I am having a garage conversion and have been given different advice by
different builders! One says that it will be ok having a step down from
the house into the new room, open the door from the house and an 8 inch
drop to the new room. While the other one says that building regs won't
allow any drop at all. Which one is right?

I am having a garage conversion and have been given different advice by
different builders! One says that it will be ok having a step down from
the house into the new room, open the door from the house and an 8 inch
drop to the new room. While the other one says that building regs won't
allow any drop at all. Which one is right?

I believe you can normally have a step. 20cm is ideal for this, being
around a standard stair riser.

However, this is unlikely to be acceptable for an entirely different
reasons. Basically, living space floors must be DPMed and insulated,
whilst garages don't. The thickness of the DPM, insulation and screed
required to bring an average integral garage floor to house floor
standards is about 20cm...

Besides, steps down are horrible. They are prone to causing injuries,
particularly with visitors and are really not good for people with
reduced mobility or wheelchair bound. You might not be yourself, but
you'll probably gain some relatives who are at some point.

If you are intending to move your only ground floor toilet to the new
extension then Part M will apply, too, meaning you must provide level
wheelchair access.

Christian.

Go for the level floor, and lay 1200g or 3 coat Synthapruf, plus insulation
and screed.

However, from a BCO point of view,

1. Any rise residential less than 600mm is not a "stair" and not
controlled. Once we used to control, and there had to be a minimum of two
steps. Therefore single step at door not controlled

2. Most Authorities will require upgrading of insulation/damp protection
measures, but not all. My Authority (currently) doesn't, and if you don't
want to provide a DPM or insulate the walls, floor & roof, thats up to you.
(It's because the work can be regarded as a "material change of use"
therefore damp and insulation controlled, or a "material alteration" where
it's not)

Strongly advise you try and upgrade damp/insulation as much as reasonably
possible, get B Regs permission (submit a Building Notice and get the BCO
round to discuss requirements) and ensure Planning Permission is not
required, because in a small number of cases it is.

IanC


wrote in message
oups.com...
I am having a garage conversion and have been given different advice by
different builders! One says that it will be ok having a step down from
the house into the new room, open the door from the house and an 8 inch
drop to the new room. While the other one says that building regs won't
allow any drop at all. Which one is right?

I believe you can normally have a step. 20cm is ideal for this, being
around a standard stair riser.

However, this is unlikely to be acceptable for an entirely different
reasons. Basically, living space floors must be DPMed and insulated,
whilst garages don't. The thickness of the DPM, insulation and screed
required to bring an average integral garage floor to house floor
standards is about 20cm...

Besides, steps down are horrible. They are prone to causing injuries,
particularly with visitors and are really not good for people with
reduced mobility or wheelchair bound. You might not be yourself, but
you'll probably gain some relatives who are at some point.

If you are intending to move your only ground floor toilet to the new
extension then Part M will apply, too, meaning you must provide level
wheelchair access.

Christian.

wrote:
I am having a garage conversion and have been given different advice by
different builders! One says that it will be ok having a step down from
the house into the new room, open the door from the house and an 8 inch
drop to the new room. While the other one says that building regs won't
allow any drop at all. Which one is right?

I believe you can normally have a step. 20cm is ideal for this, being
around a standard stair riser.

However, this is unlikely to be acceptable for an entirely different
reasons. Basically, living space floors must be DPMed and insulated,
whilst garages don't. The thickness of the DPM, insulation and screed
required to bring an average integral garage floor to house floor
standards is about 20cm...

I'd agree with Christian - if, as it seems, either of the builders don't
realise that in order to fulfil the building regs the floor will need to
be deeper anyway, maybe they aren't the best builders to be using?

I believe there's an issue with steps and internal garages in that you
can't have a step *down* from the garage into the house because split
petrol could flow into the house - I wonder if that's what they're
thinking of?

Would recommend the OP simply rings up his local building control office
and asks the question direct: he'll get a definitive answer in less time
than it took to type out the original query!

David

In article
Lobster wrote:
snip

I believe there's an issue with steps and internal garages in that you
can't have a step *down* from the garage into the house because split
petrol could flow into the house - I wonder if that's what they're
thinking of?

ITYF there's a requirement for a step *up*, in order to inhibit the
spread of petroleum vapour.