Loft conversions are ideally suited to older styled terraced houses, because they usually have roofs that are angled steeply upwards with an already existing attic or loft just underneath. These old lofts were draughty, dark and too small to use for living space and usually ended up being a waste of space or served as a large cupboard for all the old kids’ toys and clothes that nobody wanted anymore, vinyl records and all sorts of other junk. Converting these spaces into liveable spaces gives them a new lease of life and some great new bedrooms or bathrooms for the family.

As long as the house has an adjoining neighbour – and most terraced houses will have at least one, then loft conversions and basement conversions too, will affect the neighbour in so much as there may be modifications to the common structure that separates you from them.

This common structure – the wall or walls that separates the two adjoining houses is called a “party wall” and the legal provisions that control what you can do to it are called the “Party Wall Act”. The act was designed to protect the rights of each set of neighbours from any thing which either did that might damage the common structure, but it also set out certain obligations that permit one or other of the parties to make those modifications.

Normally, you would be working with a qualified architect, house extension designer, or directly with a builder. It will be the first thing that these people do to sort out obligations under the Party Wall Act.

The obligation is no more than giving notice in writing to the neighbours that some work is going to commence which affects the common wall. There is no specific form or paperwork that the council has available for this, so it is up to you to do this yourself in what is called a “party structure notice.” You have to include your own name(s) and address, the name(s) and address of your neighbour or neighbours, the type of work that is going to be done – a brief description is sufficient – and the estimated dates of commencement and completion. Just note that if the neighbouring residents are only tenants in a rental house, then the notice of intent has to be addressed to the legal owners – the landlords.

There is a tendency when your neighbours are well known to you and you speak to them frequently to assume that a verbal mentioning of the work is sufficient. This is not the case – even if you know your neighbours well and are quite friendly with them, make sure that your legal obligations are carried out.

Any new floor that is going to be constructed to support the new loft needs to be supported sufficiently. The architect will be able to make a decision on what is best in this situation or they might bring a structural engineer in to have a look and give some advice about the strengthening method required.

Usually it is done by installing structural beams under the floor, which are normally made of steel. Occasionally, it is judged that the loft walls are strong enough to support the floor anyway. The engineer might also suggest other strengthening modifications. These might include building a separate wall whose sole function is to help give support to the roof by tying it into the floor. This wall is called a “purlin” wall.

Sometimes, the new floor might require removing the supporting joists to be removed. To compensate, the new floor has to be structurally tied in to the slopes of the roof or the outer walls to give it more support as well as new joists being built to replace the ones that have been removed.

The Building Regulations will determine what extra requirements are necessary. The new floor will have to be designed in such a way that it is fire and sound resistant enough to meet new standard and cope with the fact that the loft is likely to become a place for people to use on a regular basis. The fire resistance standards require that the materials that the floor is made from are fire retardant enough to resist a fire starting for a minimum of half an hour.

The requirement for resistance to dampness and moisture will depend on plumbing being installed aloft. If there is a new bathroom or toilet going to go in the space in the loft, then the floor will have to be moisture resistant enough to meet the Building Regulations standards.

The other requirement that affects the way the floor is designed will be access. The old opening to the loft that existed before hand may have simply involved sliding a hatch across and using a ladder of some sort. The new loft will need a set of stairs for access and this will probably mean constructing a strongly built access area in the floor to take the top part of the staircase. The new staircase will also mean that some sort of landing, however small is required both at the bottom of the stairs and at the top, in the loft. Inevitably some space is lost to the landing, but this should be normally be made up for by the expanded loft space.

Any new floor that is going to be constructed to support the new loft needs to be supported sufficiently. The architect will be able to make a decision on what is best in this situation or they might bring a structural engineer in to have a look and give some advice about the strengthening method required.

Usually it is done by installing structural beams under the floor, which are normally made of steel. Occasionally, it is judged that the loft walls are strong enough to support the floor anyway. The engineer might also suggest other strengthening modifications. These might include building a separate wall whose sole function is to help give support to the roof by tying it into the floor. This wall is called a “purlin” wall.

Sometimes, the new floor might require removing the supporting joists to be removed. To compensate, the new floor has to be structurally tied in to the slopes of the roof or the outer walls to give it more support as well as new joists being built to replace the ones that have been removed.

