WE BUILT IT OURSELVES
Building our extension, one decision at a time
We took on our own home extension without pretending to be professional builders. We learned as we went, watched a lot of YouTube, asked questions, made mistakes and gradually turned the plans into a finished part of our home.
This site is the record of how we did it: what it cost, what we tackled ourselves, what we paid trades to do, what went wrong and what we would do differently next time.
THE IDEA
A practical record, not a professional building manual
We want to show the decisions behind the finished extension as well as the finished rooms: quotes, materials, sequencing, unexpected problems, DIY jobs and the parts that were harder than they looked.
Where something worked well, we will explain why. Where we got something wrong, we will include that too.
FOLLOW THE BUILD
From first plans to finished extension
The site will grow around the actual stages of our project rather than generic home-improvement advice.
Planning
From the first ideas and drawings through permissions, layout decisions and preparing for the work to begin.
Explore Planning →
Building
Groundworks, structure, steels, roof, windows, services and the practical reality of the build.
Explore Building →
Costs
What things actually cost us, where the budget changed and where we found ways to save money.
Explore Costs →
DIY
The jobs we took on ourselves, what we learned and the tools and materials we found useful.
Explore DIY →
Lessons
Mistakes, surprises and the things we would approach differently if we built another extension.
Explore Lessons →
Before & After
How the house changed from the original layout through construction to the finished extension.
Explore Before & After →
LEARNING AS WE WENT
The bits that rarely appear in the finished photographs
A finished extension can make the whole process look much simpler than it was. We want to include the messy middle as well: changing decisions, comparing quotes, trying jobs for the first time, finding information online and working out when it made more sense to bring in someone experienced.
START HERE
Our extension
Start with the overall project: what we wanted to change, why we decided to extend, how we approached the work and how the house evolved through the build.
Read our extension storyCOMING TO THE SITE
- Real cost breakdowns and quotes
- Planning and design decisions
- Stage-by-stage construction photographs
- DIY jobs and tools we actually used
- Mistakes and things we changed
- Before-and-after photographs