so here's my story, we have approved plans for a large single story extension and first floor bedroom with en-suite. Due to the plot we can go border to border, so it the extension is quite substantial.
We also have a dog, a 10 year old, who we will not be without. It's not an option, as I suspect we only have 1-2 more seasons with her. There's also two children of school age.
Finding somewhere to rent where we are is proving impossible - because we have a dog.
So we have a massive garden (for where we live), its approx 45m long and nearly 18m wide widening quickly to 30 m wide.
Currently have two log cabins down the end, one office, one man cave/bikeshed. Both have been professionally kitted out for electrics.
So...
We are currently considering buying a shepherd hut for sleeping, using the office for all non sleeping stuff and the man cave for kitchen. (also have BBQ's too)
Main issue is toilet, hot water and drainage. And are there any legal / neighbour issues that I'm likely to come up against.
Toilet - is a compostable toilet realistic for 4-6 months ?
Hot water - can I install a boiler in my man cave ? Or is there a simpler solution ?
It sounds doable, but I'm not 100% sure on that, but I'm running out of options and time. Also we cannot move far, as the kids need to get to school and me to work.
Has anyone done this ?
Any advice welcome, or just let the p*ss taking begin 🙂
Just get a portaloo.
Also you can get trailer kitchen pods.
Rent ...... and don't tell them about the dog.... and be prepared to not get much deposit back.
Good luck
Either an electric or log water heater.
Toilet up to you re composting. Otherwise go with a chemical loo and hire.
Re neighbours keep them on side ms tell them as much as you need to. You know yh better than us to know if they will be amenable
Caravan??
Why can't you continue living in the existing part of the house while the extension is being built?
That's what most people do.
Sounds reasonable. I might be tempted to get some sleeping accommodation in the existing cabins, or maybe something more conventional like an insulated caravan, rather than a shepherds hut but I'm sure that will be fine. No issues with a composting loo. If you go for one with urine separation you can send that to a soak away then the other waste is much cleaner and easier to deal with. You could just line the bucket with a bin bag and bin it once a fortnight in you black bin. It's easy to compost though, especially if you have a bit of space. Hot water from electric shower if you have enough current capacity or a gas powered boiler running from a bottle.
Friends had a mayor rebuild done during the summer, they bought a cheap big frame tent and got a good rate from a local campsite where they lived for a couple of months. 2 adults 4 kids and they all seemed to enjoy the experience.
Caravan - did consider this.
But our house and concrete lean to - go border to border.
So caravan would have to be craned in - which isn't ideal but ok. But then how do I move the caravan into place down the end of the garden ?
How much of the extension can be done before breaking into the existing house - I bet it's quite a lot.
We're 4 months into a revamp of our ground floor - no extension but knocking rooms together, 3 x sets of bifolds, old ceilings removed, new kitchen, new [concrete] floor, new windows, and skimmed throughout.
Our builder put up a temporary partitions between the existing kitchen and another room that was being totally destroyed and either side of internal [structural] walls that were coming down. Generally this this worked pretty well although dust still managed to get everywhere downstairs.
My money is on you being able to stay in the house while they do 80% of the work 'outside' - if so I'd be trying to do this as the cost and hassle of moving into a couple of 'sheds' is going to be pretty stressful. You can always use them as occasional living accommodation while still using the house.
Cooking will be pretty easy - we've not had an oven since February and cook everything on a two burner camping stove, Ooni pizza oven or the Weber BBQ (the latter two are in our barn though so no need to cook outside in the rain).
Edit: Perchy beat me too it! The only reason you need to actually move out is if the house is being knocked down (like our friends who've been living in a large, very nice, chalet next to the new construction for the last 18 months!)
Why can’t you continue living in the existing part of the house while the extension is being built?
That’s what most people do.
Considered that too, but the entire house is being renovated, it's not in great condition.
Complete new heating and pipework, all new electrics, every room is being stripped back and re-done and nearly every wall will be removed on the ground floor, all bar 2. New loft entry placement, breaking through on ground and first floor.
I'm always up for a challenge and we did it at our old house, but even I think that this would be hell to live through.
I did a full rip out re plumb re wire and replaster in 6 weeks, we had 2 at the m i laws and two in a tent in the garden. We did keep the kitchen and bathroom untouched for all those works then did the bathroom afterwards. Kitchen had been done previously.
So in your case I'd be looking at getting the extension up and habitable pre knock through, then possibly moving in to that in some form then do the existing house rip out.
I’m always up for a challenge and we did it at our old house, but even I think that this would be hell to live through.
Unless you're taking the roof off, it'd still be what I'd do as much as possible.
It just requires careful planning. If I was leaving the house at all it'd only be for days, not months.
+1 for arranging the works so you can live in, sending the family + dog away for a couple of weeks to do the really messy stuff.
Or this will be you about 10 weeks into the build.
A fancy composting toilet? like https://dunsterhouse.co.uk/eco-toilets-and-glamping-pods?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4qnA5v_P4gIVGODtCh22wA15EAAYAiAAEgINL_D_BwE or https://www.waterlesstoilets.co.uk/
If you have electrics already is an immersion heater an option for the hot water (expensive though obviously)?
So caravan would have to be craned in – which isn’t ideal but ok. But then how do I move the caravan into place down the end of the garden ?
little electric caravan mover (Mr Shifta?). Or a few mates. Or a mate with an ebike.
Is that a definite 4-6 months, or a Grand Designs 4-6 months...very fine line into Winter
Been there and done that (minus dog).