The Building Regulations will determine what extra requirements are necessary. The new floor will have to be designed in such a way that it is fire and sound resistant enough to meet new standard and cope with the fact that the loft is likely to become a place for people to use on a regular basis. The fire resistance standards require that the materials that the floor is made from are fire retardant enough to resist a fire starting for a minimum of half an hour.

The requirement for resistance to dampness and moisture will depend on plumbing being installed aloft. If there is a new bathroom or toilet going to go in the space in the loft, then the floor will have to be moisture resistant enough to meet the Building Regulations standards.

The other requirement that affects the way the floor is designed will be access. The old opening to the loft that existed before hand may have simply involved sliding a hatch across and using a ladder of some sort. The new loft will need a set of stairs for access and this will probably mean constructing a strongly built access area in the floor to take the top part of the staircase. The new staircase will also mean that some sort of landing, however small is required both at the bottom of the stairs and at the top, in the loft. Inevitably some space is lost to the landing, but this should be normally be made up for by the expanded loft space.

The answer seems to be a qualified “yes”. Of course it all depends on what exactly you have in mind for the conversion or extension and what your skills are let alone how much spare time you have available. If you really do have a lot of time, then there are plenty of opportunities in the average town or city to learn techniques and skills which are required to do the job yourself as well as a wealth of books and guides, let alone plenty of resources and online support groups on the internet.

Another point involved is that you can always leave the most difficult parts to somebody more qualified and do the easier jobs yourself. If you are going to be raising a roof or knocking down a structural wall and replacing it with something else then it is highly likely you would be relying on somebody with a lot more equipment and skills that you might have at your disposal – unless you are a builder yourself, of course!

The best way to start is to clear every scrap of rubbish out of the lold loft area – if it is a loft conversion that you are considering – and take some measurements and work out exactly what you want to do. The best likelihood of achieving a successful conversion is to make sure that you thoroughly plan every step of the project from the start. Good planning at the outset means that you won’t have to make major changes somewhere along the way that could be expensive and time consuming.

Think about why you want your loft conversion carefully. Most people build them because they are an economical way of getting more internal space and are great for growing children or an expanding family. The cost of most extensions should ideally help to boost the resale value of one’s property although what is going to happen to the property market in today’s climate of uncertainty is anybody’s guess. However, realistically one should certainly factor in the cost of the conversion versus the estimated increase in value in “normal” conditions and spend no more than what it is worth.

One of the easiest loft conversion types for the home builder is the dormer type. These can be front dormers or rear dormers, but usually it is the rear dormers that are simplest because they can be done without planning permission. The advantage of the dormer loft type is that it gives plenty more space and head room with minimal modifications and inconvenience and disruption to the house.

In the earliest stages you can do some browsing online. There are always plenty of sites that provide information about house building estimates and real life examples from people who have been right through the process from start to finish. It’s not always easy, however, to find information about exactly what you want to build, in the location you want to build in but your initial research will give you a sort of guesstimate. In addition there are probably a lot of tips and bits of advice about problems that people have had when building which you can learn to avoid yourself.

The next step is to take your ideas to the architect and get some plans made up. Then take these to a builder and get a first quotation. It’s always best to approach a company that has had a lot of experience with the type of house that you want built as their experience will mean they are able to give you a much more realistic quote as well as be able to tell you what sort of factors might be likely to be hidden costs during the construction phase. One of the main initial considerations when it comes to house building costs is the floor area and the number of floors and rooms to be built.

Single story houses are generally more expensive to build per square unit of area than multi story houses as a lot of the cost is because of the foundations and supporting walls. Similarly, the larger the house is, the less the average building costs. Larger homes basically have all the same internal fixtures as a smaller house, but they are spread out over a wider area. Multi story houses and large houses will still obviously cost more than single story ad smaller houses, though!

The shape of the house you want to build is important – the rule of thumb here is that if it is easier to build, then the house will be cheaper. Square shaped houses with minimum number of curves and angles are easier to construct, so are cheaper.

Apart from house design and materials the other major consideration is the land on which the house is going to be built. Flat land is easier to build on compared to sloping or hilly land. If the ground needs clearing of trees and bushes or there are a lot of difficult to remove rocky patches, then this will also put the costs up. All these factors should be easy to spot from the outset and included in the quotation for the overall building costs.

