Notes
Notes on how houses hold themselves up
Plain English on the parts of a house nobody looks at until they matter: what a wall carries, what steel costs by weight, and when decisions stop being reversible.
Walls
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What actually happens when you take out a wall
The wall is doing a job. Here is where it goes.
14 min
Extensions
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Building a rear extension, from idea to first dig
The route, and a map of the four chapters.
2 min
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Chapter 1 Planning and Building Regulations
Two systems, and what permitted development allows.
4 min
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Chapter 2 The opening into the house
The beam, and where the load goes.
4 min
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Chapter 3 Foundations: depth, width, and next door
What it stands on, and how hard it presses.
5 min
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Chapter 4 Garden retaining walls: deeper is not stronger
Why width resists the push.
4 min
Lofts
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Converting a loft: what holds the roof up, and what replaces it
What goes in first, and why.
6 min
Money and timing
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The £5 a kilo rule
Steel is sold by weight. Read your own schedule.
5 min
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The decisions that lock your structure
When each option closes, and why.
5 min
These notes explain the engineering behind ordinary domestic work in plain English. They are written to be useful before you have appointed anyone, and they describe general principles rather than advice on your house. Every design we do meets the Building Regulations.
The earlier we are involved, the more of your structure is still worth optimising.
Tell us what you are planning. We reply within one working day.