Prior to my "extension" i built a 32m2 cabin which had a sleeping accomodation in it, shower/toilet room, and then a living /kitchenette area. 2 adults 2 kids for 11 months.
Toilet use a macerator, and hook the shower to it, and use a single piece of 32mm MDPE pipe straight to the sewer - mine was running ~50 meters with a ~1 meter rise - it's been fine allthrought summer and winter.
We all found it OK, if not a little cramped during winter, as it was a lot harder to just kick the kids out, but it worked and was worth it. the cabin is now an awesome pad for whatever i decide.
here i started a thread about it but never really showed the full result
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/we-love-a-new-shed-build/page/3/
Been there and done that (minus dog).
Prior to my “extension” i built a 32m2 cabin which had a sleeping accomodation in it, shower/toilet room, and then a living /kitchenette area. 2 adults 2 kids for 11 months.
Toilet use a macerator, and hook the shower to it, and use a single piece of 32mm MDPE pipe straight to the sewer – mine was running ~50 meters with a ~1 meter rise – it’s been fine allthrought summer and winter.
We all found it OK, if not a little cramped during winter, as it was a lot harder to just kick the kids out, but it worked and was worth it. the cabin is now an awesome pad for whatever i decide.
Sui - Just read your thread - that is one awesome "shed". Impressive building skills.
Can't believe I'm asking this - but would you mind sharing the details on how you get the toilet and shower working that far from the house ? Without drainage etc.
and me basin and toilet
Toilet is run through a macerator over a 60 meter run, it’s absolutely fine so far.
Honestly was all quite simple -assuming you already have power and water to the area sorted if not then my set up was;
Water: 20mm MDPE (Blue) pipe run straight of the mains. I teed into the incoming supply before we we had to demolish, and as water was needed, i had to be a sort of standpipe in anyway. That was just run down the garden at surface level. I put some isolating valves along the way with some other tees as i needed to set up a "welfare" cabin. This was effectively an OSB shed that housed our washing machine a sink and a toilet all hooked up to a macerator (more on that in a bit).
Just before the water entered the cabin it had another 2 isolating valves fitted (i put a garden tap on the cabin as well) but also in case i needed to do work inside on the plumbing and not shut off the whole supply to site. I took the 22mm MDPE directly inside the shower room (i.e. through the OSB, insulation, plasterboard), and then reduced down to 15mm poly push fit stuff, and a series of tees to feed the shower, toilet, sink and kitchen (these when you look at the photo's are a little messy but they work).
Power: We had to have a temporary fuse board put in for the site (you may not need this step) and had a 64amp fuse spurred directly off the meter but some old school elecy bloke. I ran a 10mm armoured 2core and earth directly to the cabin's fuse box. The cable was run on the surface, but tacked to a fence along with the water and waste. but i do plan to bury it eventually - it's sufficiently safe how it is routed though. The 10mm armoured was one of the most single expensive bits of the build think it was about £360 for 80m!
The fuse box was all RCBO's which makes setting them up nice an easy and allows you to isolate everything individually.
I had, 32amp for shower (this was/is a 9.5kw shower)
circuit for sockets
circuit for lights
circuit for shower light and fan
circuit for outside light
Circuit for Ho****er tank (5lt undersink) and Macerator
Waste (cabin): I used a pumping macerator, i think it was this one;
Macerator ~ £160;
There are inlets for a number of things, so is already geared up for what's needed. Everything was plumbed in using compression fittings, so if i needed to take things apart for whatever reason, i didn't have to hack into solvent weld stuff. The outlet i just got a roll of black MDPE pipe, and like the water-in i ran it straight with no joins (that's the important bit as that's where you'll get blockages) all the way up to the sewer and just dropped it in - nothing more complicated than that.
Black MDPE 32mm x 100m Coil that was ~£70
Blue MDPE 20mm x 100m coil that was ~£40
15mm Poly/Pushfit is relatively cheap depending on how big a coil you get
Fittings ~ £40
I've got more photo's on my instagram
The photo you can see of the toilet has the macerator sitting directly behind it, they really are a cinch to set up and they have an amazing amount of pumping pressure - just make sure the jubilee clips are done up nice and tight.
Where are you based, if your local (surrey hills way) you welcome to have a look.
Oh, goes without saying that "permanent" installations with utilities (waste and water) require planning... though as long as your neighbours are alright i wouldn't worry.
and then there was the welfare cabin - similar to the shower set up; with toilet, sink and washing machine
thanks Sui.
Quick update and more questions.
We are now living in two cabins at teh bottom of the garden and all going well. No probs with neighbours, told them all and one didn;t have a scooby that we were still there !
Two cabins all going ok. Toilet - I arranged a campign toilet, which is actually not as bad as it sounds. And compared to a few rental places we went to look at - possibly better than it could have been !!
Now I need to get a washing area set up, I'm going to get this set up outside the cabin, as otherwise I've got to drill holes in the cabin walls and that won't go down well.
So I'm planning on setting up an outside belfast sink thing, which I can re-use by my m,an cave cabin to wash bike parts, etc. So the effort here won't be wasted !
If anyone can help with a few questions, as I'm struggling with how I connect the MDPE pipe to what is a double external garden hose tap (from screwfix that I had previously fitted to the rear wall of the house) ?
This :
Screwwfix DUAL TAP CONNECTOR
And what diameter MDPE pipe do I use, seems to be either 20mm or 25mm, for what I'm doing does it matter which I use ?
Thanks in advance, and apologies if this should be blindingly obvious.