I bought a house with extension that had no building regs

smartiedude

Hi everyone, as promised I’m enclosing all my pictures of my home and the extension to the rear in this single link (I have too many to fit into this forum thread):

https:// photos.app.goo.gl/DdNwi3hkpr5Y6rRh6

The extension is less that 8m squared (4m x 2m). You can see in the kitchen where I had the problems with mold growing behind the black plastic membrane. It forced me to take the walls back to brick to allow them to breathe. However, there’s still a huge amount of damp and humidity in the room, enough to cause a great deal of condensation on the windows this weekend which you can see in the pictures, and that’s without me even living there adding to the humidity.

Side Note: The living room previously suffered with the same level of condensation on the living room windows just like the pictures of the condensation on the kitchen windows shown. After I insulated and sealed the living room suspended floor, those windows now no longer suffer with it because the living room temperature is now maintained and doesn’t drop so drastically. It was only ever an issue in winter.

The exposed cavity from the original wall in the kitchen and the exposed sub floor obviously needs to be sealed up. The one half of the floor is suspended timber and the other half is a solid concrete slab. Until I bought this house there were no air bricks to ventilate the original sub floor. I’m likely to address the floor by going with either completely concrete floor or a completely suspended timber floor for the whole room but I don’t’ know what’s best.

You can see that the extension walls are a single skin of bricks which has the tendency to absorb rainfall during heavy downfalls bringing yet more damp and humidity into the room. Plus, since it doesn’t have any insulation it’s also making the room cold. And adding to this is that this room is at the back of the house, which is north facing, so this room gets colder still. So a reason why I’d like to have it rebuilt would be to have a cavity wall lined with insulation within the cavity against the inside wall (this is todays regulations I think?), which will help the room stay a lot warmer and drier.

Another reason why I’d like to have the extension rebuilt is to get more natural light coming into this room, because as you can see it’s looking quite dark and dingy at the moment. That back door and window combo just looks craptastic. The door swings out and has to be tied to the washing pole to stop it swinging fully outward and being pulled off its hinges, which has happened once already; My dad had to re-fit a new door hinge. Patio doors leading out to the back garden is one idea I thought of, with a window to the side in the place of the one that has been previously been blocked up.

Now onto your questions…

Did you have a survey? If so, what type? What did that say about the extension?

The surveyor noted that he was surprised to learn this extension was built without planning permission, and that I was advised to try and get the seller of the property to pay for an indemnity policy to cover me if the council ever decided to enforce it knocking down. That’s about it. The seller did pay for this.

How old is the extension?

I’ll leave you to decide for yourself how old you think it is. Take a look at the pictures. Maybe you can tell by looking at the extension bricks? The flat roof is held up by wooden beams; there’s no steel RSJ up there.


My Questions:
Do I need planning permission to get this rebuilt?

So just to confirm, you guys think that the first builder I phoned, as I previously mentioned at the start of the thread, is clueless? He was that first one who told me I’d need to first get an architect to draw up plans. I’ve had another builder come around since phoning that first guy, and this second guy has also said the same thing – “I’ll pass your number onto an architect I know to draw up plans before I can do anything.”

Do I need to get an architect involved or not?

When I get builders to come around to have a look at the job, what should I be asking them? I made a list of things as follows but am not sure if there’s anything further/different I should be asking them?
- Will I be expected to pay anything up front?
- Can I see any examples of your work for other clients?
- Will you be working on site overseeing the work yourself?
- Will the price include VAT?
- Is it a fixed price?
- How long do you estimate the work will take?
- Does it include things like guttering and facia’s, plastering of interior walls, electrics and plumbing being moved, rendering of outside walls.
- What else should I ask?

AdrianC

smartiedude wrote: »

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DdNwi3hkpr5Y6rRh6

That's a lot of pics, too many to embed in the thread.




These are the key. That's been built a long time, and has been modified over the years - see the blocked-up doorway?

Now onto your questions…

Did you have a survey? If so, what type? What did that say about the extension?

The surveyor noted that he was surprised to learn this extension was built without planning permission, and that I was advised to try and get the seller of the property to pay for an indemnity policy to cover me if the council ever decided to enforce it knocking down. That’s about it. The seller did pay for this.

So there y'go, then.

You knew before exchange that there was no BR, and you had an indemnity (utterly pointless, btw) for that.

So what sort of survey did you get...?
Basic valuation only?
Simple condition report?
Homebuyer's?
Full structural?
https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/what-sort-of-survey-should-i-have/

And what did the survey say about the extension itself?

SuperMoose

Working link here
House

smartiedude

I'll check exactly what survey I had and what it said, but I don't see the point. I'm prepared to take it on the chin and get it re-erected to todays standards. Any advice you can give is much appreciated. I reckon it will cost 15/20k.



Its a blocked up window, not a doorway, sorry.

Rural_Puppy

If the extension is not leaking anywhere, then the issues with dampness/condensation may simply be due to poor (or non-existent) insulation, coupled with the house not being heated.
Suggest you have the walls framed out inside,then a layer of appropriate insulation added, then finish with plasterboard and a skim coat of plaster. Could do same with ceilings, and consider insulating under floorboards.
Not sure why you want to rebuild the extension? is it defective?

Cakeguts

What is holding up the roof of the extension and the roof of the main house where they have taken out the back wall of the house to build the extension?