A new room above the garage, wood or brick?

[8ball]

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 ;-)

 

 

[Onoff]

Had anyone else up the street done similar?

[PeterW]

You may find the party wall in the garage isn't load bearing - not unusual for them to just be block work on slab. That would then mean you would need to replace the wall and its foundations unless you used a steel or two from front to back. 

 

To maximise the space have you considered using brick slips as a skin ..? 

[Guest Alphonsox]

Have you asked the neighbour if they are interested in doing the same ? A joint conversion might be a lot easier

[8ball]

48 minutes ago, Onoff said:

Had anyone else up the street done similar?

No not that I can see

[8ball]

30 minutes ago, PeterW said:

You may find the party wall in the garage isn't load bearing - not unusual for them to just be block work on slab. That would then mean you would need to replace the wall and its foundations unless you used a steel or two from front to back. 

 

To maximise the space have you considered using brick slips as a skin ..? 

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

Edited January 12, 2017 by 8ball

[oranjeboom]

Having done a SIPs extension, I would consider that...as you indeed are. Quicker to erect, cheaper (esp if you put the panels up yourself), and potentially better insulated. It will also reduce weight on your footings. It may be worth digging down to your footings to see what the situation is with your footings/foundation.

[8ball]

5 minutes ago, Alphonsox said:

Have you asked the neighbour if they are interested in doing the same ? A joint conversion might be a lot easier

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

[8ball]

Just now, oranjeboom said:

Having done a SIPs extension, I would consider that...as you indeed are. Quicker to erect, cheaper (esp if you put the panels up yourself), and potentially better insulated. It will also reduce weight on your footings. It may be worth digging down to your footings to see what the situation is with your footings/foundation.

 

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

[Onoff]

If everyone does it, it'll look like one long terrace!

[8ball]

2 minutes ago, Onoff said:

If everyone does it, it'll look like one long terrace!

[Onoff]

Home made SIPS fascinate me tbh. Seems just the thing if ever I do a garden room!

 

Are there any good guides on making them yourself?

[8ball]

1 minute ago, Onoff said:

Home made SIPS fascinate me tbh. Seems just the thing if ever I do a garden room!

 

Are there any good guides on making them yourself?

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 .

[ProDave]

I would also caution you is this the best way to add space to your house? As has already been mentioned, if you do this, then you make it easy for your neighbour to do the same, and then your house devalues because it becomes a semi detached rather than detached.

 

Do you really need an extra bedroom, or are you looking for an easy way to add value and sell it on?

 

Looking at the picture, there's scope for an extension to the right, and quite possibly to the rear as well.
 

[oranjeboom]

1 hour ago, 8ball said:

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 .

I think a better product than peanut butter would be marshmallows - surely better insulating than peanut butter??

 

1 hour ago, 8ball said:

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.

 

You can buy ready-made panels from certain producers which will probably work out cheaper than bespoke/designed ones. If creating your own, you will need to ensure that there are no gaps at all with the insulant.

[PeterW]

Unlikely that BC will let you make your own as the QC processes for SIPs ensure they are structurally sound and are properly "structural" as the foam takes some of the load in a panel. 

 

Panels aren't expensive to buy tbh so it may be quicker and easier in the long run to buy them in. 

[Steptoe]

4 hours ago, ProDave said:

I would also caution you is this the best way to add space to your house? As has already been mentioned, if you do this, then you make it easy for your neighbour to do the same, and then your house devalues because it becomes a semi detached rather than detached.

 

Do you really need an extra bedroom, or are you looking for an easy way to add value and sell it on?

 

Looking at the picture, there's scope for an extension to the right, and quite possibly to the rear as well.
 

Is it really detached tho,?

No offence to the OP, 

But when I saw the picture I thought he'd actually missed out semi accidentally, 

If an estate agent showed me this as a detached house I think I'd probably laugh at them. 

[Simplysimon]

46 minutes ago, Steptoe said:

Is it really detached tho,?

No offence to the OP, 

But when I saw the picture I thought he'd actually missed out semi accidentally, 

If an estate agent showed me this as a detached house I think I'd probably laugh at them. 

i thought the same thing and uncommonly for me didn't say anything , it's not terraced but a builders way to save ground and sell as detached and sell for more than a semi. i too would build to right or behind

simon

[ProDave]

1 hour ago, Steptoe said:

Is it really detached tho,?

No offence to the OP,

But when I saw the picture I thought he'd actually missed out semi accidentally,

If an estate agent showed me this as a detached house I think I'd probably laugh at them.

It's what most estate agents call "link detached". Yes it's not truly detached, but there are no habitable rooms adjoining, so you still get most of the major benefit of a detached house, not being able to hear your neighbours, and not having to worry if you play your hi fi too loud. But if both extended / converted so there were habitable rooms adjoining, it would definitely be classed as semi detached and worth less.
 

[Steptoe]

1 minute ago, ProDave said:

It's what most estate agents call "link detached". Yes it's not truly detached, but there are no habitable rooms adjoining, so you still get most of the major benefit of a detached house, not being able to hear your neighbours, and not having to worry if you play your hi fi too loud. But if both extended / converted so there were habitable rooms adjoining, it would definitely be classed as semi detached and worth less.
 

Ah, so estate agent speak then, like my 3bed semi, that's in reality a 2&1/2 bed semi?

 

 

[Crofter]

What are the building regs for putting a habitable room above a garage?

[Onoff]

2 minutes ago, Crofter said:

What are the building regs for putting a habitable room above a garage?

 Double thickness of plasterboard over lapping at the joints is all I remember from helping a mate years ago.....

[ProDave]

8 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 Double thickness of plasterboard over lapping at the joints is all I remember from helping a mate years ago.....

The joints must be staggered, i.e joints in first layer must be in a different place to second layer, and not just any old PB, the fire rated stuff which is 15mm thick and bloody heavy.
 

[ProDave]

10 hours ago, Steptoe said:

Ah, so estate agent speak then, like my 3bed semi, that's in reality a 2&1/2 bed semi?

 

 

They are a little bit more honest here, that would probably be described as 2 bedrooms and a box room.

 

But estate agents have a history of making something sound better than it is. Their definition of "spacious" differs somewhat to mine.
 

[8ball]

16 hours ago, ProDave said:

I would also caution you is this the best way to add space to your house? As has already been mentioned, if you do this, then you make it easy for your neighbour to do the same, and then your house devalues because it becomes a semi detached rather than detached.

 

Do you really need an extra bedroom, or are you looking for an easy way to add value and sell it on?

 

Looking at the picture, there's scope for an extension to the right, and quite possibly to the rear as well.
 

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 ;-)

 

11 hours ago, Steptoe said:

Is it really detached tho,?

No offence to the OP, 

But when I saw the picture I thought he'd actually missed out semi accidentally, 

If an estate agent showed me this as a detached house I think I'd probably laugh at them. 

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