Single storey extension advice - early thoughts

3 years ago

After some ideas. Planning to extend mid terrace on sloping road. House is lower than pavement at front. Patio level outside back wall reached by 2 steps (lower) then it drops down another 3 steps to the lawn. Extension planned to cover patio area. Am planning a flat roof with a height of 3.9m From ground level. Queries

1. What would you say is ground level. The patio that's already there or the actual lawn. The public sewer runs under the patio I believe.

2. if we match existing floor level then we will need to build up. Neighbour is lower than us due to sloping road and has I would say a drop of 40cm. Dependant on the above is there any advice or issues anyone can see?

3. We also looked at permitted planning which stated 3m height With a pitched roof. On this model we would have the steps dropping down into the new extension area. Does this sound better than the above option?

There is a manhole in the area in any case so have to plan what to do with that but just trying to think ahead of any niggles that could arise. The one thing I'm going to donare detailed plans for the council/ neighbours etc... Hoping to avoid issues so any advice appreciated but just early thoughts so nothing too technical -thanks

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Comments (5)

HU-232424121
Original Author
3 years ago
The patio area goes out about 3 metres before the steps down to the grass
PRO
OnePlan
3 years ago
Sounds a tad too complex to answer without a site visit. Architects are a font of knowledge for all the points you asked. Worth their weight in gold ! If you do a Houzz search for one in your area you can read their reviews etc on Houzz before you chose to contact them. Good luck with it all !
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Are you aware that building a 'L' shape extension will need planning permission first, this will set you back another 3-4 months. Plus Building Regs would need reapplying for. Also, from my experience conservatories only need building regs approval if they are over 30sqm; which means most conservatories are shoddy built and the foundations are unlikely to be suitable for the transformation into a proper extension. Also, the floor is unlikely to have been insulated - sorry but conservatories can be a hornets nest of problems. My advice is yes you should have a door off the hallway into the new room, cost of that should be minimal as you are only looking at using a couple of standard concrete lintels which are cheap as chips! Although I would have put the shower room at the front as the current layout means friends and visitors end up going through your kitchen to use the convenience. It has the advantage the new reception room as a rear garden outlook. Hope that helps
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Hello Summerfield, Hope you are well and the process of choosing a builder and limiting the works to your budget is not being a pain for you. In my experience, as Maths-wife and i-architect have said, the total cost of the construction depends on the quality you look for and the market situation or even availability of builders. Sometimes it is more expensive to build because they are busier and they ask more for the same work, or just because they don't have experience doing what you are asking them to do. Also, usually good builders are more expensive, because they know they will have work even if they ask for more money. Independently of those circumstances, a good way to calculate the overall cost of the construction for a standard work would be the following: For an extension we estimate around £1800-£2000/sqm. If you are extending/refurbishing around 40sqm, then it would be around £80k just for the foundation, structure, walls, (have in mind that you have a very long metal beam in the design, and it is more expensive to install too). On top of that you have to add the cost of the kitchen (it could be around £15000 including appliances and the kitchen island), the utility and bathroom (£5k each), and the bifolding door (usually I estimate £1000 per panel as average, including supply and installation). Finally, I add around £800-£1000 per skylight (supply and installation too). Adding all of it you could have an idea of the maximum they should ask you for it. Obviously this is including their profit, labour, materials, etc and you can find something cheaper depending, as described above, on the market and each particular construction company. Hope it helped. Wish you all the best!
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PRO
Kay Moden
3 years ago
Hiya, It's quite normal that the extension floor drops to garden level, although theres nothing wrong having the steps externally. Do you have photos or plans? these can usually tell a thousand words
HU-232424121
Original Author
3 years ago
No plans yet but I reckon my neighbours could be an issue as they are lower than us by about 40cm so trying avoid issues there. They aren't extended. Keeping floor level could give privacy issues In future?
PRO
i-architect
3 years ago
Sounds like you will need to apply for planning permission because of the roof heights from ground level. Best thing to do though is to call and check with your planning department - if you can speak with someone! Ask to speak to the duty officer. Alternatively, if a quick call isn't possible you can go the paid for pre-app route, although more effective once you've got some sketch plans done.. I've found some variance in interpretation on what would be considered ground level from one city to another, so yours might take a particular view that may or may not be helpful to you! I think the permitted height you mention is to gutter level off the ground level - so the ridge / abutment can be higher than that. (This is all a bit off the top of my head - as in I'm not reading directly from any planning policy or guidance here but it sounds like you're reasonably familiar with the documents anyway).

For the drain that runs under the patio you need to check with your local water board or building control department for what you need to do if it's their responsibility. Again different water boards have extremely different requirements and guidance. Some, like United Utility tend to let the building control department deal with it and have reasonable rules around altering manholes etc. Other water boards like South West Water insist that you apply directly them and have really strict and onerous requirements and allow very minimal to no alterations to things like manholes.

If you do have a shared drain then you will need to have permission to build over it and you will probably need to make sure it can be accessed via a rodding eye or manhole - all dependent on the specific requirements of the water board in your area and the specific layout of your drain and property. You may also need to have a structural report to show that no additional load is being put on the drain that might cause cracking or other problems, and possibly other requirements... It can be a bit of a pain to be honest depending on the specifics, but if it's important enough to do it then there are usually (though not in every case) ways to achieve a build over.

For internal changes in level compared to external - this is up to you and how you plan to use the space, how mobile you are and comfortable with steps - for example if you have young kids, or plan to have, then some steps in the middle of your family room might seem a bit dangerous. A good designer can incorporate steps within a room well if you prefer that, or you can do them externally within a raised patio, but you will need to include for that patio within your planning application if it's over (if I remember right) 50cm off ground level.

In relation to the neighbours you may need to prove that they will not have their enjoyment of their property reduced or limited by your proposal. In some areas there are strict house extension guidelines that you have to follow - for example Farnham and Trafford. The main things are privacy and overshadowing. Your architect should be able to create diagrams to help support any design and show the planners that this has been taken into consideration and won't have a majorly negative effect on the neighbours.

If you'd like my free checklist to help you with your fundamental decisions making you can get that here: https://bit.ly/2P1quQ6

Hope this helps, Jane, i-architect.co.uk

Single storey extension advice - early thoughts

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Single storey extension advice - early thoughts

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