Building a conservatory and more....

[The Riviera Kid]

widen the window in the lounge into a pair ( or 3 ) french doors, then a conservatory.. the doors can be left open all year round but need to be there so it's classed as a conservatory and not an extension..

I'd go for the wide french doors workaround, sounds like a lot less hassle and expense to me.

Its not a workaround or legal loophole, you're still in breach of Building Regs.

We seem to have conflicting information here fellas lol.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

No conflicting information, once you remove the doors it no longer becomes legal.

 

[ColJack]

what about having the doors fitted, but never closing them.. do they come round every so often and check that you do sometimes close the doors?

 

[The Riviera Kid]

No conflicting information, once you remove the doors it no longer becomes legal.

Aye freddy, but coljack was suggesting a wide opening set of french doors to give the illusion of an open space where there is in fact a fully closeable door. Hence it's a kind of workaround, you get the door, but also a wider opening than with a standard sliding patio door. Unless it has to be a sliding door to comply with regs?

I'm no expert (as you well know lol), but I have been thinking along the same lines so I can try and fit pool table into a future conservatory.

Edit: I don't think either of us mentioned removing the doors did we? Wires crossed there hehe.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

No its still no workaround as has been put. As long as your external door complies with Building Regs then the conservatory complies. Building Control couldn't care less if you keep it open all year round.

 

[The Riviera Kid]

No its still no workaround as has been put. As long as your external door complies with Building Regs then the conservatory complies. Building Control couldn't care less if you keep it open all year round.

Get out of town, of course it's a workaround lol From wiki:-

Workaround
A means of overcoming some obstacle, especially an obstacle consisting of laws, regulations, or constraints; A procedure or a temporary fix that bypasses a problem and allows the user to continue working until a better solution can be provided

The problem is that conservatory4me wants an open space but can't afford the cost (or do it within a permitted development), the temporary fix is the french doors, continue working until a better solution can be provided is keeping the french doors open, and the better solution is when he has funds in place to open everything up with a full planning application, steel and beefier foundations.

Freddy, you know I'm in awe of your knowledge dude but I think you're being a bit nit-picky with the word "workaround" I didn't suggest nor ever mean it exploited a legal loophole. If "workaround" is used on site as trade slang for bodge jobs, scams, or cowboy work, then I apologise for my lack of building lingo knowledge, but that's not what I meant. I meant as above, a way for conservatory4me to get something close to the desired result, within budget, and within a permitted development, until he can afford to go ahead and start knocking out walls, adding steel supports, foundations etc.

Reet, can we stop debating the word "workaround" now . Let me know if there's a preferred word I can used without being heckled . (just kidding, just kidding, honestly )

 

[The Riviera Kid]

Did I really just type of that? (slaps self in face) lol

Getting back to the point, I think the open french doors idea is a good one. (muffled sound of the W word being stifled by hands)

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

No its not a workaround. YOU STILL HAVE A DOOR!

You cannot stick up a bog standard conservatory and then convert it to an extension without knocking it down.

 

[The Riviera Kid]

No its not a workaround. YOU STILL HAVE A DOOR!

DID I (OR COLJACK FOR THAT MATTER) SAY ANYTHING ABOUT REMOVING THE DOOR?
Did either of us ever suggest it involved removing doors? The whole suggestion was to achieve that open look and feel without removing the doors. To that end, it's a workaround to achieving an open look and feel.

You cannot stick up a bog standard conservatory and then convert it to an extension without knocking it down

Erm, where did I say it could be converted? I'm not a builder, I wouldn't have a clue whether or not it could be converted, or whether it would be feasible to demolish and rebuild. I was trying to define the word "workaround" in a relevant way.

In the coming years, when I get around to getting our conservatory built. I will make a decision whether to do it within permitted developments. If I do decide to do it within a permitted development, I will be putting french doors on. When I put my pool table in, I will open the french doors as a WORKAROUND, enabling me to have cueing room. At no point will the doors fall off, magically disappear or building regulations spontaneously change allowing the removal of the doors.

Freddy, I have no desire to argue with the heavyweight champion of posters regards the useage of the word "workaround". Are you more comfortable with the term "workable compromise"? Any chance we can now stop being so bloomin pedantic about the word workaround?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

No, we can only stop arguing when you grasp what you have been told.

As you say a workaround is a means of overcoming some obstacle, especially an obstacle consisting of laws, regulations etc. Leaving the door in place does not constitute overcoming or 'working around' anything. Such a situation is perfectly legal and compliant with the regs.

 

[The Riviera Kid]

No, we can only stop arguing when you grasp what you have been told.

As you say a workaround is a means of overcoming some obstacle, especially an obstacle consisting of laws, regulations etc. Leaving the door in place does not constitute overcoming or 'working around' anything. Such a situation is perfectly legal and compliant with the regs.

Reet, enough of this banter. Can we agree, the french door thing is a canny "compromise" and stop getting sidetracked?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Reet, enough of this banter. Can we agree, the french door thing is a canny "compromise" and stop getting sidetracked?

No its not a compromise, its a perfectly legitimate way of attaching a conservatory to a dwelling.

 

[The Riviera Kid]

Arrghhhhhhhhhhhhh
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/compromise

You're confusing "Compromise"
Something that combines qualities or elements of different things, something midway between two or more different things, strike a balance, strike a happy medium

with "Compromise"
To reduce the quality, value, or degree of something, an exposure of one's good name

I mean the former, believe me, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

[conservatory4me]

well thank u for your advice guys...i wasn't expecting this topic to turn into a "prove it" debate

Please guys, take it easy..we're all here to help each other.

Anyway back to my issue. The way things are looking, i might end up cancelling the whole thing. My problem is that i originally intended to:-

1. Build a conservatory
2. Move the kitchen which is currently in the original extension to the back of the living room
3. Create a new partition dividing the kitchen from the living room
4. Knock out the walls to make a large living room which consisted of the conservatory.

But as you guys have explained..this is not possible

So having french doors isn't going to solve my problem, because i'm still left with a small living room being divided in several segaments.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Hi conservatory4me, apologies for taking your thread somewhat off topic, these things happen on the Forums from time to time though.

Anyhoo, in short, it would appear you are correct, the only legal way of doing what you want has been mentioned before.

Aye, the solution if you want to legally remove the doors is to build what's known as a highly glazed extension.

A simple plan of your ground floor would probably clarify the layout and may provoke some ideas though.