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When it comes to extending a home, the rear of the house often comes to mind a lot more than the front. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t extend the front of your house. This can be done either as part of a renovation project whereby the entire house is incorporated or it can also be done in isolation. It’s possible to extend the front of your house without the need to apply for a planning permission, however, there are a bunch of limitations you’d have to comply with if you wish to carry out with such a project. Sometimes, this may imply that extending to the front of your home is more tedious and tasking than extending your home’s rear. So exactly how far can you extend the front of your home without planning permission?

The short and simple answer to this question is 2 metres square area with a height not more than 3 metres. Generally, you do not need a planning permission to build a front porch as long as its area doesn’t go beyond 2 square metres from a public road or walkway. Also, a tiled or slated roof can be as much as 4 metres but other roofs must not go beyond 3 metres in height. If you want to extend the front of your home beyond the restrictions specified, then you’ll have to apply for a planning permission.

Extending the front of home can be quite costly, but this can be controlled by not building to the extension to the highest specification, not including an extension on kitchens or bathrooms and more.

What Is Plasterboard?

The plasterboard is unarguably one of the most common building materials across the globe. Sometimes referred to as gypsum board, gyprock, drywall or wall board, the plasterboard is mostly incorporated for ceiling cladding and interior walls in several homes and offices in recent times. However, despite its global acceptability, it’s a very misunderstood building material.

The plasterboard is manufactured using a gypsum core with a heavy paper covering both sides of the sheet. The measurement of a standard plasterboard sheet is a length of 2.4 metres in and a width of 1.2 metres, with a thickness of about 13mm. The board usually have either a bevelled or a bit flat edge. The bevelled edge makes it easy for the installers to use a plaster to smooth out the surface after nailing the sheets to walls and ceilings as well as taping the edges.

The plasterboard comes in different types. Although various manufacturers provide a unique name for their products, but they’re all included in one of the following categories:

• Water Resistant Plasterboard - This type of plasterboard are best suited to be used in water areas like bathroom, laundry rooms and kitchens.

• Acoustic Plasterboard - Due to its sounding proofing qualities, this type of plasterboard is preferred to be used in home theatres or noisy areas.

• Flexible Plasterboard - This is to be incorporated on curvy surfaces.

• Fire Resistant Plasterboard - Just like the name implies, this type of plasterboard is best suited for use in high fire hazard areas.

If you’re about to kick start some small renovations around your house or office, using a plasterboard to clad your walls is a very simple and worthwhile task. However, if you want to do major renovations or need to apply plasterboard to your ceiling, the best option would be to leave it to a seasoned professional.

Most companies will make the building control application on your behalf and ensure that all the work is completed to the right standards. When a building inspector has inspected it, you’ll get a certificate. It usually takes around 6-8 weeks after completion to come.

So you’ve identified the type of garden room you’d like to construct in your property, chances are, you’ve already worked out where to put it and can’t wait wait to start spending valuable time on it. It’s very understandable to be a little impatient with the whole idea considering the numerous benefits provided by a garden, but just before you proceed with your plans there’s the need to first check whether or not you’re going to need a planning permission.

Factors determining whether you’ll need a planning permission includes where you intend to place it, the size of the room, how it’s going to be used as well as your location.

Generally, most garden rooms do not require a planning permission as they are categorized as outbuildings. In other words, you’re permitted to construct one so far you comply with some specific rules and have permitted development rights at your home or in your area.

If you want to build your garden room under permitted development, you have to comply with the following rules:

✓ The garden room shouldn’t be in front of your home or property.

✓ The total area of your extensions, sheds and outbuildings ( which includes your garden room), must not go beyond 50 percent of the total land area surrounding your property.

✓ It must be a single storey that’s less than 3 metres high ( 4 metres for a dual pitched roof). And it must not go beyond 2.5 metres in height if the structure is within 2 metres of your boundary.

✓ The eaves must not go beyond 2.5 metres above ground level.

✓ It must not feature a balcony, veranda or any raised platform

✓ It must not be a self contained living accommodation.

You should note that if your home is a listed building or you happen to live in a designated area, then you might not have permitted development rights.

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 insulated, there are so many juicy benefits that can be derived. It can go a long way to save increase you energy savings and several more functions. Therefore, if you really wish to maximize the space under your home’s roof, you’d have to considering insulating it. So how much would it cost to have your loft insulated? Here, you’ll discover the cost of insulating your lofts so you that you can set a budget and start to plan.

