Home improvements

[Sunnyknight]

Me and my pops have recently completed our extension at the back of the garden which has added value to our house by £35+k (so the estate agent says , personally think it can be more if we got PP and done it double skin).

 

We built a single skin, with a pitched room, marley brown double roman tiles, pvcu french patio doors and x2 pvcu windows. It's an 8 by 4 and from top to bottom its 3.25. Cost us a total of £3k.

 

Yes, i don't seem like the working type, but when i need to, i work wonders!

 

Anyone else got plans for their home?

[Andrew_C]

Have fun when you sell the house... Without planning or building regs, the lawyers will go into a tail-spin.

[Alkaline]

Sell up fast, apparently there is another housing bubble which is about to pop.

[laserblazer]

Have fun when you sell the house... Without planning or building regs, the lawyers will go into a tail-spin.

 

Agreed. I converted a garage to an office a few years ago. I then moved with work and my wife dealt with the house sale. The agent put it down as a garden room/bedroom and that's when the fun began. More recently, our neighbours gardens were a really odd shape where they met, so a simple bit of fence moving made it all much neater. However, it was spotted when one neighbour sold up and cost them a fortune in legal fees. It would have been a 15 minute job to put it back how it was.

[Sunnyknight]

Have fun when you sell the house... Without planning or building regs, the lawyers will go into a tail-spin.

 

Unless you build double skin, you don't need to worry too much about planning / building regs. We've had people in for the electrics who said they know companies who'd be willing to employ us because we did such a great job with the building

[laserblazer]

Unless you build double skin, you don't need to worry too much about planning / building regs. We've had people in for the electrics who said they know companies who'd be willing to employ us because we did such a great job with the building

 

I'm not sure that's right. The size is an important factor but I was under the impression that any permanent structure had to meet building regs.

[Sunnyknight]

I'm not sure that's right. The size is an important factor but I was under the impression that any permanent structure had to meet building regs.

 

Structural Stability - Trenches 6ft deep. Pre-mixed concrete. Floor 4ft deep. Pre-mixed concrete. Quote SSconcrete: 'Why do you need so much concrete? What are you going to stand on it? A tank?!' <<< always gives me the giggles.

Fire-precautions - Plenty of ventilation, and easy evacuation of persons.

Dampness prevention - Damp course proofing, breathable roof membrane, pitched roof with guttering.

Sound resistance - Plenty of insulation and well plastered.

Hygiene - Better than the NHS.

Heating appliances - None, yet.

Stairs - Bricked. No ramps.

Windows and doors - perfect positioning and well cemented.

 

I think we're fine with building regs

 

Edit: Size of the structure is within all limits, just. lol

Edited June 24, 2013 by Sunnyknight

[Andrew_C]

I think we're fine with building regs

Possibly; but without the piece of paper...

[witch]

My daughter's boyfriend is about to convert his basement to a room and although he hasn't got pp - the builders and the mortgage company didn't mind but they said it HAD to be signed off re building regs. If you think you have built to the regs, you can get an inspector in to confirm this and then you will have the bit of paper.

Without at least this you will be in trouble when you sell I think

[Sunnyknight]

Possibly; but without the piece of paper...

 

Yeah, s'pose you're right. Damnit! I thought we were in the clear

 

My daughter's boyfriend is about to convert his basement to a room and although he hasn't got pp - the builders and the mortgage company didn't mind but they said it HAD to be signed off re building regs. If you think you have built to the regs, you can get an inspector in to confirm this and then you will have the bit of paper.

Without at least this you will be in trouble when you sell I think

 

Basement to a room shouldn't take (if he has the time off) more than a week bar electrics. Again, i agree with you and @Andrew_C with the piece of paper. Looks like the last of the chores.

[pcstru]

We've converted our 200 year old barn into a "man cave" with workshop, shower room, small kitchenette and home cinema. No planning permission needed but building regs + certificates are essential. We have now started on the house - not extending but some reasonably major reconfiguration involving moving walls, ceilings and opening up into an old hayloft like structure. I hate living in a building site.

