Laurence737

Sorry it was probably my bad explanation, we are intending to extend the existing galley landing to wrap around the current void, we will be moving the master bedroom wall back 1m to allow us to use the existing joists for the walkway that will access the master and 4th bedroom, however to link the two we need to run a landing walkway across the back wall (along the chimney stack) to connect the two, the walkway will be 3mx0.9m and will be supported on one end by the structural steel that props up the existing gallery and then tied into the existing joists on the opposite side (hopefully the diagram explains better!) I was just wondering if this would be enough to support the walkway or if I would need additional supports putting into the chimney stack? The picture shows the existing stud wall to the master room that will be moved back 1m.

Sadly I don’t, on the gallery side there is a structural steel that runs along the balustrade, and the other side is joists supported by a structural wall that runs along side the existing staircase.

The walkway will be 3m long and 1m wise and will run across the existing chimney, we will be taking back some floor space from the master about 900mm and the sloped wall will be going. A structural steel beam runs under the balustrade of the existing gallery, but I’m not sure about the other side I think they are just standard spanning joists.

Hi everyone, I want to extend our gallery landing to make it a wrap around to provide new access to the master and 4th bedroom. It will be going around our chimney stack and then connecting to the existing floor on the opposite side, spanning the void. Can I support the walkway by tying into the existing floor joists on either side? Or will I need to put some reinforcement under the the walkway to support it from the wall it will run against?

No the hall is a back hall, I’ve included the complete floor plan for context. The front (and only- excluding the bifold) external door is at the front of the property off the open plan kitchen diner.

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some recommendations for some good instructional books, particularly for plumbing and electrical. i have been using the complete visual guide to building a house which is great so something similar to that would be awesome. thanks

Hi everyone, I could do with some advice with inner rooms and building regs, we have a downstairs bathroom that we are moving and would like to convert into a cinema/play room. it is not possible to install any escape windows in the room due to its location, would having two exit doors that lead into different rooms satisfy building regs? One would lead into the main lounge and a window, the other would lead into our open plan kitchen/diner with the front door and 3m bifold. Any help appreciated

Hi Damo, Thanks for the response, the rear of the property sides onto the neighbours house. Would Velux Windows be an option on that side of the house would you think?

Hi Everyone, Sorry for the multitude of posts, but having a brainstorming session and was keen to draw on the experience of you fine people. We are looking at a character property that has an awful first floor layout. We would like to reconfigure to achieve: - Master bedroom with en-suite - Two double bedrooms - Fourth Bedroom - Family Bathroom. Any suggestions or help how we could achieve this would be greatly appreciated!

I don't think the gallery would be wide enough to fit a corridor in?

Hmm that may be problematic as the staircase is open to a gallery landing so making it fireproof would be near impossible I'd say? The new bedroom would be next to the yellow room on the first floor overlooking the gallery landing.

Hi, Following my other post we have found a house that we love however we would need to make some big changes to make it liveable. The property used to be a large hall (build in 1883) and was converted in the 80's. They put low flat roofing on the second floor to create a loft cavity (only around 1.8m cavity) the roof is traditional cut and pitch and was previously open a long time ago when it formed the hall. We would like to raise the roof to match the pitch and fit a velux window in each of the upstairs rooms. We are also looking to add a bedroom to the upstairs floorplan, however this will be on a wall without a window (borders the neighbours garden. Would it be possible to fit a velux in this room to meet building regs? Pictures and plans below. Thanks for the advice.

We need to put in the planning app, which we are working on at the moment. We were hoping that would be the case, but didn't know if they just took a blanket approach to side aspect windows, so that's encouraging to hear that it is possible. We intend to take as many pictures and submit detailed distances/aspects as we can to try and convince them. I presume worst case we could look at a clerestory window if the worst comes to the worst?, we just really don't want to have to put an obscured window in if at all possible,

Hi Everyone, I was wondering if anyone had any advice on new side windows. We are planning a 4th bedroom conversion to the rear of our property that requires us to move the window from the existing bedroom onto the side elevation of our property. Are there any general rules of thumb that planners use to determine if the new window would need to be obscured? The side window overlooks our drive and garage and then an open expanse of green land, the next property is a good 30-40m away from the window. Ideally we would like to avoid having to have a frosted window in the bedroom, and was hoping someone might be able to shed some light on what our chances might be getting this through planning? Thanks

Thanks a lot, really appreciate you sharing your experience ?

Yes we understand that we would definitely need to go down the PP route rather than PD, just hoping that the planners are kind and let us get on with it Do you think its ever worth putting in a Householder Enquiry Form, or just put the formal planning application in?

That's great thanks so much for your advice

The 7m was just from the planning website for the permitted development. So wondered if it would equally cause problems with our planning application? Extensions of more than one storey must not extend beyond the rear wall of the original house* by more than three metres or be within seven metres of any boundary* opposite the rear wall of the house.

That's what we thought as the front windows of the rear neighbour will be roughly 90 degrees off our rear windows. We were just concerned that we weren't getting the 7m from the rear boundary.

Hi Everyone, we are planning a full length extension with a half second storey extension in our property, as we have a tapered garden the nearest point on our extension will only be 5m away from the boundary of our rear neighbours access road and drive (it is a bungalow and we cannot see into their garden. I have attached a picture of the side with the two storey extension. Do you think this would form grounds for the planning application to be refused or do you think they are likely to be ok with it as it will only be overlooking the access road and driveway? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Everyone, I am looking to have a oft conversion and would need to relocate the tank from our system boiler to the loft, as it is currently in a cupboard above the stairs where the new staircase will go. The tank will be moving straight up above where it currently is in a cupboard by the side of the new stair entrance in the loft. Roughly how much do you think this would cost to complete? Access shouldn't be an issue as the new stair shaft will be cut in the ceiling directly above it. Many Thanks

Thats not a bad idea, are these popular tho? as most builds tend to have them seperated? also how easy is it to run the soil pipe from the WC? I'm guessing most new builds are concrete slab under floor? Sorry for all the questions but I'm really trying to learn!

That' some fantastic input Ferdinand, tbh I didn't really think about making it a more flexible space and the view through the corridor is a great design feature. I think I will add all of those suggestions to the plan, thanks a lot for the input Just to clarify were you suggesting to put the hob on the outcrop of the G?

Thanks for your help Dave, the plan for the existing kitchen is to split it into a playroom and move the WC and utility in there to create a hallway to the new kitchen. Floorplans below. The plan is as you said to brick up the original kitchen window, and open up the utility wall and remove the patio doors from the lounge to have an open flow between the new diner and the lounge. We are trying to avoid expensive structural work to the rear wall, with this design we would only need one relatively small steel to go across the utility wall? as the lounge opening is an existing opening.