Integral garage conversion - replacing door with door

[diyfirst]

Hello everyone and apologies for yet another garage conversion post! I did a search and couldn't find a discussion where the up and over garage door is replaced with a front door as opposed to building a wall and a window.

Our bungalow was built sometime between 1950 and 1960, it is brick/block/cavity construction and the garage is integral and of the same construction. By "integral" I mean it is part of the original structure of the bungalow, there is a room to the right of the garage, and a room to the back of the garage, all of this in under the same pitched roof covering the whole bungalow except a small bit at the front where the garage is protruding forward of the main framework, maybe 3-4 feet, and that portion has a flat roof. This protruding part of the garage is where the up and over door is located.

I'm hoping to do the conversion properly with BC approval, but wanted to double check first the likely obstacles we could encounter.

One question is about replacing the up and over door with a front door. I'd like to do a "like for like" replacement so far as possible, so as not to interfere much with the existing brickwork. I'm planning to order a front door with sidelights of the same overall size as the existing up and over door. The DPC is between 1 and 1.5 bricks up from the ground level in the area of the up and over door, and I'm wondering if the best approach would be to find matching bricks (tricky) and build up to DPC level before installing the front door. Or given that it will be such a short "wall" of only 1-1.5 bricks high, would some different approach be preferable?

My other question is about foundations under the up and over door. Is it likely that BC may require us to dig to check the foundations before approving the replacement of the up and over door with the front door? Given that the garage is integral to the bungalow, also the bungalow is built on a sloping ground front to back and left to right, could there be a chance BC will assume the garage has the same type and depth of foundation as the bungalow? (Thinking about differential movement/settling and so the need for uniform foundations?)

Many thanks all

 

[diyfirst]

Thought to include a plan from my other post to make it visually more clear. The bit of the garage which is protruding under its own flat roof is highlighted in green. However the walls are there as is the rest of the bungalow, brick and block construction - would that follow that appropriate foundations to support the walls are already in place? And if the walls do have the foundations, is it possible that no foundation was included in the door opening?

I'm a bit worried when we go to BC, if they may require us to dig to check foundations just because that's what they "always do", rather than looking at whether it is necessary.

 

[thomp1983]

Main problem I can see is what your going to do about a lintel, I'd guess your up and over door uses a standard wooden frame, which will support the brickwork above it, a upvc door should not be used to support brickwork so you'll need some sort of lintel fitting, a catnic of correct size should be fine.

Building inspector is not going to ask you to do any foundation work if your fitting a upvc door the size of the current brickwork opening, he will likely want the floor insulating which will mean you'll need at least a couple of courses of brickwork below the door but again I can't see them asking questions about foundations for that.

 

[diyfirst]

Thank you that is reassuring about the foundations!

A good point about the lintel. It doesn't look there is brickwork above the current up and over door, there is just the flat roof. I include a not so good picture taken from inside the garage, the plasterboard ceiling doesn't go all the way up to the door leaving a small gap through which I can see wooden beams which I understand is the flat roof structure. But I'm not sure what those beams are resting upon, they run perpendicular to the up and over door.

 

[cdbe]

You will need to have the flat roof insulated to current standards, which could involve a bit of work.

 

[diyfirst]

Will be asking BC advice about the insulation first thing. Both floor and flat roof are a bit non-standard, floor is only 1-2" lower than the rest of the bungalow and not much space in the flat roof either by the looks of it. Hopefully we'll find a solution!