Loved reading this discussion! I am an interior designer and have done my interior sketchign courses with BehindCanvas. The tutor is amazing and you can do the tutorials online in your own time and rewatch them. Highly recommend if you're interested in mastering sketching from zero!

Thanks Jonathan, good to hear that our budget doesn't sound way off! We know we're in a pricier part of the country, but have been shocked at the quotes received so far. I didn't think our design was that elaborate! We have one steel where we are opening up the back of the house to push the kitchen out, plus a vaulted ceiling there with a couple of Velux windows. Our plan includes a couple of new french doors, but not bifolds or anything, so no major glazing costs. One things that could push costs up is our extension roof as its a slightly odd design (flattened a bit at the apex) due to jobsworth planning officer. We were also hoping to have it vaulted with one Velux, so there may be costs there with insulation, wiring, beams etc, although the engineer didn't think a ridge steel was necessary. There are no major plot limitations or access issues. We do need our existing tandem garage demolishing, plus removal of possible asbestos roof and moving the manhole to the new side passage. We also know that one corner of our new kitchen will need deeper foundations due to our leylandii hedge (which we'll probably remove at some point anyway!) - we've already had a fruit tree removed so it didn't impact the other side of the foundations. We have also asked for under-floor heating in the kitchen and know that we'll need to move/replace our boiler and possibly have a new consumer unit. We also asked them to quote for a couple of "extra" bits, like replacing the existing ancient front windows to match new ones, refitting current family bathroom, and stripping out some ugly wood cladding in the hallway. So I guess there are some issues and extras there which we need to explore further..... but we thought we had allowed for some of them by setting our budget around £100k and holding £50k back for spec decisions and unforeseen bits and bobs. We will definitely be speaking to the first builder who quoted £155k ex kitchen and bathrooms, as his quote was the most thorough and we had a good feeling about him. I think perhaps there can be some further discussion with him around costings and where we could make savings (or put things off until a later date). We were keen to get all quotes in before entering discussions, but the remaining two are taking an age.......

I've just pulled the trigger on Howdens Allendale shaker style, 15 units in total, laminate worktop, 5 appliances (inc integrated washing machine and integrated fridge freezer), standard swan neck tap, composite 1.5 sink, door/drawer handles, upstand, undercabinet lighting.. delivered.. final price of £6150.. own tradesman fitting everything, inc electrics, his final bill is £1300.. so £7450 total. Like for like, SUPPLY ONLY (not install), Magnet's online price estimator returning +9k, no mention of sink/tap and unlikely to include upstand, lighting.. Like for like, SUPPLY ONLY, not including things like upstands, lighting, Wren was well over 8k.. So Howdens was significantly cheaper. I can't find any supplier with a price estimator who can get near Howdens price. To be fair, it was part of their Autumn sale, plus fitters discount.

Jonathan, I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong. And Yes I agree that their original question was very straightforward, to whom to entrust with a structural engineer. I just wanted to offer some words of caution since they didn't provide enough information about the builder. I didn't make an assumption on who they are or their qualifications and building practices, and while I agree that a good builder would of course get everything done correctly, unfortunately, you do get bad actors in the industry, which you can't deny. They can do with my information as they wish, if they don't think it applies to their situation they can completely disregard it. However, I don't understand why this has struck such a nerve with you, that you took it personally and started to berate and attack me. Yes English is my second language if you must know, but I have been speaking English since was 9 years old, I also speak 3 more other languages in case you are wondering and currently learning French as well. English is by far the easiest language and the not-so-subtle nuances of your insults do not escape me. Since you brought it up like it's something that I should be embarrassed by. For the record I never berated you but only pointed out your incivility towards me, which again you took personally and lashed out. I see a good night's sleep didn't help to improve your temper, which I do regret, as I do find myself often agreeing with your answers on Houzz, which I'm always happy to state if that is the case. However, I don't remember seeing you giving that courtesy to anyone. I do want to say thank you for taking the time and finding out my name, not entirely sure what the motivation was, but I will just say thank you and leave it at that. Hope you have a nice day and a good easter holiday and in the spirit of holidays let go of this silly grudge against me. Let's be respectful to each other and help the Houzz community with our own opinions and advice. If you disagree with something that I write and feel compared to say something my DM is always open for a friendly debate.