Improving current shoddy extension

[Juli]

Hi,

First off, I have no idea what I'm doing, so I'm coming to you poor fellows for advice. I'm only really a DIY person when it comes to inside and smaller jobs like replacing taps, plug sockets, painting, small bit of plastering skirting boards etc.

I moved into a house with an extension which has been here for at least 10 years for which I cannot find any planning permission related documents (on the council site). I do have plenty of other planning permission requests from previous owner who did a loft conversion and built another house next door, along with building regs certs.

The extension is unlivable during December-February, it is our living-room and in those months you need to wear a coat and have hot water bottles to sit in there.

I've been considering upgrading or changing its use to try and improve its energy efficiency. The walls of this extension cannot be more than 20cm thick (!) based on my measurements of outside and inside. The walls are made of plaster board and ply wood from what I can see - I'm not sure there are any bricks or blocks used in this, either way the windows and doors are drafty which also doesn't help.

I've been considering demolishing, requesting planning permission to rebuild and turning it into a kitchen but doing all 3 is going to prohibitively expensive and I have about £30,000 max.

My main issue is that it's freezing and we need to sort out the insulation if we ever want to use it properly.

What are my options?

I have attached dimensions and photos (the horror of the wall I'm sure you can appreciate).

Thanks,

Juli

 

[Nakajo]

As long as you're prepared to undertake some of the work yourself (interior fit-out and planning application), then I anticipate that the three elements of this project can be undertaken for 30k.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Before you start check that the council are either aware of it or won't insist it being demolished after you have spent dosh on it
So is it a wooden shed?

 

[Juli]

@Nakajo I'm definitely prepared to do as much work as I can - like the application and fit a kitchen with my dad's help (super-useful!), however, I foresee, demolition, etc and rebuilding being costly, such as foundations etc.

@Tigercubrider I am lucky to have a planning department family member, so I called and discussed. As it's older than 10 years they cannot enforce demolition, however, for me to demolish it and rebuild I'd have to get planning permission anyway. It seems like a huge wooden timber frame structure, a poor one at that. At one point it must have been a conservatory.

My main question here is are you able to take plastic cladding off and replace with brick and insulation or would this really incur serious issues? I can already guess it would be difficult with the manhole cover so close to the outside of the building.

Thanks for both of your replies

Juli

 

[Tigercubrider]

We converted my mate's single skin detached garage to a recording studio and I would happily live in it if it was bigger and had a loo

The easiest thing (I am a diy'er not trade) would be to strip the inside and add a vapour barrier plus insulation and possibly extra timber, then plasterboard the walls. Insulate the roof as well

My mate 's garage was basically sound and we built a freestanding wooden structure inside that floated on neoprene - this was done for acoustic reasons not thermal. You might loose 6-8" in insulation but it works well. Presumably checking the existing structure for rot/damp etc

Don't know if adding a brick skin would help. Plenty of people build sips panels and use some kind of cladding - including brick slips or tiles

 

[tony1851]

If you demolish and start again, you would not be able to extend out more than 3m without planning permission (or up to 6m using the PN scheme, assuming the neighbours either side and at the back didn't object).
Under Building Regs, (fire regs) you would also have to lose the three windows along the side - maximum allowable window area within 1m of a boundary is 1 square m.
Why not just strip out the interior lining; insulate properly using Kingspan or equivalent; and re-lay the roof as a warm roof (ie insulation on top of the structure). You will lose a bit of width, but demolishing and starting again, and even trying to put a brick skin on it, will open up a can of worms as well as being expensive.

 

[Juli]

@Tigercubrider Good idea about the inside, if it's more affordable then I might go for that. Your mates garage sound amazing!

@tony1851 Thanks for your reply. I don't mind going through planning permission to retain the extension size, it's more that if there is a way to get the thing in better condition and more energy efficient then I would take that route.

As Tiger said and you have reiterated that stripping the inside and adding insulation is a better way to go, then I could get that done - again, might miss a few inches here and there but overall it would be better. Windows are no problem as I want them gone anyway as they let in a draft and are badly fitted and maintained. This would also help if we decide to rip out the current inside.

One other question - would I be able to get building regs certs for this if I did do this? As I can't find any planning permission docs for this, I doubt building regs exist for this either - do you think I could apply for planning retrospectively? I really want things to be done properly so I don't face issues later.

Thanks again

 

[tony1851]

If you apply for retrospective planning permission, chances are you won't get it,as it could well exceed the councils' policy in size of rear extensions.
Instead, you apply for a Certificate of Lawful Development, which the council must give you if you can supply proof that it was built more than four years ago.

 

[Juli]

@tony1851 Thank you so much for this. I didn't know this exited. I wonder what proof I can submit to get this going as all I have is Satellite photographs which show it in place in 2012 and a Facebook message from the previous owners who left in 2011 that they had converted it from a conservatory!

You've all been great, thanks again

 

[^woody^]

*completed for more than four years, not just built more than four years ago.

 

[tony1851]

*completed for more than four years, not just built more than four years ago.

The wording would be "substantially completed", which just means walls up, roof on and windows and external doors fitted. Excludes plastering/2nd fix/electrics/units/floor finishes/painting etc.