if anyone can give some advice I would be really grateful. We had plans drawn up to convert the conservatory into the kitchen as a garden room; the conservatory is at the back of the house and on made up ground. We were planning to have a gable roof - the conservatory is a dog leg to clear an upstairs window with the existing plastic gable, but the plans took just over a year to be finished by which point it wasn’t viable financially to have a fully tiled gable roof. We then decided to square off the dog leg and have a flat roof, which gives more room and is cheaper, but now really coming unstuck with how to proceed. Building control want an engineer to sign off on the existing foundations but that isn’t going to happen as they are only 30 cm and I just don’t know what to do next. The original plans involved steels at each corner going down to made up ground so I don’t know if I could tweak those plans to make it square with a flat roof, or if I should do what one engineer suggested and just knock the whole thing down and start again with proper foundations (which doesn’t sound a cheap option!), whether I need to get quotes from builders to see the best option or if I should go back to building control before I do that?! They haven’t been out yet but I have paid them half and they looked at a photo of a test hole which is when they said they wanted a ‘pad check’ from an engineer. Or should I just get plans done? I did speak to an engineer (the one who said to knock it down) who said I didn’t need an engineer‘s plans, I just needed foundations! Steels sound potentially better than having to dig the whole thing up (its quite large). Any help very gratefully received..
Conservatory conversion to part of the house
- Thread starter CJF99
- Start date
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Stupid plan drawers should have asked for a trial hole right at the beginning.
After knocking it down, you'll pay about £300 for digging and £1000 for concrete. Not really a big deal, possibly cheaper than mucking about with botch options and you'll end up with a proper building.
If you have made up ground, that will require either piled or a reinforced raft foundation - so that's very expensive and will need an engineer to design. That applies if you are building a steel frame on pads or knocking it all down and starting again.
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Depends how much it's made up. Digging through it and using a conventional foundation may be an option. A test hole should give an idea, you could even dig this by hand if you fancy a workout.
Starting again gives you the freedom to enlarge it or change the shape. Lots of conservatories were pretty small and many had bevelled (octagonal) corners, so they never really make useful rooms.
Starting again gives you the freedom to enlarge it or change the shape. Lots of conservatories were pretty small and many had bevelled (octagonal) corners, so they never really make useful rooms.
After you've demolished it this weekend(!), keep all the rubble nearby. You can hire a mini crusher for about £400 and turn it into the crushed stone you'll need under the new floor, saving disposal costs and the cost of buying tons of MOT aggregate...
Glass goes to the tip, along with the frame if it's plastic, if aluminium you'll get money at the scrap metal yard for it.
Or you could advertise the frame and glass on ebay for £1, buyer dismantles and collects.
Glass goes to the tip, along with the frame if it's plastic, if aluminium you'll get money at the scrap metal yard for it.
Or you could advertise the frame and glass on ebay for £1, buyer dismantles and collects.
FFS mate, stick to DIY. Don't wield anything more dangerous than a paintbrush.
If you do need to start again, make yourself aware (as per Woody), just how deep the made-up ground is. Bare in mind, that you will need to build a suspended (floor beams) slab, or reinforced raft and none of these methods will be particularly cheap.
Care to elaborate with some actual facts from your infinite pool of expert knowledge?FFS mate, stick to DIY. Don't wield anything more dangerous than a paintbrush.
Or just lobbing playground insults like a small boy?
The figures I gave were actual numbers, from a recent foundation I've built, 1m deep in my case but wouldn't be vastly different if deeper. Tell me what you think the issue is, other than the fact that I haven't included the mark-up that so-called "builders" add on after they've phoned up the digger driver and concrete company and charged the customer at least treble the amount.
And the spoil will magically disappear? Pump? Track dumper?
£300 for digging, lol. Sick to decorating.
Again, I'll overlook your daft attitude and answer with the politeness you didn't earn.
It was £295 actually. Perhaps you're in the Mayfair area of Staffordshire or just pay too much.
This was for 1 day, a mini digger with an extra long arm with very experienced driver and including fuel. After I'd spray-painted all the lines and made a depth gauge out of bits of wood.
Building doesn't always cost £1000s, but I'm sure many in the trade would prefer to keep this daft idea going.
I've found that these days for many who call themselves "builders", their mobile phone is the tool they use the most. They ring up a subcontractor, treble the price and take the mug customer's money. It's a lot less expensive if you just find the people who actually do the work and talk to them directly, cut out the mouthy middleman.
The "spoil" was very decent topsoil in my case, and I happen to know someone who wanted it. But budget for £400 for a grab lorry if not, no need for a dumper if it's possible for the digger to leave the soil where it's needed. The chap I got in managed to relay the pile in about 3 goes to where I wanted it. Basically dump next to the site, then go round the other side of the heap and put it further along, repeat as necessary until it's where it's needed. Obviously isn't going to work for a terraced house so brain needed.
I paid £1300 for the concrete including the pump. But it was pretty deep and, due to the sandy soil, it had got over-wide in a couple of places. For typical soil and depth £1000 all-in should be about right. This was for a smallish detached outbuilding (garage sized), so has 4 sides. An extension might be bigger but usually has 2 or 3 sides, so it all ends up about the same.
Just rough numbers, my point is that it's not the end of the world to knock down and start again, you could easily spend more on botching it and end up with something substandard.
It was £295 actually. Perhaps you're in the Mayfair area of Staffordshire or just pay too much.
This was for 1 day, a mini digger with an extra long arm with very experienced driver and including fuel. After I'd spray-painted all the lines and made a depth gauge out of bits of wood.
Building doesn't always cost £1000s, but I'm sure many in the trade would prefer to keep this daft idea going.
I've found that these days for many who call themselves "builders", their mobile phone is the tool they use the most. They ring up a subcontractor, treble the price and take the mug customer's money. It's a lot less expensive if you just find the people who actually do the work and talk to them directly, cut out the mouthy middleman.
The "spoil" was very decent topsoil in my case, and I happen to know someone who wanted it. But budget for £400 for a grab lorry if not, no need for a dumper if it's possible for the digger to leave the soil where it's needed. The chap I got in managed to relay the pile in about 3 goes to where I wanted it. Basically dump next to the site, then go round the other side of the heap and put it further along, repeat as necessary until it's where it's needed. Obviously isn't going to work for a terraced house so brain needed.
I paid £1300 for the concrete including the pump. But it was pretty deep and, due to the sandy soil, it had got over-wide in a couple of places. For typical soil and depth £1000 all-in should be about right. This was for a smallish detached outbuilding (garage sized), so has 4 sides. An extension might be bigger but usually has 2 or 3 sides, so it all ends up about the same.
Just rough numbers, my point is that it's not the end of the world to knock down and start again, you could easily spend more on botching it and end up with something substandard.
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