Plant Room in the garden? Can i do it?

[unclebob1]

Good Afternoon,

Once again, doing some forward planning for an extension build,

I've attached rough paintbrush drawings of before and after.

Just to set the scene, the garden is split level, approx 30 foot is about the house level which is paved, it then drops straight down, with grass below - approx 5 foot height difference. There is brick built staircase on one side.

I had an idea of placing a plant room effectively under the patio area, running Water/CH/Gas and electric to/from here to the house. It would house my HW tank, boiler (or two), and water softer.

Pipes would then be run under the patio coming out under the house/in the house under the floorboards. Pipes would be insulated underground...

Three sides, top and bottom would then be surrounded by the ground. and the one face would be possibly brick+ door, and boiler flu...

1) does it sound feasible?
2) does it need planning/building control specifically for building it (boiler would need it anyway)...
3) would having neighbors boundary being nearby cause any problems?
4) Placing boiler flue horizontally coming out near the door - is this allowed - what is the minimum distance required between the door and flu? (gassafe question really)

Untitled

• unclebob1
• 9 Sep 2013
• 2

 

[leeco]

What is a plant room? is it like a green house?

 

[cjard]

it's a grow-show; a place where one might find two lovely assistant planters by the names of mary & Joanna

 

[unclebob1]

Plant room - as in a room to place machinery for Heating/Ventilation etc.. things like boilers, tanks etc.

 

[SimonH2]

1) does it sound feasible?

It does to me, and good use of the space - think of the space it's save inside the house. I'd be looking at whether it's worth taking any more space out of there - tool shed, "man retreat" (aka shed), kids play area/whatever.

2) does it need planning/building control specifically for building it (boiler would need it anyway)...

AFAIK boiler doesn't need BC notification as long as it's done by a gas Safe registered fitter - or if it does, it's handled by the fitter through their scheme. I assume BC would apply to the rest of the building.

I am under the impression that it doesn't need planning as it's underneath an existing structure and you aren't altering the current envelope of the building. In any case, I'd have thought that it comes well within the limits for PD.

3) would having neighbors boundary being nearby cause any problems?

Possibly. What height is the neighbours garden relative your yours ? Do they have any structures on it ? Potentially you'll be building a retaining wall to hold up up to 6 foot of their garden.

4) Placing boiler flue horizontally coming out near the door - is this allowed - what is the minimum distance required between the door and flu? (gassafe question really)

Yes it's allowed, I believe minimum distance is 300mm from the opening, and 300mm from the boundary (it has to vent along the boundary, not over it).

You'll need to consider frost protection. As it'll be an unheated space, any heat you lose form your cylinder is wasted -so it needs to be well insulated (as do all the pipes) - but you also need to consider the risk of various pipes freezing. You might consider building it as a well insulated space so that the small loss from a well insulated cylinder will keep it warm.