8ball

2.6m is narrow eh, I'll have to work out how much width SIP panels will use.

AliG the price limit is one thing I have to be really careful of as the house is currently one of few with this much space even before the planned above garage room, I am going to be speaking with an estate agent soon to fire a few questions at them regarding this. I am now planning on keeping the garage and for convenience I am planning a door from the utility room into it. The size of the space I create will hopefully be enough for a double bedroom and bathroom and as you said a clad box I was thinking SIP panels might be the answer. I have just remeasured the garage internally and its 2.6m x 5.1m and the centre wall is breeze block including the weird buttress like thing in the middle (see pic)

That is a bit dramatic Crofter, I was just thinking of parking it on its side. Anything to avoid dealing with a BMW Mini car dealership

Its a new shape MK3 Cooper S . if it was a original mini I could fit it through the front door. If I was to fit a door from the garage into the house in the same place that the car door opens it might work as long as I can synchronize the opening of the car door with the new door

Over the weekend it started to creep into my head that it might make sense whilst I am mucking about with the garage. I'll see how the plans go but one thing that maybe I dont need is space down stairs as there is already plenty of it. The garage comes in very useful as a workshop and I can get my Mini in there (I can get it in but then cant get out of it :-) Cheers

Hey AliG thanks for the advice, As it happens the house has had a single storey extension which runs along the entire back of the house which does make the house bottom heavy. The open plan kitchen is planned as soon as I can find my large hammer and also the downstairs utilty room and toilet. Already have a dinning room, a living room and another "I don't know what" kind of room ;-) all of good size. The idea of the room over the garage was to even the house up a bit as it has 3 bedrooms and 1 small bathroom, I was debating adding the room on top of the single storey extension but the floor plan just did not work thus the plan for the bedroom over the garage. Again thanks for the good advice :-)

I think I might get a local estate agent to come round so I can have a chat, as it stands its a link detached but if it was a Semi how much wonga would be lost.

Hi ProDave, I had the same query regarding the neighbor going the same route, Alphonsox posted above about a joint conversion. I have no plans to sell the house on I am just looking for extra space and to add value for when we sell in years to come. The land to the right is the neighbors garden ;-) Hey Steptoe I was the same a few years back until I was taught the ways of the estate agent :-) . All I new was Terraced, Semi or detached BUT then all of a sudden they started using Link Detached as it had no habitable rooms joining them (Also as ProDave mentioned above). I did label my piccy in the original post as Link Detached . Ta for the info everybody, top quality as per usual

Never thought of making them as they seem quite a reasonable price as is. A couple of years ago when I was thinking of self building they had them on ebay at low cost because they had tiny defects to the board they where made with. I bet a google search will reveal how to make your own, 2 slices of toast with some peanut butter in between should just about do it .

Yep agree orangeboom, yes I was thinking of doing the SIPS myself if my wifey will let me ;-) Going to do a test with footing once I know the project is do-able

Would that not decrease the value of my house as it would become a Semi?

The garage is build of brick all through and half way along the link wall is a column that protrudes out, almost like a buttress. I like those brick slips, very nice. Thanks PeterW

No not that I can see

Eh up and a Happy New Year to the awesome people of buildhub community ;-) So over the Christmas period I had time to think about a few project ideas for the house, one of them being a new bedroom/bathroom over the garage. I am in the very 1st stages of seeing if it is do-able and have a couple of questions that I hope maybe the people at buildhub can advise me on. 1st I thought I would supply a piccy of ma wee house so you can see what we are dealing with Its a link detached so only one of those garages is mine unfortunately. So I would love to take the roof off the garage and build up one story giving the space I need for the bedroom and bathroom, the staircase runs straight up from the front door so is in a perfect position as all I would need to do is knock a landing through the wall into the new space. I wanted a door but regs and space at top of stairs wont allow it. I know the foundations of the garage need to be quite deep for this to be allowed by the local planners so here is the question that I am unsure of, IF I build with wood frame/SIPS or regular brick does this make any difference to how deep the existing garage foundations have to be. I was thinking the SIPS constructions would be lighter and therefore not putting as much stress on the garage below. I have always been very interested in the SIPS build method since back in the day when I was planning to build my own house. I have this vision in my head of having a warm roof so the bedroom ceiling is vaulted but that's just pie in sky stuff at present. Anyway that's enough warbling for now so if anyone has any thoughts on my project I would love to hear them, Ta very much people ;-)

I'll pass on that due to having to purchase rubber gloves and a hard hat which will be at least another 15 to 20 quid plus I'd like to keep whats left of the hair on my head

Being as I'm so tight and always like a bargain would this tester be adequate for the job at hand? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01ALAP1B6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2MSF66EGL2H2G

Thanks for the fast replies, the tester pen is just what I was looking for so I'll get one on order. tonyshouse I did run across a few mains cables up there which is from the boiler cupboard with the immersion heater, honeywell controller and also power for the Monsoon shower pump again thanks for the advice guys.

Howdy people, I am on a mission to sort out and identify the wiring in the loft so as future lighting and electrical needs are a bit easier to complete. I know nothing about electrics so identifying which grey wires are lighting or for plug sockets is beyond me so was wondering if there is a gadget that can help me identify these circuits. I had this idea in my head of turning of all the plug sockets at the main fuse board and then going into the loft to see which wires are still live with a detector of some sort, hopefully this would identify my lighting circuits. Any help on the above would be greatly appreciated, Ta

Ah well Nick no injury was caused and my wife has stopped crying so everything s OK. I have removed the defected (see pic below) area and will start again tomorrow.

Oh no had a disaster with filling Everything was going fine and dandy until the final rubbing down, the thin layer of PVA that was put down before the filler has started to peel away in patches all over the place resulting in a total mess. Looks like I'm going to have to rub down to the PVA and remove and then start again but this time with out the PVA layer, ah well I love sanding ceilings all weekend. So for anyone in the same boat in the near future avoid the PVA being applied anywhere but in the actual crack, I did a 3 inch band either side of the crack and this has what has caused the problem. Also this method of joining 2 freshly plastered areas actually works OK discounting the PVA disaster.

I wish my dad gave such a kind comment when he saw my handy work

I have just read through this thread after starting to look for down lighters for the living room and like the modular look of the square LED panels. I have 1 question though: what happens when the light fails as every light does wither it be 1 year or 5, do you have to then go and try and find a replacement that matches the existing lights? Standard normal down lighters you would just replace the bulb. Ta

Agreed Dave, I worked in Denver Colorado for 3 years and 99% of houses are timber frame and constructed in very very dry conditions. On site workers just used common sense when it came to safety and naked flames of any kind being used. The timber was treated to help slow combustion if it did occur.