Ferdinand

Not what I expected, but there are quite a few on Ebay. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=portal+frame&_sacat=1269 Google, or am I missing something? https://www.google.com/search?q=top+suppliers+of+portal+frame+buildings&oq=top+suppliers+of+portal+frame+buildings&aqs=chrome..69i57.13534j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 eg https://www.atlanticsteelbuildings.co.uk/ F

ANLA is to do with maintenance of existing structures.

My numbers were very much estimates, so may be well off, and are several years old. But ask in the right places and numbers should be relatively easy to find.

That needs some proper research - like getting a few quotes :-). Buggers to insulate.

In this case drivers on the decision for panels was speed / uniformity, but also there is a path down the RHS past the leanto for rear garden access, which is 1.2m to allow a digger through. So for machinery access at useful-digger (as opposed to toy digger) size I can just take one panel down. That would not be doable with a bespoke fence, and I did not want the complication of a second gate (the fence is set forward of the house with a foot gate at right angles). Also the logical destination for the house is to have a big extension where that fence is, but that won't be for some years - so a fence like this can be dismantled and taken away to use somewhere else except for the concrete repair spurs. F

That one is ugly, but it is where the idea came from. Here is one of mine from Streetview. These are on display so I overspaced the posts by about 25-50mm for the bolt, which leaves a gap between the panels which I can then cover with a cosmetic batten which matches the fence panel slats - so the concrete fence repair spur is completely hidden from the good side. And still get to both ends of the bolt if necessary, easily. The panels were done 25-50mm clear of the ground, and then extra depth of gravel was added to cover the gap. These are hit and miss panels to allow the wind to blow through. The post heights were trimmed, and the posts capped later. The offset one to the right is because the neighbour has reinforced foundations over the boundary, and was then trimmed to just below the panel height. (Just in case you think of those sort of panels - they were bloody heavy. With two of us moving them I had to have rests because my fingers wilted. But the fence was built by my handyman; a very good job.) Update: thinking about it we may even have used threaded rod and two nuts. F

My ballpark guestimate for a portal frame industrial type building is £500-600 per sqm plus or minus 20%. I haven't built one, but I looked into them when my gym was looking for a home. Some of our building contractors on here may have a better idea. Ferdinand

Remembering, just having been out in the garden and looking at them, you can use 1.2m fence repair spurs (they come with bolt holes) and bolt wooden posts to them clear of the ground. Which solves all the rot problems and will give you a 25 year fence. This is a pub car park and uses wooden posts bolted onto fencing repair spurs. I do the similar thing with 1.8m posts, but cannot find the pics at present. That would solve all of your weight handling problems. F

You can make it a bit easier by digging a wedge out on one side of the hole and slide the post down that - it saves you lifting it the full 9ft. Then wedge a brick or two or a plank in whilst the Postcrete sets, then backfill. IIRC that's how Ug built stonehenge. Ferdinand

I would suggest having a look at parallel parking across the bottom of your garden. You would need a dug out width of approx 2-3m, and the width if your garden (~18ft) is nearly as long as the recommended length of a streetside lengthways parking space. You would need to check the Council's attitude, though. And - as before - it will probably cost about £1000-1250 for a dropped kerb and pavement crossing. Though - as I said and linked above - there may be a grant available if you talk to them. Ferdinand

Make sure you are clear about the end point plus a washup included. Mine was up to the Planning App decision notice, though I got some feedback at the end. I had agreed that an Appeal would also be handled, which we needed and won. I would place hourly rates as incredibly variable, depending on whether the PC is in Short Trousers or really wants the job, or is more like a Senior Consultant / PMer of a team. I would say anything between £30 and hour and £250 an hour. Mine was at a level where he routinely testified in High Court hearings, so chosen to be able to make a complex argument successfully, from experience in winning similar apps in the same area. I would expect any professional to do an initial meeting / assessment in order to be able to quote. I got a phone call plus digesting documents plus an hour of conversation from mine before we made a decision. What you get depends on what you ask for, and how well prepared you are. You should probably get digesting whatever matrial and questions you send through plus a meeting, at which you get to ask more. Plus possibly a followup phone call. Mine had standard terms which included a "x% of the value uplift" (x <5) success fee as a standard feature. Also was amenable to a degree of risk sharing which would reduce his fee, which was one of my day 1 queries - I did not use that in the end. The total fee was 10k+, plus the bonus. That does not include the fees for all the other 7 or 8 consultants, from SUDS draft design to a chap who did a Visual Impact study (perambulate around the horizon and viewpoints taking photos then report). However, you need to appreciate that my project was to get Outline Permission on a smallholding to sell to a developer. The PC provided contacts for the team to do all the aspects of the project, as used on previous projects, and PMed all of the application submission -s o it would be a number of weeks of work. Ferdinand

Just floating a few ideas: I am not capable of putting in a concrete fencepost on my own; they will weight up to a hundredweight. Have you a solution for doing that safely? If you use wooden ones, perhaps use some PostSavers (best direct from the manufacturer). Because I am a little lazy I would look, depending on circs, at putting a couple of bigger ones in the existing fence first. Not optimal, but potentially much easier. TBH i am not sure I would be able to handle the fence panels on my own, either. Certainly not ones the weight of the last ones I had. Have you considered doing it with high quality timber posts and featheredge boards? One alternative. I bought one of those post-hole diggers for my last fence, and I think it was one from Amazon that only cost under £30. F

Welcome. Indeed, the only place.

