News

DOORSETS ARE BEST

The traditional installation method is for joiners to make door linings, which are fixed in the openings before walls are plastered, with the door leafs and furniture added at second fix.

However, the rise of doorsets has streamlined this process and when specifying multiple doors for a house, they are by far the quickest and easiest option.

They include the frame, pre-hung door leaf and essential ironmongery, all matched and either pre-drilled or pre-assembled in the factory to be delivered to site ready for installation.

As everything will be from one supplier, components will match and fit, and arrive at the same time, rather than creating hold ups waiting for parts from multiple sources.  As the door components will already fit, no additional labour is required prior to installation, making it a simple process for both standard sizes and bespoke made-to-measure doorsets.

On a new build, a competant DIYer can install a doorset in an hour, but if renovating you may choose to leave some elements of the task for a professional for the best finish.

 

OPEN PLAN

An open plan loft conversion can make better use of space than one divided up to form a landing with walls around it to form a fire protected staircase, especially where the staircase needs to land in the centre of the space because of the layout on the storey below.

The fire door seperating the additional storey from the rest of the property can be positioned at the foot of the stairs on the landing, instead of the top, with a small landing at the foot of the attic stairs at least as long as the width of the stairs.

LOWER FLOORS

In a Conservation Area alterations to the roof may not be permitted, especially increasing the existing ridge height.

Where a loft space is limited, a solution is to lower the ceiling in the storey below.  This will add to costs compared to a standard conversion, as the existing floor/ceiling joists will need to be removed and replaced at a lower level, and a new plasterboard ceiling added to the storey below.

There is no minimum ceiling height required by Building Regulations, but the minimum practical ceiling height is 2.2-2.4m (2m in an attic room).

The maximum height that existing ceilings can be reduced by is usually dictated by the height of the window heads, although it is possible to form a box detail around the window heads, which will be incorporated within the eaves of the attic room.

CREATE A ROOF TERRACE

Creating an outdoor living space as part of a loft conversion can add an extra dimension to the space.  It can also make better use of loft level space, as a feature like an inverted dormer – cut into the roof – or a cabriolet rooflight can extend right to the eaves where head room in the loft would be too low.
Many roof terraces are built over a flat roof that is at the sa…me floor level as the loft conversion, covering part of the storey immediately below.  Typically the roof will need to be strengthened to take foot traffic, and a doorway added for access.
The terrace surface will need to be non-slip and suitable for foot traffic; a balustrade will need to be erected around the perimeter of the terrace. A change of use of an existing roof to a roof terrace requires planning permission.  Another option is to create a covered outdoor area beneath the eaves of a projecting gable roof, but this does usually mean sacrificing some of the internal area.

Recessed Light Voids

This brilliant new trend was incorporated into three of this year’s award-winning homes.

Such a simple idea – concealed LED strips are positioned inside slits in a suspended ceiling – but the interplay of light and shadows make for a striking feature and cuts through an otherwise blank, minimalist ceiling.

Loft Pods

Using modular construction methods, it is possible to add a loft conversion extension in little more than a day, decorated, carpeted and furnished.

As well as the ease and convenience, with minimal site disruption, factory controlled conditions allow the loft to be very well insulated and airtight, to maximise energy efficiency.

A Loft Pod recently designed and delivered a fully finished loft space by road, and crtaned it into place on a mid terrace Victorian House.  The existing roof had been removed in rediness via a scaffold, and the loft was lifted carefully into place on steel brackets.  A full scaffold during this work was thus avoided.

The pod was designed and built in less than four weeks, but the engineering calculations, the main structure was assembled in just one week.

The price varies per pod according to specifications but is in the region of £1,000.00 m2.

Mezzanine Level loft conversion

Where the amount of space to be gained by a full loft conversion is limited – for instance in a small terraced house or flat, or in the case of a conversion a small building – a mezzanine design can work well.
This is also a good design solution where the amount of space required to create a seperate staircase reached from the ha…llway means sacrificing too much room, so the conversion becomes part of the room below instead. The Building Regulations technically prevent the mezzanine from being a habitable space (unless below 4.5m above external floor level) but they’re often used as living space, an en suite, a study, a home office or a play area.
If there is insufficient room for a conventional staircase, as a single room conversion the Building Regulations allow the use of a space-saver staircase or a fixed loft ladder with handrails.

How to work out what the plot is really worth

 The last thing you should do is contact estate agents or valuers to find out how much a plot that currently doesn’t have planning permission would otherwise be worth.  They’ll take over the situation and you’ll find yourself cut out of the loop as they try to get the consent and then sell it the way they want to and, probably, to the party they want …to have it.
Plots get their value as a direct result of the value of the house that could be built on the land.
And there is a simple equation that will work in most circumstances. The land costs (A) + the build costs (B) + a 20/30% margin = the end value (C)
You should start by looking at the value of houses in the area that you would reasonably expect to get planning permission to build.  Your next step is to work out the probable building costs then put in your hoped for price for the land. If the answer doesn’t come up to the end value, then your land valuation is too low.  If it’s higher, then either the land your building costs are too high, or a bit of both.  You wil need to juggle the margin and costs to get to the final figure you hope for.

Establishing the vendor when purchasing a plot of land

If you cannot establish who the vendor on a piece of land is then you need to turn detective. In the first instance, you should ask adjoining owners if they know who owns or last occupied the land.
You may need to look at parish or church records. You may find out information in the pub, post office, local shop or haridressers. You should seek out the oldest person in the village.
You could go… to the Land Registry (England & Wales) or Registers of Scotland and pay a small fee (£5 for a paper application or £4 online) to see if the land is registered and, if so, to who. But chances are that if the land has been vacant for some time and, therefore, hasn’t been sold in relatively recent times, it won’t be registered.
If it isn’t, you’ll be back to your detective work and you may need to up the stakes by putting a notice on the land or doing something on it that may flush out those with an interest in it. But be careful to balance that with a need for others not to seek to get in on the act.

Legal Option when purchasing a plot of land

To ensure that the plot will be yours on receipt of planning permission, you need to get your solicitors to prepare a simple one or two page legal option, which requires the vendor to sell to you in the event of your planning application being successful.

It may require some payment, taht may be a couple of pounds, or it may be a larger sum.  If it’s the latter it’s normally deducted from the price if the sale goes through.  It will almost certainly be time limited too.

It may state the price if you’ve agreed it or it may leave that to a valuation at a future date.

Alternatively, if having visited the planners you’re absolutley convinced that it’ll get permission, you could agree to buy it and run up to exchange of contracts ‘subject to receipt of satisfactory planning permission’, that way, if things don’t go to plan and the application is refused, the contract will void and you’ll get your deposit back.

What you wont get back in either of these circumstances is the costs of preparing the plans and making the application.  It’s a gamble.  So make sure that you make the right enquiries with the planners and that you take the correct message away – not just the one that you want to hear.