How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

Thanks for the info. So we're not completely open plan, we still have most of the corridor but no door to the kitchen and a double wide opening into the rear reception room. We already have wired smoke and heat alarms in the kitchen and hallways and would rather have them in all rooms than switching to fire doors. The only unknown is the downstairs and this 'Fire Corridor' rule. Will have a look into these mist systems and see if I can get hold of a building control inspector to sound them out on what the options might be.

1 Attachment

It is likely that the walls to the staircase and means of escape will meet the required rating. Likewise, doors to comply with Building Regs will only need to be 20min rated - pretty much any unglazed door will achieve that.

Typically sprinklers are used where people have opened up the ground floor plan and don't want to reintroduce the removed walls. Your plan is much easier to make comply.

So do you think we'd still need to put some kind of double/folding door into that large opening and to the kitchen to comply or would having all the smoke alarms be enough?
I think this is why I need to chat to BC inspector, at least to get an idea of costs involved

31m2 x £1500 p/m2 = £46,500
Architect £5.8k
(depends on the architect - this is 12.5% of construction - not unreasonable for a full service and amount of work involved on an existing building IMO)
10% Contingency £4.65k
SE 1.5k
Party wall 1.5
B regs 1 k
£61,950 + VAT £12,190
=£ 74,140

£1500 is a fairly modest £/m2 rate i think but i'm no QS.

Here's another calculator:
https://architectureforlondon.com/news/loft-conversion-costs-london/

Vibesy!

pretty much any unglazed door will achieve that.

Mine were all Victorian/Edwardian wooden doors and they didn't class as fire doors

user sheppz, chris' uncle is doing the forum a job lot of 15k lofts. list so far below

1. cozey
   

Like that Rusted one I posted and
you found out about it , does seem mad that people are spending that much on an extension on Warner flats doesn’t it?

Do love a Warner flat but 80k on flat in e17 plus cost price is house nearby money.

So do you think we'd still need to put some kind of double/folding door into that large opening and to the kitchen to comply or would having all the smoke alarms be enough?

Any habitable room opening onto the protected fire route (corridor/staircase) will need to be FD20 rated. That includes your kitchen and reception room double doors/large opening, it also includes bedrooms on the upper floors.

An alternative to the above is a sprinkler/mist system throughout.

A smoke alarm is needed regardless of the above.
_

Edit: The above is for works to an existing 2-storey building (ie: typical Victorian housing stock) where you are looking to do a dormer extension. Different buildings including taller buildings, new-builds, flats in larger houses etc all have different regs.

Any habitable room opening onto the protected fire route (corridor/staircase) will need to be FD20 rated.

The trouble with the fire door thing is everyone props them open. I used to live in a 2001 built house with self closing fire doors that would take a toddlers fingers off which seemed a much bigger risk than a fire so they were wedged.

In my current place when we added the loft conversion the non-self closing doors were deemed adequate as long as we had many smoke alarms. Seemed a bit rubbish but we didn't want to replace the doors so didn't question it.

Nah it kinda makes sense. If you earn the a certain amount you can prob save for a year or so and get a loan out, but mortgages always being x times salary you’ll hit a wall even if you can afford higher repayments. Or you get an inheritance. I don’t think anyone would have the whole amount of money at the same time so it’s not a house vs flat decision, they prob bought years back for 200k.

Can you make it 60k please?

Get naked

Can read most on the floor and the rest in the reflection on the door

I've seen this bath mat somewhere before...

Oh yes, I know :)
https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15806906/

Sorry @Hobo - that is a very nice £5k bathroom, especially with the deep soak bath. Good job.

I have a somewhat similar layout in terms of kitchen and I didn't require a door between the kitchen and hallway. There had to be a hard wired, connected heat sensing alarm in the kitchen. However, I think the rules change if you add a loft conversion (due to the height).

Some reading here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/937931/ADB_Vol1_Dwellings_2019_edition_inc_2020_amendments.pdf

Cross posting from OYOH:

Total newb questions to follow: I am looking to start the process of some work on my flat (new kitchen and bathroom) - essentially the scope is minor(ish) structural (wall down, joist in and new enlarged window with lintel) and fairly major internal (quite a bit of plumbing - moving boiler, new bathroom suite, better routing of water and gas pipes to allow the new config - and some electrics, then extensive make-good with new floor, plastering, tiles etc and kitchen fitted) - I want a relatively bespoke ply kitchen and have a chap in mind I'd like to use. For the rest, is this a job for a contractor who will have his own trades or possibly not big enough scope for such a set-up and I should be looking at separate tradespeople? I will also need structural engineer drawings - is it possible to get an engineer who would then provide some element of project management and recommend trades? I am generally more capable than this message might suggest and my old man's a surveyor which will be a useful resource.

Any suggestions re best practice/how to approach it and of course recommendations for structural engineers/tradespeople in SE much appreciated!

Cheers

What I did, which worked for me, was get a general builder to do the knock through and RSJ - using structural calculations from a website and applying to building control myself, then get a window company to do windows and doors and lintel, then get a general interiors guy to do all internal stuff like kitchen and bathroom. The interiors guy subcontracted a tonne of other trades without me having to get involved.

I was told at some point that most general builders don't bother with windows because people want FENSA certification and guarantees (which also means building control not needed) -and FENSA qualification is a hassle unless you do windows all day every day.

I'm sure you could go about it other ways but for me this seemed the best combination of cost effectiveness and minimum hassle.

If your ply kitchen guy would fit it as well as supply it, ask if he would be happy to sort all the plumbing, electrics, flooring, tiling etc as well?

Thank you, this is really useful! I guess the dream of one contact/contract to sort all of the work is hugely optimistic/unrealistic...

Yeah - not sure you'll get a onestop shop.

For the ply kitchens are you going full ply or just the fronts with stock kitchen cabinets?

Ikea carcasses with ply fronts/panelling. I've got a mate with a CNC machine/workshop and trade accounts for ply so hoping that will be beneficial but I need to get freeholder approval for all the work in the first instance so looking for a decent structural engineer is the first step I think...

Anyone got any good references for internal/external benches?

@chrisbmx116 also maybe add some spaces to thread title to make it easier to search for?

Done!

Do you mean built in benches that carry on from the inside to the out? Dedraft did a nice pair of external concrete benches recently. And obvs EC.

yeah exactly - submitting planning app soon so want to be 100% on the bench style we're proposing

Top bathroom plumbing tip: if you have to move a tad get them to route the pipes in a bit of an a shape across the floor - free underfloor heating.

lol