Extending and Improving Your Home E-Book

M. J. Billington

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 424

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Written for small builders and tradesmen such as bricklayers and carpenters, as well as householders wanting to provide more space and enhanced living conditions without the substantial cost of moving house. While there are many books that deal with the construction aspects of extending a house, there are few sources that combine the planning, construction and regulatory aspects into one easily accessible source.  Extending and Improving a Home meets that need. By focussing on specific building elements – foundations, walls, roofs, services, finishes etc – the book neatly provides a comprehensive, accessible guide to the areas of home improvement that cause most concern for householders and small builders.

Extending and Improving a Home will: Guide you through the maze of legislation that affects most building alterations and extensions; show how to go about getting a project realised in terms of design, choice of contractor and construction, successfully and to budget, and give sound technical solutions for all the elements of a project that also comply with Building Regulations.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Chapter 1: Extending and Improving Your Home – An Introduction

Why Extend or Improve Your Home?

Do-it-Yourself

Extending and Improving Your Home – Practices and Procedures

Practical Design Tips

Chapter 2: Legal Background

Introduction

Planning Permission

Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas

The Building Act 1984 and the Building Regulations

Building Regulations

Competent Persons Schemes

The Party Wall Act

Energy Performance

Occupiers' Liability Act

Chapter 3: Arranging and Organising the Work

Use of Professional Designers

Getting a Builder or Doing it Yourself?

Cost Implications

Contractual Arrangements

Availability of Grants

Insurances for Contract and After

Further Information

Chapter 4: Issues Affecting the Property as a Whole

Structural Stability

Weatherproofing and Damp-Proofing the Envelope

Maintenance

Further Information

Chapter 5: Site Survey and Investigation

Site Investigation

Subsoil Investigation

Significance and Proximity of Site Boundaries

Presence and Significance of Trees

Measured Survey

Further Information

Chapter 6: Foundations

Introduction

Foundation Types

Further Information

Chapter 7: Ground and Upper Floors

Ground Floors

Upper Floors

Building Regulations and Approved Document Guidance

Further Information

Chapter 8: External Walls

Introduction

Solid Walls

Cavity Walls

Framed Wall Construction

Building Regulations and Approved Document Guidance

Further Information

Chapter 9: Internal Walls

Partition Walls

Building Regulations and Approved Document Guidance

Further Information

Chapter 10: Roofs

Roof Structure and Coverings

Roof Coverings

Other Coverings

Building Regulations and Approved Document Guidance

Design for Thermal Efficiency

Further Information

Chapter 11: Wall and Ceiling Finishes

Wall Finishes

Ceiling Finishes

Further Information

Chapter 12: Services

Introduction

Installing New Kitchens and Bathrooms

Above and Below Ground Drainage

Electrical Installations

Heating and Ventilating Services

Hot and Cold Water Supply

Further Information

Chapter 13: Improving the Thermal Efficiency of the Home

Thermal Efficiency

The Green Deal

Building Regulations and Approved Document Guidance

Further Information

Chapter 14: Conversions

What Type of Conversion

Loft Conversions

Garage Conversions

Basement Conversions

Further Information

Case Study 1: Thermal Upgrading

Elements

Heat Losses

Case Study 2: Loft Conversion

Existing Property

Proposal

Specifications

Additional Notes

Glossary of Terms

Index

This edition first published 2012 © 2012 by M. J. Billington and C. Gibbs

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Billington, M. J. (Michael J.)

Extending and improving your home : an introduction / M.J. Billington,

Clive Gibbs.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4051-9811-0 (pbk.)

1. Dwellings–Remodeling. 2. Building–Superintendence. I. Gibbs, Clive.

II. Title.

TH4816.B55 2012

690'.24–dc23

2011053110

Preface

In April 2008, I (MJB) was invited to provide support to the ‘Ask the Expert’ stand at the Ideal Home Show at Earl's Court in London. Being a Chartered Building Surveyor and Building Regulations expert, I was anticipating lots of questions from the public on defects in houses and on specific regulation queries. These occurred as expected but were far outweighed by the multitude of questions on altering and extending homes. It quickly became clear that because of the recession we were in a new era whereby, instead of moving house, people were now far more interested in staying put and improving. It also became clear that most people did not have the foggiest idea about what they could do and how they could go about doing it. People even brought in rough floor plans of their houses and I ended up doing off-the-cuff sketch schemes for everything from fitting a loo to designing an extension!

Thus was born the idea for this book. It is entitled Extending and Improving Your Home: An Introduction. The last two words are important because even in a book dedicated entirely to this subject, it is impossible to cover everything comprehensively. What we have done is provided a focused guide to all the areas in the field of home improvement that cause most concern for householders, and at the end of each chapter we provide sources of further information in terms of written texts and web sites. It should be noted that the sources of information provided are for information only. The authors have used these sources in the past and found them to be accurate, informative and reliable. We can make no promises that they will continue to be so in the future. Therefore, their inclusion in this book must not be taken as a recommendation or endorsement and we are, of course, not responsible for their content.

So who should purchase this book? Although it is aimed at anyone considering improving or extending a house and is written in non-technical language as far as this is possible, the technical sections can be applied to the construction of brand new homes as well as extensions. Therefore, it will be of use not only to householders but also to small builders, tradesmen such as bricklayers and carpenters, students on the first year of construction and architectural design courses at tertiary and higher education establishments and building professionals such as estate agents, building surveyors, architects and other designers.

