiring the 20 odd light fittings really easy. An inline extractor is fitted as well - this wasn't required by building regs but I figure this 'greenhouse' kitchen could do with more air extraction. I put in new circuits for cooker, kitchen ring main, kitchen lights, outside lights and smoke alarm. The last one was added at the last minute after a suggestion by the building inspector. I have a smoke alarm on the landing and a heat detector in the kitchen - interconnected with battery backup. I also have to add an aerial lead and new alarm wiring ... oh and I've decided to fit a computer instead of the TV I planned so I've to fit ceiling speakers and cabling for the wall mounted monitor 14th September - The door is fitted so I'm water-tight (What no pic?). October - plasterboarding and finishing. To do the main corners I cut a vee in the back of the board (requires precise measurement this) and then bend it at 90 degrees and glue the joint. Thus the front visible edge is not broken and you have a perfect joint which requires no finishing. 14th October - I finally removed the dining room window and knock through. I have to fit remedial wall ties where I've knocked through. 18th October - Ceiling nearly finished! It was a right pain in the backside with all those angles. Also my temporary doorway to keep dust out. 25th October - Lighting finished. 26th to 28th October - Laying the marble floor and starting the kitchen units. It's Lemon marble from Wickes but they had lots of these strikingly unusual tiles (not like most lemon marble) which we really liked - only problem was arranging them - took ages and they're very heavy. 1st November - First draft at the plumbing. By the second picture (which shows Mary helping me 'sort' my tile spacers!) you will note I have changed it (I wanted the isolators accessible after the units were fitted) 7th November - worktops (Travertine patter) have arrived and the sink. Units construction progressed well. Hood went in (moved it up twice but I still bang my head - it can't go up any further because of the vent height out side in the eaves). The sink uses a 'spacesaver' u-bend - avoids cutting the shelf. Then the depressing 'back to chaos' as I strip the old kitchen to make the utility. Here the old cooker circuit is being rewired as the utility room sockets supply The main stopcock in its temporary arrangement and then its final arrangement. I have also fitted my homemade underfloor heating control: The pump circulates hot water at about 40 degrees drawn off the main heating circuit. The thermostatic valve at top right controls the temperature in the circuit. It is all demand driven by 2 thermostats - one in the kitchen and another attached to the nearby heating pipes; when there is demand from the kitchen and hot water available then the pump runs. The massive fridge/freezer arrives amid the chaos (it was on offer at the time!). It was a tight fit but they managed to get it in without having to remove the fridge doors. The fridge is connected to the water supply by a 6mm water pipe. It connects via an isolator near the stopcock in the utility where there is the filter (that needs changing every 6 months!) and then through a hole in the wall (the old external sink drain) into the back of the fridge/freezer. The bar stools are more like bar armchairs - they take up more room than I planned but I had to have them - the one at the left has no bck fitted because it was just too much in the way. The PC is a small HP slimline model - no great performer but it's very quiet and serves as a digital picture frame most of the day [It died within 18months] . The speakers are visible in the ceiling. The thermostat visible controls the underfloor heating for the kitchen. The fully glazed door and partition are fitted (right) to give maximum light into the dining area. So there we are ... almost - I still had some outside (surface water) drains to dig and the electrics in the main house to finish - especially the immersion heater which had been wired with 1.5mm lighting cable! So I only finally had the extension signed off as completed over a year after finishing. By 23rd November the oven and microwave are in and we start using the kitchen. The kitchen nearly completed! The House Extension - a DIY job too far?