Situations that are likely to require planning permission include when you want to build an entirely new building, modify an existing structure or change the use of the land that you have to something entirely different. Even in these situations, planning permission is considerably relaxed and small projects like conservatories and sheds normally do not require planning permission and the same goes for most conversions like loft conversions and kitchen extensions.

The main trouble occurs when you deliberately do not apply for planning permission with the intent to deceive the council planning department in full knowledge that you do in fact require permission. Hence, as has already been mentioned above, make sure you double check before construction begins. If you or the builders or architects are not absolutely sure go along to the planning department at the local authority offices and find out for yourself. You normally have to fill in a form with details of what it is that you want to do and wait for a decision or response from the department. There are quite substantial fines if you go ahead and ignore planning permission.

The following are the situations in which planning permission is almost certainly required.

If your building is on a list of buildings that have significant heritage value or your house is in an area where such buildings are close to yours then it is likely you will need to seek permission to make any external modifications. The permission in this instance is called a “listed building consent”, which is a little different from ordinary planning permission.

If your house is in a conservation area it is likely that you know that it is. The conservation value might be natural or historical or both, but if your house is there you will definitely need permission to make any obvious external alterations which affect its appearance.

Planning permission will also be required if the alteration, extension or modifications significantly intrude on the privacy or feelings of members of the public who happen to be able to use aright of way – a major road or just a footpath which passes your house. This means that if they can see something which might offend them which they wouldn’t have had to do before hand then you would need permission to make that alteration. The same goes for the effects of your modifications on your neighbours.

Finally, it cannot be stressed enough that you face serious consequence sif you ignore planning permission knowingly and face fines and / or the demolition of your new building. Having said all that, though, the actual chance that you will ever have to worry about seeking permission is normally very small.

In the long run the extra costs of getting the job done professionally will be more than outweighed by the financial advantages of adding value on to your existing home and the amount of time that you will have wasted trying to do the job yourself. Time is money as the old saying goes.

One of the other drawbacks of making up the plans yourself, then getting a builder in to do the building part of it is whether they will be able to make head or tail of your plans. The reason that architects exist at all is that they are able to make decent plans that can be followed easily by the people whose job it is to build.

Having said all that there are of course smaller projects that consist of kitset conservatories that can be bought in one or another of the big home improvement or hardware stores which with plenty of time on your hands, some handyman skills and a modicum of the usual tools where you have a good chance of being able to complete yourself. Just be wary when power, gas, plumbing and the like have to be installed. Save yourself the bother – get somebody else to do all that.

Architects do not have anything to do with kitset designs – they are usually contracted to make a custom design which suits the owner of the house where the conservatory is going to be built. It always pays to select an architect like architects London that is used to dealing with designing projects like conservatories.

Normally the architect will make a visit or two to the site to get the feel of the environment in which it is going to be built and talk to the owner onsite about his or her ideas more completely. You will have probably decided on a conservatory because it is easy and relatively cheap way of getting some extra living space into your house without too many complications. A bonus is to have an attractive building that will be a treat to look at and view and hopefully the conservatory will add a bit of value to your existing house if you ever choose to sell it.

When considering the latter possibility, the last thing you would want is to throw up a one off design of your own and find that it looks odd or doesn’t really complement either the house or the garden and actually brings your house value down a bit even if you do get the use value out of it.

Most architects are professionals who take their job seriously and are well qualified to turn your dreams into something both creative and attractive that you will be pleased to have in your back yard.

If you have the spare time and some handyman skill and some reasonably decent tools, then there are plenty of kitset sheds which you can choose from. These come in all shapes and sizes and levels of complexity. The best ones are probably the timber ones – they take longer to build and more maintenance, but look a lot nicer when they are built. Remember that your shed is, hopefully, going to last the life of your occupation of the house and a badly built shed or an eyesore is a bit of an embarrassment when it comes to selling up.

The most common designs of sheds depend not just on the materials but on the type of roof. Those that have flat roofs are a lot easier to build but are not quite so attractive and are not so waterproof. They have a habit of allowing rainwater – or more likely hail or snow to accumulate in pools on op of the roof. In extreme cases, the whole roof can cave in, but usually the worst that can happen is that it allows a leak to develop. The more popular, but more expensive roof type is the sloping or pitched roof. This allows the rain and snow to fall off naturally so is more weatherproof and tends to be stronger and more attractive into the bargain.

If you are building a kitset shed, then make sure that the total floor area is big enough for your projected need and that the doorway is also large enough for what you want to get in and out. The doorway should also be positioned in such a way that it makes it easily accessible wherever the shed is constructed.

The other thing you wil have to think about before you have the shed built is where you are going to put it. You may have a huge garden, of course making the position less important. You may also have such a small back yard that the shed is giving to be the main feature in it. Usually, most people fit into the “in between” category and you will have to think which corner of the garden is the best spot. The ground is also important. The shed needs a firm, level area on which to build. If your garden is naturally rather sloppy, then the area for the shed will have to be levelled out well enough before building.

Conservatories are great for a multitude of different uses. They can be a daytime living space, a quiet place to doze or listen to music, have a barbecue on summer evenings or grow plants in. As with any other sort of building work think carefully what you want the conservatory for in the first place as your needs will determine the size and shape of the conservatory that you want built and how much it is likely to cost.

As conservatories are stand alone buildings they have a habit of taking up quite a bit of space in your garden, so if you only have a small garden you should seriously consider whether the extra building is worth losing the garden space for.

Many people gloss over the idea of planning permission these days as it has been simplified and generally relaxed in the last four years. However, planning permission regulations still apply to conservatories unless the specifications are not strictly adhered to.

The general rules about planning permission as they apply to conservatories are basically designed to prevent the new building being used as a separate living space. As long as the building has no permanent drains or heating and it has a separate door from the main building then planning permission will not be required. There are some rules about the amount of glass or glazing in the building as well as an overall maximum floor space. The roof has to be covered in glass completely, while the walls must be at least three quarters toughened glass and not brick or stone. The floor space cannot be more than thirty square metres, which is about five or six metres square – quite a large area.

The architect and /or the builder will give you detailed advice about planning permission or a trip to the planning department of your local authority or a look at their website on the subject will give you all the information you need, anyway.

As has already been mentioned in the introductory paragraph if you are the sort of person who is used to doing things yourself and have a bit of spare time and patience on your side, then a kitset conservatory is not beyond the average d.i.y. Householder. If you decide on a builder to do the work for you, the standard advice is to get several quotes first from different builders and get in contact with anybody who has had a conservatory built by that particular builder as well. If you are using an architect or a house extension designer they will probably be able to give you some names of suitable local builders as well.

Of all the possible house extension types, basement extensions probably provide the greatest possible amount of extra space, because the basement area that can be used is the same area as the entire ground floor of your house. This means that potentially you could have a similar number of rooms in the basement extension as you already have on the ground floor. This is a serious enlargement of your living space.

Basement extensions have various uses. They can be converted into a separate self-contained flat and let out to somebody else or used by an older relative who wants a combination of independence as well as being relatively close to family. They can also be used by growing teenagers who need a bit more extra space a bit further away from the rest of the family. Of course they don’t have to be so elaborate and can simply be a much improved cellar which can be used as extra space for an office, a play area for the kids, or storage for the household paraphernalia that is overflowing upstairs.

Older houses offer the cheapest type of homes where basement extensions can be built, because they normally have an existing cellar already. This certainly doesn’t preclude building a basement into a newer house, but it will cost a lot more as the amount of excavating that needs to be done is greater as well as the amount of disruption considerably more troublesome too. The ground floor will have to be supported from underneath while the basement is excavated. If the ground floor is of solid construction, then the temporary supports will have to be quite substantial joists. All of this amounts to considerably more expensive proposition than any house with an existing basement – the costs are at least fifty percent more.

Houses from the nineteenth century often have timber suspended ground floors. These allow entry into the basement area from the outside which makes it a lot easier for access and less intrusive for those still living in the house where all the building is going on.

The factors that are going to affect the level of difficulty of the basement extension include the total area which is required, the existing basement excavation, as already mentioned above, and things like the whereabouts of the water table and what the foundations are like and how the extension is going to affect them.

If the foundations are not deep enough, then your basement extension will need underpinning. If your house has an adjoining neighbour and you are seriously thinking of having a basement extension, then any underpinning of your house will also need to be extended.