 

We moved in last year and the previous owners had done some work without the necessary paperwork. It cost them in the end.

[CHR1S]

 

We built a single skin,

 

Where do you stand on building regs and single skin?

 

I just had to second skin my extension, had real bad surface mould issues and moisture.

[Sunnyknight]

We've converted our 200 year old barn into a "man cave" with workshop, shower room, small kitchenette and home cinema. No planning permission needed but building regs + certificates are essential. We have now started on the house - not extending but some reasonably major reconfiguration involving moving walls, ceilings and opening up into an old hayloft like structure. I hate living in a building site.

 

We moved in last year and the previous owners had done some work without the necessary paperwork. It cost them in the end.

 

Building regs, building regs, building regs! Ahhhh i'm gonna end up saying it in my sleep! Major reconfiguration of walls is nothing big, lol. Ceilings, what for? If we wrk on the house, ie, huge construction, we'll just rent out a place to stay and move to work.

 

Where do you stand on building regs and single skin?

 

I just had to second skin my extension, had real bad surface mould issues and moisture.

 

If you don't cement the bricks properly, or have your roof trusses and dry verges placed correctly, not to mention the tiles and gutters, you WILL get moisture. Whoever did your single brick, roof and guttering could possibly have done it 'half arsed'. Damn proof coursing prevents moisture on the lower levels. Also depends on the type of bricks you used.

 

We used smiley red bricks.

 

Edit: Also, if your 'pointing' / 'finishing' on the mortar (cement) wasn't up to scratch, you'll have minute holes in your walls. Coupled with a year or 2 rain and heat, it'll have opened more, cracked a lot more mortar, thus causing moisture.

Edited June 24, 2013 by Sunnyknight

[difinity]

I've spent the last two years gutting then renovating my house. I pulled all of the ceilings down, downstairs and made it open plan amongst other things. I needed a steel inserting and a brick support building Although it was specced up by a builder the council needed to see a report from a structural engineer. The engineer picked up the quality of the concrete base might not be up to spec, and he was right and i had to dig out and improve. The council then signed it off. It cost about £220 for the engineer and £180 for the council but that bit of paper means no one will doubt if the work is done to a quality standard and there will be no delays if/when i come to sell.

[Sunnyknight]

I've spent the last two years gutting then renovating my house. I pulled all of the ceilings down, downstairs and made it open plan amongst other things. I needed a steel inserting and a brick support building Although it was specced up by a builder the council needed to see a report from a structural engineer. The engineer picked up the quality of the concrete base might not be up to spec, and he was right and i had to dig out and improve. The council then signed it off. It cost about £220 for the engineer and £180 for the council but that bit of paper means no one will doubt if the work is done to a quality standard and there will be no delays if/when i come to sell.

 

What's with everyone ripping down their ceilings... lol. Open floor plan downstairs would require 2 if not 3 steel beams, dependent on the size of your house. You sure are lucky to get away with 1! As for the concrete base, it's why i've put down 6ft for trenches as opposed to 4ft and 4 ft for the floor, as opposed to 1ft.

 

For a bit of paper it'll cost me around £400- £500!? Rob me in daylight why don't you.

[LiamH]

All that experience using hammers on peoples kneecaps put to good use @Sunnyknight !

[difinity]

@Sunnyknight. No only 1 is required. the load bearing wall is down the middle of the house and i only replaced half of it.

£400 is a fraction of the cost of my total build cost, and considering I'd be asked to rip up my wooden floor and hack off my crisp white plaster to prove its sufficiently built it is a small price to pay. I opened it up as it was an ex council house and a little pokey in the kitchen.

[difinity]

I'm wondering how many bodies you could hide in 4ft of concrete ?!

[Sunnyknight]

All that experience using hammers on peoples kneecaps put to good use @Sunnyknight !

