No side access - extension costs

heretohelp

You could use your neighbours side access if they have any and get on with them.

DRP

Will you be moving out for the duration of the work? 

It may help reduce costs.

Rosa_Damascena

naf123 said:

Smash a opening where the kitchen is and they can work through that and rebuild the wall afterwards ?

Is this some kind of sick joke?

OP, you have my sympathies. I have the same issue now, which is what has vastly inflated the cost of my patio quote.

casper_gutman

You'll have to lose access to the existing kitchen and dining room during the second half of the work anyway, given that they're to be opened up into the extension.

Personally I'd create a temporary food prep space in the dining room (with microwave, kettle, plug-in electric hob ring etc) and accept losing the kitchen at the start of the project.

I honestly don't think that would be any worse than having the builders trail mud through the hallway every day, and they'd be able to work more effectively if they could use the kitchen for access from the start. 

Doozergirl

Rosa_Damascena said:

naf123 said:

Smash a opening where the kitchen is and they can work through that and rebuild the wall afterwards ?

Is this some kind of sick joke?

OP, you have my sympathies. I have the same issue now, which is what has vastly inflated the cost of my patio quote.

It's not a big deal to a builder and it genuinely could, in fact almost certainly would, save money.  

...or even be the difference between getting a quote or not.  No one in their right mind wants to take on a job like that if someone is sitting trying to watch TV whilst you're trudging excavated dirt out and the entire kit for an extension in through the hall.  Only going to end in complaints.  
 

Section62

Rosa_Damascena said:

Is this some kind of sick joke?

I wouldn't have used the word 'smash', but the basic idea is where I was going with this and my follow up questions....

Section62 said:

Makes me wonder what is at the front of the house which stops all other access route(s) to the back... and whether some new (temporary?) openings in walls is a more cost effective approach.

Assuming there is a window in the front aspect of the kitchen, it could be opened up to make an access by carefully dismantling the wall.  Having a doorway from the kitchen to the garden gives a route which impacts on only one room.

As casper suggests - I'd move some kitchen units plus sink/hob/oven into the dining room as a temporary area to prepare food, also thinking about the need to empty all of the kitchen units given the amount of dust there's going to be in there.

I'd have the hallway/kitchen door sealed up to minimise dust getting into the rest of the house. Then leave the builders to get on with what they need to do as quickly as possible.

I'd also probably go with that option even if a builder quoted cheaper on the basis of marching stuff through the house - using that kitchen with building activities taking place through it all day will be hellish, you'd spend half the evening cleaning before you could cook anything and sit down to enjoy a meal in there.


If none of the neighbours can offer access via their garden then all the other remaining options involve hiring in (expensive) plant.

A crane could deal with materials (slowly), but people will still need to walk through the house. If the kitchen extension is low and short enough a scaffold deck over the top of the roof plus hoists either side would work, but with avoidable working at height risks plus a lot more labour.

Going in and out via the kitchen is certainly the safest option, and could be made the least disruptive (overall), if the client is willing to slum it a bit.  Plus as Doozergirl comments, with a through-house option any decent builder would expect considerable grief from the client and price the job accordingly (if at all).  If it was me, the costs would be very heavily front-loaded to give ample scope for walking away from the job part way through if the complaints about muddy boots got too much to bear.

FreeBear

Section62 said: A crane could deal with materials (slowly), but people will still need to walk through the house.

A crane would be hideously expensive (£500+ per day) and depending on reach, it may require a real big one. Each and every lift requires planning and rigging (for which you need to know the weights involved). It is not a simple case of whack a rope round a pallet of bricks and off yer go... And any overhead cables is going to scupper using a crane.

If access via a neighbouring garden is out, then the most sensible option is to knock through the side extension - Assuming a concrete floor, it will cope much better with hauling heavy stuff back & forwards than a suspended timber floor.

naf123

Rosa_Damascena said:

naf123 said:

Smash a opening where the kitchen is and they can work through that and rebuild the wall afterwards ?

Is this some kind of sick joke?

OP, you have my sympathies. I have the same issue now, which is what has vastly inflated the cost of my patio quote.

Sorry my language probably wasn't appropriate. I meant to say to cut open the kitchen side entrance . 

Given that they are almost certainly getting a new kitchen anyway , it should not be an additional cost . If they aren't planning to install a new kitchen then they can take out the units and put in storage . 

Oh remember security above all - good strong plywood doors etc . 

Section62

FreeBear said:

A crane would be hideously expensive (£500+ per day) and depending on reach, it may require a real big one. Each and every lift requires planning and rigging (for which you need to know the weights involved). It is not a simple case of whack a rope round a pallet of bricks and off yer go... And any overhead cables is going to scupper using a crane.

Yup, not my suggestion, only pointing out two of the practical problems of the only suggestion (other than via neighbours or holes in the wall) that had been made so far. Craneage is slow and for materials only (realistically).

There are craneage options which could be cheaper than £500+ per day, but it doesn't overcome the issues of time and labour for slinging and multiple handling of each load, nor the problem of workers traipsing through the house multiple times a day.

But if a crane were the only option, and a budget which would support that is available, then OH cables can usually be moved out of the way for a cost which is comparatively trivial.