How to use your home extension for the first 6 months 

When you first move into your home extension you will need to adopt some basic methods to ensure that the home extension operates correctly over the coming months.  If you do not make some basic adjustments to your lifestyle for the first 6 months or install additional fittings or furnishings too quickly, you may fall into some defect traps that would have been unnecessary.

Here we list some guidance on what you should and should not do within your home extension for the first 6 months of use:-

1 - Gently heat and always ventilate - Remember that there will still be hundreds of litres of trapped water embedded within the property structure (floors and walls mainly) that need to dissipate slowly over the coming months.  It may be winter but you do need to crack oven vents and windows with the heating on during this period for every room.  Even if you go away and simply seal the property up, you will come back to lots of green and black mould on the internal structure.

2 - Expect things to fail - Your new pipes (heating, water and waste) are now under real live use conditions and now being stress tested.  Always look for the leak and monitor everything. Never leave the home for longer than a day without shutting off the mains water pipe for example. After a few weeks and nothing has happened, the risk of a failure becomes far less.

3 - Keep a list of any minor defects that may occur - after six months to a year, it may be within your terms and conditions of contract that the main contractor returns to fix any defects prior to the release of their final retention monies.  Keeping an up to date list as you go will record everything rather than a last minute rush around at the end.

4 - Expect cracking - The new extension is now settling down onto its new base and timbers are drying out.  Therefore shrinkage and minor settlement will almost always occur for every home extension - it is normal and to be expected so do not panic.  If you are worried, consult your original home extension designer or architect to take a look.