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A double house extension is basically a construction to any aspect of your house that elevates up to offer two floors of space. It can be structured to suit your existing home in two storeys or as a side wing on a taller property. If you’re considering building a double house extension, then estimating the cost is a very important task to do before commencing the project. In this article, we’ll give you an idea of the cost of a double house extension so you can estimate yours accordingly.

The double house extension cost depends on several factors that’s specific to your home as well as your design choice. These includes:

• Location of your property. Places like London and the southeast will generally cost more than the other regions due to higher demands.

• Accessibility of the site. The ease of your site’s accessibility also plays a key role in the price.

• Size of the extension. The more the extension’s size in footprint and square metres, the higher the possible costs.

• Materials used in making the roof as well as the complexity of the roof design.

• Your choice of finishing. These includes flooring window and door frames, glazing, underfloor heating and roof lights.

• Your property’s soil type. Different types of soil requires varying treatments as well as materials to develop solid foundations.

Constructing a double house extension is a quite simple build in terms of technicality when its to the side or rear of your house as this can also help you save some money. Generally, considerably expanding your home’s space by building a double house extension will cost within the range of £1,500 per m2 to about £2,800 per m2.

How Much Does It Cost To Have A Loft Boarded?

More often than not, several homeowners fail to realize there’s so much value sitting right under their roof - the loft. When a loft is boarded, there are so many juicy benefits that can be derived. It can be used as a storage room, spare bathroom, home office and several more functions. Therefore, if you really wish to maximize the space under your home’s roof, you’d have to considering boarding it. So how much would it cost to have your loft boarded? Here, you’ll discover the cost of boarding your lofts so you that you can set a budget and start to plan.

The cost of boarding a loft is actually affordable for several individuals, simply because you’re allowed to floor as much or as little as you require. And while you’re up there flooring and fitting the loft boards, you can as well decide to upgrade the insulation of the loft too. This way, you be able to prevent heat from escaping through the roof of the house which helps improve energy efficiency and ultimately, save you some money on heating bills.

If you’d prefer to make it a DIY project, the cost of 18mm chipboard is about £8 to £10 per sheet sized 2400m x 600m. Meanwhile the insulation boards should range between £18 to £22 for a sheet.

For a professional service, you’ll be provided with a quote for both the materials and labour. The amount will be based on the number of boarding required as well as the method selected. For an average storage space needs, flooring size of about 15m2 is suitable. The price for this quantity would be between the range of £50 to £700 for the counter barren method or above £1000 for a more sophisticated method.

Well, just like many other team work, a bricklayer is only as good as his supporting cast. And a hard-working labourer should be able to keep three bricklayer gangs happy. But even when he gets to serve just one bricklayer, the site conditions and nature of the wall can also play a huge role in determining the number of bricks that can be laid within 24 hours.

With the best possible site condition, hard-working labourer and best scenario with no pillars, no face brick, long straight wall and no wall ties, a well trained bricklayer should be able to lay within a range of 800 to 1100 bricks all day long. However, you rarely get walls like this as there is always going to be some corner or curve somewhere which usually takes some time to get right. Furthermore, once the bricklayer has laid up to 5 feet, there’ll be a need to get some lift. From that point onwards, the job understandably gets slower and tougher - meaning there’ll most definitely be a face brick.

In addition, there are multiple other factors that can affect the number of bricks that can be laid in a day. Sometimes its the complex designs or weather that’ll determine the daily rate.

With the aforementioned factors and more realistically, on a good day and great site, an expert bricklayer should be able to lay about 500 to 800 bricks in a day. This is generally a very good target, but of course you never can tell with the reasons above and other factors that are simply beyond the control of the bricklayer. If you have a project and want it completed as soon as possible, you can pay the bricklayers based on the number of bricks laid to increase their efficiency.

Pebble dash is an effective way to tune up your house or property as it can go a long way to enhance its curb appeal while also add to its resale value if you should decide to sell later on. Although, it’s highly recommended to leave this task for a reputable specialist, it’s also something that can be done as a DIY task. It must be states that this is a pretty difficult job and even more so if you haven’t attempted it before. In this post we’re going to take you through the processes involved in pebble dashing a wall. Let’s take a look!

