Extending a semi detatched when neighbour has too

I_have_spoken

I'm looking at extending my house instead of moving as it should hopefully be cheaper. (£60k cheaper)

Why don't you offer the project to C4 for an episode of Double Your House for Half the Money

N.B. That's could be well tricky Party Wall Award!

neneromanova

Got to love the Beeny. That programme is the reason I want do this to the house. The prices they were saying were amazing. I thought it would have cost a lot more than what they actually did.

notanewuser

neneromanova wrote: »

Got to love the Beeny. That programme is the reason I want do this to the house. The prices they were saying were amazing. I thought it would have cost a lot more than what they actually did.

Spotted that in your first post. :rotfl::rotfl:

sweaty_betty

neneromanova wrote: »

Thanks Sweaty Betty. That helps in knowing that might be acceptable if a gap is left.

What do you think my first port of call would be? I know its a weird on but I was thinking Estate Agent (to see if it would add as much money as I hope) then a builder, the Hubby's best friend who is an architect. Should I talk to the North Devon Council and see if they see any problems with it before I apply for planning permission, or will they just tell me to jog on and apply and if it fails it fails?

It's so difficult knowing what to do.

The way we did it was to talk to an architect/planner about potential options and ask them to contact the council to see what the attitude was to extensions like this (especially as they could then vary the potential designs to ones which may meet the guidance). This also meant we didn't have to pay for additional planning applications if it was "right" first time.

We weren't that bothered about the value added as we liked where we lived, didn't want to move and knew that any 4 bed place within a couple of mile radius was going for £80k+ more than ours was worth.

Then we looked for a builder, which was the trickiest bit as some tried to convince us our design wouldn't work (it would, it has), possibly because they'd not done something similar or weren't sure how to do it. We eventually went for someone who'd done a really good job on a similar project for a friend of friend.

I'll be honest, having it done has been soooo much disruption, but it'll be worth it.

Good luck!

keystone

I'm guessing that their extension was built before you bought your property.

It looks to me as though both garages were effectively demolished when the extension was done leaving nothing more than a brick pillar front RHS (as you look at it) and to which your garage door was subsequently attached. This brickwork of this pillar matches the brickwork of both houses. If you look at the second picture you will see that the side wall of their extension seems to be built behind that pillar and goes and fully down to ground level.

After the extension was completed your garage door was reinstated between the side wall of your property (forming the LHS of the garage and the piller. I'll wager that the RH wall of your garage is, in fact, the side wall of the neighbours extension. A visual ispection of the brickwork in your garage will probably confirm this. Your garatge roof was then built between the two walls cutting into both for support struucture.

There is very little chance IMO that their extension wall is built on top of your garage wall. The garage founds would be insufficient to support the weight of the extension and new founds would have to be laid. It is inevitable that those new founds are partly on your property under the garage floor.

It is not possible for you to retain your garage by building inside the small boundary wall which extends to the front. Simple inspection will show you that the garage door wouldn't fit any more and even if you fitted a narrower door you would probably be unable to get a car in.

So it seems to me you have four choices.

1. Lose the garage completely building a new wall with suitable foundations 1m inside the existing extension to preserve the "not looking like a terrace" concept. Thus the kitchen, utility and the upstairs bedrooms would have to be narrower that you have drawn them. Make use of that part at the front of the extension on the ground floor as additional accommodation of some description.

2. Demolish part of the small boundary wall to be level with the front elevation of your house. Install suitable foundations there (which will necessarily encroach under your neighbours driveway. Extend the neighbours extension wall towards the road so that the new is inline with the extension wall. Treat the neighbours extension wall as a party wall cutting into it to take steels etc to support the weight of the first floor of your extension plus the roof. Structural engineer will be required to verify that this is possible. You will not avoid the terraced look but you will achieve the full extent of the additional accommodation you want.

3. Abandon the idea in totality.

4. Move.

In a nutshell.

Cheers

PS Forget these idiotic TV programmes. What they actually transmit is about as far removed from reality as is possible.

keystone

I_have_spoken wrote: »

N.B. That's could be well tricky Party Wall Award!

Well certainly very interesting anyway.

Cheers

Avoriaz

neneromanova wrote: »

Its nice to know its not impossible luckily my parents are good friends with a builder so it should be cheaper than normal, its just pinning him down to quote it as he's busy quite a lot of the time. ...

:eek:

If you use that builder, I doubt they will be friends afterwards.