The cost of insulating a loft is actually affordable for several individuals, however, this depends on a wide range of factors such as the size of the house as well as the type of insulation being installed. One significant factor is the insulating material that you choose to install. If done properly, you’d 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 and you go for a blanket insulation it costs about £5 per m2. therefore, this will cost within the range of £100 to about £150 for a small home.

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 insulation required, the company hired, your location as well as the method selected. The price to purchase and install blanket insulation  would be between the range of £300 to £400 depending on the size of your home.

A lot of an uninsulated property’s heat is lost through the roof and that’s even more alarming, when you realize this figure is up to a quarter of the total heat of the house. Hence, the tremendous importance of preventing this heat loss through loft insulation which will go a long way to help you against spending unnecessary thousands of pounds on heating bill as well as energy loss.

Loft insulation is an effective method to achieve the desired result, however the question is, how exactly does it work? Well, it’s time to find out!

Using either a fireplace or central heating to heat up your home, a large quantity of that heat would be lost through the roof of your home. Generally, heat rises and when it does, there’s simply no way to prevent it - it’s just science. Escaping by both the conduction and convection methods via your roof, the heat escaping through your ceiling, into the loft space and out into the open air outside can only be significantly reduced by laying loft insulation.

Generally, the added layer of insulation works by trapping the heat inside the room below the loft so as to enable the air within your house to stay warmer for longer. What’s more? The layer of insulation also keeps cold air from the outside from entering your home. As a result, you don’t have to heat your home as much in order to achieve the same temperature for each individual room. Over time, just by doing this you can potentially save hundreds pounds. Getting it installed in your home may actually seem a bit expensive at first, but it’s something that’ll eventually pay off.

How Much Plasterboard Do I Need?

Although many people especially contractors have a tough time estimating the number of drywall or plasterboard needed to complete a project, it’s a rather simple task if all factors are taken into consideration. If you’re able to follow the same procedures taken by professionals to count dry wall sheets, you’ll be in the right direction. Let’s have a look at the procedures to follow!

lTake Square Footage Measurement

• Measure the square footage of the area where the plasterboard will be fitted.

• Multiply the height by the width of each wall or ceiling area.

• Add all quantities to obtain a total square-foot amount.

lCalculate Drywall Sheets

• To calculate the number of drywall or plasterboard sheet is very simple once you’ve gotten the total square footage.

• To get started, simply divide the total square footage of area by 32 (that’s if you are using a 4 by 8 sheets) or you can also make use of 48 to make the division (only if you’re making use of the 4 by 12 sheets).

• The answer you get after the division will give you the full number of plasterboard sheets that’s required to complete the project.

We’d recommend you include an extra 10 to 15 percent of whatever you calculate to take care of the possible odd cuts and wastages. This implies that if your total area is 1600 square feet while incorporating 4 by 8 sheets, simply divide 1600 by 32 which equals 50 sheets, now take 10% of 50 which equals 5, then add back the 5 extra to the 50 sheets earlier calculated to get 55 sheets. If you wish to estimate the cost, simply multiply the number of sheets gotten by the price per sheet. Do not forget to include delivery charges and local taxes.

This is a type of loft conversion that extends your roof on the sloping side. It is a great option to go for especially where a hipped roof effectively makes the usable floor area a lot smaller which can be a tricky affair when it comes to putting in a new staircase. Here, the roof is extended from the current ridge in such a way that it effectively fills the gap between them. As a result, this turns the hip (in a hipped roof) into a gable to create space in your roof for a loft conversion - hence the name “hip to gable.

The new gable can be done in whatever way that suits both your taste as well as your property. You can make the new gable construction in woods and then tiled to match your existing roof while you can also go for other options such as brick block pebbledash or rendering. You are also free to fit in a new window into the loft conversion end so as to allow for natural light into the loft space.

A hip to gable loft conversion is mostly found on both semi detached and end terrace buildings, particularly those constructed in the 1930s. Overall, this type of loft conversion is particularly ideal for homes that features a hipped roof and with a sloping roof at the side of the property. Some detached properties can also possess a hipped roof on the side - and as such, a double hip to gable loft conversion can also be deal as it’ll create more loft space for usage. If your home fits into the bill, then you should be aware that once the project is completed, you’ll have plenty of usable space available to both you and your loved ones.