• Mix up water with the lime strictly following the manufacturer’s instructions. Once done, leave it covered up to hydrate for at least 24 hours.
• Take one part of the slaked lime and mix it up with cement and six parts sand. This is to give the base mixture required to spread onto the surface.
• Use a trowel to apply the mixture onto the wall. Ensure that the trowel is level and use the edges to make a flat and smooth layer of the mixture on the surface as a base layer. Allow the base layer to dry for up to an hour. Then, rake the surface using a notched trowel and allow to dry for a minimum of 24 hours.
• Rinse and drain your pebbles. Then, set them under the wall you’re pebble dashing.
• Take the top coat of five parts sand and mix with one part cement and one part slaked lime. Use a trowel to apply this mixture over the base layer and smoothen it with the trowel to create a flat and even top layer.
• Spread a plastic sheet beneath the wall you’re pebble dashing to capture any loose pebbles as they fall.
• Grab the bucket of pebbles below the wall and scoop some of the pebbles up using a scoop or trowel. Some will stick and some will fall into the plastic sheet already placed below. Continue throwing the pebble dash until the surface is completely and evenly covered with pebbles.
• Lightly press and fit the pebbles on each section into the wall and leave for at least 24 hours to dry.

There is a variety of methods available to ensure that your paving drains properly, for example draining into a lawn or soakaway. Correct drainage of paving is a requirement for planning permission. See our guide on planning permission for paving for more information.

Due to the fact that we live in a country (the UK) with so much history as well as architectural beauty, there’s a need to have what’s commonly called “Conservation Area. A Conservation Area is basically an area which is designated by the local authority and is established in order to protect and enhance areas of historical and architectural interest which includes both rural and urban areas. Therefore, when it comes to refurbishment project in a conservation area, there’s usually a lot of things that needs to be put into consideration as well as hurdles to scale in order to make alterations to your property without any interruptions from the law.

In general, all properties in a conservation area have strict regulations governing the outlook of the houses, as this plays a major role in the appearance of the area as a whole. As a result, if you wish to bring down a building, fence, wall or even railing and the likes, you’ll need to obtain prior consent before you proceed. An easy way to go about any refurbishment plan is to to ensure the usage of exactly the same materials that exists in the current house. When you abide by the rules, you’ll be in a more favourable position to acquire the needed prior consent.

The short and simple answer to the question is yes, you can refurbish a house in a conservation area but subject to the approval of the local authority through a planning permission. And when it comes to submitting a planning application for approval, some are aspects will usually be subjected to more intense examinations than the others. Hence, the need to make sure that your refurbishment plans are all friendly in a similar way to the neighbouring buildings and environment.

There are so many benefits that comes with building a porch in your home premises. It’s an extra space where a lot can be achieved such as drying a dripping wet dog, taking off your dirty shoes or boot and lots more. So if you’re considering to construct a porch, it’s definitely going to be a wise decision. However, before you get started, there’s a need to determine if you’ll need planning permission for a porch. It’s important to take note that planning laws are dynamic and can be updated at any point, so be sure only to use trusted sources only as your guide. If you’re the homeowner or landlord, it’s entirely your responsibility to obtain the right approval for any development project you wish to carry out within your premises.

A Porch can not be termed as an extension and neither is it a conservatory, they’re basically built to the home’s front covering the main entrance using a stone base or a brick. As a result, a porch does not need planning permission due to the fact that it’s covered by the permitted development rights if the specific guidelines for porches are complied with. Below are the instances where you WILL need planning permission for a porch.

✓ If the floor space is more than 3sqm (the wall inclusive).

✓ The highest point has a height of more than 3 metres.

✓ If the porch is situated within 2 metres of a boundary directly facing on to the road.

You may need planning permission if the house is a listed building, designated area or falls under an Article 4 Direction.

In order to build a porch without planning permission, you need to consider all the criteria stated above. You can also visit the Planning Portal website to get more detailed information before getting started.

If you’re considering converting a barn or buying one, you shouldn’t need to worry about it being cold. This is because building regulations dictate that when you convert a barn, you need to insulate it to meet specific standards. However, it’s worth considering its heating system and ceiling heights carefully – some barn conversions are likely to take longer and be more expensive to heat up than others.