He/she might or might not be a very good builder but why should he do a job for you cheaply just because he is pals with your parents?

It is usually unwise to choose a builder for a substantial project like this based on a friendship. Everything will be fine until timescales slip or something goes wrong, as it invariably will, and you need to be dealing on a professional level with a stranger rather than with a friend of a relative.

Let him quote for the work by all means but get a few other quotes too and do due diligence on each one.

I_have_spoken

I'm guessing that their extension was built before you bought your property

I'm wondering if the previous owner was smart enough to get a deed/covenant for the right to do the same extension in return for allowing their garage to be used as the load bearing wall?

keystone

I_have_spoken wrote: »

I'm wondering if the previous owner was smart enough to get a deed/covenant for the right to do the same extension in return for allowing their garage to be used as the load bearing wall?

If you are going to quote my post (which clearly you have) you might at least have the courtesy to read past the end of the first line (which clearly you haven't). I am mortally offended.

Cheers

neneromanova

keystone wrote: »

I'm guessing that their extension was built before you bought your property.

It looks to me as though both garages were effectively demolished when the extension was done leaving nothing more than a brick pillar front RHS (as you look at it) and to which your garage door was subsequently attached. This brickwork of this pillar matches the brickwork of both houses. If you look at the second picture you will see that the side wall of their extension seems to be built behind that pillar and goes and fully down to ground level.

After the extension was completed your garage door was reinstated between the side wall of your property (forming the LHS of the garage and the piller. I'll wager that the RH wall of your garage is, in fact, the side wall of the neighbours extension. A visual ispection of the brickwork in your garage will probably confirm this. Your garatge roof was then built between the two walls cutting into both for support struucture.

There is very little chance IMO that their extension wall is built on top of your garage wall. The garage founds would be insufficient to support the weight of the extension and new founds would have to be laid. It is inevitable that those new founds are partly on your property under the garage floor.

It is not possible for you to retain your garage by building inside the small boundary wall which extends to the front. Simple inspection will show you that the garage door wouldn't fit any more and even if you fitted a narrower door you would probably be unable to get a car in.

So it seems to me you have four choices.

1. Lose the garage completely building a new wall with suitable foundations 1m inside the existing extension to preserve the "not looking like a terrace" concept. Thus the kitchen, utility and the upstairs bedrooms would have to be narrower that you have drawn them. Make use of that part at the front of the extension on the ground floor as additional accommodation of some description.

2. Demolish part of the small boundary wall to be level with the front elevation of your house. Install suitable foundations there (which will necessarily encroach under your neighbours driveway. Extend the neighbours extension wall towards the road so that the new is inline with the extension wall. Treat the neighbours extension wall as a party wall cutting into it to take steels etc to support the weight of the first floor of your extension plus the roof. Structural engineer will be required to verify that this is possible. You will not avoid the terraced look but you will achieve the full extent of the additional accommodation you want.

3. Abandon the idea in totality.

4. Move.

In a nutshell.

Cheers

PS Forget these idiotic TV programmes. What they actually transmit is about as far removed from reality as is possible.

Yeah their extension was built 2006 and we bought in 2010. Looking up the road, everyone's garages share 1 wall between them and if they have been extended, they've have extended the same way. Looking in the garage, we have next doors garage wall (painted white for some reason).

We don't want to lose the garage completely as its a dumping ground for us, but wouldn't care if you couldn't fit a car in there again. We have a V70 so it doesn't fit in there now anyway.

Moving isn't an option like I said in another post, and forgetting about it just seems defeatest

I_have_spoken wrote: »

N.B. That's could be well tricky Party Wall Award!

I don't understand what you mean.

Avoriaz wrote: »

:eek:

If you use that builder, I doubt they will be friends afterwards.

He/she might or might not be a very good builder but why should he do a job for you cheaply just because he is pals with your parents?

It is usually unwise to choose a builder for a substantial project like this based on a friendship. Everything will be fine until timescales slip or something goes wrong, as it invariably will, and you need to be dealing on a professional level with a stranger rather than with a friend of a relative.

Let him quote for the work by all means but get a few other quotes too and do due diligence on each one.

I didn't mean he HAD to do it cheaply, but he has refurbished/gutted/modernised my parents farm and Dad said he personally wouldn't use anyone else he's that good. I am going to ask different builders for quotes though. Seems stupid/foolish to get just one quote.

Thanks for the replies everyone little more confused now on some things :rotfl: