Month: April 2019

The next project I undertook, which is definitely worth posting about is an old disused brick outhouse.

It was in a state of disrepair, the last tenants had used it as a dumping ground the roof had holes in it and it was just full of stuff.

This was an interesting one as it probably wouldn’t off been made use of if the electrician that had carried out an electrical test on the property (currently being used as a student property) had not failed it on the basis they were not allowed the utility to be shared with a shower, so basically they had electrical appliances such as tumble dryer and washing machine in very close proximity to the shower pod.

So I was asked to make the structure good and turn it into a new utility.

First job was to clear it out and see what we were dealing with, now unfortunately the landlord did not want us to do anything with the concrete floor so we just made it good and used garage floor paint on it which helps to reduce damp coming up through. Ideally I would liked to off had the old floor up and at least installed a membrane and new concrete but that wasn’t an option.

The roof had to completely come off. The landlord was really keen for us to make sure this was a solid structure and I found out why later on. (Basically he said one of the old tenants “ drunk as a skunk” climbed out his bedroom window and walked out straight onto this old roof and fell through.) So obviously he was keen to make sure if it did happen again no one would be falling through..

New 4 x 2” timbers were installed, an 18mm osb board laid down and fixed firmly then I used a single ply membrane over it. This was great value all in about £400 and it came with a full kit, which consisted of the membrane, all the adhesives, and trims, also all the hand tools required for it and it was a piece of cake to install. The other hard part was to try and seal it into the existing roof because as you can see its not in great condition so I carried out some minor repairs then tucked our new membrane up under the old felt roof.

The brickwork was in pretty good condition apart from a few course up under the roof which was easily repaired, I went belt and braces and coated up the first few courses of brick and the corner of the concrete floor with black jack which is like a damp proof paint used a lot of time when dealing with areas underground or in this sort of situation.

The walls were solid 9” on the front elevation and where the door opening was but  single skin on the side elevation (Neighbours side), we had to batten off and insulate it all but I decided to build a separate stud wall of the single brick elevation as sometimes drilling lots of holes to fix battens can do more damage than good. So after studding and insulating we boarded the ceiling and walls

Before this though the first fix plumbing and electrics were required, for this we were doing a proper utility area with worktop and kitchen sink, so a fair bit of plumbing required and a couple sockets with a rated bathroom light and extractor. The extractor was slightly fiddly as we wanted to tie it in with the bathroom next door, so the electrician used a fan that would work for both the areas and I vented it through the new utility.

Then plastering and painting carried out.

After that had all dried the easy bits 2^nd fix plumbing and electrics and worktop.  The only other bit was getting the new UPVC door in. I was worried initially about height as it was slightly lower than usual, also there was a soil pipe running up the side that could of thrown the door out and the floor levels were slightly different from the grand outside to the utility. But I was able to sink the floor down a bit after doing some chopping of the old floor and it made it work better so there was barley any upstand on the threshold of the new door. I then boxed in all the old pipes and new with UPVC boards, I also opted to use UPVC for the skirting boards to finish the area completely I thought this to be a lot more hard wearing for possibly quite a wet area. It also gave a really nice finish once cleaned up and it’s so easy to work with.

I then wheeled in the existing tumble dryer and washing machine connected it and tested it and now everyone is happy including the electrician. I have to say the finish was so good it let the rest of the house down.

So another good example of how you can make use of old dilapidated outhouse on the backs of your properties.

If you have not already read my post “converting an outhouse” for more on outhouse conversions.

Thanks for reading,

Toby  🙂

So you need work doing and have to get quotes in.

“GET AT LEAST 3 QUOTES IN”.

I say this until I am blue in the face to people. Three quotes will give you a good idea of cost, it gives you chance to meet the person that will do the work and also it gives you a figure in mind to work to. Don’t go moaning to everyone about a rouge builder if you took the first quote you were given and couldn’t be bothered to search around, there is no excuse.  On that subject don’t get someone to do the work that has knocked on your door and will do something cheap for cash….They are not proper qualified tradesmen. It’s different if you see someone carrying out work at a neighbours and the neighbour rates the person and you can see their work first hand, its fine to go up to them and ask them to quote but don’t accept work to be carried out by someone that has literally knocked on the door to sell their services this is a “no go”.

Going back to getting 3 quotes in, I even say this to people when I am out pricing.

