Home DIY

Is this the case with every council? I did exactly this (pop in for a chat at no cost) just over a year ago with Lewisham council.

Made the most of my extra hour yesterday and put some new lights up behind the cupboards in the kitchen and made a new power cord for my radio so it can run off 12v (new cord) or 240v (original power supply).

Not a very good photo but ypu get the idea:

Previous owner installed a fairly substantial (wooden) shed in the garden about 20 years ago. On the various documents it says he's supposed to have notified the council. He says he didn't. I'd like to build a new shed in its place. Ideally brick with one side of it as glass windows to use as an office.

The fact the current shed has been there for 2 decades, in a concealed space at the end of a garden overlooking allotments (not blocking views either of the allotments to the north or the sea to the south) makes me think I would probably get away with it. If I don't, what's the worst case scenario? I have to tear it down/pay a fine etc? What happens in these situations?

Have a look at this: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/responsibilities/planningpermission/permitted

Assuming you develop less than 50% of your overall available land and it falls within the size / height & placement guidelines, you can do what you want.

Edit: Here's a better link: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/outbuildings/

Renovating another fireplace. The detail is really coming out on this one:

Hi all, advice welcomed on my little boilerhouse project... I have a 20 year old combi boiler in a 20-year old flat-roofed single storey kitchen extension duh out into the side return of my ground floor Victorian flat. As space is at an ultra-premium, I’d like to put the new replacement boiler in a new purpose-built little outhouse on the external face of the wall on which it is currently mounted. I will post pics to explain better.

I have a gas-registered plumber to do all the boiler related work before we get too excited. He has no issues running the services and flue. But I am planning on building the 1050H x 880W x 450D boiler enclosure myself.

So I was thinking of making a 2x2” timber-framed structure and fixing it to the walls. Two of its sides will be formed from existing walls. The third face will be a plywood pair of doors for access. I will use either plywood, pine boards or cement board to make the fouth ‘wall’ then would like to render it all to look like the existing property and repaint everything. It will have a little flat roof of plywood with roofing felt.

Questions then… should I use some kind of plastic membrane where my timber frame touches the walls so that it doesn’t absorb damp and rot? Can you use a sand/cement mixture over wood? Or will it crack and fall off due to expansion or whatnot? Thanks.

Pic of area... See the boiler is currently tucked in that alcove, flue sticking though. Obvs I'll need to move the garden hose, and will take up the brick patio in that area and build off the concrete slab below.

1 Attachment

if it's under 2.5 meters tall then you shouldn't need planning, unless you put a satelite dish on it. Likewise as it's not a habitable space, as in it's not in constant use, then you shouldn't even need building regulation approval. Although if you run any electrical cables or put in extra drainage etc then you will.

http://www.thegardenroomguide.co.uk/building-regulations-for-garden-rooms/2012/08/18/
"You don’t need Building Regulations for a garden room if:

The internal area is less than 15m2
If the Internal area is less than 30m2 and is not within 1 metre of the boundary"

^^New structure going to look a bit like this:

1 Attachment

My shower ain't getting hot.

Followed the instructions here: http://www.bristan.com/WebRoot/BristanDB/Shops/Bristan/Products/INSTRUC.%20PDF-1081522-1-D1-1.PDF

for temp adjustment mixer shower valve, I've spindle as far as I can with my fingers but the water is still luke warm (don't think it's even 38 degrees). Do I need pliers to turn further or is there likely to be another issue?

probably limescale - replace the cartridge or descale it

Sorry, how do I do either?

both operations are printed in the link you posted

I want to fit two of these to a wall

How can I check the wall in question is suitably strong enough?

(Presuming that the current shed doesn't fall within Permitted Development criteria).

As the shed has been there for more than seven years the Planning and Development Act 2000 has a statute of limitations which means that your Local Authority can't issue enforcement proceedings as more than seven years has passed.

However. If/when you come to sell a solicitor will be looking for the correct title on the property which includes a compliance with planning permission certificate, which you won't have.

To get this, you'd need to apply for retention planning permission. There is no guarantee you'd get this. If you have no plans to sell you could therefore ignore the requirement to obtain retention planning permission, as there is no danger of the LA attempting enforcement action.

If it does fall within PD criteria then what Soul/Sumo said.

Depends on the previous extensions.

There's an extension?

Looks like it from the photo.

If it's plaster over brick or concrete you should be fine as long as your screws are quite long. If it's a stud wall with just plasterboard I'd be careful and probably not bother unless you screw it into one of the studs.

Ta very much (and to @Sumo / @Soul )

For planning advice I have a tame advisor that charges £70 per hour for advice and help.

How do I know the difference aha?

If you do screw into brick / rawlplug, I often buy my own screws and plugs if I think the supplied ones are inferior. I asked here about fitting a heavy glass bathroom cabinet and I ended up binning the Ikea fixings.

Stud walls usually sound hollow when you knock them.

Supplied hardware is pretty much always inferior.
Plasterboard/gyprock/drywall can be easily strong enough to hold up a bike as long as you can spread the load properly.
Things like this are a better bet than standard plugs.

1 Attachment

Flat head screwderiver? Get thee behind me Satan!