Building regulations in Wandsworth and garage conversions
Building regulations help to ensure within the industry that projects are undertaken and completed to the highest standards, your garage conversion would therefore be subject to these. Sometimes when undertaking a complicated conversion, it is recommended to have complete structural plans drawn up before you begin.
Once we have completed detailed structural plans, our reliable team will pass them to building control to be inspected who will then make sure that your conversion conforms to all the regulations. By inspecting the key areas of the conversion construction a building control officer or authorised inspector can provide additional assurance that key areas such as ventilation, insulation and energy conservation, fire safety (including escape routes), are all built to conform with the building regulations.
Wandsworth garage conversion key works and considerations
The first thing to do at the start of the project is to make the walls and roof completely sound and watertight. Most of the work will then be conducted by our expert team, inside the existing garage space.
There are sometimes unforeseen problems at the beginning of a conversion such as patchy foundations or issues with internal walls, this is difficult to assess until the main structure has been stripped back, which is the first task for our team. Here is a summary of the construction work required for your conversion
Inspecting the floor for any improvements
Unless there is a pre-existing structural problem, the concrete floor in your garage should be solid enough to accommodate whatever use you are planning for your conversion. However, concrete floors often make the room to cold so it may be necessary to level them, damp proof them with an acceptable membrane, and insulate them to increase the temperature and retain heat within the conversion. Because the floors of garages are often lower than the floors in the main house, insulating them in a variety of ways is often quite straightforward and will simply raise the level of the garage floor to meet that of the main house.
Builders working in the basement conversion
The first thing when converting a basement is to ensure that the foundation will not let in water. As a basement is generally low in a property, it is very important to build it up to ensure that your new conversion is not affected by groundwater. In a normal drainage system moisture or flowing water passes behind the cone, this is why our meticulous builders will install a cavity drain membrane system. Luckily, our proficient team can install a cavity drain system without any major disruption.
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Installing and infilling a new door
Clients generally would like the existing garage door to match the rest of the house, so this could be achieved using masonry infill so that the wall matches the rest of the house. The evaluation of the design stage should determine whether the foundations require modifications to accommodate the new loads. As glass weighs less than brick walls, it is highly recommended that in the initial planning stage you include more glass.
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High-quality wall insulation
If your property has an integrated garage, it is highly likely that the walls will not require any additional work. Attached or detached single skin garages may be insulated internally, typically by erecting stud walls with timbers that are wide enough to accommodate ample insulation (plus an air gap). If your building has cavity walls, then we will not require stud walls to be built, we can simply blow insulation into the gap which means that all of the internal space is retained.
