Jilly

@Russell griffiths did you use the correct icon?

Definitely explore this option. Loads of shops and commercial buildings are being converted into residential units by this method near us. It’s much less onerous than regular planning permission.

Doesn’t your lender require insurance?

Cynical me, I would ask for 3 estate agents’ opinions…

Word of mouth recommendation is the best way to find tradesmen if possible. @nod and @ToughButterCup are experienced self builders in your neck of the woods

It can be arranged with the specialist self build insurer that you use.

The glass can have a coating to reduce solar glare. I think you have to put extra insulation elsewhere if you have XS glass, there’s a calculation for it.

Just seen if you are on the other thread, you might not need to have a SAP test for a conversion, I didn’t, but I one via an on line person for my own interest. The building inspector might want you to open the foundations first inspection and see calculations to show they are adequate.

It sounds like you’ve already started, so you’ll need to call Building Control asap to do the first inspection of your foundations on a Building Notice. They’ll ask for structural calculations from a structural engineer (SE). There is more risk with a BN that you’ll do something which needs to be rectified. Usually people submit Full Plans drawings for a house so everything is checked before you start. Regarding insurance, you need specialist self build insurance which covers you during the build. You need to explore your responsibilities re Health and Safety etc. You convert to a household policy after completion. You can also purchase a warranty which would be important to a mortgage company. There’s a lot you need to put in place.

Yep, it’s annoying, it’s just one of the hoops to be jumped through.

New builds and conversions nearly always have to deal with their rainwater on site. There are various ways of doing it using the SUDs hierarchy as you have alluded. As it turned out, Building Control are more pragmatic (and I didn’t find one that was familiar with SUDs as it happens) so they were happy with a combination of waterbutts, swale and a pond. To actually discharge the condition needs the formal calculations etc There is a crate firm that will do them for you if you buy their expensive crates to fill your soakaway. Maybe look at the plans on nearby new builds and see how they managed it. Your structural engineer firm might have someone who does these. What I’m getting at is it shouldn’t hold you up if you are keen to start, but you will need the digger.

That’s a good place to start, not just in cost, spec, logistics, but also overheating and Building Control issues. Have you actually got planning permission yet?

Also is the beam too short? You could check if it’s been sized incorrectly from your SE drawings.

If you don’t want to confront the builder maybe ask for a BC inspection asap and they should make him change it?

It depends if it’s a Building Control matter or a pre-commencement condition. You could start on a Building Notice on the first pp, but would presumably go for full plans on the amended application. Maybe speak to BC, they can be quite helpful?

I changed architects for the BC drawings and it was a mistake and caused a lot of problems, but I was a rookie, it sounds like you are better placed than I was. Barn conversions can be unpredictable, especially foundations. Is making two dwellings a possibility? Or divide the project into two phases and live in one part then build-as-you-earn the other phase? There will be VAT implications etc but you will make other savings. I’ve heard of clients offering to share the cost saving with the architect if they can come up with something cheaper as an incentive.

You can appeal some planning conditions if you do it in time.

So in theory you can have something amazing!

Thank you! I’ll see how we get on 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Hi! I have a rental with patio doors (old aluminium frames) which are difficult to open, you can see they’ve moved slightly in the picture. I’m guessing it’s the rollers. Can these be repaired, or any suggestions please?

Congratulations! It sounds like you are are nearly home and dry, 5 months is pretty good compared to many peoples’ experiences. You could try posting some anonymised elevations of the offending elevation to see if anyone can make helpful observations/suggestions. Planners are often guided by the appearance of local houses, so a radical departure from that might be the issue unless there’s a special case. They have an annoying habit of saying ‘No, I don’t like that’ , but not really telling you what they do want. If you adore your design and don’t want to change it, you could start muttering about an appeal as they really don’t want you to do that either. Or how about using the time to draw a few alternatives to present to them in order to reach a compromise?

Is there an easy way to do this? It’s an old door which needs replacing, but I can’t do atm. The bit on the right is rotten but the rest is ok.

You might be lucky on one of those sites or Gumtree. A really good description/ photos with sizes will help. If all else fails, there’s always Freecycle.

My neighbours (in a Conservation Area) wanted to change their windows to upvc and applied to the council and were approved with some similar to those. You are right, you can’t tell.

Me too.