Buildings/extention advice .....

[kalidarkone]

This is the scenario:
I own and have lived in my house since 1996. Its been neglected. I want it fixed and tarted up and a ground floor extension. (The roof is good and was sorted a few years ago.)

I'm in talks with a structural engineer and will need a tree assessment. There are lots of cracks and bubbling on the inside of the exposed kitchen wall. The tree in the garden is huge and too close to the house.

From talking to the structural engineer it sound as though a general survey would be useful. Also an architect?

I'm a bit confused about where to start.

A list of what to do and where to begin would be useful.

How would you proceed?

Cheers x

 

[ignatious]

Building an extension — the ultimate guide to house extensions

 

[MickiQ]

When we had our extension done we started by asking around (as your doing) and we started with the architect who helped with builders and the council.
One piece of advice I would give you is do as little project management yourself as possible. Let the people who have done this before do it again.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

This is the scenario:
I own and have lived in my house since 1996. Its been neglected. I want it fixed and tarted up and a ground floor extension. (The roof is good and was sorted a few years ago.)

I'm in talks with a structural engineer and will need a tree assessment. There are lots of cracks and bubbling on the inside of the exposed kitchen wall. The tree in the garden is huge and too close to the house.

From talking to the structural engineer it sound as though a general survey would be useful. Also an architect?

I'm a bit confused about where to start.

A list of what to do and where to begin would be useful.

How would you proceed?

Cheers x

First step is to determine what you want; there's no point spending a fortune on what's possible if it doesn't deliver on improving your home.

Sketch up a floor plan, and give me a shout if you want it turning into a basic CAD plan. At least you're then approaching your structural engineer and/or architect with a starting point - it's your needs that should be taken into account, not the architect's wants.

 

[Idaho]

Put a floor plan up and we can play around with suggestions (of varying quality)

 

[Puddy_Tat]

at the risk of stating the obvious, and aware you may already have done this stage, but it's probably worth at least a look on your local council's website to see what planning permission you might need and building regulations and that sort of thing. (may be difficult to sell at some point in the future if it's not done right, or even if it's done right but not documented right.)

i think if an extension is less than X size you don't need planning permission as such (may of course be different if it's a listed building / conservation area)

my local council's equivalent (for what it's worth) here.

most planning departments are happy to offer advice before you do something - it's a lot less hassle all round to ask 'can i do this thing i'm thinking about?' rather than 'should i have done this thing i've already done?'

some trees have a 'Tree Preservation Order' on them (like listed building status only for a tree) - may also be worth checking on that (again, local council) before you get too far. I've never had anything to do with them as regards a house / building project, so no idea how it works if tree is threatening the structural safety of a building.

 

[Thora]

My sister is just about to have a ground floor/kitchen extension done, they had an architect do the plans I think. They did need planning permission.
It's budgeted at £60k

 

[Idaho]

My sister is just about to have a ground floor/kitchen extension done, they had an architect do the plans I think. They did need planning permission.
It's budgeted at £60k

Pretty normal price for an extension now.

 

[Idaho]

Permitted development (will need building regs but not planning permission)

• Single-storey rear extension
  For detached houses, the extension can't extend more than 4 meters beyond the rear wall of the original house. For other houses, it can't extend more than 3 meters. If the extension is not on designated land or a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the limit increases to 8 meters for detached houses and 6 meters for other houses.
  • Side extension
• • The extension can't be wider than half the width of the original house. The maximum height is 4 meters.

 

[baldrick]

Extensions/renovations are v expensive these days. Plus all the disruption, unexpected issues uncovered midway through etc

Would it be cheaper/ less disruptive to move house to one which is already "done"? Just throwing that out there.

 

[kalidarkone]

[/QUOTE]

When we had our extension done we started by asking around (as your doing) and we started with the architect who helped with builders and the council.
One piece of advice I would give you is do as little project management yourself as possible. Let the people who have done this before do it again.

Yes I definitely will need a project manager as I foresee issues with neighbours, especially the ones on my left. Neither did a party wall agreement when they did work (a loft extention and the other side, a loft extension and ground floor extension) neighbours on the left absolutely refused to do a party wall agreement and their extension is in my garden! They also treated me like shit. They may need to pay me or take theirs down.

 

[kalidarkone]

Extensions/renovations are v expensive these days. Plus all the disruption, unexpected issues uncovered midway through etc

Would it be cheaper/ less disruptive to move house to one which is already "done"? Just throwing that out there.

No it's cheaper for me to stay and get the work done. This is because I bought my house 30 years ago and it cost me 45 K. Also I don't want to move.

 

[a_chap]

The tree in the garden is huge and too close to the house.

Leave the tree alone.

Get your housed moved away a few metres.

 

[Idaho]

The sequence of building an extension is:

• working out budget
• working out requirements
• making rough plans, gathering ideas
• drawing up plans so contractors can quote
• employing contractors
• submitting plans to building regs
• build

This last phase includes finding problems, reversing course, changing plans, restarting, falling out with contractors, chasing other contractors, battling neighbours, managing deliveries, making constant decisions about things you never knew it was possible to have opinions about (skirting board design, types of electrical sockets).

Finally:

• get sign off
• ignore unfinished bits