@Margaret dailey You now need to see a way ahead. The Council do have some sort of duty to help people with disabilities continue to live at home. I am not familiar with the details and I do not know whether it covers disabled parking spaces. You would need a justification in disability access terms, such as "no longer able to walk to where I have to park the car now" for the space, and "unable to walk up from the road" for the steps or lift and handrail. An advisor will help there. It can involve major structural alterations, which is where you may be here. Grants can be up to 30k. Have a look at this document, particularly pages 38-51, which are about adaptations. https://equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/housing-and-disabled-people-your-rights-england.pdf Page 50 has a list of places to get more information. Your Council (go in either through Building Control or ask switchboard / general email for help on adapting your house for your / whoever it is needs) really will be helpful on this. (If you find you need to talk to them before you have started, then profile that bank and sew some grass seed on it, which you id "to improve the garden".). Ferdinand

Welcome to the Pleasuredome .. er .. lockdown central.

I would start off by a conversation with your Council - drop Building Control an email to ask what the requirements are for your proposal. They should be happy to engage, and may even visit depending on whether we are all still under house arrest. They need to know the level change, and the other dimensions. Personally I think that a vertical retaining wall is perhaps not the best, as the house will exert a significant horizontal force - a sloping wall may be less expensive and I think there should be space to fit it in. Ferdinand

Lots of factors here, including the type of soil and the detail of the foundations. If you have any neighbours who have done work at the front on similar houses, have a chat to see if they know anything about foundations etc. It will not be definitive, but it may be an indication of what yours is like. As a joker in the pack, do you happen to have a basement or cellar aligned to the front?

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Unless it stops in less than 1% of the thickness of your finger in chain travel that might not help....

I think you are making this more difficult than it actually may be. The series several years ago Meet the Planners had one like this ... chap who wanted something to keep his vehicle collection in went through the normal processes and got it. I think what you want is something with say half an acre and preferably some trees round it, where you can put it behind the house. If you meet the planning policy tests then I do not see how they can refuse. Or something with a big old stable or workshop, which I seem to see everywhere. Especially where people have been running businesses from home. There have always been a lot of sole traders running their businesses like this. My dad's last place of business was a 3000 sqft workshop build over the back gardens of 3 terraced houses; we sold it for 35k in 2010, as it would have had a negative value as a plot for a terrace of 3 houses. Or could you get a defunct Social Club or shop? The transaction will be tricky if you are requiring the seller give you 6 months to get PP. Why would they? When we were in the old Hall (small village manor), my parents bought the bungalow next door (on half acre) to prevent the restaurant the other side buying it, and a few years ago it was sold on to a chap who had 2 traction engines, because he thought he would be able to build a big workshop / garage so he could move them from the industrial unit he was renting. The other type of place that might come up is a small petrol station site - these will be becoming available more. I think refusal on the grounds of "we think you will run a business" is a red herring; probably not a relevant planning matter if your application states that the purpose is for a personally owned car collection. Such an assumption is imo unlawful if there is no evidence (and against the rules of procedure to make), and would get quashed on Appeal. F

That rather laissez faire attitude matches my impression of France. My friend who lived there remarked that the normal practice in rural France if the house is too big is simply to close off the top floor and live downstairs, rather than moving to somewhere smaller. There are vestiges of the practice here (Tony Benn in his house near Holland Park comes to mind, or farmers, or country piles). Also, the UK has for years had I think the smallest number number of empty houses anywhere in Western Europe, and taxes are now set up to maintain that. One reason why Mutti could invite a million immigrants to Germany in 2015 was because they had 4 or 5 times as many long term "empties" as the UK. There's an infographic somewhere from 2014. I think the concept of "Bush" does not really exist in the UK any more. Needs quite serious money to pretend that it does. We had had a couple of interesting people here recently - the Home Farm self-sufficiency people, and the people with the Holiday Accommodation Treehouse. Both are relatively isolated at least on the outskirts of town or in the country, but to do that you need the equivalent of the proceeds of selling a decent sized house in the South East - £250-750k depending. Parts of Scotland are an exception, probably. Or you can find a wreck and self-restore. Still not cheap. Ferdinand

Backwards is fine if you take your time and go through it forwards as a proper check before committing. Most of us do it in circles.

I did smile at the developer comment: ""The flood defences that were put in place during the development build performed as intended and successfully prevented any water from entering the homes in question." But it is interesting that this decision goes back to 2005, and 2007 when the Welsh Gov overturned it. Their statement only relates to 2020 - classic diversion tactics. This is the relevant bit of the report from ITV: Newport City Council who own the bank turned down developer Redrow's original planning application, but it was passed by the Welsh Assembly Government on appeal. A Welsh Government Spokesperson said: “The recent flooding is a stark reminder of how vulnerable many communities are to flooding, and how important the planning system is in managing flood risk whilst ensuring that we continue to build the number of homes needed. "Our policy framework clearly states that houses should not be built on flood plains.” And what the Council said: Following the devastating flooding last month, Newport City Council is working with the landowners, developers and statutory partners to facilitate any additional measures required to protect people and property. In 2005, Newport City Council refused planning permission for a residential development on the former Tredegar Park Golf Course on the grounds of the flood risk and the loss of the natural floodplain The applicant appealed and a planning inquiry was held when the inspector broadly agreed with the council’s decision, However, the Welsh Assembly’s planning decision committee considered the case after being called in by the Welsh Assembly Government. It concluded that the risk of flooding would not be unacceptable and placed considerable weight on the applicant’s claim that new flood defences would provide enhanced further protection further downstream. The application was approved by the Assembly committee in March 2007. – NEWPORT CITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2020-03-04/homeowner-s-warning-about-buying-on-floodplain-after-garden-of-dream-home-swept-away-in-floods/ Ferdinand

Slightly offtopic. How do they deal with this in similar European - say the Netherlands? What about similar but dissimilar countries, such as France? F

if you are buŷing several, take a careful look at the sets. One may match.