House extension - where to start?

Snaggles · 25 May 2008 at 9:54AM

Hello

I'm not quite sure if this is the right place for this question, so apologies in advance if I should have posted it elsewhere.

We currently have a small 2 bedroom house, and are thinking of extending it to create a dining room and cloakroom downstairs and a 3rd bedroom upstairs. We've never done anything like this before though, and neither have any of our friends/family, so I'm not really sure where to start.

I've been doing some Googling and I think I need to get an architect to draw up some plans, a builder for some quotes and then apply for planning permission? (see, I'm a complete beginner....lol

)

The things that I'm not sure about are:

1) We are on a triangular plot, in an end terrace with a mansard roof (not sure if that makes any difference). I think there are some rules about needing access to get round the back of the property so that the fire brigade etc can get to the middle houses in the block. So I'm unsure how close to the border with our neighbours we could go. Does anyone know if there are set rules about these things (I've tried Googling it but ended up confused)? If so, would I be better getting someone from the planning office to come out first, or will they need to see architect plans before they will look at it?

2) I believe there is a sewerage pipe that runs down the side of our house - is it a massive/expensive job to get this moved (is it even possible?). And who would we contact about getting it done?

3) The garden also slopes away gradually to the side - will that be a problem?

So really it's just a case of who do we contact, in what order?

Plot shape (house in red, obviously

):

Picture of house showing plot shape and slope of garden:

woodbutcher_2 · 25 May 2008 at 10:11AM

Try googling "planning portal"and follow the links in this for extensions.It also has an interactive house that you can click on and find all the answers.

darich · 25 May 2008 at 10:14AM

There are rules for how close you can go to neighbouring properties. In my area it is 1m from the bondary but if there is a buliding at that boundary i would expect that distance to increase - normally you are not allowed to join two properties together by extending towards each other.
You could phone the planning office - they will probably know off the top of their head what the distance is and may even know your area/street.
Moving the sewerage pipe is a non starter. It would cost you a fortune and i wouldn't be surprised if the price was as much as the value of your house (I work in local authority and deal with utility diversions regularly - i know the costs involved and the hassle that goes with it.) It is possible to build on top of the pipe but if there is a collapse or maintenance work necessary later on you could find your extension/home in trouble of subsiding. Extreme worst case scenario but not impossible. The company who own the pipe may well have a right of servitude on that pipe meaning they are entitled to enter the land it is under to carry out essential maintenance. That servitude may prevent any building on top but as i said it is done regularly - not all pipes and culverts are in the road/pavement.

The garden sloping doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to the architect, builder or planning office. All it means is that it will cost you more to build up the ground where the ground level is lower. That's assuming that it is gradual as you say and not too steep eg around 1:5 or less.

The type of roof or shape of land is not an issue for builders or designers - although both may increase your costs or limit your optiions.

Overall it is quite feasible but the firbrigade access is a strange one - they don't have access to the middle house in long row of terraced houses so you may find it's ok unless there is a local bye law in place.

Hope that helps!!

ic · 25 May 2008 at 10:27AM

When you say a sewerage pipe, do you mean a pipe servicing just yourself and maybe a couple of your neighbours, or do you mean a sewer mains (which would normally be out in the street)?

Snaggles · 25 May 2008 at 10:31AM

ic wrote: »

When you say a sewerage pipe, do you mean a pipe servicing just yourself and maybe a couple of your neighbours, or do you mean a sewer mains (which would normally be out in the street)?

Actually, I'm not sure - the person that laid our driveway told us about it - how can I find out? Is there somewhere I can check?

Sorry - i must sound really dim!

Thanks everyone for the help so far - it's really useful info.

Doozergirl · 25 May 2008 at 11:01AM

A drainage search from your local water company - costs about £40. You may have one in all the paperwork from when you bought the house. If you're lucky it will show the route.

I would think as it is a terrace and yours is the end terrace that the drains from at least half the terrace run along the back of the houses and then turn at an angle to take their route to the road down the side of your house and across your drive rather than have drains running directly underneath the houses.

woodbutcher_2 · 25 May 2008 at 11:09AM

Your local water board is where you get the info.If you are building within a certain distance of drains then you will need permission from them.I had to sign a building near to/building over agreement before i could do mine.

The best way forward for you i think is to get an architect to come and draw some plans.A good architect will submit the plans on your behalf if you wish and should also iron out any problems that may arise.He may also know of builders he could recommend.All this comes at a cost of course,so it depends on whether you want to get involved or just leave it to the experts.

Planning and building regs can be a minefield if you dont know them.

Snaggles · 25 May 2008 at 3:14PM

Thanks very much - I know where to start now at least.

the_skint_minx · 10 June 2008 at 6:43PM

Hi Everyone,

I also need advice on an extension - basically where to start! I know that we'll need architectural drawings and need to submit them to the council - but how do we go about getting those?

What I mean is - can you get a "full service" solution, i.e. someone will come and survey, draw up plans and build the thing for a set fee? Or do you always need to do it in separate steps - architect (including dealing with council) - then builder - then plasterers etc.

Hope my rambly question makes sense!

swake · 10 June 2008 at 7:21PM

Hi snaggles just a couple of tips i posted in response to another thread.

most important is get a good recomendation from someone you trust. If you dont have someone you can rely on there are contractors you can get through the master craftsman association. Any contractor affiliated with these kind of reputable organisations will have no problem providing you with a list of previous clients and a portfolio of recent work.

Once you have decided on a contractor make sure you CLEARLY define in writing what you need them to do.A massive problem the builders face is when the client changes the details/design/specification of the project and expect to not incur additional costs.Once you have a concise idea between you and the builder on paper the costs involved become far more transparent at a later date.

Once they have provided you with a clear breakdown of costs and schedule of works take some time to review there trade per hour costs and what they are charging for materials if it appears consistant with online sources then its down to you to make the decision. If for any reason they attempt to squirm out of any of these very basic pre requisites then you can be pretty sure you will encounter problems with them later on in your project.

Billing payment and retention.

When you both are happy about the work involved and agreed on in my opinion it is not unacceptable for them to ask for a minimal advancebut definetly no more than around 5-10 % especially if they are a smaller contractor. The important part to mange is the stage payments and final account throughout the project. You should include in the schedule of works a payment schedule that ties your payments directly into definative percentage of the job completion. Also as a client i would insist on a retention that you can withhold on agreement it will be released when you are completely satified that everything is finished to your standards.

My last piece of advise would be that ALL good builders are very busy.
If someone tells you they can start in 2 weeks there full of !!!!. If you have to wait 3-4 momnths for the work to start then wait its not like its life threatening to get your conservatory done in the next 3 weeks.

Once your happy take photographs and provide statements for your builder and recommend him and i would ask him for discounts on future works for yourself if you start doing referalls.

Good luck

House extension - where to start?

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