Upwards Garage Extension

Hiya folks.
Just looking for some info at this stage. My adjoining garage is double skinned, but no cavity. Assuming the foundations are good/conforming, would it be possible to build upwards to create extra accommodation? Is there some way to create a cavity in the upper part?
Cheers...Freddy

 

Building regs. regarding footings have changed over the years.

Our houses in this small estate were built on concrete rafts. There's never been a problem with these nearly 100 houses.

We wanted a small single storey lounge extension in 1976, but our builder was made to dig down over six feet until he hit sand before the footings were passed.

Might be an idea to have a word with your local council.

 

Just checked. The front is definitely just two layers of brick, but having measured the width at the doorway, it measures around 11” including the render, so there is presumably a cavity along the length.

 

Not necessarily, some cavity walls are constructed with the same appearance as a one brick wall in Flemish bond as above image, but are built using stretchers and snapped headers on the outer skin. Some solid 'one brick' walls are constructed using 2 skins of stretchers tied together with wall ties with eithet a mortar joint or narrow cavity in the middle (to accommodate the wall tie 'twists). The reasons for such construction is usually to provide visual continuity of bond with adjoining brickwork.

So both bond and the overall thickness are required to work out what method of construction has been used.

 

Hiya John

This is what I have at the front...



The rest is block and render/spar.
The house was built mid-70’s I believe. The garage extension was built later on.

 

A bit of a misunderstanding, it’s 11” along the length, not the front as per image.

 

Often there's piers either side of garage door openings, and any projection of those would need deducting from the width of the reveal.

 

Hi Freddy

Assume you mean you want a habitable ground floor as well as the new first floor ?

The first thing you need to establish is the size of the footings, which means digging down on the outside to expose and measure its depth and to some degree its width.

Depending on what you find you will need professional advice as to what loading the existing footings can take.

Until you do that anything else is irrelevant .


If the builders were taking short cuts or the garage footings were not part of the house footings pour they might be much smaller to take the load of the garage only.

Also the garage floor, is it just a concrete slab on the ground without any damp proof or insulation ? a problem to overcome if its not.

Are you intending to do all the build yourself ?

 

If I was looking for a cavity, I'd drill a hole

 

My apologies John for not coming back sooner, I’ve been re-discovering the joys of door hanging

The front is as pictured, the length is down the side, not pictured.
The front is one brick thick, so around 9”. The side wall is around 11” thick, so presumably a 3”- 4” cavity.