Building very close to a hedge

[lesnewell]

I am planning on building a fairly large garage/workshop on a very narrow site. The site has hedges running down both sides. To get the width I want I need to build right up to the hedges or even into the hedges. I don't have room to allow maintenance access between the walls and hedges. The hedges consist of approximately 500mm high banks with trees etc growing on top.

How practical is this? The biggest problem is access to the walls. Once built the first 1.5m of wall will be pretty inaccessible for rendering/painting and maintenance. The workshop will be single skin block.

 

[big-all]

a hedge is a shrub and need not be considered from a building point of view
you need to build on your land and consideration to the owners if its not your hedge would be a good idea

 

[noseall]

IThe biggest problem is access to the walls. Once built...........

How do you propose building a wall whilst in a hedge?

Realistically you need a 900mm clear margin around the building in order to build and scaffold it.

The presence of a hedge may also influence the depth of the foundations.

Often in this case the hedge would be removed and substituted by the building itself or a fence.

 

[lesnewell]

Thanks for your replies.

a hedge is a shrub and need not be considered from a building point of view

Often in this case the hedge would be removed and substituted by the building itself or a fence.

One hedge runs alongside a road. I could grub that one up (expensive as it is along a road) and replace it with a fence or reinstate it. I like the idea of reinstating as it would act as a buffer between the building and the road and reduce the visual impact.
The other side is into a field. AFAIK the boundary is along the centre line of the hedge and I also believe you need special permission to remove a hedge bordering a field.

How do you propose building a wall whilst in a hedge?

I assume there must be techniques for building very close to an obstruction. For instance there is only about 200mm between my house and my neighbor's.

Realistically you need a 900mm clear margin around the building in order to build and scaffold it.

900mm either side would be impractical. There is barely 6m between the hedges. With 900mm clearance I would end up with about 4.5m inside which is too narrow for my application. Going for a steel frame would save a bit of space but not a lot.
One option suggested by a friend would be to build the walls as retaining walls: extend the dpm up the sides of the side of the building, add a French drain then backfill up to the level of the bank. Above the bank it should be possible to cut the vegetation back enough to allow access for rendering, though the scaffolding could be interesting.

 

[noseall]

It is possible to build overhand as far as the masonry is concerned but the hedge would still need severe pruning so as not to interfere.

Also the roof could be built largely from the inside and from above.

But, the question is - if at any point along the way you ultimately need to remove the hedge or trample it to death, then it begs the question.......


......why did i not remove the blessed thing in the beginning!

 

[lesnewell]

You have a good point and removing the road side hedge is an option. Removing the field side one could be a problem as it depends on getting permission from both the council and the farmer.

I'm already pushing things a bit for planning so I don't want to add to many more complications...