 I carry out a pretty broad spectrum of work but inevitably there will be someone that specialises in a certain area that may be able to do a certain job quicker than me or even be able to get the same materials only cheaper. I had a job recently were the painter I use could not match the quote we had from another. As this chap offered a guarantee and had work I could look at to verify he was good I went with him. (My usual painter even said go with him at that price)

What is worth noting with quotes, Is they are not all going to come in exactly the same hopefully you have a good spread. It’s important however to make sure each builder is pricing  for the same work, Don’t tell one to do it one way and the other to do it a different way. It will inevitably be different.

When the quotes come back ensure the quote/estimate has everything written down that you want doing don’t assume because you spoke about it when they were looking at the job that it is on their. These things need clarifying from the outset.

When you have confirmed everything is included that was expected then you can look through them in more detail. If they all come back the same it’s about picking the guy that has good references and if possible can show you some of their work also someone you will get on with. This is especially important if they are going to be in and out of your house for a month.

This is not normally the case what you generally find is you will get back 3 prices, low-medium and high.

Standard advice is “go for the middle.” But what people generally do is just go for the cheapest. There is nothing wrong with this but just do your due diligence, make sure the person has been checked out (Like I did above) ideally see their work and if possible speak to a recent customer. Also weigh up the pros and cons, the middle price or even the higher price maybe from someone that has been highly recommended and known to use good quality materials and do a thorough job they also may have an in depth knowledge of the works and can offer more advice throughout rather then just doing the basics.  So you have to weigh up what your ideal will be, at the same time the type of job you want doing and finish.

So to summarise:

-YOU NEED 3 QUOTES!

-Don’t accept a doorstep salesman to carry out work for cash because it sounds like a good deal,

“IT WILL NOT BE”.

-Even after the 3 quotes, do your due diligence and check the builder/tradesmen out, ask around, check references and if possible look at previous jobs they have carried out.

If you follow the steps above you will not be one of the people that end up on TV complaining about a rouge builder.

For more help and advice on hiring a builder read my post “Top tips on choosing a builder”

Thanks for reading

Toby 🙂

A lot of people are keen to convert a garage or outbuilding/outhouse so I thought I would write down some information and handy tips for you before you get started.

Planning

If converting an existing out building, planning will usually be required alongside building regulations. The planning departments are normally really helpful so a quick call to them to ask their advice will confirm this. Although I under took a refurb recently and as the outhouse was already an office with kitchen area and toilet planning was not required.

Structure

The next thing to look into is the structural stability of the building. Just because its standing fine now doesn’t mean that by the time you have added stud walls, bathroom, kitchen that the structure will be able to maintain its position.

What I recommend is digging a trial hole in front of the exterior wall and dig down until you can find the footings. I would then ask a structural engineer to do some calculations to make sure your plans are achievable using the existing structure as it stands. Usually it won’t be a problem but if it’s potentially going from an outbuilding built for storage to a habitable space, it needs checking and rather now then later down the line when it could really cost you.

Once you have had the calculations back then it can go one of 2 ways the footings are adequate meaning you can go ahead with your plans subject to planning. Or the footings are not adequate meaning you will now have to work out the best course of action. A couple examples of what can be done for inadequate footing:

Underpinning

This is when the existing footing is undermined in sections and additional concrete poured underneath to make the existing footings more substantial. Although there are other methods of underpinning now this is the more standard way of doing it. However if you have a large area to underpin then possibly other methods may work out better value. Another type of underpinning is:

Screw pile and brackets.

This is where a metal tube is screwed into the ground to whatever depth is required (usually to hard ground and then some), then a bracket fixed to the tube. This metal bracket then picks up the bottom of the footing. This would need to be done at intervals across the entire footing that needs underpinning.

Costs would need to be compared and the gains calculated over the entire project as to whether it is cost effective to underpin or to simply demolish the existing building and rebuild from scratch. Although it sounds like a big task in these circumstance sometimes its quicker and easier to start again.

Once this has been worked out and if your able to refurbish the existing building then it’s all plain sailing from here on out. Standard building regulations apply.

Typically outbuilding’s would either be solid 9 inch brick work or a standard 4” I will discuss this later on but with regards to preparing this type of wall construction then damp proofing will be required.

Damp proofing

Damp proofing is usually quite a bit of work, as usually the existing floor would off almost certainly not had a Damp proof membrane installed (DPM) so the floor would need taking up and a new insulated concrete or suspended timber floor need installing. Also a Damp proof course (DPC) will usually need to be installed and alongside this tanking is needed on the internal wall, before it’s boarded or plastered.

Tanking and Injecting

Injecting a DPC is when an existing wall doesn’t have a water impermeable layer to prevent the moisture tracking up through the wall, this is usually on older properties and as such an outbuilding will probably be the same.

