Where to start - extension

Foggster

We have recently had a new conservatory, they are indeed much more advanced compared to the old wooden one we had!

The postives is it is cheap and very useable throughout the year. We do have one solid wall in it which was part of an extension we added last year. It comes off the kitchen and I have to say it did take some light from the room because the roof is indeed far more effective in retaining/reflecting heat but its layers of polycarbonate (I think) and is not transparent.

Think carefully about what room it is coming off because in the depths of winter we have always had to put the lights on in the kitchen throughout the day but since we dont eat in there I am not too bothered.

We heat it with a simple storage heater and it works a treat.

Clive_Woody

Tonight I have been looking at lots of tiled roof conservatories, which to me look very much like the extension I had envisaged. There certainly does seem to be quite a degree of overlap between a brick built conservatory with a tiled roof and an extension.

a.w.buildingservices

go for a sun room miles better

Tucker

I think there is a key fundamental difference though. They may look similar, but you can't open up a conservatory to your living space under buidling regs. You can with an extension, subject to the amount of glass being under the limits.

A conservatory has to retain the patio doors, to prevent the heat loss to the house.

uropachild

We have just submitted our plans to the council for our extension. We are having a kitchen diner out the back, so we needed to go out 3.5m to have enough room. If it had been only 3m back we wouldn't have needed planning permission.

Thankfully the bulder we are using is a friend of ours, so after i'd done (about a million) plans on graph paper he took the proper measurements and drew up the plans for us for the planning submission. He said that you don't need an architect to do plans because what we're doing is so straightforward.

Good luck!

LydiaJ

There are animated guides to permitted development of single and two-storey extensions here. There are extra regulations if you're within 2m of a boundary, for example.

Clive_Woody

Tucker wrote: »

I think there is a key fundamental difference though. They may look similar, but you can't open up a conservatory to your living space under buidling regs. You can with an extension, subject to the amount of glass being under the limits.

A conservatory has to retain the patio doors, to prevent the heat loss to the house.

To be honest we would probably want to keep some sort of door between the extension/conservatory so we could stick the kids out there and a bit of peace and quiet.

bluemaiden123

Hi I too am hoping to build a 2 storey extension onto the side of my house. I read somewhere that if it is a side extension made of same material you don't always need planning permission? Anyone no if this is true because as far as I was aware you needed planning permission for ANY extension?

It will be roughly 4m x 3m, bottom garage and above bedroom. There's no drainage or anything to move so I'm hoping it should be a pretty straight forward project. I know people to do the plastering, electrics, plumbing and windows etc. so anyone have a rough idea of how much it will cost for basic shell? i.e. foundations, brick work, roof etc. I am in Durham, Northeast.

LydiaJ

bluemaiden123 wrote: »

Hi I too am hoping to build a 2 storey extension onto the side of my house. I read somewhere that if it is a side extension made of same material you don't always need planning permission? Anyone no if this is true because as far as I was aware you needed planning permission for ANY extension?

It will be roughly 4m x 3m, bottom garage and above bedroom. There's no drainage or anything to move so I'm hoping it should be a pretty straight forward project. I know people to do the plastering, electrics, plumbing and windows etc. so anyone have a rough idea of how much it will cost for basic shell? i.e. foundations, brick work, roof etc. I am in Durham, Northeast.

Don't know about cost, but you can find out about planning permission here.

planning_officer

bluemaiden123 wrote: »

Hi I too am hoping to build a 2 storey extension onto the side of my house. I read somewhere that if it is a side extension made of same material you don't always need planning permission? Anyone no if this is true because as far as I was aware you needed planning permission for ANY extension?

It will be roughly 4m x 3m, bottom garage and above bedroom. There's no drainage or anything to move so I'm hoping it should be a pretty straight forward project. I know people to do the plastering, electrics, plumbing and windows etc. so anyone have a rough idea of how much it will cost for basic shell? i.e. foundations, brick work, roof etc. I am in Durham, Northeast.

Any two storey extension to the side of a dwelling requires planning permission - no side two storey extension is classed as permitted development.