Tiny Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Hi Folks I am currently trying to plan a renovation and extension on our home. Managed to get the plans approved late Dec. So hoping to start work in May. I am hoping to improve the insulation and airtightness of the whole building as this is for the next 20 years hopefully. House was built in 1982 and is built into a slope. It has beam and block floors with no insulation, and a void underneath of between 600 and 1400mm straight to earth, no oversight. Walls are dense block with slumped cavity insulation, roof is slate covered with 25mm of polystyrene as insulation. The living room is double height up to the underside of the pitched roof. It is draughty, mainly through the floors. We have a gas condensing boiler so was planning on keeping this. So I have many challenges, as hoping to do as much of the work as possible. Current layout gives us about 1.5 floors, as the bedroom is in the apex of the roof as is not really full height. So I am raising the roof level to create normal ceiling height, which will give an extra bedroom. Downstairs will be one open plan room for living, dining and kitchen, with a separate utility room and bathroom. my first challenge is deciding the best method of insulating and making the beam and block floor airtight, anybody done this successfully from underneath. looking forward to getting stuck in, but really conscious of the value in good planning before starting thanks Tiny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Welcome @Tiny. Sounds like a challenge that, '....raising the roof level...' You could do that down the pub without the same expenditure level. Thought of that? If you are driving past, drop in. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Raising the roof, eh? ? "I'm in!" ??? Hi and welcome to the best forum for your building woes to be aired, and put to bed ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Draughty house, I feel your pain! Oh and a warm welcome too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le-cerveau Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Welcome to another Cumbrian. Did you consider knockdown and re-build, in the long run you get a better house and does not cost as much as you would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 4 hours ago, le-cerveau said: [...] Did you consider knockdown and re-build, in the long run you get a better house and does not cost as much as you would think. I tried that, partial knock down of a partially built house. Yep, I got a better version built as a result. Brainy that guy @le-cerveau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Posted January 10, 2018 Author Share Posted January 10, 2018 Thanks for the warm welcome folks, yes, thought long and hard over demolition, what with the vat saving and a clean sheet to work from. Just could not bring myself to knock down what is a workable house. Probably regret that decision. But hey ho will win through in the end I hope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I've half a plan to empty one downstairs bedroom which then temporarily becomes the lounge. When the lounge is done do the bedroom and so on. Unfortunately the missus has kept every toy the kids have ever had (19 & 11 now). Clearing the bedroom come playroom which they don't even go in is a challenge I'm not up for! Hoarders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 12 hours ago, Onoff said: I've half a plan to empty one downstairs bedroom which then temporarily becomes the lounge. When the lounge is done do the bedroom and so on. Unfortunately the missus has kept every toy the kids have ever had (19 & 11 now). Clearing the bedroom come playroom which they don't even go in is a challenge I'm not up for! Hoarders? Looks like our spare room in our old house. I'm trying to clear it out as the house is going on the market but can't get enough access to get in there to get some of the stuff out. I don't have space for a skip, plus my number plate is still banned from the local recycling place, and I can't hire a van as the recycling place doesn't allow vans in now, either. Right now, the only way to shift stuff is to fill my car and drive to the next county to their recycling centre, around 20 miles each way. And they wonder why fly tipping is on the increase................ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 10 minutes ago, JSHarris said: Looks like our spare room in our old house. I'm trying to clear it out as the house is going on the market but can't get enough access to get in there to get some of the stuff out. I don't have space for a skip, plus my number plate is still banned from the local recycling place, and I can't hire a van as the recycling place doesn't allow vans in now, either. Could you hire or borrow a large estate car? We have one and it's definitely not classed as a van by our local tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichS Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Or put a skip at the new house and transport junk across. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) 7 minutes ago, jack said: Could you hire or borrow a large estate car? We have one and it's definitely not classed as a van by our local tip. I think it may come down to that, if I can get it to work, as it's taking forever to clear out with me driving 20 miles each way to the tip. The Prius is pretty much as big inside as an estate, I can easily get 3m long stuff in there and it's big enough to take washing-machine sized loads in the back, with lots of room to spare. The other problem is that if I turn up three times at the local recycling centre in a hire car, there's a very good chance they will ban that too. That's how I came to be banned, I made three trips in fairly quick succession (over about three or four days) and was immediately classed as "commercial user". 5 minutes ago, RichS said: Or put a skip at the new house and transport junk across. Sadly that's not much of a saving, as the recycling centre I can use is just the other side of where the new house is, so I may as well drive the few miles extra and dump it there. A standard skip would cost £260 plus VAT, too! Edited January 11, 2018 by JSHarris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, jack said: Could you hire or borrow a large estate car? We have one and it's definitely not classed as a van by our local tip. One of the reasons I hang onto my old Focus estate. It's done more trips to the tip than I care to remember! Seats down, tarp laid in there etc. I even get relatives messaging me, "Next time you go to the tip...". I've a tumbledown stable block >30m2 that would be ideal for storage other than it's that decrepit. Asbestos roof caving in, cracks in the wall you could get your hand in. But it's on the plans so until such time as I come into some money it's staying. Wife had half a plan to put a lot of stuff (kids toys etc) she wants to keep into large plastic storage crates, stack in the stable and put a tarp over the top. The stable is so wet inside through the roof and through/under the walls. Then there's the double garage roof but that's truss rafters. I've mulled turning that into workable albeit low headheight storage space. Have even considered a big, garden room. Build it properly, fully insulated etc. Storage for now then a man cave later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 @JSHarris Just borrow a couple of number plates and double side then to your existing number plates. You know the original registration for your car, use that one. I got told off for walking into the local tip, after I had actually walked in. They refused to allow me to put one small bag of rubbish in the skip, tossers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 17 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: @JSHarris Just borrow a couple of number plates and double side then to your existing number plates. You know the original registration for your car, use that one. I got told off for walking into the local tip, after I had actually walked in. They refused to allow me to put one small bag of rubbish in the skip, tossers. Not a bad idea, as not only do I know the original registration, but I still have the new plates with it on in the garage! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 7 hours ago, JSHarris said: That's how I came to be banned, I made three trips in fairly quick succession (over about three or four days) and was immediately classed as "commercial user". We're lucky that there are three tips within a few miles of our place so we use them all to get around that problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now