Our aims in writing this book are to

Guide people through the maze of legislation that affects most building alterations and extensions;

Show how to go about getting a project realised in terms of design, choice of contractor and construction, successfully and to budget;

Give sound technical solutions for all the elements of a project that also comply with Building Regulations.

Combining over 70 years of experience specifically in the field of home improvements and alterations, we also point out the common pitfalls that can occur and show how they can be avoided.

More specifically, in Chapter 1, the book starts by considering the pros and cons of moving house as opposed to extending or altering what you have already. It discusses the rise of DIY and considers the implications of getting someone else to do it for you. The processes and procedures of home alterations and extensions are discussed in detail and the chapter ends with a series of tips to assist you in the design and construction of your project.

Chapter 2 goes into detail on the labyrinth of legislation that applies to this sector of construction and shows what you need to comply with and how compliance can be achieved.

In Chapter 3, we look at the various ways you can arrange and organise the project to ensure that you realise your ideas successfully and do not get ripped off. And if things still go wrong, we suggest methods for ensuring recovery of the situation.

Chapter 4 looks at those issues that affect the property as a whole no matter what you intend to do, such as structural stability, weatherproofing and maintenance.

The first, general part of the book ends with Chapter 5. Here, we consider the importance of gathering information on the interior of your house and on the site outside to avoid any nasty surprises arising when the work starts.

The technical part of the book covers Chapters 6–12 and discusses each element of the work (foundations, floors, external and internal walls, roofs, external and internal finishes and services) and includes detailed examination of the Building Regulations that apply in each case.

The last part of the book provides practical guidance on specific projects. Thus, Chapter 13 looks at all the ways you can improve the thermal efficiency of your home (highly topical at present) and Chapter 14 looks at specific conversions to increase the space within your home without recourse to extending such as, loft, garage and basement conversions.

Finally, we provide two case studies. Case Study 1 demonstrates the economic advantages of improving the thermal efficiency of your home by reference to simplified calculations for a number of common upgrades.

Case Study 2 shows a typical loft conversion and points out the most important regulatory and technical considerations in what is a surprisingly difficult area of work.

It must be stressed that this book is a guide to commonly accepted construction details, techniques and methods of building. Since the authors cannot be aware of all the circumstances of a particular case, they cannot take responsibility for inappropriate use of the guidance contained in this book. Additionally, the information given on the Building Regulations throughout this book is provided as a guide to the regulations, not a substitute for them. When using an Approved Document, it should be remembered that the guidance in them is not mandatory and differences of opinion can quite legitimately exist between controllers and builders or designers as to whether a particular detail in a building design does actually satisfy the mandatory functional requirements of the Building Regulations.

We hope that by using this book, you will be able to make decisions on the basis of facts rather than feelings, hearsay or rumour. We will feel that we have done our job in writing this book if after reading it you are

Better informed,

Aware of the importance of forward planning and

Forewarned and, therefore, forearmed.

The law is stated on the basis of cases and other material available to us on 1 September 2011.

M. J. BillingtonClive Gibbs

Chapter 1

Extending and Improving Your Home – An Introduction

Houses are like people. They are conceived (in the mind of the designer). Over several months they grow (during construction) and they are eventually born (when completed). They grow and have to change to meet the changing circumstances of a growing family (extra bedrooms or new conservatory) and gradually mature as they grow older. If they go out of fashion they are updated with all the latest trends (en-suite bathrooms and central heating). Sometimes they get sick (dry rot, woodworm and rising damp) and have to be cured so that their lives can be extended. Eventually they get very old and then it may be necessary to put them out of their misery (although we do not advocate euthanasia here!).

Unlike people, houses are virtually immortal and as they get very old they usually become more interesting and more loved (even if they are a bit crotchety).

There is no doubt that carrying out significant changes to your own house can be incredibly rewarding. We all have our own ideas about the sort of house we want to live in but, unfortunately, we nearly always have to buy a house that does not come up to our expectations. So then we have a choice, keep moving in the forlorn hope that we will find the perfect house, or try to make the one we are living in as near as possible to our perfect house.

It is reckoned that the three most stressful things that can happen to you in life are (in order of greatest stress)

1. The death of a loved one,

2. Divorce and

3. Moving house.

In this book we cannot help with the first two but, hopefully, we can eliminate the stress of the third by helping you to avoid moving.

In this chapter, a few basic questions are covered, such as

Why would you want to extend or improve your house anyway?

Where did this idea of controlling or doing the alterations yourself come from?

What processes and procedures do you need to go through to have the most chance of success when making these changes?

Are there a few simple things that you need to know to help you avoid the tiger traps that you might otherwise fall into?

Why Extend or Improve Your Home?

There are almost as many answers to this question as there are ways of actually doing the work. It is incredible to think that only 5 years ago property prices seemed that they would continue inexorably to rise by considerably more than the rate of inflation year after year. After all, it had been like this for such a long time that your house was seen (perhaps incorrectly) as not just a place to live but also as an investment. How else, the theory went, could you expect to beat inflation so easily. People tended to move rather than face the stress and strain of ‘having the builders in’ and they were often put off carrying out improvements for fear of getting ripped off by unscrupulous tradesmen and builders, and then of course there was ‘the mess’! Strangely enough, when they actually did move, they would normally replace the bathroom and kitchen and carry out a complete redecoration!