 

Always have a job to fall back on, or two! lol

 

@Sunnyknight. No only 1 is required. the load bearing wall is down the middle of the house and i only replaced half of it.

£400 is a fraction of the cost of my total build cost, and considering I'd be asked to rip up my wooden floor and hack off my crisp white plaster to prove its sufficiently built it is a small price to pay. I opened it up as it was an ex council house and a little pokey in the kitchen.

 

Ah see, you didn't say that before Fair enough and i know what you mean about crisp white plaster. Wouldn't ever want to do that to mine either!

 

I'm wondering how many bodies you could hide in 4ft of concrete ?!

 

Who puts bodies in concrete? You burn the bodies, and the bones you grind and sprinkle into foundation.

[difinity]

@Sunnyknight. i bow to your superior knowledge of body disposal.

 

I pulled the ceilings down as the ceiling was sagging. The original owner had removed two of the load bearing studs.

[Andrew_C]

Why Building Regs?

 

I worked in a surveyors' office many years ago. Some of the things I saw...

[TechMonkey]

I have this fun to look forward to this summer. Only a small amount of major work (bricking up an external door, moving another, one wall to remove, possibly a new wall & a couple of new internal doorways.) and then lots of renovation. Currently the list stands at new (as in nothing there at the moment) downstairs shower room/WC, refit upstairs bathroom, refit kitchen, lay new floors, decorating thoughout, re-do garden and if there is time/money open fireplace and reinstate chimney.

 

Looking to try and do a lot of it ourselves, with my gf's dad's help as foreman. Anyone any idea what the cost of a new kitchen should be? Out of interest we went to Homebase to get a rough quote and they came out to about £11.5k. One set of wide draws were £1500 almost. Ok supposedly it was a luxury kitchen (we didn't realise this when we picked it) but that surely can't be right!! Currently looking at Wickes kitchens.

[Sunnyknight]

I have this fun to look forward to this summer. Only a small amount of major work (bricking up an external door, moving another, one wall to remove, possibly a new wall & a couple of new internal doorways.) and then lots of renovation. Currently the list stands at new (as in nothing there at the moment) downstairs shower room/WC, refit upstairs bathroom, refit kitchen, lay new floors, decorating thoughout, re-do garden and if there is time/money open fireplace and reinstate chimney.

 

Looking to try and do a lot of it ourselves, with my gf's dad's help as foreman. Anyone any idea what the cost of a new kitchen should be? Out of interest we went to Homebase to get a rough quote and they came out to about £11.5k. One set of wide draws were £1500 almost. Ok supposedly it was a luxury kitchen (we didn't realise this when we picked it) but that surely can't be right!! Currently looking at Wickes kitchens.

 

We'll do the brickwork for you if you want! For a price of course lol. Sounds like a brilliant project! We got our bathroom fitted for £500. The guy did it in one day, and it's the best work i've seen, no word of lie. We sourced the products of course, but still! 1 day!

 

£11.5k is stupid for a kitchen, unless you have a kitchen the size of a castle. Max you would / should need to pay is £6k. Source the parts yourself. Don't always buy direct from them, they add about a 30% on top of the RRP..... I'll try and find you some kitchens.

[pcstru]

Anyone any idea what the cost of a new kitchen should be? Out of interest we went to Homebase to get a rough quote and they came out to about £11.5k. One set of wide draws were £1500 almost. Ok supposedly it was a luxury kitchen (we didn't realise this when we picked it) but that surely can't be right!! Currently looking at Wickes kitchens.

 

I did an average sized galley kitchen in my old gaffe for ~£4.5K. I did all the work myself apart from some plastering and that didn't include appliances.

[NikChillin]

Have fun when you sell the house... Without planning or building regs, the lawyers will go into a tail-spin.

 

The government have decided to help the building industry by letting homeowners build a single storey extension without PP, 6 meter for detached property and 4 meter for Semi/terraced, over the next three years.