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Is it possible to construct a timber floor that spans 5m between steels and takes some of the roof loading? I know that I will need to pay an SE for a proper calc, but would like to check out the viability of loft floor construction with the technical experts here before I get that far. The...

Thanks for the guidance Oldun. I am looking at the possibility of raising the exisiting <2m lean-to garage wall and making a bit more head/storage space in there. It was built in 1988 with a low roof (PP & BR approval) to avoid a house window, but if I move the window and raise the roof I can...

Well I have had a few more quotes in for a loft conversion as detailed in the OP. In case it helps anyone else thinking about a loft (in my area) the quotes are as follows: £43k, £40k, £38k, £36k twice, and £33k. All from well established loft specialist firms offering similar solutions, and if...

Can anyone tell me the safe height for a (100mm) thick single skin brick/block wall with pillars every 2m? Is there something in the building regs about this? Which part? All I could find on the planning portal was...

The document reads pretty clearly to me: "New regulations come into force from 1st October 2010 requiring that newly constructed thermal elements (walls, roofs and floors) that are part of an extension to a dwelling should meet the standards set out in the table below. This includes those...

BR app not done yet, so 0.18 applies then. But will applications with Super 10 multifoil only be rejected? Seems that they should be even if contractors say they go through OK. Would be nice if multifoil was that effective though, with all the room height saved. :) Roof 100x50 rafters, 400...

Wondering the best way to insulate a pitched ventilated roof at rafter level to the standard required by document 1Lb (Oct 2010). The recent change to the building regs require U=0.18 on pitched part of roof of attic rooms or loft conversions rather than the previous 0.20. Noting the varied...

Ah, know all about that one. Looking on the planning portal it turns out that the architect practice I contacted (and thought expensive) is the firm that the £40k contractor uses for plans. Well that all fits! Of all the architects I pick the same one, how about that for a knack. Anyone...

Thanks for clarifying a few things DevilDamo. I had not clocked the difference between an architect and an architectural technician, nor that the building regulations/working drawings plans with SE requirements marked on it would be different from those submitted to planning for a certificate of...

We have much the same extension/conservatory arrangement, our conservatory completed in 2004. I don't know if you have to build a wall, but we did and it seems a good idea even though it takes a bit of width from the resulting conservatory. What design of roof are you considering? We went...

Our semi has a lean-to garage at the side, rebuilt in 1988 under a building notice (the original was falling down). It is single brick/block with a concrete tiled pitched roof sloping at ~20° (should be > 22.5° for the tile spec but works just fine). However the ceiling of the garage is rather...

Sorry that freddymercurystwin thinks I'm bleating and scrimping. Actually I am more than happy to pay a reasonable fee for people's skills and time, I'm just not in a rush to pay over the odds. I guess with my aero eng. background I could end up drawing a plane by mistake! Seriously what am I...

Being at the mercy of the whims of an individual BCO is an irritant, so much is interpretive and inconsistent. But they should be able to say before any work starts exactly how they want to see the regs applied to my project (even though I'll have to pay them first). But specialist contractors...

Thanks for that info. Still makes me think my £40K is a bit high though since we are not having a bathroom and one contractor told me that would be another £10k. I am seeking more quotes, but it is taking a while as the contractors seem rather busy. Perhaps that explains the price, they don't...

Could be the going rate around here and now I guess, or I could have picked the two with more work than they need. But since I could build the entire house for 120k (standard estimates on area), it does not sound a reasonable rate just a speculative/rip-off estimate. No, it is not trussed but a...

Been thinking about a loft conversion on our semi built in 1929, so got a couple of quotes from local specialists. They both want more than £40k for the job, which was a shock, my research on the net had led me to expect something nearer 20k. Have prices gone up so much? The house is 6m x...

Unfortunately the size is dictated by the location of the existing doors and the route from kitchen to garage. So I will have to apply for planning for my big porch, but if given permission building regs probably won't apply. When the garage was rebuilt in the 80s it needed BR but not PP, I...

We have a single brick, monopitched roof garage running along most of the side of our 1920's semi. I am thinking about building a kind of "rear porch" at the rear end of the garage - a continuation of the garage shape, about 2m x 2.5m floor at garage floor level (150mm down from house) with a...