LDNRennovation

That’s a bit rude. I’ll leave you to it then.

Ask building regulations (the people at the local authority), don’t just follow advice here.

I think you can have either the escape windows or a protected staircase? You might need sprinklers if the kitchen is too close to the stairs.

If all the windows to the habitable rooms are to fire escape regulations, would that mean the stair and void didn’t have to be separate?

Yeah don’t appeal it. There’s never much point unless you can prove they were wrong, and I don’t think you can here. You can often float a new idea past the planner who refused you before resubmitting a revised application, which is useful. The new dormer has issues. The windows don’t relate to the ground floor, it’s out of proportion and not very attractive. I would try for three dormers at the back, the middle one could be larger, but don’t get greedy or they won’t let you have anything. I’m not really a fan of your rear ground floor windows, they are all over the place. If it had some balance then you could probably justify three dormers and get the look and feel you need for those rooms. if not, add roof windows either side of the middle dormer. You can still get height and a nice feel with those.

Have you thought about trying it again and using concrete or similar? Polished and dyed it could have the look and more durability (and not too expensive). obviously do more research because it comes with its own issues too!

Oh no! You did such a good job. I also can’t believe just a cup of tea melted it, that’s worse than I thought. Are you able to buff it out? I assume you want to still see the resin colour, so how would you feel about a clear pvc or vinyl protector? It’s more heat protection but there’s a chance the resin might still react under the wrap. You’d need it fairly thick and scratches might still be an issue. I have watched a few YouTubers doing resin kitchen tops, they said the same thing as you. (Yorkshire workshop was one). Just a lot of surface protectors and being careful. Not great for a kitchen really, but looks cool.

Aha excellent I’ll find a structural engineer.

can anyone advise… Our internal renovation doesn’t need planning so there’s no drawings. Do you find the structural engineer yourself, or does the builder usually work with one? Should I find a structural engineer to certify that the wall is not load bearing.

All the walls are breeze block, it’s a very solid house. That’s why I wasn’t so sure, because in my mind, timber stud is non-supporting and block is supporting.

I’m taking the wall out in between the doors, just to clarify. good tips Thankyou.

The red lines are the joists, I haven’t drawn all of them on, just over the back of the house. They correspond to the 3d I attached. the smaller ones look like partial trusses for the hip, and the large ones span the whole building from left to right. ah, I don’t really want a pier. Hopefully they can just get rid of the whole internal wall.

The one who said we didn’t need a concrete lintel to replace the 3m wall said we can add timber to the rafters to make sure the ceiling doesn’t bow where the wall is missing. a concrete lintel above the double doors makes sense. Although if we just took the wall out where the double doors would be, I’d be happy with that. Maybe he meant the concrete lintel there. builder did advise building control would be advising I’m just at the quotation stage at the moment. I’m still not convinced the joists are really supported on the walls, I think the roof is just supported on the external walls. I will get a structural engineer at some point to look, so far he’s seen it on camera only.

It’s a fairly classic hipped roof (I think?) and it looks like it spans the whole way over to me just supporting itself. I agree Steamy! He just wasn’t interested and the concrete lintel would be like 3m long, I did question that - I must have misunderstood because it’s a stupid idea.

Thanks Jimbo! The builder came round to price for works and he didn’t look up there. it’s not supporting the roof as far as I can tell.

We are removing a wall, it’s breeze block wall and the rafters aren’t being held up by it. We have had builders look at it, one said it needed a concrete lintel, the other didn’t think so. Do you know how I am I supposed to know if it needs one or not? The wall is marked in red. The roof is a hipped roof. I can’t figure out the purpose for why it would need it.

I’m not totally following but are people suggesting a heat pump rather than a gas combi? The house has a gas cooker and fire. We were going to replace those units but stick with gas but I’m not married to the idea.

Sound like a bad idea now I look through the options. We have a slab, no finished flooring. The effort to raise the floor or dig in seems too much I think. Maybe in the bathroom, but yeah, a lot to think about many thanks guys.

Thanks so much for your help! There’s probably a fair amount of heat loss as it’s an older bungalow. So do you run the UFH off the combi boiler or have electric ones. We were going to add solar panels.

The boiler and two tanks we have now need to be removed. We were hoping to replace it with a combi boiler for the hot water, but the fact we need new pipes and radiators makes me wonder - why not underfloor heating instead? Does anyone know more about this subject and what would you recommend?

You need parking spaces and turning for (looks like) 4 spaces, it doesn’t matter if they are on the drive or in the garage. You can extend the turn on the left to allow for another space if necessary. The LPA won’t care.

Haha excellent thanks! With materials and advice around it seems like it’s possible to have a go yourself so much easier these days. We picked one that was well built and easy to fix to start with so there should be no nasty surprises but you never know how hard it will be. Partner doesn’t like mess so that might be a stress more than the work!

Hi everyone! We’ve just bought a bungalow that needs a lot of updating/converting and are really excited to get started in doing things ourselves and organising trades etc. Our practical skills are based on watching a lot of YouTube videos, I’m in the industry but more of a designer. Hoping to share the experience with you guys and hope you don’t mind sharing wisdom on occasion! I’ve spoken to one builder so far on taking out a breeze block wall, it’s not loadbearing. Typical ‘take out the kitchen wall and make it open plan’ stuff. We also are going to convert the garage and our total budget is about 40k. Great to join your forum Ty.