A way of installing a DPC retrospectively is by injecting a chemical into the wall at intervals along the length at the same height (Usually 150mm above floor level externally and floor level internally).

This spreads out and forms a barrier to prevent the water passing up through the wall.

Tanking usually goes hand in hand with injecting. This is when plaster is taken off the internal wall up to 1.3m from floor level and a waterproof sand and cement mix applied to the area. Once dry this can then be plastered over or plaster boarded.

This prevents any moisture working its way through the wall substrate and coming out into the internal room.

Insulating

I have assumed the walls are either a cavity wall or solid 9 inch. Cavity wall is the standard wall construction we see today, where there is a inner leaf and outer leaf with a gap (cavity between the 2) this cavity is usually filled with insulation if it’s an older building this usually won’t be filled that’s where you get these companies going around filling the cavity with insulation.  If it’s a solid wall then there is no cavity just 9 inches of brick work.

If it is solid then it would be worth considering whether you want to batten off the wall and install a pir board in between the batten and board over or board over the battens with an insulated backed plasterboard. This will help with the u value and as solid walls can be susceptible to condensation and damp it’s a great way of preventing this problem while keeping the area warm.  Also you could just dot and dab the insulated backed board direct to the walls which is a good cheap alternative, however if you have used a tanking slurry beforehand check that you can use the plasterboard adhesive straight to the tanking solution as some tanking products don’t allow this .

If it happens to be a single skin wall (single brick/block wall) then you will definitely need to build an internal stud wall, insulate between the stud and over the stud to get better u-values.

Again going with the insulation theme, consider what you will be doing with the ceiling, will you be keeping it vaulted to maximise the feel of space, or keep it standard. If height is not an issue then keeping it standard is no problem and the use of fibreglass insulation will be adequate, but if you are vaulting the ceiling space (opening it up to the underside of the roof) then insulation will have to be installed between the rafters and over the rafters, again the insulated backed plasterboard is a good alternative here as the board and insulation go up in one hit.

Ventilation

The other thing to consider is the ventilation.

As standard now I would recommend the following, bathroom extractor:  opt for a constant trickle with a boost mode.  When the light is switched on the extractor boosts and after a set time the boost stops and carries on with a constant trickle.

The second is an kitchen extractor, one over the kitchen hob is good, but I feel its only as good as the operator and from experience this isn’t usually the main concern of the tenant. So it may not even be used.

I would as well as the cooker hood install a constant trickle extractor with a humidity stat. What this will do additionally is kick in when extra humidity is detected. I like this because it takes it out of the hands of the operator and sorts itself out. Which means all the moisture laden air is removed,  thus keeping condensation and mould down to a minimum if at all.

The other important thing to keep in is ensure any new windows have a trickle vent installed, this ensures fresh air is constantly coming into the property and means you don’t have to be concerned when you don’t see the windows open at all. You can also retrospectively install trickle vents I do it all the time for landlords that have had enough of mould build up in their rentals.

Lighting

The rest is down to design and personal touch but LED down lighters are a great tool in lighting up an otherwise dark space. Consider having different circuits for the lighting, broken up into the different areas. So if it’s all open plan the kitchen, living room, entrance hall, wall lights ensure these can be switched on and off separately. This is a good way of keeping electricity costs down and also highlights the separate spaces giving it a warmer feel.

Sockets

Also what I found while doing my annex was that the sockets with the USB ports were really handy. I didn’t put them everywhere just one in the living room and one by the bed. Very handy and still pretty new so a bit of a luxury for the tenants and give that wow factor, but actually they don’t cost the earth.

Bathroom

You usually have a limited space for a bathroom in an outbuilding. Wet rooms are great but a fair bit of work. I do like the new shower pods that are available and costs for these have come down considerably and the great thing with pods is that they are practically maintenance free unlike the traditional tiles and shower tray. Also consider installing an over mirror light with shaver point and shelf under the mirror or go for a cabinet with this included. These work well with electric tooth brushes and are a handy place to have them charging up rather than trailing leads on the floor (like I have at my house). Again a bit of a luxury but they give a bit of a wow factor. Check out my post for small bathroom ideas and tips for more help in this area.

Summary

Hopefully my main points above will get you started on your project, obviously design and layout are subjects on their own, my main tip is try and incorporate all the space don’t leave anything out, as with all outbuilding’s, space is a premium so don’t waste it. If you’re like me I like to design as the space takes shape whereas others can see it before it’s done. Work to your strengths and don’t be afraid to ask people’s opinions.

Good luck with your projects and be sure to look at my other posts for further help and advice.

Toby 🙂